The effects of the current drought are pretty dire.
We have records going back over 20 years, and the well levels that we're seeing
right now are lower than they've ever been in the history of the district.
We've seen most all of our springs dry up this summer.
In fact, all of the rivers and streams in the Hill
Country are seeing zero flow somewhere along their path.
This is really dangerous because we don't have any surface
water flow, which of course affects our ability to go swimming and recreate.
It also affects downstream businesses who require surface water
for their water needs.
Jacob's Well is very interesting because the water comes out and creates
Cypress Creek, which flows through downtown Wimberley
and then rejoins the Blanco River, which flows downstream
and then disappears into the Edwards Aquifer.
It's a natural spring that's flowed forever, until recently.
It's begun to stop flowing during drought,
and this is wholly attributable to overpumping in the area.
There's a lot of people that use Jacob's Well as a place to swim,
as ecological resources, all kinds of little critters
that live in around the springs,
and downstream, and Cypress Creek before it gets to the Blanco River.
And then all the various businesses and landowners
that have property along Cypress Creek.
So, we're trying to study the aquifers here, the Trinity Aquifers in this area
to better understand, well, how does the water get from rainfall
to spring discharge and everything in between.
Besides spring discharge, people use the Trinity Aquifers out here.
That's the main source of drinking water in this area.
Whether it's just a private well, that someone has for a ranch
or their house or it's a larger supply well that feeds into a big neighborhood.
We've installed two wells, of course, the West Bay multi-port well here
on this Coleman's Canyon Reserve property,
and then, just about 2000 feet south of here, on Jacob's
Well Natural Area property, we've installed the second well.
Together, these two wells will tell us a lot
about the aquifers in this area that feed into Jacob's Well,
that ultimately feed into the Edwards Aquifer.
The Trinity Aquifer actually has three distinct layers, and it's important
to get isolated and individual information out of each one of those layers.
The beauty of the multi-port wells is it gives us the ability to isolate different
layers of the aquifer so that we can see if one is in jeopardy or in trouble.
We can manage that resource and move some of the pumping to another level
that has maybe a better quality level or more water to pump.
This, basically, tells us the health of the aquifer, not in terms of water
quality, but in terms of pressure and how much water is in the aquifer.
So, we're going to be looking at: what is that combined effect of drought
and pumping, and where does that leave the aquifer?
The Texas Water Development Board provided funding for sample analyses
for the Jacob's Well study.
We will additionally be housing that data in our groundwater database
and making this available to the public and stakeholders.
It is important to understand the quantity and the quality of groundwater
and how it moves through aquifer systems so that informed decisions
can be made to manage this important resource for future generations.
The science is critical to the district because it gives us a lot of information
about the aquifer that we never knew in the past.
As the state's
population continues to grow, groundwater will only become more vital.