If it weren't for the Barton Springs Salamanders -- and their cousins, the Eurycea waterlooensis or Austin Blind Salamanders -- the liquid heart of Austin would have stopped beating long ago. But with the money boys determined to pave the Edwards Aquifer, come high water or hell, the salamanders badly need us to return the favor -- or their home and our aqua ambrosia will be no more. This year, illness among the endangered species suggests a final phase of the struggle, and the future of Austin weighs in the balance. These tiny Paul Reveres have sounded the alarm; will the citizenry heed it?
