Dorothy TaylorProject Manager

Roy KoenigMetadata Specialist

Larry CheeverGIS Analyst

Erin SellersGIS Analyst

Protecting the Water Sources of Jacob’s Well,

Wimberley, Texas

Prepared by Taylor Made Mapping

ContentsAbstract– 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 Analysis5. Discussion– 5.1 Cartographic Results– 5.2 Analysis6. Conclusion7. ReferencesAppendix I: MetadataAppendix 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 datasetBlancoParcelsinWS, ComalParcelsinWS,

KendallParcelsinWS, HaysParcelsinWS, NearbyCounties, SelectedParcelsComal, and SelectedParcelsHays.

2.2 Geology feature datasetFault

2.3 Hydrology feature datasetAquaTexasWellLocations, Blanco Watershed,

Bluehole, CanyonLake, EdwardsTrinity, JacobsWell, NearbyRivers, RechargeFeatures, and WimberleyWellLocations

Data Continued…

2.4 River Rock feature datasetRiverRock_buildings, RiverRock_Houses, RiverRock

Property, and RiverRock_Roads

2.5 Transportation feature datasetHays Roads and Major Nearby Roads

2.6 WVWA feature datasetWVWA property and WVWA_trails

2.7 Aerial photosDriftwoodsw 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 watershedLeast 20 acresLocated 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.

Methods3.1 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 Reconditioning2. Fill Sinks3. Flow Direction4. Flow Accumulation5. Stream Definition

6. Stream Segmentation7. Catchment Grid Delineation8. Catchment Polygon Processing9. Drainage Line Processing10. Adjoint Catchment Processing11. Drainage Point Processing

Methods3.2 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 ResultsBlanco River WatershedJacob’s Well and Blue HoleWater Well Locations and Fault linesAquifer Research at Jacob’s Well Natural AreaPotential Development Near Jacob’s Well

Natural Area4.2 Analysis

Parcels Identified Based on Criteria (160)Table 1. The Ten Largest Identified Parcels

Ten Largest Identified Parcels Identification Size (Acres) County

R17484 5,999Hays

R17488 2,599Hays

R15462 2,465Hays

R92059 1,708Hays

R18308 1,029Hays

R15925 894Hays

R90755 882Hays

R17746 822Hays

96281 686 Comal

R15641 671 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.

• -160 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, 2006. sec. Views. p. 2H. Hanson, John A. and Ted A. Small. 1995. Geologic framework and hydrogeologic characteristics of the Edwards aquifer outcrop, Hays county, Texas. Water-Resources Investigations Report 95-4265. Austin, TX: U.S. Geological Survey. Maidment, David and Oscar Robayo. 2002. 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 ReferencesRetrieved 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 MetadataGathered 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