WASSP

Summary
    The Edwards Aquifer provides drinking water for approximately 2 million people and significantly contributes to the Texas economy by means of irrigation for agriculture. Due to the aquifer’s karst topography, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has named the Edwards Aquifer the most vulnerable to pollution in Texas. This project seeks to provide an educational map series accessible to the public for better regulation and protection of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone (ERZ). The DRASTIC method was implemented to conduct a vulnerability analysis of the ERZ and sewage spills that have occurred in regions 11 and 13 from 2012 through 2017 were visually represented. The data was collected from TECQ and open source agencies such as Texas Natural Resource Information System (TNRIS). The results of the project are a user friendly interactive map accessible online through ArcGIS online that displays each spill and their corresponding attributes and a final map of the DRASTIC Method. Following the completion of this project, we have discovered that the Edwards Aquifer is not currently threatened, the North West above the Balcones Escarpment is the most vulnerable. To conclude our research, we have made recommendations to improve record keeping for government agencies responsible for sewage spill documentation.

Purpose
  The Edwards Aquifer provides drinking water for approximately 2 million people and significantly contributes to the Texas economy by means of irrigation for agriculture. (GEAA 2014). The overarching goal of this project is to aid future groundwater management and protection efforts in the Edwards Aquifer zones. The analysis of the area and the visualization of the spills provides education to environmental scientists, municipalities, the Edwards Aquifer Groundwater District, and the public. The more informed each of these entities are the better chance the Edwards Aquifer has to protection and regarded as an important source of Texan life and economy.

Methods
  The methods used to complete this project where in three objectives. The first was to clean, geocode, and project the data we received. Next, the DRASTIC method took steps necessary to complete an in-depth analysis of the vulnerability of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. Finally, using GIS tool and applications we visualized the data to identify trends. The visualizations were placed in an interactive map online with associated attributes for the public to access.

Conclusion
    The expectations of our client, GEAA, were met by mapping sewage spills from 2012-2017, making this data available to the public, and creating an assessment of the vulnerability of the Edwards Aquifer zone. After conducting the DRASTIC analysis, it has been discovered that the most vulnerable area of the Aquifer, based on the physiographic and geologic characteristics, is North West above the Balcones Escarpment. This means that although there appears to be many spills within both regions 11 and 13, the impact on the Edwards Aquifer is not quite detrimental. It is important to take note the effects these spills have on surface water features, but for the aquifer itself, there is not an immediate danger of it being highly polluted.