Texas drought leads to Jacob's Well suspending 2024 swim season
The Wimberley swim spot has been closed for almost two years.
By Gabriel Romero
May 1, 2024
Jacob's Well.
Photo Courtesy of Hays County Parks Department
May marks the start of the summer season for many swim spots in the Texas Hill Country, but the drought has hurt those plans. While a popular lake has recently hit historic lows, an iconic Wimberley swimming hole that used to have flowing, clear water is still shut down after almost two years.
The 2024 summer swim season at Jacob's Well Natural Area has been suspended indefinitely, according to a Jacob's Well Natural Area-Hays County Parks Facebook post.
"The summer swimming season, which typically extends from May 1 through Sept. 30 of each year, will be suspended due to below-average spring flow and water levels," the post reads.
Hays County officials will re-evaluate water conditions every month to figure out if swimming at Jacob's Well could become possible again, the post noted.
Jacob's Well was closed on June 29, 2022, due to "high levels of bacteria, pollutants, and poor visibility conditions," according to a MySA report. One year ago, the county had to continue to keep the swimming spot closed for the "foreseeable future." Despite getting a boost from massive rainfall in January, Jacob's Well has remained closed for swimming.
How long until swimmers are allowed to go back into Jacob's Well? Rain would help, said Hays County Parks Education Coordinator Katherine Sturdivant.
"We would first need a lot of rain," Sturdivant explained in an email. "That rain would need to fall in the recharge zone of the Trinity Aquifer to make an impact on Jacob's Well flow."
Before allowing swimming, the parks department would want to see continuous flow being sustained at a normal level. Unfortunately, the amount of rain the area has received, which caused the flow to briefly spike up, has plummeted back down towards zero, Sturdivant said.
As of 9 a.m. Thursday, May 2, Jacob's Well is at zero cfs, the average around this time of the year is typically five to six cfs or higher, Sturdivant said in the email.
"This spring has been busy, but I expect that just like last summer, visitation will drop off soon," Sturdivant said. "We have taken a financial hit, however, it is not something that the Parks Department is worried about. Fortunately, the money made from the swim season isn't the only thing keeping us going."
The Texas drought hasn't been easy on the Texas Hill Country swim spots. Canyon Lake passed an all-time low water level in April, according to a MySA report. On April 22, Canyon Lake was reported as being 59% full, which was the lowest the lake had been since the dam was built in the 1960s. The popular lake saw a huge drop in water levels from over a year ago when it was reported at 76.4% full.
May 1, 2024
