Zilker Park advocates press task force to fund Barton Springs restoration, loop trail and tree canopy

Mike Kanati, board chair of Zilker 3 5 1, and Rich DePalma, president of the Barton Springs Conservancy, urged the 2026 Bond Election Advisory Task Force on July 28 to recommend bond funding for climate‑focused capital projects at Zilker Park and Barton Springs.

The request covers shoreline restoration at the Barton Springs spillway, a Zilker Loop Trail to close a gap between the Butler Trail and Violet Crown Trail, a large tree‑canopy planting effort and invasive species removal, and related ADA and trail repairs. “These climate capital projects are included as named priorities in the Barton Springs Pool Master Plan,” Kanati said, adding that the projects align with Austin plans including the Climate Equity Plan, Urban Forest Plan and Water Forward. DePalma said the park “is on life support” and described restoration as necessary to protect water quality, stabilize creek banks and preserve aquifer recharge.

Why it matters: Zilker Park is a high‑use metropolitan park that feeds Barton Springs Pool and the Barton Creek watershed. Speakers told the task force the projects would protect public health, strengthen resilience to climate impacts and improve universal access for Austinites. They also said including the projects in a bond program would unlock matching grants and provide predictable funding and maintenance commitments.

What was described: Kanati presented visitation and site context, saying Zilker sees nearly 3,000,000 annual visitors and identified parking, erosion, uncontrolled water access points, tree canopy loss, and missing ADA amenities as current problems. DePalma cited the 2009 Barton Springs Pool Master Plan and related natural resource inventories as the basis for the proposals and urged the task force to treat the projects as part of the city’s long‑range planning priorities.

Project readiness and costs: Fleetwood Jacobs of Zilker 3 5 1 told the task force the Zilker Loop Trail is engineered and “shovel ready” and that the proposed projects are council‑approved priorities. Panelists described the proposed work as low‑to‑moderate cost relative to expected benefits, but did not provide a consolidated cost estimate during the presentation.

Limits and next steps: Speakers asked the task force to include the projects in its bond recommendations and said the public‑private and grant leverage would be part of funding strategies. Task force members did not take a formal vote on the Zilker requests at the July 28 meeting; departments and working groups will review specific project lists in coming weeks.

Ending: The Zilker advocates said they will bring more detail to the task force working groups and public meetings, where staff will provide project lists and additional cost and feasibility information.