Austin Water breaks down benefits of prescribed burns

BUDA (KXAN) — As the weather warms up, one tool to help lower risk of wildfires is prescribed burns.

In Central Texas, Austin Water plays a pivotal part in planning out these contained fires.

In late February, the municipal utility orchestrated a prescribed burn at a 183-acre property off FM 967 in Buda.

Immediately afterward, most of the site was black and burned.

Now — only a few weeks later — it’s hard to tell that there was even a fire in the first place.

Spring green has taken full effect, as the wildland is filled with flowers and grass.

The Austin Water Wildland Conservation division is now working with volunteers on the massive property, who are helping seed Texas native plants on a section of the wildlands.

The water utility currently owns around 30,000 wild acres of land in both Travis and Hays counties.

Austin Water environmental program coordinator Matthew Lori says that each prescribed burn builds biodiversity within the landscape.

The newly sprung plants push water into the soil, eventually reaching the Edwards Aquifer and flowing into Barton Springs.

"When we burn, we get more water in the Edwards Aquifer and a lot of it goes to Barton Springs,” Lori said. “Everybody here is tapping into that resource, so we're protecting water quality across the county."

In a perfect world, the Austin Water Wildland Conservation division would prefer to conduct prescribed burns on a weekly basis.

However, these controlled fires take a true team effort in order to successfully and safely pull off.

Austin Water says the planning process for prescribed burns typically begins months or years in advance.