Save Our Springs Alliance

Save Our Springs Alliance Austin's Water Watchdog since 1992

👏LET’s HEAR IT FOR HAYS COUNTY👏 Help us keep this momentum up — Support the fight by donating to SOS today. 🌟🏡 Hays Comm...
06/24/2026

👏LET’s HEAR IT FOR HAYS COUNTY👏
Help us keep this momentum up — Support the fight by donating to SOS today. 🌟

🏡 Hays Commons Agreement REJECTED: June 9th, Hays County Commissioners voted 3-1 to reject the proposed Development Agreement for Hays Commons, a massive subdivision planned over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. That means the developer didn’t get the variances it wanted to intensify development or move one step closer to spraying treated wastewater across more than 60 acres of the Recharge Zone.

🚫SAY NO to Data Centers: Hays County Commissioners also voted unanimously to create new oversight for water-intensive developments like data centers, requiring water use estimates, environmental reviews, and transparency while temporarily pausing discretionary approvals through the end of the year. In a state facing intense ongoing drought, this is smart, forward-thinking leadership. 😇😍🫡THANK YOU!

🙌These victories belong to everyone who spoke up, submitted comments, showed up at meetings, and refused to stay silent. Special thanks to Bobby Levinski and Victoria Rose for their tireless work protecting our aquifer at every turn.

🫠Unfortunately, the fight isn’t over. The Hays Commons wastewater permit is still being challenged, and we’ll continue holding developers accountable and fighting terrible water policies.

📢 Follow what’s happening in Hays County, stay engaged, and help us push for the same strong water protections in Travis County. Our aquifers don’t stop at county lines. 🗺️ DONATE TODAY 👏

💚 SOS Alliance

🥳🎉🥳Today is the day! HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, BARTON SPRINGS BRIDGE!! Sunday, June 21st! 🔮Austin, come celebrate a century ...
06/21/2026

🥳🎉🥳Today is the day! HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, BARTON SPRINGS BRIDGE!! Sunday, June 21st! 🔮Austin, come celebrate a century of memories, beauty, community, and history at one of our city’s beloved landmarks! 🔗link in bio to tell City Leaders not to demolish this beauty for an ugly highway bridge that also destroys parkland and endangers the creek.🐢

MEET US at the 🌉Barton Springs Bridge (we will be set up at the green area near Zilkr Condos at the NE corner)
👯Free and open to everyone!

🌞MORNING CELEBRATION: 9 am-Noon, 🎺🥁parade at 10:30

• Coffee ☕️ graciously provided by Radio Coffee & Beer 🌮Breakfast tacos donated by Tacodeli
Community art & birthday banner making, Bridge history talks & storytelling, Live mural painting
🫶Gather with swimmers, cyclists, artists, neighbors, historians, and park lovers

🌅EVENING CELEBRATION, 5-9 pm
Live music beneath the arches featuring Bill Oliver & the Otter Space Band
Stories, community gathering, and birthday festivities with a gorgeous Texas summer sunset, 🎂 birthday cake, and ice cold watermelon 🍉

On June 21, 1926, Austinites gathered for the grand opening of the Barton Springs Bridge over Barton Creek. Exactly 100 years later, we’re throwing another party... and you’re invited!

See you on the bridge!

🖤 Happy Juneteenth Everyone 🧐 Barton Springs remains closed today from the flooding. It’s a bummer, but also an opportun...
06/19/2026

🖤 Happy Juneteenth Everyone 🧐 Barton Springs remains closed today from the flooding. It’s a bummer, but also an opportunity to reflect on a time when not everyone was allowed to enjoy this place.

It’s easy to take for granted that Barton Springs belongs to everyone. But until July 1962, Black and Hispanic Austinites were not allowed to swim there. That’s right, it took EIGHT YEARS after the Supreme Court desegragation laws passed in 1954. 🕰️ In 1960, when Austin High seniors learned that Black classmates couldn’t attend a senior picnic at Barton Springs, students including Joan Means Khabele, David Martinez, Hunter Ellinger, Janet Means Scott, Azie Morton, and others took a stand. They showed up anyways. They organized petitions, challenged the rules, and staged swim-ins. There are almost no photos, newspaper stories, or official records of those actions. But they happened. And they mattered.

Today, as we celebrate Juneteenth and remember June 19, 1865, the day freedom finally reached enslaved Texans, it’s worth imagining what it felt like to stand at the gates of Barton Springs and be told you didn’t belong. Here’s to standing with each other when it matters again and again. ❤️

📷 Images from Austin History Center

Slide 3 Azie Morton
Slide 4 David Martinez
Slide 5 Joan Means Khabele

THE 😎 FUTURE HAS ARRIVED 🌿 Please give a warm Texas welcome to our incredible 2026 SOS Outreach Intern 💛 team! 🤝Meet the...
06/19/2026

THE 😎 FUTURE HAS ARRIVED 🌿 Please give a warm Texas welcome to our incredible 2026 SOS Outreach Intern 💛 team! 🤝Meet them at the Bridge Bday Bash this weekend (see previous post and listed as 365 Things Austin top happening!)
🎨☕️🍉🌮come out and have some coffee and tacos and make some art with us! Or watch live music at sunset under the bridge ⚓️🚣🎺🥁

🎉 Every summer, we bring on a small group of passionate students to help connect the public with the geology, wildlife, and underground aquifer network that make Central Texas REALLY special.🌺🌧️🫂

Meet the squad!

🌟juliana Juliana Strickland, Field Manager: UT grad! Biologist, photographer, roller skater, and returning SOS superstar.

🌳 Aspen Frisch: Environmental science student at UT Austin, Wildflower Center educator, and proud defender of the American Sycamore.

📊 sophia rangel Sophia Rangel: UT student of Data Science, Water systems enthusiast exploring the connections between science, agriculture, and community health.

🌎 Kimberly Parra: Environmental science student at UT, passionate about freshwater ecosystems and environmental justice 💪.

⚖️ Autri Ormond Autri Ormond: UT incoming senior, Future policymaker focused on the intersection of water, governance, and human rights.

🧪 Carlos Piña: UT Austin Chemical engineering student, sustainability advocate, and aspiring Italian speaker.

🌵 Nelly Acosta Nelda “Nelly” Acosta: Geography major at UT and future environmental attorney inspired by the landscapes and waters of Texas.

🦆 Layla Layla Jackson: Future environmental lawyer who loves farms, national parks, and watching water birds at sunrise. Makes the best playlists everrr 🖤

Over the next 🥵 two months, you’ll find these water champions stationed at the South Gate of Barton Springs 🏊🏾‍♀️ slinging shirts, answering your questions, learning the ins and outs of environmental 🌚advocacy, and 🪢 creating their own ⚗️ projects to inspire the next gen. We couldn’t be more excited to learn alongside them this summer.🫶

🌾FIELD REPORT - Gus Frus, 6/16/2026. Conditions: flowing strong, high turbidity, and a little stinky. Rapids charging pa...
06/16/2026

🌾FIELD REPORT - Gus Frus, 6/16/2026. Conditions: flowing strong, high turbidity, and a little stinky. Rapids charging past 🪨🧗‍♀️Mermaid Rock (unofficial name).👩‍🔬As students of the Creek, we are impressed with these rejuvenated flows 💦. Feels like checking in on a wise, chill relative.
😅Last slide taken a month earlier

🌧️Now that’s what you call a “gullywasher”. Barton Creek is *brimming* like it’s 2021 and Barton Springs is officially c...
06/15/2026

🌧️Now that’s what you call a “gullywasher”. Barton Creek is *brimming* like it’s 2021 and Barton Springs is officially closed until further notice ⏹️ Be safe out there, yall.

🎉🎂 HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, BARTON SPRINGS BRIDGE! 🎂🎉 Austin, come celebrate a century of memories, beauty, community, and ...
06/14/2026

🎉🎂 HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, BARTON SPRINGS BRIDGE! 🎂🎉 Austin, come celebrate a century of memories, beauty, community, and history at one of our city’s beloved landmarks! 💙 link in bio to tell City Leaders not to demolish this beauty for an ugly highway bridge that also destroys parkland and endangers the creek. 🐢

📅 Sunday, June 21, 2026 (Father’s Day)
📍 Barton Springs Bridge (near Zilkr Condos at the NE corner)
🎟️ Free and open to everyone!

☀️ MORNING CELEBRATION: 9 AM–Noon
🏊 Start with a swim at Barton Springs and then meet us by the bridge for 👉
☕ Coffee 🌮 Breakfast tacos
🎨 Community art & birthday banner making
📖 Bridge history talks & storytelling
🖌️ Live plein air painting
🚴 Gather with swimmers, cyclists, artists, neighbors, historians, and park lovers

🌅 EVENING CELEBRATION, 5-9 pm
🎶 Live music beneath the arches featuring Bill Oliver & the Otter Space Band
🎤 Stories, community gathering, and birthday festivities with a gorgeous Texas summer sunset 🌅

🥰On June 21, 1926, Austinites gathered for the grand opening of the Barton Springs Bridge over Barton Creek. Exactly 100 years later, we’re throwing another party… and you’re invited! 🎈🥳

🎂 Celebrate 100 incredible years of this Austin treasure

This is a celebration of the bridge, Barton Creek, Zilker Park, and the people who love them. 🌳💦 Bring your family 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦, your friends 🐕🚲, your memories 📸, and your best birthday wishes 🎁 as we honor the first 100 years of Barton Springs Bridge and help protect the next 100.

🎉 See you on the bridge! ✨

❤️‍🔥And how apropos to be fighting Hays Commons on the 36th anniversary of the Barton Creek Uprising.📚We know YOU know t...
06/08/2026

❤️‍🔥And how apropos to be fighting Hays Commons on the 36th anniversary of the Barton Creek Uprising.📚We know YOU know this story, so tag SOMEONE who doesn’t...

On June 7th, 1990, over 1000 citizens showed up at Austin City Hall to protest the “Barton Creek PUD,” a 4,000 acre development proposed for the banks of Barton Creek by Freeport McMoRan, a global mining company that was the single largest discharger of toxic pollutants into the waters of the United States. Austin citizens from all walks of life took their allotted 3 minutes to tell the city council to vote “no” on the massive development proposal. After taking testimony throughout the night, the City Council voted unanimously the next morning to deny the development approval. The event triggered Austin’s “save our springs” movement followed by the passing of the SOS Ordinance in 1992.

🫀And so it continues, and we carry this movement in our hearts. Keep showing up, writing in, continue taking to the streets to fight the RUSE of progress at the cost of clean water and our humanity. Photographs by Alan Pogue, 1990.

🚨SPEAK OUT AGAINST HAYS COMMONS 💩 AN UNCOMMONLY BAD IDEA. Share, Share, Share. Our aquifer has protections in place for ...
06/07/2026

🚨SPEAK OUT AGAINST HAYS COMMONS 💩 AN UNCOMMONLY BAD IDEA. Share, Share, Share. Our aquifer has protections in place for a REASON. 🛟

📧 EMAIL comments by Monday to [email protected]
➡️ Include your NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, and AGENDA ITEM K.13

Or…even better
👥 Show up in San Marcos Tuesday, June 9th before 9 AM to speak 🗣️
💙 Wear blue in solidarity

📋 Agenda Item K.13

WHERE: Hays County Commissioners Court
111 E San Antonio St #300, San Marcos, TX 78666

WHEN: Arrive before 9:00 AM to sign up for public comment

🙀Hays Commons wants to pack 348 homes onto Edwards Aquifer Recharge land with lot sizes far below county standards and without approved water and wastewater permits.

🤯This is how groundwater protections disappear: one “exception” at a time. Take a stand with us.

The springs can’t oppose Hays Commons, but we can. 🙌

🧗‍♀️Happy Sunday from the Greenbelt and deep within bullet cave 🦇🪾🌱🍄🪨🌺🌘🫧 our karsty limestone terrain gives life and res...
05/24/2026

🧗‍♀️Happy Sunday from the Greenbelt and deep within bullet cave 🦇🪾🌱🍄🪨🌺🌘🫧 our karsty limestone terrain gives life and restores water. Let’s love on her and enjoy the beauty of this shared natural wonder in our backyards.

🧬Last slide is a video taken with infrared technology — we are connected from human hands to deep time.

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3201 Menchaca Road
Austin, TX
78704

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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