The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District is soliciting proposals for developing a Habitat Conservation Plan for federally listed or threatened species in the area. The chosen consultant would work with BSEACD staff, along with the city of Austin, the UT Bureau of Economic Geology, the Lower Colorado River Authority, and others, to develop a conservation plan specifically related to the Barton Springs salamander and the Austin blind salamander.
The job also calls for an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment, and would be carried out in conjunction with other BSEACD activities, including the overhaul of existing rules and regulations related to conservation and drought management. The BSEACD board of directors recently passed new rules in which new customers would get conditional pumping permits limiting the amount of water they would be allowed to draw from the aquifer during drought conditions.
Candidates wishing to bid on the assignment can get proposal specifications at the BSEACD office, 1124 Regal Row. A mandatory preproposal conference will be held at 2pm Wednesday, Sept. 22, at the district office. The deadline for proposals is 3pm Oct. 20. For more info, call BSEACD water resource planner Timothy Riley at 282-8441, or see www.bseacd.org.
This article appears in September 17 • 2004.
