Location
Lucius Desha Bunton, III
Topics
Description
In 1993, Judge Lucius Bunton ruled in the Sierra Club v. Babbit case that excessive pumping from the Edwards Aquifer had harmed critical habitat for endangered species such as the San Marcos gambusia and fountain darter. The judge ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service to determine minimum spring flows needed to sustain the rare species. The ruling led to the Legislature’s 1993 creation of the Edwards Aquifer Authority under SB 1477 to oversee pumping and protect springs flow and reliant wildlife.
Location Notes
The case turned on the spring flows measured in Comal and San Marcos Springs, so either would likely be a good site for a marker. With the San Marcos Spring's location next to the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, and on the Texas State campus, it seems that there would be more educational potential to put a marker near the San Marcos Spring, at the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, 211 San Marcos Springs Drive, San Marcos, Texas 78666