Change in Environmental Integrity Index Values in the Austin, Texas, Area (1996-2002)

Environmental Integrity Index (EII) data collected from 1996 to 2002 in 46 watersheds throughout the Greater Austin area were analyzed to assess changes over time and to ensure that monitoring goals and Business Plan performance measures were maintained as specified. These values are also in use as part of the city-wide WPDRD Masterplan in prioritizing subwatersheds to address through Capital Improvement Projects, regulations, and/or programs. In general, although by subindex, watershed score, and rank many watersheds indicate degradation or do not meet Masterplan goals, no watersheds were found to have decreased enough to lower narrative score categories, which is the current Business Plan performance measure. This exercise highlights both the variability in the data as well as the value of its large spatial coverage and ability to summarize many aspects of environmental water quality of Austin’s streams.