ABSTRACT The northern segment of the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) Aquifer is an important source of water for municipalities, industry, and landowners in central Texas. Rapid population growth in this part of Texas has increased interest in the north segment of the aquifer and heightened concerns about groundwater availability. The aquifer consists of Cretaceous limestone stratigraphic units that crop out along its western margin and dip toward the east. Groundwater primarily flows from the aquifer outcrop recharge zones toward discharge zones along perennial rivers and streams in the outcrop area and to a lesser extent toward deeper parts of the aquifer, eventually discharging by cross-formational flow to overlying stratigraphic units, such as the Del Rio Clay, Buda Limestone, and Austin Chalk. Groundwater isotope compositions in the aquifer indicate that groundwater flow is most active in the unconfined parts of the aquifer and that most recharge occurs during late fall and winter months, even though highest monthly precipitation occurs during the spring. Pumping from the northern segment of the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) Aquifer is ~6.8 × 10 7 L/d, having peaked at ~1.0 × 10 8 L/d in 2004, but still up from ~3.4 × 10 7 L/d in the 1980s. Most of this pumping (~90%) is for municipal uses. However, in the rural northern and heavily urbanized southern parts of the aquifer, domestic and manufacturing uses, respectively, account for a significant portion of total pumping.

Abstract U.S. military installations increasingly have become de facto bioreserves as the result of legacy and current land uses, urbanization, and historical siting of installations. The relative value of military lands as bioreserves compared to land holdings of other federal agencies is not proportional to total land area. Ironically, a significant reason that U.S. military installations have become important bioreserves is that they were not established with the purpose of conserving or extracting natural resources. This historical factor has resulted in a broad representation of U.S. ecoregions on military lands and largely has shielded those lands from the habitat loss and degradation that has occurred in surrounding regions due to urbanization, agricultural development, and other non-military land uses. Fort Hood, Texas, is used as a case study to illustrate the characteristics of military installations that fit the model for bioreserves as areas for conservation of biological resources and processes in the context of human use of the environment. A major current challenge for management of natural resources on military lands is that the value of U.S. military lands as bioreserves is increasing as surrounding habitats and natural communities continue to be degraded.