Water company files paperwork for its Orland bottling plant (California)

Published 10/07/2009
Crystal Geyser Water Co. filed paperwork Monday to move forward with plans to build a sparkling water bottling plant in this Glenn County city.

Crystal Geyser recently approached the city with plans to build a 112,500 square-foot bottling plant at 1507 County Road 200 on 10.35 acres of land zoned for this type of use. The plant would use 160 acre-feet of water a year from a well on the property.

One acre-foot of water is 325,851 gallons, or enough water to sustain two California households for a year. The city has said the proposed bottling plant would use about the same amount of water used for 50-60 acres of orchard crops.
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Eureka Springs’ food, festivals and family fun keep tourists entertained (Arkansas)

Published August 20, 2009 - The Jopling Globe
Founded in 1879, Eureka Springs’ first claim to fame was the healing water that flowed from the natural springs that gave the town its name.

“The town was founded on the healing properties of the local waters that come from places like Blue Spring,” Rundel said.
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Salt Springs still open (Pennsylvania)

Published June 24, 2009
Salt Springs Park in Susquehanna County is the only park in the state system that is managed by a nonprofit organization: the Friends of Salt Springs Park. In recent years, the state has provided limited, one-time funding for special projects, such as repair of a flood-damaged stream. The Friends have raised their own funds for day-to-day operations and maintenance. Many of the improvements to the grounds and facility have resulted from the efforts of dedicated volunteers, funded by membership and community support.
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Beat the heat: Camp Tonkawa Springs offers cool, spring-fed recreation (Texas)

Published June 28, 2009 - The Lufkin Daily News
Camp Tonkawa ...only went public in 2001.

In the early part of the 20th Century the Tucker family bought the land and began leasing it to the Boy Scouts in the 1930s, who used it as a summer camp until the 1980s.

During that time Ozarka Spring Water leased the springs and used the crystal clear streams for their trademark bottled water. After the eldest Tucker died, his children decided to make Camp Tonkawa open to the public so everyone could enjoy it.

Camp Tonkawa's official Web site at http://www.camptonkawa.com or call (936) 564-8888
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A dozen great Texas swimming holes (Texas)

Published June 26, 2009 - The Dallas Morning News
Krause Springs, Spicewood
Ask any five people to name the most beautiful swimming hole in Texas, and all of them will name Krause Springs. A 20-foot, spring-fed waterfall cascades over a fern-bedecked ledge into a clear, blue-green pool. Hanging onto a rope swing, you arc out over the water and splash into the cool pool (a constant 70 degrees). Krause Springs is open all year for camping and swimming.

Little-known fact: The campground has 32 springs.

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Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve, Travis County:
Spring-fed Hamilton Creek becomes a 50-foot waterfall as it launches itself off rocks into the lovely natural pool, edged by a sandy beach and shaded by a cave-like overhang.

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Balmorhea State Park pool, Toyahvale:
It may be the biggest swimming pool you've ever seen. The V-shaped, 77,000-square-foot pool was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s in the foothills of West Texas' Davis Mountains. The crystal-clear, 74-degree, untreated waters of San Solomon Springs gush through the two-acre pool at the rate of a million gallons an hour.

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Barton Springs Pool, Austin:
This tree-shaded oasis is a favorite summertime site for cooling off – really cooling off. Flowing through the 1,000-by-125-foot pool every day are 27 million gallons of spring water at a goose-bump-inducing 68 degrees


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Silent Springs (Texas)

Published May 15, 2009
Jacob’s Well, an artesian spring that for thousands of years has pulsed iridescent blue-green water from the Trinity Aquifer to the surface.

...spring flow: has slowed to an anemic of five gallons per second which means that the spring has basically stopped flowing.

The trouble is hardly limited to Jacob’s Well or the Hill Country. Groundwater scarcity is a looming crisis across Texas. Because of drought, overpumping, and the loss of natural recharge, state water planners estimate that groundwater available for pumping will decrease 22 percent by 2060.
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