For the Love of Springs

Dear Editor,
    Imagine that you roll out your towel onto soft, green grass on a spot that was previously a patch of bald, hard-packed dirt [“Then There's This: Pool Plan Panned and Lauded,” News, Aug. 31]. You look around and see hundreds of newly planted native plants and younger trees alongside the older ones. All of this flora is nourished by the sacred life-giving spring water delivered by an expanded irrigation system and a newly installed pump. The pump would also be used to provide additional pressure to clean the pool and salamander habitat after floods, resulting in cleaner, clearer water for man and beast alike. You see smiling people in wheelchairs slowly moving down a trail in a whole new area of Barton Springs, the South Woods, seeing Barton Springs from an angle they have never seen it before. They pause beside ponds which prevent urban runoff from contaminating the salamander habitat. This vision can become real, if opponents to the grounds improvement plan do not succeed in completely stopping it, which is their stated goal. They would rather see the money used for watershed protection. Members of Friends of Barton Springs Pool unanimously agree that watershed protection is a priority. However, we believe that you can have your cake and eat it too. Barton Springs needs some TLC, which is long overdue. We do not believe that if you do nothing, everything will be OK, the holes in the bypass tunnel and the cracks in the dam will heal themselves, and new grass and trees will grow. Please email the Austin City Council and ask them to support the grounds improvement plan. Thank you for your support.