ATX Water

Greenbelt

Does Barking Springs have water?

Low

Barton Springs: 18 cfs · 5h ago

Watercolor illustration of Barking Springs

Spring output is below its usual range, but spring-fed pools hold water even in drought.

The spillway pool just below Barton Springs Pool. Spring-fed, so it has water year-round even when the creek is dry.

cfs050100Sep 3Sep 4Sep 5Sep 6Sep 7Sep 8Sep 9
ideal 40 - 130 cfsPast years on these dates:10th - 90th percentile25th - 75th percentilemedian

Barton Springs gauge →

Bacteria: clearLast significant watershed rain was 11 days ago — past the 48 - 72h guidance.

Standard local guidance (City of Austin watershed protection, LCRA): wait 48 - 72 hours after significant rain before swimming in creeks; up to a week after major floods. How this countdown works

Where the threshold comes from

Keyed to Barton Springs discharge (typically 50 - 90 cfs), not creek flow; spring-fed spots stay swimmable in droughts.

Per-spot ranges reconciled from austintexasthings.com/flows and greenbelter.io, the two long-running hobbyist trackers.

Other swimming holes