texascavers Digest 15 May 2009 12:45:20 -0000 Issue 758
Topics (messages 10684 through 10699):
Re: TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now Online!
10684 by: Charles Goldsmith
10685 by: Charles Goldsmith
10686 by: Bill Bentley
10687 by: Lyndon Tiu
10689 by: Mark.Alman.l-3com.com
10693 by: mark gee
10694 by: Jules Jenkins
10696 by: jranzau.gmail.com
10697 by: Don Arburn
10698 by: Charles Goldsmith
Bat Illness Spells Trouble For Farmers :
10688 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
10691 by: John Brooks
Texas Cavers Reunion 2009
10690 by: Allan Cobb
sexy things in caves
10692 by: wwildchild.aol.com
Looking for knowledge of a Louisiana Cave
10695 by: Niki Lake
Jacob's Well and Hays Co groundwater problems Part I :
10699 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
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--- Begin Message ---
Jerry, you are wrong on both accounts, not printing every member a
copy and allowing us to view it on a computer and saving paper is
being responsible. Plus the TSA doesn't have to pay to print and mail
it out, so that is fiscally responsible.
You have a right to your opinion, doesn't mean its the correct one. I
have that same right :)
Charles
On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 9:23 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:
> I realize the TSA Chairman is trying to promote a reasonable agenda that
> will reduce the cost of the TxCvr to the membership. But I believe that he
> might want to stop short of insinuating that if a member does want to
> receive a hardcopy TxCvr, that they are environmentally or fiscally
> irresponsible. These things have a way of causing terminal foot-in-mouth
> disease, which can be much more damaging than the H1N1 virus.
>
> Jerry Atkinson
>
> In a message dated 5/12/2009 1:26:49 P.M. Central Standard Time,
> [email protected] writes:
>
> You can still opt to receive the TC in the mail, or you can do your part to
> be environmentally and fiscally responsible, while sticking it to the USPS
> and their recently adopted rate increase by opting to go digital!
>
>
> ________________________________
> Recession-proof vacation ideas. Find free things to do in the U.S.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Jerry, you are wrong on both accounts, not printing every member a
copy and allowing us to view it on a computer and saving paper is
being responsible. Plus the TSA doesn't have to pay to print and mail
it out, so that is fiscally responsible.
You have a right to your opinion, doesn't mean its the correct one. I
have that same right :)
Charles
On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 9:23 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:
> I realize the TSA Chairman is trying to promote a reasonable agenda that
> will reduce the cost of the TxCvr to the membership. But I believe that he
> might want to stop short of insinuating that if a member does want to
> receive a hardcopy TxCvr, that they are environmentally or fiscally
> irresponsible. These things have a way of causing terminal foot-in-mouth
> disease, which can be much more damaging than the H1N1 virus.
>
> Jerry Atkinson
>
> In a message dated 5/12/2009 1:26:49 P.M. Central Standard Time,
> [email protected] writes:
>
> You can still opt to receive the TC in the mail, or you can do your part to
> be environmentally and fiscally responsible, while sticking it to the USPS
> and their recently adopted rate increase by opting to go digital!
>
>
> ________________________________
> Recession-proof vacation ideas. Find free things to do in the U.S.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
As I stated before I want both paper and electronic copies, so what does
that make me? irresponsibly responsible? Or Responsibly irresponsible?
I just gave myself a headache....
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Goldsmith" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 11:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now
Online!
Jerry, you are wrong on both accounts, not printing every member a
copy and allowing us to view it on a computer and saving paper is
being responsible. Plus the TSA doesn't have to pay to print and mail
it out, so that is fiscally responsible.
You have a right to your opinion, doesn't mean its the correct one. I
have that same right :)
Charles
On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 9:23 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:
> I realize the TSA Chairman is trying to promote a reasonable agenda that
> will reduce the cost of the TxCvr to the membership. But I believe that he
> might want to stop short of insinuating that if a member does want to
> receive a hardcopy TxCvr, that they are environmentally or fiscally
> irresponsible. These things have a way of causing terminal foot-in-mouth
> disease, which can be much more damaging than the H1N1 virus.
>
> Jerry Atkinson
>
> In a message dated 5/12/2009 1:26:49 P.M. Central Standard Time,
> [email protected] writes:
>
> You can still opt to receive the TC in the mail, or you can do your part
to
> be environmentally and fiscally responsible, while sticking it to the USPS
> and their recently adopted rate increase by opting to go digital!
>
>
> ________________________________
> Recession-proof vacation ideas. Find free things to do in the U.S.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Quoted from a caver:
> As I stated before I want both paper and electronic copies, so what
> does
> that make me? irresponsibly responsible? Or Responsibly irresponsible?
Quoted from a caver:
> that if a
> member does want to receive a hardcopy TxCvr, that they are
> environmentally or fiscally irresponsible.
You can have either the hard copy and/or electronic or you can have
both. You don't have to feel bad about anything.
So what if someone calls you names. You keep your chin up and give them
the finger.
--
Lyndon Tiu
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Having driven in Dallas for 30 years, Lyndon, I'm used to getting the finger.
(And dishing it out, as the occasion requires!).
And after having five kids, I'm used to being called names, as well.
Mark
________________________________
From: Lyndon Tiu [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wed 5/13/2009 12:47 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now Online!
So what if someone calls you names. You keep your chin up and give them
the finger.
--
Lyndon Tiu
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Yea, give me my paper copy too. Mark Gee NSS #49625
________________________________
From: Lyndon Tiu <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:47:26 PM
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now Online!
Quoted from a caver:
> As I stated before I want both paper and electronic copies, so what
> does
> that make me? irresponsibly responsible? Or Responsibly irresponsible?
Quoted from a caver:
> that if a
> member does want to receive a hardcopy TxCvr, that they are
> environmentally or fiscally irresponsible.
You can have either the hard copy and/or electronic or you can have both. You
don't have to feel bad about anything.
So what if someone calls you names. You keep your chin up and give them the
finger.
-- Lyndon Tiu
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
really, do we all need to have to read your email response to Lyndon?
this is the kind of junk that makes cave tex NOT worth reading.
--- On Thu, 5/14/09, mark gee <[email protected]> wrote:
From: mark gee <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now Online!
To: "Lyndon Tiu" <[email protected]>, [email protected]
List-Post: [email protected]
Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009, 10:44 PM
Yea, give me my paper copy too. Mark Gee NSS #49625
From: Lyndon Tiu <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:47:26 PM
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now Online!
Quoted from a caver:
> As I stated before I want both paper and electronic copies, so what
> does
> that make me? irresponsibly responsible? Or Responsibly irresponsible?
Quoted from a caver:
> that if a
> member does want to receive a hardcopy TxCvr, that they are
> environmentally or fiscally irresponsible.
You can have either the hard copy and/or electronic or you can have both. You
don't have to feel bad about anything.
So what if someone calls you names. You keep your chin up and give them
the finger.
-- Lyndon Tiu
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
really, do we all need to have to read your email response to Mark?
this is the kind of junk that makes Texas Cavers NOT worth reading.
On May 14, 2009 5:47pm, Jules Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote:
really, do we all need to have to read your email response to Lyndon?
this is the kind of junk that makes cave tex NOT worth reading.
--- On Thu, 5/14/09, mark gee [email protected]> wrote:
From: mark gee [email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now
Online!
To: "Lyndon Tiu" [email protected]>, [email protected]
Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009, 10:44 PM
Yea, give me my paper copy too. Mark Gee NSS #49625
From: Lyndon Tiu [email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:47:26 PM
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now
Online!
Quoted from a caver:
> As I stated before I want both paper and electronic copies, so what
> does
> that make me? irresponsibly responsible? Or Responsibly irresponsible?
Quoted from a caver:
> that if a
> member does want to receive a hardcopy TxCvr, that they are
> environmentally or fiscally irresponsible.
You can have either the hard copy and/or electronic or you can have both.
You don't have to feel bad about anything.
So what if someone calls you names. You keep your chin up and give
them
the finger.
-- Lyndon Tiu
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Really, one mistake, does not a hissy fit make.
Don
On May 14, 2009, at 6:10 PM, [email protected] wrote:
really, do we all need to have to read your email response to Mark?
this is the kind of junk that makes Texas Cavers NOT worth reading.
On May 14, 2009 5:47pm, Jules Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote:
> really, do we all need to have to read your email response to
Lyndon?
> this is the kind of junk that makes cave tex NOT worth reading.
>
>
> --- On Thu, 5/14/09, mark gee [email protected]> wrote:
>
> From: mark gee [email protected]>
> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are
Now Online!
> To: "Lyndon Tiu" [email protected]>, [email protected]
> Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009, 10:44 PM
>
> Yea, give me my paper copy too. Mark Gee NSS #49625
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: Lyndon Tiu [email protected]>
> To: [email protected]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:47:26 PM
> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are
Now Online!
>
> Quoted from a caver:
> > As I stated before I want both paper and electronic copies, so
what
> > does
> > that make me? irresponsibly responsible? Or Responsibly
irresponsible?
>
>
> Quoted from a caver:
> > that if a
> > member does want to receive a hardcopy TxCvr, that they are
> > environmentally or fiscally irresponsible.
>
>
> You can have either the hard copy and/or electronic or you can
have both. You don't have to feel bad about anything.
>
> So what if someone calls you names. You keep your chin up and give
> them
> the finger.
>
>
> -- Lyndon Tiu
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
> For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
While this is a hot topic, and it's ok to disagree with anyone's
opinion on this, it is unnecessary to jump on anyone for speaking
their opinion. If you don't like a posting on here, a simple tap of
the delete key takes care of the problem.
Everyone needs to learn that trick, it makes the internet so much nicer.
Charles, the normally quiet list administrator
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Bat Illness Spells Trouble For Farmers Disease Killing Off Primary
Natural Predator Of Pests By _Jenny Jones_
(http://www.rocktownweekly.com/articles_writers.php?uid=75&fp=news_details&aid=37711&chid=1)
HARRISONBURG - Although they are largely misunderstood, bats are
considered among the most beneficial animals in the United States.
So the recent discovery of a rapidly spreading fatal disease called
White-Nose Syndrome in Virginia bats, possibly including those in Endless
Caverns
near New Market, has biologists and elected officials scrambling to save
the small-winged mammals.
The syndrome takes its name from the ring of white fungus that often
appears on infected bats' snouts and other body parts. Bats infected with the
disease also typically have low body fat, dehydration and demonstrate
abnormal behavior.
Scientists don't know what's causing the disease that has wiped out
hundreds of thousands of bats since first showing up in the northeast about
three
years ago. They also don't know how the disease is spread or how to stop
it from infecting more bats, which, in most cases, are disease resilient.
The country's first cases of WNS were identified in several caves near
Albany, N.Y., in 2006. The disease has since spread to neighboring states,
including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Vermont and West Virginia, wiping out
hundreds of thousands of bats in the region.
In Virginia, the first cases of WNS were confirmed earlier this year in
Breathing Cave in Bath County and Clover Hollow Cave in Giles County.
A couple of weeks ago, biologists discovered more bats with symptoms of
the disease in a cave in Bland County, on a building in Cumberland County and
in Endless Caverns, a show cave in Rockingham County.
Biologists sent samples of those bats to a national testing facility, but
the results are not back yet.
No. 1 Predator Of Pests
While many people think the mysterious deaths of thousands of bats may not
affect them, the animals in fact play a vital role in the environment and
are a key ally in the fight against crops-eating pests, according to Rick
Reynolds, a wildlife biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and
Inland Fisheries.
Bats are the main predator of night-flying insects, with one bat eating
anywhere from 600 to 1,000 mosquitoes and other insects in just one hour,
according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
In addition to eating many backyard pests, bats are chief predators of
many insects that destroy crops, including cucumber beetles, cotton bollworms
and June bugs, Reynolds said.
"All of these are pests that cause a lot of damage to agricultural crops,"
said Reynolds, who is based in of the department's Verona office. "A lot
of our bats are out there feeding over agricultural fields."
If white-nose syndrome wipes out large numbers of the state's bats, as
biologists expect it will, farmers likely will have to resort to using more
chemicals to control pests, a measure that could prove quite costly.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar,
25 senators and congressmen, including Virginia Sens. Jim Webb and Mark
Warner, outlined the role bats play in pest control.
"A single bat can easily eat more than 3,000 insects in a night and an
entire colony will consume hundreds of millions of these crop-destroying and
disease-carrying pest every year," the letter states. "Bats reduce the need
for pesticides, which cost farmers billions of dollars every year and are
harmful to human health."
In addition to being a primary predator of insects, bats have a highly
evolved sense of hearing called echolocation, which involves sending out
sounds that bounce off of objects and emit back to the bats.
>From those sounds, bats can determine the size of an object, how far away
it is, its texture and how fast they are traveling, all in a split second,
according to Defenders of Wildlife.
By studying bats' hearing capabilities, scientists have developed
technologies such as echolocation sonar and aircraft radar as well as
navigation
aids for the blind, Reynolds said.
Scientists also have made advancements in artificial insemination by
studying reproduction in bats, some of which demonstrate delayed fertilization
or delayed implantation.
Studying "what these animals do and how they operate has given us insight
into other areas," Reynolds said. "They're unique animals."
So far, WNS has been found in three species of bats in Virginia, including
the Little Brown, Northern Long-Eared and Eastern Pipistrelle, and will
likely spread to other species soon, Reynolds said.
"The way this thing is progressing, if it continues at the rate that it's
going, we're probably going to lose species of bats here in the East," he
said. "We'll be talking about millions of bats once it starts getting into
the southern states."
In an effort to ward off the spread of the disease, 11 states, including
Virginia, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have committed $1.37
million to research WNS, according to a release from the Pennsylvania Game
Commission.
Also, in their letter to Salazar, the region's senators and congressmen
have asked that his department provide funding for federal and state wildlife
agencies to address the issue.
"As the bats emerge from their hibernation caves, it is vital that
researchers have the resources in place to conduct tests this summer," the
letter
states. "We must do everything we can to stop the spread of WNS or it will
continue to spread across the country, decimating our bat populations."
_http://www.rocktownweekly.com/news_details.php?AID=37711&CHID=1_
(http://www.rocktownweekly.com/news_details.php?AID=37711&CHID=1)
**************Recession-proof vacation ideas. Find free things to do in
the U.S.
(http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/domestic/national-tourism-week?ncid=emlcntustrav00000002)
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
3000 insects per night? Is that correct? Assuming a 12 hour night...that's
eatting one insect every 14.4 seconds.....
Or 1000 Mosquitos every hour? That's 1 mosquito every 3.6 seconds...
I know bats are beneficial....but these numbers just don't seem
plausible.....could one of our bat experts confirm these numbers?
Sent from my iPhone
On May 13, 2009, at 1:14 AM, [email protected] wrote:
Bat Illness Spells Trouble For Farmers
Disease Killing Off Primary Natural Predator Of Pests
By Jenny Jones
HARRISONBURG - Although they are largely misunderstood, bats are considered
among the most beneficial animals in the United States.
So the recent discovery of a rapidly spreading fatal disease called White-Nose
Syndrome in Virginia bats, possibly including those in Endless Caverns near New
Market, has biologists and elected officials scrambling to save the
small-winged mammals.
The syndrome takes its name from the ring of white fungus that often appears on
infected bats' snouts and other body parts. Bats infected with the
disease also typically have low body fat, dehydration and demonstrate abnormal
behavior.
Scientists don't know what's causing the disease that has wiped out hundreds of
thousands of bats since first showing up in the northeast about three years
ago. They also don't know how the disease is spread or how to stop it from
infecting more bats, which, in most cases, are disease resilient.
The country's first cases of WNS were identified in several caves near Albany,
N.Y., in 2006. The disease has since spread to neighboring states, including
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Vermont and West Virginia, wiping out hundreds of
thousands of bats in the region.
In Virginia, the first cases of WNS were confirmed earlier this year in
Breathing Cave in Bath County and Clover Hollow Cave in Giles County.
A couple of weeks ago, biologists discovered more bats with symptoms of the
disease in a cave in Bland County, on a building in Cumberland County and in
Endless Caverns, a show cave in Rockingham County.
Biologists sent samples of those bats to a national testing facility, but the
results are not back yet.
No. 1 Predator Of Pests
While many people think the mysterious deaths of thousands of bats may not
affect them, the animals in fact play a vital role in the environment and are a
key ally in the fight against crops-eating pests, according to Rick Reynolds, a
wildlife biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Bats are the main predator of night-flying insects, with one bat eating
anywhere from 600 to 1,000 mosquitoes and other insects in just one hour,
according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
In addition to eating many backyard pests, bats are chief predators of many
insects that destroy crops, including cucumber beetles, cotton bollworms and
June bugs, Reynolds said.
"All of these are pests that cause a lot of damage to agricultural crops," said
Reynolds, who is based in of the department's Verona office. "A lot of our bats
are out there feeding over agricultural fields."
If white-nose syndrome wipes out large numbers of the state's bats, as
biologists expect it will, farmers likely will have to resort to using more
chemicals to control pests, a measure that could prove quite costly.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, 25
senators and congressmen, including Virginia Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner,
outlined the role bats play in pest control.
"A single bat can easily eat more than 3,000 insects in a night and an entire
colony will consume hundreds of millions of these crop-destroying and
disease-carrying pest every year," the letter states. "Bats reduce the need for
pesticides, which cost farmers billions of dollars every year and are harmful
to human health."
In addition to being a primary predator of insects, bats have a highly evolved
sense of hearing called echolocation, which involves sending out sounds that
bounce off of objects and emit back to the bats.
From those sounds, bats can determine the size of an object, how far away it
is, its texture and how fast they are traveling, all in a split second,
according to Defenders of Wildlife.
By studying bats' hearing capabilities, scientists have developed technologies
such as echolocation sonar and aircraft radar as well as navigation aids for
the blind, Reynolds said.
Scientists also have made advancements in artificial insemination by studying
reproduction in bats, some of which demonstrate delayed fertilization or
delayed implantation.
Studying "what these animals do and how they operate has given us insight into
other areas," Reynolds said. "They're unique animals."
So far, WNS has been found in three species of bats in Virginia, including the
Little Brown, Northern Long-Eared and Eastern Pipistrelle, and will
likely spread to other species soon, Reynolds said.
"The way this thing is progressing, if it continues at the rate that it's
going, we're probably going to lose species of bats here in the East," he said.
"We'll be talking about millions of bats once it starts getting into the
southern states."
In an effort to ward off the spread of the disease, 11 states, including
Virginia, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have committed $1.37 million
to research WNS, according to a release from the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Also, in their letter to Salazar, the region's senators and congressmen have
asked that his department provide funding for federal and state wildlife
agencies to address the issue.
"As the bats emerge from their hibernation caves, it is vital that researchers
have the resources in place to conduct tests this summer," the letter states.
"We must do everything we can to stop the spread of WNS or it will continue to
spread across the country, decimating our bat populations."
http://www.rocktownweekly.com/news_details.php?AID=37711&CHID=1
Recession-proof vacation ideas. Find free things to do in the U.S.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Howdy Y'all,
I know that the ICS in Kerrville is fast approaching and that many of us are
up to our eyeballs in planning for that. However, the Texas Cavers Reunion
is also on the horizon.
I just confirmed the date for the 2009 Texas Cavers Reunion for the third
weekend of October. That makes the date October 16-18. The location will
be at Paradise Canyon again, just outside of San Antonio on the scenic
Medina River. I have not updated the website yet but will do so soon.
Please mark your calendars and I hope to see all y'all there!
Allan
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
While it doesn't look like any of the sexy cavers I have seen recently, it is
suppose to be 36,000 years old:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/05/oldestsculpture/
Puppy
=:-)
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
There is evidence that my great great great grandfather lived in a cave
in Louisiana. Below is info my uncle sent me. Anyone know of any caves in
this area?
I checked and have the following information in my database with
reference to your father's great great grandfather's family and the family
"cave". I don't think I have any more at home, but will check.
Abraham David Buckalew is believed to have accompanied his
brother-in-law, James Antley to Louisiana in the fall of 1852 and probably paid
for his land in 1852 at the same time as their land patents were issued on the
same date in 1858.
One of his grandson's, Arthur E. Antley, recalled that at one time the
family lived in a cave near Downsville (near Farmersville), Louisiana. The
land sold by his wife and children in 1892 was located about 1 1/2 miles east
of Downsville.
Downsville is north of I-20 between Ruston and Monroe. On State road
145 It is apparently on the Lincoln and Union Parish line.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Silent Springs
Is it too late to save Hill Country water?
Forrest Wilder | _May 15, 2009_
(http://www.texasobserver.org/toc.php?iid=305) | Features
Sixty feet below the shimmering surface of Jacob’s Well, an artesian spring
that for thousands of years has pulsed iridescent blue-green water from
the Trinity Aquifer to the surface, a sophisticated instrument measures the
spring’s vital signs. The results are beamed almost instantaneously to the
Internet.
These days the gauge detects only the thinnest of pulses.
On a hot April afternoon, David Baker, an artist turned conservationist,
stands on the limestone lip gazing down into Jacob’s Well. Earlier, Baker had
checked the spring flow: an anemic five gallons per second. “At that
point, the spring has basically stopped flowing,” he says.
Old-timers recall—and spotty historical data confirm—that the spring used
to have enough of a head to jet swimmers back to the surface after they
cannonballed in. Today the pulse is barely a dying man’s heartbeat. In 2000,
Jacob’s Well stopped flowing for the first time in recorded history.
Its source sapped, Cypress Creek came to a trickle in Wimberley, and the
state added it to a list of streams with impaired water quality. “I think it
was a big wake-up call for the community,” Baker says. “If the well is the
canary in the coal mine for the aquifer, then the canary was choking and
about dead.”
The spring ceased flowing again in October 2008. As this story went to
press, it appeared Jacob’s Well had gone to zero a third time.
The cessations confirm what water experts have been warning: that Jacob’s
Well is under immense stress from a development boom over the Trinity
Aquifer, the primary source of water for much of the Hill Country.
The trouble is hardly limited to Jacob’s Well or the Hill Country.
Groundwater scarcity is a looming crisis across Texas. Because of drought,
overpumping, and the loss of natural recharge, state water planners estimate
that
groundwater available for pumping will decrease 22 percent by 2060. The
state’s laissez-faire water laws and cumbersome regulatory apparatus have done
little to help.
Conservationists see bad omens in what’s happening to Jacob’s Well and the
Trinity Aquifer. Water is particularly fragile in the Hill Country,
designated by the state in 1990 as a priority groundwater management area. In
no
other region of the state, perhaps, are groundwater and surface water so
closely intertwined. The science is clear: If the aquifers decline, they take
the springs, seeps, streams, rivers, and lakes with them.
“By continuing to increase our use of groundwater, we cut off the lifeblood
of the Hill Country,” says Laura Marbury, a water policy specialist with
the Environmental Defense Fund of Texas. “We’re trading off increased
development for the flow of the creeks and rivers out there. And payback will
be
harsh.”
Jacob’s Well is tucked in an out-of-the-way corner of a semideveloped
subdivision near the Hill Country burg of Wimberley, a one-time backwater of
cedar-choppers and hardscrabble ranchers that's now giving way to
suburbanization. No signs mark its location. I attended Wimberley High School
for four
years, visiting Jacob’s Well a handful of times, and still had a hard time
finding it. As a sort of omphalos of the region, Jacob’s Well is not so
much forgotten as obscured.
Its importance is undeniable, though. Locally, the spring provides the bulk
of flow for Cypress Creek, an exquisite, bald cypress-lined stream that
forms Blue Hole, one of the state’s top swimming holes. It was saved from
residential development by the village of Wimberley and a local philanthropist
in 2003.
“Jacob’s Well is Cypress Creek,” Baker says.
Cypress Creek, in turn, feeds the Blanco River—a shallow, flash-flood-prone
stream with a fluted limestone bottom and majestic white bluffs flanking
mostly undeveloped ranch land. During the drought of record in the '50s,
Jacob’s Well kept the Blanco from drying up below Wimberley. The Blanco flows
into the San Marcos River, which itself meets the Guadalupe River near
Gonzales and rolls down to San Antonio Bay.
Conservationists and water experts stress the wondrous interconnectivity of
surface and groundwater in Texas, especially in the porous Hill Country.
Consider: At certain leaky spots, the upper Blanco disappears underground,
slipping into the aquifer via a fault. The river may even follow the fault
lines (geologists aren’t sure) east to the Cypress Creek watershed,
providing flow to Jacob’s Well, which in turn pushes water into Cypress Creek
and
the Blanco River. Downstream, the Blanco River again “loses” water to the
aquifer.
Adding to the system’s complexity, some of that Trinity water—about 64,000
acre-feet per year—moves underground into the Balcones Fault Zone portion
of the Edwards Aquifer, the source of the perennial San Marcos Springs.
Those springs are the headwaters of the San Marcos River, a main source for
the Guadalupe River in times of drought.
Texas water law recognizes very little of this. As a drop of water moves
between the ground and the surface, it passes through two different legal
spheres. As surface water, it’s owned by the state but perhaps allocated, in
the form of a water right, to a rancher, farmer, or city. As groundwater, it’
s the property of the landowner.
Jacob’s Well confuses this artificial distinction. The spring is not just a
headwater; it’s literally a spy hole into the Trinity Aquifer. Divers have
mapped the underwater cave over a mile underground, pushing through a
series of chambers deep into the limestone Cow Creek formation of the Middle
Trinity. Eight have died in the pursuit of the unknown.
“Jacob’s Well is the expression of the aquifer on the surface,” Baker
says. “What it’s indicating to us is that the whole system is stressed.”
Recent research suggests that Jacob’s Well is highly sensitive to pumping,
especially in the recharge zone northwest of the springs, an area of small
sinkholes (believed to connect to Jacob’s Well) and cedar-choked hills that
developers are carving into residential lots. The main development is
called The Ridge at Wimberley Springs.
“I think we’ve reached the limit, yet more homes are going in as we speak,”
Baker says. “And that’s the dilemma.”
Since founding the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association in 1996, Baker
has been fighting to keep developers from chewing up Jacob’s Well. At the
moment, the watershed association is tied up in a lawsuit with a group that
wants to build RiverRock, a “residential resort”—spa, “lagoon-style” pool,
gourmet restaurant—a few hundred feet from Jacob’s Well. RiverRock wants
to build a road through the Jacob’s Well Preserve. Baker hopes to stop the
development altogether, claiming that it would pump 15 million gallons per
year, which could have a direct impact on flows at the springs.
Baker is also at loggerheads with Aqua Texas, a for-profit water utility
that serves Woodcreek, an incorporated subdivision of 1,500 people just south
of Jacob’s Well. Last year, almost half the water Aqua Texas pumped from
its main well was wasted because of crumbling infrastructure. Worse, when
the company turns on the pumps at that same well, the discharge at Jacob’s
Well drops a corresponding amount.
In 2005, the watershed group scored a victory by consolidating the four
parcels of private land that abut the spring. With a $3 million grant from
Hays County, the group is creating the Jacob’s Well Preserve, a 55-acre
natural area that eventually will be open to the public.
This effort will be for naught if something isn’t done to manage the
Trinity. Hays County is one of the fastest-growing counties in a fast-growing
state. In 2000 the population was a little under 100,000; in 2060, it’s
expected to reach 500,000. In the past few years, the county has been the scene
of intense squabbles between anti-sprawl activists, drawn largely from the
Wimberley area’s large retired population, and pro-growth interests. (See “
Dateline: Hays County,” Nov. 14, 2008.)
Add water to the mix. The Trinity Aquifer, which is much less rechargeable
than the Edwards, provides the vast majority of groundwater for the area. “
There’s a lot of straws pulling from an aquifer that doesn’t have a lot to
give,” says Ron Fieseler, the coordinator for Groundwater Management Area
9, which covers a swath of the Hill Country.
(Part II to be emailed separately as CaveTex cannot accept a file larger
than 30 kb)
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