It’s been more than four years since Texans near and far had the chance to dip their toes into Jacob’s Well, but every time there’s major rainfall, we can get a glimpse of what the beloved swim spot used to look like. Despite the sudden surge, it’s far from enough for the Hays County hot spot to reopen.
Hays County Parks and Natural Resources shared a video update of Jacob’s Well on Thursday, July 16, showing a noticeably increased flow from the well. The video was taken as the Hill Country was seeing rising waters at the Guadalupe River, Comal River and Canyon Lake due to flash flooding and heavy rains across the area.
“Flow is temporarily up after yesterday’s rainfall,” Hays County Parks and Natural Resources wrote in the post. “This is likely due to the amount of rain that fell in our recharge zone, near Johnson City. The recharge zone is the area of land where the Trinity Aquifer touches the surface. In this region, water can easily enter the aquifer where it is stored for later. Some of this water will ultimately flow out of springs like Jacob’s Well.”
At its peak, Jacob’s Well was reporting a discharge of 23.1 cubic feet per second at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 15. However, the discharge has slowed to 8.49 cubic feet per second as of 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Prior to the floods, it was reporting a discharge of less than 1 cubic foot per second, where it has remained since it closed to swimming in 2022…