I鈥檓 pretty sure I learned about aquifers in a middle school classroom during a science unit on the water cycle. But, like most people, I鈥檝e entirely forgotten what I learned or didn't pay close attention.
But in the last few years, since I started covering Hays County, I鈥檝e heard the term countless times: How a or how to supply a growing community. But what exactly are aquifers? And how do they allow water from the sky to end up in our faucets?
Let's start with the basic definition: An aquifer is an underground store of water. Sometimes we use that water for everyday life. The estimates about 55% of Texans get their water from aquifers.
Here's what you need to know about aquifers if you live in Central Texas.
Where does the water go?
There are about a dozen major aquifers in the state, the main ones in Central Texas being the Trinity Aquifer and the Edwards Aquifer.
Water goes into the ground through caves, sinkholes and cracks. These 鈥渞echarge zones鈥� are like the aquifer's personal fill-up area where water can easily fall through. They could be on top of an aquifer or could be miles away. Finally, the water makes its way all the way down to a hole-filled rock layer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like Swiss cheese made out of stone,鈥� said David Baker, executive director of the nonprofit . He said this Swiss cheese layer is hundreds of feet underground, sandwiched between other layers of earth. The water gets trapped there and starts to build up.
鈥淔ifteen stories below us, there鈥檚 this鈥� river,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淎nd that's kind of hard to visualize, right?鈥�
As more and more water builds up, so does the pressure. Baker said it鈥檚 like a balloon ready to burst at any moment 鈥� and then it does. Water flows from the rock layers and fills up beloved watering holes, including Barton Springs and Jacob鈥檚 Well.
鈥淚t's really magical when it happens, 鈥� he said. 鈥淭hose 68-degree waters coming out 鈥� it's just such a dream to jump in there.鈥�
When the water stops flowing
So what happens when water isn鈥檛 flowing into this Swiss cheese layer? One community in the Texas Hill Country is all too familiar with this.
In the City of Wimberley, the Trinity Aquifer has been the talk of the town since Jacob鈥檚 Well stopped flowing for the in 2000. Since then, it's happened six more times, including in 2022 and 2023.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been experiencing one of the worst droughts ever," said Katherine Sturdivant, education coordinator for the Hays County Parks Department. "We got about half the rain we should have got in 2022. We got about three-quarters of the rain that would be average for 2023."
The less rain that fills up the aquifer, the lower the water pressure in the rock layer, so less water flows out and into Jacob鈥檚 Well.
Baker said this cycle where water levels fluctuate is normal and happens in the Trinity Aquifer all the time. However, more water is being pumped out of the aquifer than can be replenished. This is happening because more and more people are moving to the Hill Country and building wells that pull water from the aquifer, Baker said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like a balloon that's losing pressure," he said. "As you poke more holes in it, the pressure's going out of it. The last eight months we saw too much pumping, not enough rainfall. So we didn't see any flow here.鈥�
The Trinity Aquifer is having a hard time keeping up, but Baker said he believes knowing what an aquifer is is the first step in protecting it.
We鈥檙e not the only ones who rely on aquifers
Although the City of Austin gets , a portion comes from the Edwards Aquifer. This aquifer is the same one that feeds into Barton Springs. Its deep, dark depths are home to the Austin Blind Salamander.
鈥淭his aquifer here is really the only place in the world where these particular species live,鈥� environmental scientist Nathan Bendik said. He鈥檚 been studying the salamanders for about 16 years with Austin鈥檚 Watershed Protection Department.
When water flows through openings in the ground it can carry pollutants from yards, roadways and construction sites directly into the aquifer. Bendik said the health of the salamander population can be a pretty good indicator of how the aquifer is doing.
鈥淲hether a pipeline burst or a tanker truck spilled on a highway, if that got into the recharge [zone] and came underground, it can very quickly wipe out a large portion of the salamander population,鈥� he said.
Bendik said he and his team work hard to protect and study this delicate system.
鈥淭here's a whole variety of organisms that live in the springs here,鈥� he said.
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