Jacob's Well sees flow again after recent rains

WIMBERLEY, Texas - Jacob's Well is seeing flow again after the recent rainfall, says the Hays County Parks Department.

The department posted photos on Facebook of water flowing in the nature preserve in Wimberley on Thursday, Jan. 25.

"We are overjoyed to see flow returning to Jacob's Well, however, we want to remind everyone that we are not "out of the woods" just yet," says the post. 

The department says that while they're staying optimistic, it is currently unknown when there will be a full return of "normal" flows this summer.

The department measured about five inches of rain over the last few days, which then caused the outflow at Jacob's Well to spike almost immediately. However, Katherine Sturdivant, parks education coordinator, told FOX 7 Austin they are already noticing the outflow into Jacob's Well beginning to drop now that the rain is over, so it is still unclear just how much of an improvement was made.

"Just a couple days ago, we started getting some pretty heavy rain and quickly noticed that the discharge was kind of spiking up," Sturdivant said. "You can almost, I guess, take the pulse or check the health of these aquifers by looking at these various springs."

At this point, water flow is a bit of a novelty, drawing onlookers to Jacob's Well on Friday morning.

"Everybody else had been and said I need to come check it out, especially now that it's flowing again," Dave Patton, in town visiting family, said. "I haven't seen the pics of it dried up, I can't imagine, but it's flowing now. This is sweet."

A sight Sturdivant is familiar with. She's been with the park for seven years.

"I've seen it, you know, 400 cubic feet per second. I've seen it bone dry. But it's been so long since I've seen anything like this, and it's got me feeling good," she said.

Jacob's Well has been at or near zero flow since June 2022, with intermittent bouts of minimal flow here and there, says Sturdivant, but nothing close to "normal" levels. The department also has not really observed any flow at all since June 2023.

READ MORE

• Jacob's Well closed to swimming due to drought
• Drought impact at Jacob's Well tracked by monitoring wells
• Jacob's Well ceases flowing, swimming canceled for forseeable future

Sturdivant says that the main factor causing the low flow has been the ongoing drought in Texas, but the population boom in Central Texas and the subsequent increase in demand for groundwater has also contributed.

The worst drought on record in Hays County was in the 1950s. However, Sturdivant says Jacob's Well didn't stop flowing then. Since then, the population in Central Texas has almost tripled.

The trick is getting the right kind of rain: steady, prolonged, in the right location and ideally over what are called "recharge zones."

It is still yet to be seen if the recent rain helped the Edwards Aquifer at all, another major water source for the Hill Country.

But as a marker of health for the Trinity Aquifer, the water flow at Jacob's Well brings some relief.

"I can't even describe how excited we are," Sturvidant said. "We have several park staff that started this past year that have never seen Jacob's Well flowing. This is the first time they've seen it close to what it should be."

Sturdivant also shared with FOX 7 Austin some of the initiatives they have taken to support the local flora and fauna during the drought, including:

• Filling watering stations daily for wildlife this past summer, which sparked an ongoing social media series called #WaterCoolerWednesdays
• Maintaining riparian buffer zones along waterways to prevent bank erosion, improve wildlife habitats and improve water quality during rain events
• Taking special care to keep certain tree species and key pollinator plants alive

Sturdivant added that the department did struggle to keep plants in their gardens alive this past summer and had to stop watering some to minimize consumption.

Public swimming at Jacob's Well is currently not permitted due to the historically low water conditions. Jacob’s Well is normally open for swimming from May to September by online reservation only.