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A startling drop of 124 feet Jn the water level of a test well at Brackeltvile in a month's time was reported Thursday by Edwards Under ground Water District. The change, in sharp con trast to the well’s total his toric fluctuation range of 71 feet, produced a new alltime record Jow reading. Cessation of How from the famed Las Moras springs in mid-July brought a water’ emergency to Bracketville, a town of 1,500 west of San An tonio. ‘The city has since drilled and! et into operation a new water’ well. Heavy = Irrigation -northwest, of Brackettville brought on’ by drought conditions and the city’s own “increased use of water contributed to the de cline, said McDonald D. Wein ert,, Edwards Underground Water District engineer and general manager. The situation, he said, shows what can happen when area growth and water use continue and there is no control over water withdrawals. “There is no way one per son can protect himself against another person,” he said. Because of an underground barrier east of Brackettville, the situation there does not di rectly affect the great Ed wards limestone reservoir sup plying San Antonio and other area communities. Weinert said, He expressed some concern, however. “Its awfully close, he said, and if the situation continues in the area of the divide sepa rating “Brackettville and more eastern portions of the reser voir formation, “nobody knows what could happen.” Until this summer, the Brackettville lest well’s level had varied between a high of 1103 feet (on July 28, 1940) and a low of 1,095.9 feet (Aug. 10, 1953). On July 36, a new low of 1,091.3 feet was recorded. On Aug. 20, the most recent reading date, the record was, broken again with a measure ment of 1,078.9 feet, Weinert re ported, Since the new R Brackettville city well is not far from the recording well, the tendency of a pumping well to create a “hole” in the water supply beneath it has contributed to the lowered well reading, Wein ert noted. If a well pumps out water faster than it can be replaced by flow from the surrounding water-bearing formation, what water engineers call a cone of depression is formed. Water level in the Brackettville area beyond this “hole” could there fore be higher than at the re cording well.
Newspaper Details
San Antonio Express
San Antonio, Texas, US
Fri, Sep 04, 1964
Page 33
Full Page
Clipped by
Dee D.
USA 16 Jun 2026
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