Despite having survived the drought of the 1950s, the spring has gone dry several times over the past dozen years. In
particular, during the dry conditions of July 2000, Jacob’s Well ceased to fl ow for the fi rst time in recorded history,
degrading fi sh, wildlife, and water quality (Cypress Creek Project n.d.).
A developer that has owned property in the vicinity of the spring for about a decade wants permission to pump more
underground water from the Trinity aquifer, the same one that feeds Jacob’s Well, for a growing subdivision and a new
golf course. But an environmental group and the local watershed association says more pumping could dry up the
spring, thus robbing Cypress Creek, a tributary of the Blanco River, of water. (Price 2013)
A regulatory board decided in a 3–2 vote to allow the developer to have a permit to pump as much as 160 million
gallons as part of its plan to construct a golf course adjacent to new homes to be built on a subdivision just north of
Wimberley