Dorothy Taylor Project Manager Roy Koenig Metadata Specialist Larry Cheever GIS Analyst Erin Sellers GIS Analyst

Protecting the Water Sources of Jacob’s Well, Wimberley, Texas Prepared by Taylor Made Mapping

Contents Abstract – 1. Introduction and problem statement – 2. Data – 2.1 Boundaries feature dataset – 2.2 Geology feature dataset – 2.3 Hydrology feature dataset – 2.4 River Rock feature dataset – 2.5 Transportation feature dataset – 2.6 WVWA feature dataset – 2.7 Aerial photos – 3. Methods – 3.1 Watershed analysis – 3.2 Overlay analysis

Contents Continued… 4. Results – 4.1 Cartographic Results – 4.2 Analysis 5. Discussion – 5.1 Cartographic Results – 5.2 Analysis 6. Conclusion 7. References Appendix I: Metadata Appendix II: Contributions of each member

Introduction Karst Landscape Jacob’s Well- primary source for Cypress Creek and for Wimberley’s famous Blue Hole swimming area. Drought and Population growth stress on the aquifer Fact: Jacob’s well stopped flowing in Summer of 2000 GIS used to link, layer, analyze, and display Jacob’s Well 3 maps series at different scales for the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association (WVWA)

Introduction Jacob’s Well, a karst spring in Wimberley, Texas is the primary source of water for Cypress Creek and for the Village of Wimberley’s famous Blue Hole swimming area. However, recent drought and population growth have placed tremendous stress on the aquifer that supplies the spring and has affected its water flow. Our goal was to assist WVWA, in minimizing the water taken away from Jacob’s Well in two objectives. 1)A series of maps that WVWA can use to display and educate the importance of Jacob’s Well to local authorities, policy makers, and the public. 2)Identify parcels located along the fault lines and inside the Blanco River watershed.

GIS was used ArcHydro tools were used to create an accurate representation of the Blanco River watershed. ArcGIS was used to create various maps displaying Jacob’s Well and surrounding areas. A.Integrated parcel files for the four Counties in the watershed, including Hays, Comal, Blanco, and Kendall Counties. B.We discovered that the fault lines within the Blanco River watershed were located only in Hays and Comal Counties; therefore, the greatest potential for protective actions should be concentrated in Hays and Comal Counties. C.Negative impacts of the water flow include - water wells located near fault lines and a nearby potential vacation development. D.Maps to educate the public - the relationship between Jacob’s Well and Blue Hole in nearby Wimberley, the WVWA property and the location of Jacob’s Well and two recharge features located on the property.

Data 2.1 Boundaries feature dataset  BlancoParcelsinWS, ComalParcelsinWS, KendallParcelsinWS, HaysParcelsinWS, NearbyCounties, SelectedParcelsComal, and SelectedParcelsHays. 2.2 Geology feature dataset  Fault 2.3 Hydrology feature dataset  AquaTexasWellLocations, Blanco Watershed, Bluehole, CanyonLake, EdwardsTrinity, JacobsWell, NearbyRivers, RechargeFeatures, and WimberleyWellLocations

Data Continued… 2.4 River Rock feature dataset  RiverRock_buildings, RiverRock_Houses, RiverRock Property, and RiverRock_Roads 2.5 Transportation feature dataset  Hays Roads and Major Nearby Roads 2.6 WVWA feature dataset  WVWA property and WVWA_trails 2.7 Aerial photos  Driftwoodsw and Roughhollowse

Methods Objective: compile data in order to organize and display information from various sources for WVWA. Analysis: Identify parcels of land that would most affect the amount of water that reaches Jacob’s Well, so that the WVWA can purchase development rights of those tracts. Watershed and Overlay analysis: Necessary to meet criteria  Within the Blanco River watershed  Least 20 acres  Located on fault lines and  Within the Trinity Aquifer. Most maps produced: Displaying locations of important water features including major rivers, water well locations, major and minor aquifers, along with faulting and the WVWA property.

Methods 3.1 Watershed Analysis A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) served as the base data for the watershed retrieved from the USGS. A watershed polygon was created using ArcHydro tools. Determining water direction and accumulation was crucial to delineating the Blanco River Watershed. Each of the steps listed below were used to represent the delineation the Blanco River watershed. 1. DEM Reconditioning 2. Fill Sinks 3. Flow Direction 4. Flow Accumulation 5. Stream Definition 6. Stream Segmentation 7. Catchment Grid Delineation 8. Catchment Polygon Processing 9. Drainage Line Processing 10. Adjoint Catchment Processing 11. Drainage Point Processing

Methods 3.2 Overlay Analysis Steps listed below:  Selected parcels within the watershed from four contributing counties including Hays, Comal, Blanco and Kendall  Symbology of the parcels changed to represent a graduated color map depicting area  Added Fault lines  Selected parcels of land comprised of at least 20 acres located on a fault line within the Trinity Aquifer Creation of Intermediate and Large Scale Maps Produced in order to display other important features including water well locations, Jacob's Well, Cypress Creek, Blue Hole, fault lines, WVWA property lines and the potential River Rock development.

Results 4.1 Cartographic Results  Blanco River Watershed  Jacob’s Well and Blue Hole  Water Well Locations and Fault lines  Aquifer Research at Jacob’s Well Natural Area  Potential Development Near Jacob’s Well Natural Area 4.2 Analysis  Parcels Identified Based on Criteria (160) Table 1. The Ten Largest Identified Parcels

Ten Largest Identified Parcels IdentificationSize (Acres)County R174845,999 Hays R174882,599 Hays R154622,465 Hays R920591,708 Hays R183081,029 Hays R Hays R Hays R Hays Comal R Hays

Discussion 5.1 Cartographic Results  -Primary Goal: To produce a series of maps which will help WVWA educate people on the importance of protecting Jacob's Well.  -True success in accomplishing this can only be evaluated on the basis of how well these maps enhance people's understanding of the issues.  -No time for proper usability testing  -Cartographic Intuition, Dr. Giordano, and WVWA's input

Discussion Continued… 5.2 Analysis Results  -Parcel Overlay Analysis resulted in 160 parcels all in Hays and Comal counties  -Development Rights Purchases  -Land Owner Education

Conclusions -Taylor Made Mapping feels that the maps produced are of high quality and that they adequately convey the messages for which they were designed parcels identified in Comal and Hays Counties -Therefore, it is our opinion that WVWA use this information to target its:  -Development Rights Purchases  -Land Owner Education

References Davidson, Bruce. “Water Struggle Getting Deeper.” San Antonio Express News. 29 October, sec. Views. p. 2H. Hanson, John A. and Ted A. Small Geologic framework and hydrogeologic characteristics of the Edwards aquifer outcrop, Hays county, Texas. Water-Resources Investigations Report Austin, TX: U.S. Geological Survey. Maidment, David and Oscar Robayo Watershed and stream network delineation. adapted from ArcHydro Tools Tutorial prepared by ESRI. Center for Research in Water Resources. University of Texas at Austin.

Appendix II. Contribution of Each Team Member Erin Sellers:  Contacted the Counties and gave us the instructions on how to get the data.  Obtained data from three of the four counties.  Proposal: Logo & Graphics, Cover Page, Title Page, and PowerPoint Presentation  Created two maps, one being the Water Well locations map and the other showing the relationship between Jacob’s Well and Blue Hole.  Final Deliverables: Final poster, 11x17 maps  Final Report: Data, Methods, and PowerPoint

Appendix II. Contribution of Each Team Member Larry Cheever:  Obtained the bulk of the data collected.  Downloaded most of the shapefiles used from various Internet sources.  Organized the data on the shared drive and compiled four County parcels.  Create the Blanco River watershed using ArcHydro tools  Proposal: Budget, Timetable, Timeline, Conclusions and he contributed to final editing  Progress Report: Final editing  Created the main map showing the watershed and parcels in each of the four Counties  Created the map showing the selected parcels with fault lines running through within Hays and Comal Counties.  Final Deliverables: Geodatabase, created DVD containing all of the work  Final Report: Results, Discussion and Conclusion of the final report as well as its compilation and formatting.

Appendix II. Contribution of Each Team Member Roy Koenig:  Proposal: Summary, Purpose, Scope and References  Retrieved data from the City of Wimberley  Collected GPS Coordinates for Aqua Texas and City of Wimberley Well locations and created the point file.  Responsible for the Metadata  Gathered information on the files that were created.  Final Report: References and Metadata

Appendix II. Contribution of Each Team Member Dorothy Taylor:  Main contact with the WVWA representative, Mike Pape.  Helped determine the client’s needs and organize the project, by defining the objectives in the proposal.  Proposal: data table, methodology and implications  Progress Report: Progress report, power point and presentation.  Created and installed the website.  Final Deliverables: Created the proposed River Rock Development map and the WVWA Site map  Responsible for the overall organization and schedule of the project, making sure that everyone had a job to do and that was compiled together and completed on time.  Final Report: Introduction and Problem Statement and Appendix 2