UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Harold L. Ickes, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

W. C. Mendenhall, Director

Water-Supply Paper 660

ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY

TEXAS

BY 

ALBERT G. FIEDLER

Prepared in cooperation with the

TEXAS STATE JBO&Rtf.OF WATER ENGINEERS 

AND STATE%EPARTMENT OF HEALTH

UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON: 1934

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - - - Price 15 cents (paper cover)

CONTENTS

Page

Abstract.-_-_____--_---_-__-----_------_------------------------_ 1

Introduction____________________________________________________ 3

Location and general features of the area _______________---_-- 3

Scope of investigation_______________-____-_-__-_____---___-- 4

Acknowledgments. _--_-__-___-_---___-_----_------_--_-------- 5

Climate_________-_______-__-_----_____-_--_--_-__----__----_--- 5

Surface features_________________________________________________ 6

Geology __ . _- -- ______ 7

General features...._________________ ___________________ 7

Lower Cretaceous (Comanche) series_____---_-----__---_-----__- 8

Trinity group__________________-__-----_----_-__----___- 8

"Basal sands"_____________ ________________ 8

Glen Rose formation__________________________________ 9

Paluxy formation______-_-___-____-___________________ 9

Fredericksburg group__-____--_-__----_----__----___---_-_- 10

Walnut formation_________-_____-___-__-___-_______--_ 10

Comanche Peak limestone_____--___--__-__----_-----__- 10

Edwards limestone__----_-___-____----_--_--__-----__- 10

Quaternary alluvium________________________________________ 11

Ground water,________________________________________________ 11

Definition of terms-_-__-_--___----_-_-_-___---_-----__--_-____ 11

Sources of ground water______________.__ ______________________ 13

Springs..------_____-___----__---_-_----__---__--_-__--_-__-_ 15

History of development of artesian water..__-_-__---__-_________ 16

Head of artesian water _____________________________________ 18

Original head_____________________________________________ 18

Head in 1929-30__________. _________________ 19

Decline in head_______ ______-___--_-__.__-__-_-_____ 23

Fluctuations in head____________________________________ 25

General relations________--_-_____-______-.____________ 25

Interference of wells____-_____--_____-________________- 25

Seasonal fluctuations____-___________-__.______________ 27

Fluctuations due to rainfall__________________________ 28

Influence of atmospheric pressure-______________________ , 29

Area of artesian fiow____-_----_--____-----~___________________ 30

Quantity of water discharged by wells___----_---__---_-_-_______ 32

Total capacity of wells___________________________________ 32

Discharge at the surface-___-_-_____--____-_-_-____________ 32

Quantity used beneficially________________________________ 33

Quantity wasted__________________________________________ 34

Surface waste______________________________________ 34

Underground waste _________________________________ 35

Evidences of underground leakage_________________ 35

Packer tests__________________________________ 35

Current-meter tests______-_-__--_-------_____- 36

Pressure tests_______________________________ 38

Seepage into Paluxy Creek_. ___________________ 40

Quantity of underground leakage______________ 42

Prevention of waste_____-______-______________._______ 42

in
IV CONTENTS

Ground water Continued. Page

Recharge___ ________________________________________________ 42

General conditions._______________________________________ 42

Method of estimating recharge____________________________ 43

Permeability of aquifers_____________________ _--__--______ 46

Test on sand samples---------------------------------- 46

Determination of permeability by field tests_-_-_-_-__--__ 47

Yield of aquifers as estimated from permeability tests.____ 52

Quality of water.___-_____-__-___________--__-__-_--_---_---_- 54

Chemical quality______.-______-_-_-_-___-__---_---_____- 54

Sanitary quality, by Chester Cohen._______-__-------___-___ 58

Construction and repair of wells____-_---_-----__---_----------- 61

Present methods of construction-___________________________ 61

Suggestions for improvements in casing and finishing.__._____- 63

Repair of wells_______-__________-___-_--__-__-_-_-__-___ 67

Plugging of wells------------------------------------------ 69

Recommendations for conservation of artesian water._____________ 72

Recasing and repair of wells..-----------------------------. 72

Plugging abandoned wells--__-------_---_------------------ 73

Draft of large wells___-----________-___-___---_--_- 73

Enforcement of existing statutes-.---_-_--_--_-------------- 73

Well records__-_____________________-_-_.__-__-____---_-_-_----- 75

Index___--__-_-__-______________--_-___--_____-_-_--__---_-_-_- 85

ILLUSTKATIONS

Page

PLATE 1. Map showing location of Somervell County, Tex., and outcrop

of "basal sands" of the Trinity group____-_-_____--_--___ 4

2. Map showing generalized geology of Somervell County, Tex___ 4

3. A, Outcrop of "basal sands" near Thorp Springs, Tex.; B,

Recording pressure gage attached to flowing well.._-_______ 4

4. Map of Glen Rose, Tex., and vicinity showing location of wells

and area of artesian flow________-_---__--___-_-------___ 20

5. Graphs showing fluctuations in artesian head in a representative

well and precipitation at Cleburne and Dublin, Tex_ ______ 28

6. Map of Somervell County showing location of wells and area

of artesian flow__--___--_-------------------_---_------ 28

7. Diagrams showing hydraulic gradient along sections indicated

on plate 4._______-_________.-_____-_________-_____--_- 28

FIGURE 1. Geologic section along line A-A', plate 1 _______________ 14

2. Hypothetical section showing the relation of the decline in

artesian head and the width of the area of artesian flow_-_ 31

3. Graph showing recovery of head after well is closed--_______ 39

4. Map showing location of wells used for determining permeability by Thiem method------.-.--------------------- 49

5. Sketch showing method of casing and finishing well to separate the water of different aquifers.____--___-_--__---_-- 64
ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY,

TEXAS

By ALBERT G. FIEDI^ER

ABSTRACT

Somervell County is part of the Grand Prairie region of north-central 

Texas. An excellent supply of artesian water is available from the Trinity 

reservoir at no great depth. The first flowing well in Somervell County was 

drilled in 1880, and the first flowing well in Glen Rose, the county seat, was 

drilled in 1881. Since 1880 more than 500 wells have been constructed, probably more than half of them prior to 1900. Many of these early wells have 

been abandoned, either because the well hole caved in as a result of the 

absence or deterioration of casing or because the wells ceased to yield water 

by natural flow.

The artesian water has always been used chiefly for domestic supply and 

for watering stock. Only a comparatively small area of farm land is now 

irrigated. The quantity used to supply the needs of tourist camps and outdoor swimming pools forms a relatively large percentage of the total amount 

withdrawn from the artesian reservoir in Somervell County.

The artesian water is contained chiefly in the permeable sandstone beds 

tbe " basal sands " of the Trinity group. Some shallow wells of small capacity are supplied by water in the crevices and solution channels in limestone 

that apparently is near the base of the Glen Rose formation and probably 

derives its water by leakage from the underlying Trinity reservoir. The 

wells encounter from one to three aquifers, the number depending upon their 

depth and location. At and around Glen Rose, the area in which most of the 

flowing wells are concentrated, the first aquifer is the creviced portion of the 

limestone, which is encountered at about 50 feet but does not everywhere 

yield water. The second and third aquifers, both of which are part of the 

"basal sands" of the Trinity group, are much more uniform and persistent; 

the second is encountered at Glen Rose at depths of 100 to 135 feet, and the 

third at depths of about 275 to 330 feet.

The artesian reservoir is supplied by water that falls as rain or snow upon 

the outcrop of the " basal sands " on the higher lands west and north of Somervell County. These permeable beds dip eastward and southeastward beneath 

the county and are covered by the less permeable beds of the overlying Glen 

Rose formation. As the water that reaches the zone of saturation percolates 

down the dip of the beds it is confined under artesian pressure, and wells that 

penetrate these beds at lower altitudes yield water by natural flow.

Originally the artesian pressure was sufficient to raise the water in tightly 

cased wells in the northwestern part of Somervell County to a maximum 

altitude of about 750 feet above sea level, but at Glen Rose the original artesian head was probably not more than 710 feet. From the information avail-
2 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

able it would appear that the original head of the water in the upper aquifers was not nearly as great as that of the lower aquifer. The head has 

declined generally throughout the county. At Glen Rose in June 1930 the 

artesian head of the water from the deepest aquifer of the Trinity reservoir 

was about 639 feet above sea level, and the head of the water from the upper 

aquifers was about 15 feet less. The decline in head still continues, but at a 

very much slower rate than formerly. With the decline in head the size of 

the area of artesian flow has decreased, though in recent years the shrinkage 

has been comparatively little.

The draft from the artesian reservoir in Somervell County during the summer is estimated at about 1,000,000 gallons a day, distributed as follows: 

Domestic use, 150,000 gallons; stock use, 60,000 gallons; recreation pools, 

250,000 gallons; irrigation, 180,000 gallons; and waste, not including underground leakage, 360,000 gallons. In winter the daily draft is probably about 

370,000 gallons less than in summer.

The 360,000 gallons a day permitted to flow from wells without being used 

for any beneficial purposes is an unnecessary drain upon the artesian reservoir. The head of many of the flowing wells in Glen Rose and vicinity is 

already low, and a further decline of only a few feet will greatly reduce 

their flow or cause them to stop flowing. Surface waste can be controlled 

by repairing all defective wells and placing valves on them to control the flow. 

Such a program of conservation is so simple and relatively so inexpensive 

that its execution should not be longer delayed. Definite assurance cannot 

be given that the stopping of surface waste will prevent all further decline 

in head, but it will certainly result in considerable benefit to the water users 

of the area.

Considerable study has been made of the problem of underground leakage 

from wells, which may be determined by three general methods. The pressure 

method consists essentially of noting, by means of a pressure gage, differences 

in the shut-in pressure of otherwise similar wells. In the meter method a 

specially constructed current meter is lowered into the well, and the difference 

in the velocity of the water at various depths serves to locate the leaks and to 

afford a measure of the quantity of water that is leaking away. In the packer 

method a string of pipe is lowered into the well and a packer is seated at the 

bottom; if, as a result of this installation, the flow and head are increased, it is 

evident that water was being wasted underground. In Sommervell County 

the use of the pressure method was not considered practicable because the 

artesian wells are subject to great mutual interference and many of them cannot 

be closed for lack of valves. The exploration of the wells by either the meter 

or the packer method was seriously handicapped on account of obstructions in 

the casings and the manner in which the wells are finished at the top. The 

available information, therefore, is not complete enough to warrant an estimate 

of the total underground leakage in the county, but this leakage does not 

appear to be excessive at present.

The quality of the water obtained from a depth of more than 50 feet is 

satisfactory for domestic use, but the shallow ground water in the surflcial 

deposits is at least in part polluted and hence unsuitable for drinking and 

cooking. Shallow, insufficiently cased artesian wells and unplugged abandoned 

wells offer opportunity for the entrance of this polluted water into the artesian 

supply. Any further lowering of the artesian head will increase the danger of 

such pollution.

The studies made indicate that the present draft upon the aquifers in Somervell County is about equal to the safe yield of these aquifers in the county.
LOCATION AND GENERAL FEATURES OF THE AREA 3

The following program for conservation of the artesian water is recommended:

1. All wells that are wasting water at the surface should be repaired and 

equipped with valves, which should be closed whenever the water is not 

needed. All useless flow, including unnecessary flow to recreation pools during 

the winter, should be stopped. This can be effected by enforcing existing 

laws of the State relative to the waste of water and the casing of wells.

2. The users of large quantities of artesian water, especially from wells 

located on low-lying land, should for the public good be encouraged to reduce 

the draft as much as practicable.

3. Wherever a new well is to be drilled to replace a defective well or one that 

no longer yields sufficient water, the owner should be required to have all old 

wells on the property properly plugged or repaired, so as to prevent all surface 

and underground waste.

4. Every new well should be tightly cased to the water-bearing bed that 

supplies the well. If the casing cannot be seated to make a watertight seal it 

should be properly cemented. This procedure is recommended to prevent leakage of water from the lower aquifer into the upper aquifer with consequent 

loss of pressure, also to prevent the possible entrance of pollution into the well.

5. To safeguard the purity of the artesian water supply it is very desirable to 

abolish all privies, cesspools, and septic tanks and to substitute a modern 

system of sewage disposal.

6. Because of the scanty information as to the quantity of underground 

leakage and the particular wells that are leaking it is not considered advisable 

at this time to recommend a general program of plugging and recasing defective wells. After proper steps have been taken to eliminate the surface waste 

more definite information upon the source and amount of the underground 

leakage can be obtained by drilling several test wells and making detailed 

observations on the effects of improper construction and insufficient casing.

INTRODUCTION

LOCATION AND GENERAL FEATURES OF THE AREA

Somervell County lies in north-central Texas and is bounded on 

the east by Johnson County, on the south by Bosque County, on 

the west by Erath County, and on the north by Hood County. It 

has an area of about 184 square miles and is next to the smallest 

county in the Stater- According to the 1930 census, the county had

a population of 3,0:

west of Fort Wort!

6. Glen Kose, the largest town and the county

seat, is practically i i the center of the county, about 42 miles southand had in 1930 a population of 983.

The higher lands in the southern part of^the county reach an 

altitude of about 1,300 feet, and the lowlands in the valley of the 

Brazos River, in the eastern part of the county, have an average 

altitude of about 560 feet. The eastern part of the county is drained 

by the Brazos River, and the remainder chiefly by the eastwardflowing Paluxy Creek and the southeastward-flowing Squaw Creek 

which enter the Brazos River at a point about midway between the 

north and south boundaries of the county.

No railroads cross the county, the nearest railroad point being 

at Granbury, Hood County, which is 15 miles north of Glen Rose
4 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMEBVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

on the Fort Worth & Bio Grande Railway. Glen Rose is connected 

by improved roads with Cleburne, Johnson County, on the east, 

and with Stephenville, Erath County, on the west.

The soil is generally shallow and in the valleys is chiefly a reddishbrown sandy clay. The slopes of the hills and mesa-capped uplands 

are generally stony, owing to the breaking down of the many thin 

ledges of limestone and alternating layers of yellowish clay. The 

prevailing timber growth is chiefly post oak and cedar, with some 

pecan trees along the streams. Native grasses furnish good feed 

for cattle during periods of abundant rainfall.

About one-fourth of the county is devoted to crop lands, the agricultural development being confined chiefly to the broader stream 

valleys and to the tablelands at higher altitudes. The principal 

crops are cotton, corn, hay, oats, wheat, and feed. The raising of 

livestock and poultry is also an active industry. By reason of its 

location along the picturesque Paluxy Creek and the occurrence of 

flowing artesian wells, Glen Rose has been extensively developed as 

a resort community. A number of sanatoriums are located here, to 

which people come from all parts of the State for medical treatment, 

rest, and recreation.

SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION

The development of the area, which has been most active in the 

vicinity of Glen Rose, is based chiefly on the fact that flowing artesian water may be obtained from wells drilled in this locality. Because of the large number of wells drilled and the resultant draft 

upon the artesian reservoir, many of the early wells have ceased to 

flow and the artesian head has declined markedly on all the wells. 

This condition has not been unnoticed by the residents of the area, 

and at the instigation of a number of public-spirited citizens a 

ground-water investigation was made possible through the enactment of legislation which provided an appropriation for groundwater surveys to be expended under the supervision of the Texas 

State Board of Water Engineers.1 This board entered into a cooperative agreement with the United States Geological Survey to make 

the investigations, and the writer was assigned to the study of the 

ground-water problems of Somervell County.

Field work in the area was done chiefly during November and 

December 1929 and a short period in June 1930. The geology of 

the region was not studied in detail except with respect to such features as have a bearing upon the general problem of conserving the 

artesian water. The general investigation comprised a study of the

1 41st Texas State Legislature, 2d called sess., ch. 37 (H. Bill 16), approved July 8 

1929.
TT.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

99'

WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 660 PLATE 1

97'30'

BRECKENRIDGE

STEPHEN

P A L 0 P-II'N T 0 i

E A \S T L A

30

30'

97"3O'

MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF SOMERVEIJL COUNTY, TEX., AND OUTCROP OF "BASAL SANDS" OF THE

TRINITY GROUP.

Outcrop shown by stippling.

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

HOOD CO.

WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 660 PLATE 2

97°4O'

Pa! u xy

EXPLANATION

Not a source

of water

in this county Edwards limestone

Comanche Peak limestone

Walnut formation

(Furnishes no water supplies of consequence)

Paluxy formation

(Yields small supplies to we/is in uplands

in eastern and southwestern parts of the

county and to dug we/Is in its outcrop area

in north-central part of the county)

Base from maps of Godley 

and Gran bury quadrangles, 

U.S.Geological Survey

Geology by W.N.Winton based on map by 

R.T.Hill, U.S.Geologicaj Survey Twenty-first 

Annual Report,aRd independent field work. 

Hydrology by A.G.Fiedler

3 Miles

Glen Rose formation

(Generally yields small supplies of artesian 

water from crevices in limestone in the lower 

port of the formation. Underlain by "basal sands] 

chief source of artesian water in Somerve/l 

County. Generally contains two water-bearing beds, 

ihe lower bed being the more productive)

MAP SHOWING GENERALIZED GEOLOGY OF SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEX.
v t«

,1 ; 
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 660 PLATE 3

A. OTTCROP OF "BASAL SAIVDS" NEAR THOR1' SPRINGS, TEX.

B. RECORDING PRESSURE GAGE ATTACHED TO FLOWING WELL.

CLIMATE 5

use and waste of artesian water, the safe yield of the artesian reservoir, underground leakage of wells, methods of constructing wells, 

and other related features necessary for the formulation of a conservation program. It was beyond the scope of this investigation to 

visit all the wells in the county that tap the artesian aquifers. Because of the lack of adequate base maps the location of some of the 

wells outside of Glen Rose and vicinity (see pi. 6) may be somewhat 

in error, but such information as was obtainable regarding the wells 

is given in the table of well records on pages 76-84. The investigation was conducted under the general supervision of Oscar 

E. Meinzer, geologist in charge of the division of ground water, 

United States Geological Survey, who, with John A. Norris, chairman of the Texas State Board of Water Engineers, had made a preliminary study of the artesian problems in the area in September 

1926. A preliminary report summarizing the results of the investigation was issued in 1930.2

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledgments are due to John A. Norris, chairman, C. S. 

Clark, and A. H. Dunlap, of the Texas State Board of Water Engineers, for helpful cooperation throughout the investigation; to 

Chester Cohen, of the Texas State Department of Health, for the 

section of this report on the sanitary quality of the waters; to C. E. 

Ellsworth, district engineer, United States Geological Survey, Austin, 

Tex., for the use of recording gages and other equipment supplied 

by his office; to W. N. Winton, Texas Christian University, for furnishing a geologic map of Somervell County and other information 

on the geology of the county; to J. B. Winder, chief engineer, city 

of Dallas, for samples of drill cuttings obtained from a well drilled 

by the city; to R. L. McAllister, mayor of Glen Rose, for information 

regarding the general problem of conservation; to the Lane & Sons 

Motor Co., for furnishing a car for the use of the writer while engaged in field work. Much information regarding the wells in the 

county was supplied by Perry Embree and T. W. Nickell, well drillers 

of Glen Rose. Acknowledgments are also due to Mr. Nickell for 

checking the list of wells published in this report.

CLIMATE

Somervell County lies in the northwestern part of the portion of 

the State classified by the United States Weather Bureau as central 

Texas. No Weather Bureau stations are maintained within the

1 Survey of the underground waters of Texas: U.S. Dept. Interior Press Mem., Feb. 16, 

1930 (mimeographed).
6 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

county, and the summary of climatic data given below is that for 

neighboring stations in the surrounding counties.

This section of Texas is subject to occasional sudden and great 

changes of temperature, which occur chiefly during the winter in conjunction with storms and cold waves that sweep at irregular intervals 

over the State. The winters are generally mild, with minimum temperatures not greatly below the freezing point, though at times temperatures near zero have been recorded. The summers are long and 

rather warm, but because the clear skies at night are conducive to 

active radiation the oppressive noonday heat is generally followed 

by pleasant nights. The annual snowfall rarely exceeds 1 or 2 

inches, and the snow does not remain on the ground for any great 

length of time.

The annual precipitation, as estimated from records obtained at 

stations in the surrounding counties, averages about 32 inches. The 

largest part of the precipitation normally occurs during the cropgrowing season. However, the distribution of the precipitation is 

rather erratic and is marked by extended wet or dry periods occurring 

at irregular intervals.

Summary of climatic data for stations in the vicinity of Somervell County, Tex.

IFrom U.S. Weather Bureau]

Station

Fort Worth, Tarrant County.... _____ . ____ ..--

Altitude 

above sea 

level (feet)

758

670

576

1,000

Mean annual precipitation 

(inches)

34.90

28.61

33.13

32.98

30.62

Mean annual temperature 

(°F.)

65.4

65.4

64.7

Mean annual snowfall 

(inches)

3.6

2.3

1.6

2.0

SURFACE FEATURES

Somervell County is situated in the heart of the Lampasas Cut 

Plain, in the Grand Prairie region of Texas. The valleys of Paluxy 

Creek, which runs from west to east, and the Brazos River, in the 

eastern part of the county, are cut deeply below the level of this plain. 

The southwestern part of the county, which rises to an altitude of 

about 1,300 feet, is capped by the hard Edwards limestone, and the 

valleys of Paluxy Creek and the Brazos River are developed in the 

softer underlying formations, which have been deeply eroded.

The subdivisions of the Lampasas Cut Plain that are most prominently developed in Somervell County are the Walnut Prairie, the 

Paluxy Cross Timbers, and the Glen Rose Prairie. The Walnut 

Prairie is not very extensive; it occupies only a narrow strip running east and west across the southwestern part of the county and
GEOLOGY 7

is coincident with the outcrop of the Walnut formation. Below the 

outcrop of the Walnut formation and parallel with Paluxy Creek 

is the somewhat wider and more prominent strip formed by the 

Paluxy Cross Timbers; it is identified by the deep sandy soil of reddish color and is characterized by growths of timber, largely post oak 

and blackjack. In the north-central part of the county near the 

boundary of Hood County the sands of the Paluxy formation are part 

of the wide plateau that extends westward in Hood County from the 

base of Comanche Peak and southward into Somervell County. The 

Glen Rose Prairie, which is seen so typically in the vicinity of Glen 

Rose, occupies a strip of varying width along the valleys of Paluxy 

and Squaw Creeks. Its soil has a rather characteristic brownishyellow color, and because of the breaking down of the thin lenses 

of limestone that alternate with the clay beds its surface is generally 

stony. The alternating beds of varying hardness produce the terraced type of topography with rather prominent wide benches. Adjacent to the streamways the Glen Rose formation makes rather steep 

bluffs and in places assumes a steplike character.

GEOLOGY

GENERAL FEATURES

The geology of Somervell County was not studied in detail during this investigation, and the following description, which is based 

largely on Hill's study of the Black and Grand Prairies,3 deals 

chiefly with the formations that have a direct bearing upon the problem' of ground-water conservation.

The formations exposed in Somervell County, with the exception 

of the alluvium, are of Lower Cretaceous (Comanche) age. From 

oldest to youngest they are the Glen Rose, Paluxy, and Walnut 

formations and the Comanche Peak and Edwards limestones. The 

" basal sands " of the Trinity group underlie the Glen Rose formation, but according to Winton (see pi. 2) they are not exposed in 

Somervell County. They are, however, reached by many artesian 

wells and are the chief source of water of the area. In general the 

Cretaceous formations in this area are fairly uniform and have an 

eastward dip. Information in regard to the water-bearing properties of the Paleozoic rocks that underlie the Trinity group was not 

obtained. From the meager information at hand it would appear 

that they are not probable sources of water supply for the county, 

and they are not considered in this report.

8 Hill, R. T., Geography and geology of the Blach and Grand Prairies, Tex.: U.S. Geol. 

Survey 21st Ann. Rept., pt. 7, 1901.
8 ABTESIAN WATEB IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

LOWER CRETACEOUS (COMANCHE) SERIES 

TRINITY GROUP

" BASAL SANDS "

The " basal sands " of the Trinity group underlie the entire county. 

They include beds of sand that form an excellent source of water 

supply and furnish most of the water for domestic and farm use 

in the county. At Glen Kose the wells enter the uppermost sand at 

 depths ranging from 100 to 135 feet and strike the lowest sand at 

' about 275 feet. As no deep wells were drilled in Somervell County 

during the course of the present investigation and no detailed logs 

are available, it is impossible to give a detailed section of the " basal 

sands." The following generalized log and the log of the well at 

the Somervell County courthouse are considered typical of conditions at and near Glen Kose. Both sections begin in the lower part 

of the Glen Kose formation; the " basal sands " probably begin at 

a depth of about 115 feet in the generalized log and about 100 feet 

in the log of the courthouse well. The two sections show about the 

average variation in the depth and thickness of the formations for 

this locality.

Generalized, log of well at Glen Rose 

[Supplied by Perry Embree from memory]

8oil- . . 

Rock, chiefly limestone; some water that rises under artesian pressure is enMixed shale and sand; some water that rises to the surface under artesian pressureThickness 

(feet)

10

5

100

35

20

25

85

30-35

Depth 

(feet)

10

15

115

150

170

195

280

310-315

Log of well at Somervell County courthouse, Glen Ro$e, Tex. 

[Supplied by R. L. Nickell, driller]

Clean, sharp water-bearing sand with interbedded lenses of shale and gravel 

Thickness 

(feet)

100

30

40 

90

31

Depth 

(feet)

100

130

170 

260

291

The " basal sands " of the Trinity group at Glen Rose contain 

generally two and in some places three beds of water-bearing sand. 

Each of these beds is composed of fine-grained, poorly cemented 

brownish to white sand. (See pi. 3, A.) The uppermost bed is 

apparently somewhat finer in grain than the lowermost bed and
GEOLOGY 9

generally is somewhat darker in color. The lowermost bed consists 

of moderately coarse white sand with well-rounded individual grains 

that are fairly uniform in size. The "basal sands" are readily 

drilled, and though they are only loosely cemented the uncased drill 

holes will generally remain open without serious caving.

The " basal sands " of the Trinity group are completely covered in 

this county, and wells drilled at the lower altitudes in the valleys at 

Glen Rose and vicinity produce flowing artesian water. On the high 

lands adjacent to the valleys the water rises in the wells under 

artesian pressure but does not overflow.

GLEN ROSE FORMATION

The Glen Rose formation is the lowest formation exposed in the 

county. It is composed of alternating beds of clayey or sandy 

limestone and thin sandy clay. The beds differ in thickness, but 

individual beds show a very uniform thickness where they can be 

traced along the outcrops. The stratification is conspicuous, and the 

weathering of the softer beds gives rise to typical stratum plains and 

terraces. The indurated beds are white, gray, or yellow; the clayeybeds are mostly yellow, red, or brown. According to Hill the Glen 

Rose formation has a total thickness of about 300 feet as measured 

in outcrops in the Brazos and Paluxy Valleys near Glen Rose.

The Glen Rose formation has the greatest areal extent of the formations exposed in the county. It occupies a strip 4 to 5 miles in 

width along the valley of Paluxy Creek across the central part of the 

county and another strip of similar width in the north-central part 

of the county from a point about 1% miles west of Squaw Creek to 

a point within about 2 miles of the eastern county line.

The Glen Rose formation in Somervell County is not completely 

confined by impervious beds, and, in general, wells drilled into it 

do not yield water that will flow by artesian pressure. However, 

in some areas wells ending ia what appears to be the Glen Rose 

formation yield flowing artoeian water. This water comes from the 

lower limestone of the formation, which contains either joints or 

solution channels, and it is undoubtedly derived by leakage from the 

uppermost of the underlying "basal sands." Such conditions are 

rather local.

PALUXY FORMATION

The Paluxy formation, which has a maximum thickness of about 

100 feet, is composed of fine-grained porous sand and bands of impure clay. The lower part of the formation is somewhat calcareous,, 

but the upper part is distinctly clayey. Its color ranges from gray 

to yellowish red or brown, according to the amount of iron staining.
10 ARTESIAN WATER IF SOMERVELL COTJFTY, TEXAS

The formation is exposed in a strip 1 to 2 miles wide parallel to 

Paluxy Creek on the south side of the valley; in a narrow belt on 

the east side of the Brazos River in the eastern part of the county; 

and in a lobelike area in the north-central part of the county between 

the valleys of Squaw and Paluxy Creeks, where it is the southern 

extension of the wide, high plateau that lies at the base of Comanche 

Peak in Hood County.

The Paluxy formation is not generally a source of water supply 

in Somervell County, as it is not sufficiently well confined to yield 

water by artesian pressure. However, several wells in the uplands in 

the eastern and southwestern parts of the county obtain from it supplies sufficient for farm use. A few dug wells in the outcrop area 

in the north-central part of the county also derive small supplies 

from this formation.

FBEDEBICKSBURG GROUP

WALNUT FORMATION

The Walnut formation in Somervell County rests upon the Paluxy 

formation. It is somewhat less than 100 feet thick and is composed 

of alternating beds of laminated clay and shell agglomerate. The 

upper part grades upward into the limestones of the Comanche Peak 

formation. The clayey portions of the formation are distinctly 

yellow, and in grading upward into the limestone the color changes 

to cream and bluish white. The Walnut beds crop out in a narrow 

strip parallel to the Paluxy formation on the south side of Paluxy 

Creek and in a small area in the eastern part of the county and 

extend over into Johnson County on the east. These beds do not 

furnish any water supplies of consequence.

COMANCHE PEAK LIMESTONE

The Comanche Peak limestone is white and chalky and is about 30 

feet thick. It crops out in the southwestern part of the county, 

where it forms the base of the upland surrounding Chalk Mountain 

and caps the Seven Knobs. The Comanche Peak limestone grades

upward without apparent break into the harder Edwards limestone.

i

EDWARDS LIMESTONE

Along the southwestern county line adjacent to Erath County a 

small hill known as Chalk Mountain is capped by the Edwards 

limestone. This formation is largely a firm white limestone of great 

durability and is distinguishable from the Comanche Peak limestone 

by the presence of flint nodules and characteristic fossils. It is not 

a source of water supply in this county, though it is a valuable source 

in other parts of Texas.
GBOTJND WATEB 11 

QUATERNARY ALLUVIUM

The alluvial deposits in Somervell County form a narrow strip 

along each side of the Brazos Eiver. The strip is generally less than 

a quarter of a mile wide and in some places only a few hundred feet, 

the width depending largely on the steepness of the adjacent river 

bank. The material is characterized by a distinctly reddish color, 

which stands out conspicuously in contrast to the lighter grayish 

colors of the bluffs and hillsides. It probably does not exceed 25 feet 

in thickness and is composed chiefly of red sands with considerable 

clay which has been eroded from the upper reaches of the Brazos.

GROUND WATER

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Beneath a certain depth, which varies greatly in different localities, 

there is, as a rule, a zone in the crust of the earth in which all the 

pores, cracks, and crevices in the rocks are filled with water under 

hydrostatic pressure. This zone is called the " zone of saturation." 

A large part of the water that enters the rocks beneath the surface 

is drawn down by gravity to the zone of saturation. This water in 

this zone is called ground water. The upper surface of the zone, 

where it forms a free water surface, is called the " water table." The 

water table, in most places, is not a plane surface but has " hills ", 

" valleys ", and " depressions " that are generally related but not 

comparable in form to the surface features above them. Where the 

water table is very far below the surface there may be no relation 

between its irregularities and those of the land surface above it. The 

water table does not remain at a constant level but fluctuates constantly from day to day, month to month, and year to year in 

response to local additions to or subtractions from the zone of 

saturation. It is generally highest in winter and lowest in summer. 

Ground water, like surface water, tends to move from higher to 

lower levels, though much more slowly.

The zone between the main water table and the surface of the 

earth is called the " zone of aeration." The interstices of the rocks 

in this zone are not (except temporarily) filled with water under 

hydrostatic pressure, but they may contain water that is held by 

capillarity. This water is not called " ground water."

Where an aquifer that slopes downward from its intake area is 

overlain by an impermeable bed, the water contained may be under 

pressure sufficient to cause it to rise in tightly cased wells drilled 

through the overlying beds into the aquifer. Such wells are called 

" artesian wells." The water that supplies them is said to be under
12 AETESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

artesian pressure and is called " artesian water." An artesian 

aquifer is simply an aquifer that yields water under artesian pressure, and the artesian aquifers of an area may be spoken of collectively as an " artesian reservoir." If the pressure is great enough to 

cause the water to rise above the surface of the ground at the point 

of issue, the well is called a flowing artesian well, and the area in 

which such wells occur is an area of artesian flow. An artesian 

slope is a geologic structural feature or combination of such features 

which causes or cause water to be confined under artesian pressure.

An aquifer is a formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that yields water to wells and springs in sufficient quantity to 

be of consequence as a source of supply. The terms " water-bearing 

formation ", " water-bearing bed ", and " ground-water reservoir " 

are used as synonyms for "aquifer." It should be noted that a 

water-bearing formation, as here defined and as the term is generally 

used, means a water-yielding formation one that supplies water to 

wells and springs and not a formation that merely contains water.

Intake or recharge of ground water comprises the processes by 

which water is absorbed and is added to the zone of saturation; these 

terms are not applied to the absorption of water that does not reach 

the zone of saturation. The terms " intake " and " recharge " are 

also used to designate the quantity of water that is added to the zone 

of saturation. An intake area of an aquifer is an area in which there 

is absorption of water that eventually reaches a part of the aquifer 

within the zone of saturation; the term is not applied unless the 

water reaches that zone. The catchment area of an aquifer comprises its intake area and, in addition, all areas that contribute surface water to the intake area.

The hydrostatic level, or static level, of the artesian water at any 

place is the level to which the water will rise in a tightly cased well 

drilled to the artesian reservoir at that place. If the static level 

is above the surface of the land at the place where the well is drilled 

the well will overflow, or if it is tightly cased and capped the 

artesian water will exert a pressure that can be measured by means 

of a pressure gage and is generally expressed in pounds to the 

square inch. To determine the height in feet above the point at 

which the pressure is measured to which the water from a flowing1 

well will rise if the casing is extended above the surface, the pressure 

in pounds to the square inch should be multiplied by 2.3.

The piezometric surface, or artesian-pressure surface, of an artesian aquifer is an imaginary surface that everywhere coincides with 

the static-level of the water in the aquifer. A piezometric surface of 

an artesian reservoir may be shown by means of lines drawn through 

points of the same static level.
GROUND WATER 13

The artesian pressure is lowered by natural leakage from the 

artesian* aquifers at points where they crop out or through the confining beds and; by withdrawal of water from artesian wells. The 

piezometric surface declines from the intake area to the area of 

escape. This decline is known as the hydraulic gradient and can 

be expressed in feet to the mile or in other units.

SOURCES OF GROUND WATER

Somervell County is part of the Grand Prairie region of Texas, in 

which the Trinity reservoir is an excellent source of ground-water 

supply. The geologic conditions in this section are especially favorable for the procurement of flowing artesian water, as the waterbearing beds underlie the whole county, and in a large portion of it 

at no great depth. The) " basal sands " of the Trinity group crop 

out in zones west and north of Somervell County. They dip eastward and southeastward beneath the county and are confined by the 

less permeable beds of the Glen Eose and overlying formations. 

(See fig. 1.) They receive their water supply by downward percolation from the precipitation that falls as rain or snow upon the 

outcrop area and from seepage losses "from streams that cross the 

outcrop area. As the water that reaches the zone of saturation percolates down the dip of the inclined strata of the Trinity group, it is 

confined under pressure, and at the lower altitudes in the vicinity 

of Glen Rose wells drilled into the water-bearing sands of this 

formation yield water by natural flow. As the "basal sands" 

of the Trinity group are confined throughout the county, wells 

drilled into these sands practically anywhere within the county encounter water that rises under artesian pressure. All the essential 

factors necessary for) the occurrence of artesian flows are therefore 

present. These factors have been classified by Fuller 4 as follows: 

(1) An adequate source of water supply, (2) a retaining agent 

offering more resistance to the passage of water than the well or 

other opening, (3) an adequate source of pressure.

The average dip of the Edwards limestone in the region between 

the Brazos and San Gabriel Eivers is given by Hill as about 17.5 

feet to the mile, and its direction in general is east-southeast. Owing 

to the thickening of the beds of the Glen Eose formation to the east, 

the " basal sands " of the Trinity group dip at a greater angle than 

the Edwards limestone. However, through Somervell County the 

thickening of the Glen Eose formation is not nearly so great as it 

is to the south and east, and the "basal sands" do not dip more 

than about 20 feet to the mile. In view of the absence of reliable

4 Fuller, M. L., Summary of the controlling factors of artesian flows: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 319, p. 316, 1908. 

62037 34 2
NW. 

1,500' ^ c

1,000' r^<r^^r^^^^^r

level ^?^:z^^-Z5l3=^~sS=~'^~

-500'- S^^jSiS^^

i.nnn' ^^

-j

3

Q

fc

^=-^^

^ ^^w^n::aas:::::=^;i^£

t

EXPLANATION

CRETACEOUS 

Comanche series ^ (Lower Cretaceous)

Fredericksburg group Trinity group

^=«^ >::^p':Vv ^K|^^ - ^-

Walnut formation Paluxy formation Glen Rose formation Basal sa

Hor zontal scale

s o loM

FIGURE 1. Geologic section along line A-A', plate 1. (Afte
GROUND WATER 15

-well records or samples of drill cuttings this estimate may be somewhat in error.

The denser portions of the lower part of the Glen Rose formation generally act as the upper confining bed for the Trinity reservoir in this locality. The upper, more permeable beds of the Glen 

Rose formation are nowhere sufficiently well confined within the

 county to afford artesian flows. In view of the accessibility of the 

" basal sands " of the Trinity group and the superior quality of the 

water from that source, the Glen Rose formation, though it contains 

some water, is not a valuable source of water supply in this county. 

Several wells in the vicinity of Glen Rose, however, yield flowing 

water which apparently comes from the base of the Glen Rose formation. Every such well was reported to have a noticeable effect 

on other deep wells in the vicinity, and the occurrence of flowing 

water from the base of the limestone in the lower part of the Glen 

Rose formation is undoubtedly due to leakage from the underlying 

Trinity reservoir. This water doubtless is contained in joints and 

possibly some solution channels in the lower part of the Glen Rose 

formation; otherwise the limestone is relatively impermeable.

The sands of the Paluxy formation, which lie above the Glen Rose 

formation, are also relatively porous and absorb considerable water 

in their outcrop area. In the north-central part of the county they 

furnish small supplies to shallow wells. Throughout the major valleys of Squaw Creek and Paluxy Creek they have been completely 

eroded away, but in the southern, southwestern, and eastern portions 

of the county they dip beneath the relatively impermeable beds of 

the Walnut and overlying formations. Their confinement in these 

. areas is not sufficient to supply water under artesian pressure, but 

they furnish moderate quantities of water to pumped wells in these 

upland portions of the county. In these localities the Paluxy sands 

are utilized only because of the much greater depth to the "basal 

sands " and because the surface altitude is so great that water will 

not rise high enough to flow in wells tapping the Trinity reservoir.

The formations above the Paluxy yield little water and are not of 

value in this county as sources of water supply.

SPRINGS

Along the banks of Paluxy Creek in Glen Rose small seepage 

springs issue from joints and crevices in the limestone. The discharge from the individual outlets is relatively small, and during the 

summer the outlets are more or less obscured by weeds and grasses, 

but in the winter the line of seepage is marked rather prominently by 

ice that forms along the banks. According to the increase in flow 

in this stretch of Paluxy Creek the total flow of the springs is 

estimated at nearly 100 gallons a minute.
16 ABTESIAN WATER IN SOMEBVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

Just below the Glen Bo.se-Cleburne Bridge over Wheeler Branch 

there is a spring flowing from the limestone along the right bank. 

The spring apparently issued originally from crevices in the limestone near the base of the channel, but at some places it was dammed 

up with concrete to make it flow at a higher level, so that it might be 

better utilized. Most of the concrete has been broken away, and the 

spring now flows from a point about 1 foot above the channel. The 

water as it issues from the spring has a temperature of 71° F., and 

the total flow is estimated at about 10 gallons a minute. The water 

from the spring supplies a few head of stock, but otherwise it is not, 

utilized and flows down Wheeler Branch for about 200 yards into 

Paluxy Creek. A partial analysis of the water from this spring isgiven on page 56.

Porter Springs are probably the largest springs within the county. 

They issue from crevices and solution channels in the limestone on, 

the right bank of the Brazos Eiver just above the highway bridge on 

the Glen Rose-Cleburne road. The springs have been developed tofurnish water to a swimming pool at the foot of the bank along theriver. The temperature of the water is 66° F., and the total flow isestimated at about 50 gallons a minute. A partial analysis of thewater from these springs is given on page 56.

HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT OF ARTESIAN WATER

Considering the large number of wells that have been drilled in 

Somervell County, it is rather surprising that so little reliableinformation is available regarding the development of artesian water 

in the county. So far as is known no reliable record of the wells has~ 

ever been kept. As the geology of the county is relatively simple and 

the water-bearing formations are rather uniform and persistent, the 

drilling of only a few wells furnishes the driller with a fairly good 

idea of the nature of the formations and the depths at which they 

are encountered; consequently, there has been no great incentive tokeep detailed records.

Hill 5 states that, in spite of the drilling of about 200 wells in the 

county up to the time of his report (1901), very little information 

concerning them was available. Hill's report dealt primarily with 

the geology of the region, and no attempt was made to cover the 

ground-water conditions in detail. The well drillers who constructed 

the first wells that tapped the artesian aquifers have since either died 

or moved from the locality, and because no comprehensive records 

have been kept, much information that has a vital bearing upon thepresent problems of the area has been lost.

6 Hill, R. T., op. cit., pp. 474-479.
HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT OP AETESIAN WATER 17

The first flowing well in Somervell County is said to have been 

drilled in 1880, and the first flowing well in Glen Rose in 1881. 

Some information on a few off the early wells is given in this report^ 

but in view of the absence of sufficient data it is impossible to give 

a detailed history of the development and note how the drilling of 

the wells with the consequent increased draft upon the artesian 

aquifers has contributed to the problems of today. Many of the 

wells drilled prior to Hillfe investigation have been abandoned 

because they have caved in as| a result of the absence of casing or the

 deterioration of the small amount of casing generally used. Others 

have been abandoned because the artesian head has declined to such 

a level that the wells no longer yield water by natural flow or because 

farming did not prove profitable and the lands were given over to 

cattle raising. Wells drilled since 1900 have been constructed 

largely in the vicinity of Glen Rose, where flowing artesian water 

can still be obtained.

The artesian water has always been used chiefly for domestic 

supply and for watering stock, though in the early days some irrigation was attempted. The use for irrigation was apparently never 

very great, partly because only wells of small diameter had been

-drilled and hence the quantity of water was limited, partly because 

the farmers were inexperienced in irrigation methods. Conditions 

in this respect have not changed greatly during recent years. The 

artesian water is still used chiefly for domestic supply and for watering gardens and stock, and only a relatively small acreage of farm 

land is irrigated. Though periodic attempts have been made, chiefly 

in Glen Rose and vicinity, to conserve the artesian water by capping 

the wells when they are not in use, such regulation has not proved to 

!be very successful, and after a short period of control the wells are 

again opened and the water permitted to waste. The owners of 

wells on high ground are the first to suffer from such waste of water, 

as the artesian head is no longer very great and decline in head 

reduces the flow of the border-line wells until their yield is of little 

value or else the flow ceases entirely.

Some of the domestic wells are fitted with covered wooden or concrete troughs through which the water is permitted to run. These 

troughs are used for preserving perishable food during the warm 

months, and though the water as it issues from the well has a relatively uniform temperature of about 70° F., the increased evaporation from the trough keeps the temperature in the food compartment 

lower than the temperature of the outside air.

In Glen Rose proper the largest individual user of water from 

wells supplied by the artesian aquifers is the Glen Rose Laundry. 

The draft upon the well supplying this establishment is not known,
18 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

but by reason of the nature of the use it is undoubtedly greater thanthat from any other well. Outside of Gten Eose the two largest usersof water within the county obtain water from artesian wells to supply 

outdoor swimming pools. One of these pools is an artificial one 

constructed of concrete; the other has been created by building a 

dam across a natural depression adjacent to Paluxy Creek.

Detailed information regarding the number, year of drilling, size,, 

depth, amount of casing, yield, and quality of water in the wells in 

Somervell County is not available. Of the nearly 200 wells in the 

county reported by Hill,6 70 were located within a radius of half a' 

mile of the courthouse and about 80 were flowing artesian wells. 

Most of these wells were apparently drilled during the period 1888- 

to 1897. During the present study a record of 223 wells in Glen 

Rose and the immediate vicinity (see p. 76 and pi. 4) was obtained. 

In addition meager information was gathered on 97 other wells (see 

p. 82 and pi. 6) scattered throughout the county. Though the information on all the wells is very incomplete, that recorded in Glen 

Rose and vicinity is considered rather accurate, but no record was 

obtained for many other wells scattered throughout the area. From 

the number of farms in the county, it is estimated that there are at 

least 200 additional farm wells not recorded in the list of wells on 

pages 76-84. These wells are practically all nonflowing wells that 

are pumped either by pitcher pumps, force pumps, or windmills tosupply water for general farm use.

In considering the problems of the artesian water supply of 

Somervell County it should be remembered that the Trinity reservoir,, 

which is the chief source of supply, does not lie wholly within the 

boundaries of the area here described. It underlies most of the 

Black and Grand Prairie region of Texas and is tapped in other 

parts of the State by many wells that furnish water for municipal 

and domestic supplies. Somervell County, however, is especially 

favored in location because flowing artesian water can be obtained 

here from relatively shallow wells.

HEAD OF ARTESIAN WATER 

ORIGINAL HEAD

The exact altitude to which the water from the lower artesian 

aquifers of the Trinity reservoir would rise in tightly cased wells in 

Somervell County before the artesian aquifers were tapped by manjr 

wells is not definitely known. Hill 7 states that it was about 750 

feet. His investigations were made at different times during theperiod from 1882 to 1900, and he gives no specific date in conjunctions

6 Hill, E. T., op. cit, pp. 474, 476.

7 Idem, p. 477.
HEAD OF ARTESIAN WATER

with this statement, but it is assumed that his observation is applicable to the period from 1897 to 1900. It has been impossible to check 

this figure definitely, but a study of the information obtained during 

the present investigation woulkl indicate that an altitude of 750 feet 

was probably the maximum that might be expected.

Because of the draft from , wells, leakage from natural openings 

such as springs, and the migration of water down the dip of the 

beds, the water undoubtedly ; did not rise as high in wells in the 

southern and eastern parts oil the county as it did in the northern 

part, which is closer to the outcrop of the artesian aquifers. The 

slope of the piezometric surface about 1897 is not known, but its 

direction at that time probably differed very little from the slope 

noted in 1930. For these reasons it is believed that the maximum 

altitude to which the water would rise in tightly cased wells at Glen 

Rose was probably not more than about 710 feet.

The water in wells that tap the upper aquifers of the Trinity reservoir is under lower pressure and would not rise nearly as high as that 

from the lower aquifers. The difference in head was probably as 

great at that time as it is at present. The greatest difference in 

head noted between the lower and upper aquifers in 1930 was about 

14 feet. If the difference was the same in 1897 as at present the 

w.ater from the upper aquifer would have risen to an altitude of 

about 695 feet at Glen Rose.

Definite information on the head of the water from the middle 

aquifer is not available because of the manner in which the wells 

are cased. Not all the wells encounter three aquifers in the " basal 

sands ", and it would appear that the head of the water from the 

middle aquifer, where present, was not much different from that 

of the uppermost aquifer.

HEAD IN 1929-30

During November 1929 and June 1930 a large number of observations were made of the pressure of flowing wells in Glen Rosei and 

vicinity. (See table, pp. 21-23.) The static level in these years was 

not nearly so high as in 1897; it varied according to location and 

was generally higher in the part of the county nearest to the outcrop 

of the " basal sands."

On November 15, 1929, the pressure in well 296 (see pis. 4 and 6> 

for location of wells) was sufficient to raise the water to an altitude 

of about 660 feet above sea level. This well is in the valley of 

Paluxy Creek about 1% miles west of Glen Rose and is somewhat 

apart from the area in which the draft from wells is the greatest. 

The pressure in well 168, at the rear of the Snyder Sanatorium, which 

supplies both the sanatorium and the Glen Rose Hotel, on June 13,
20 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMEEVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

1930, would raise the water to an altitude of 639 feet above sea level. 

The water of well 141 on June 14, 1930, would rise to an altitude of 

624 feet above sea level. On June 19, 1930, the static level of the 

water of well 274, at the Young Women's Christian Association 

Camp, 2*4 miles northeast of Glen Rose, was about 623 feet above 

sea level.

All these wells are reported to be drilled to the lowest aquifer of 

the Trinity reservoir. Thus it is seen that the static level of the 

water from the lowest aquifer ranged from 660 feet above sea level 

1% miles west of Glen Rose to 623 feet 2% miles northeast of Glen 

Rose. During the present investigation it was impracticable to make 

observations on the static level of the water in nonflowing wells 

drilled to the lowest aquifer, for such wells as were visited were 

 either found to be obstructed or were covered with pumps that prevented observations.

Several of the wells are cased with two separate casings, one of 

them seated above the first sand and the other seated with an improvised packer near the top of the lowest sand. In this manner 

water from two aquifers is obtained from the same well, the water 

from the first sand coming up through the space between the outer 

and inner casings and the water from the lower sand issuing from 

the inner casing. It is therefore possible to measure the pressure of 

the water in two different aquifers at the same well. However, because of the nature of the formation it is difficult to secure a watertight seat with the casing, and the variation in the pressure of the 

water from the two aquifers tapped by wells finished in this manner 

indicates that there is generally some leakage between the different 

aquifers.

Well 168, at the Snyder Sanatorium, has double casing. On June 

13,1930, the static level of the water of the upper aquifer at this well 

was found to be 623 feet above sea level, or 16 feet lower than that of 

the lowest aquifer on the same day. On June 26,1930, observations of 

the pressure in well 141 indicated a static level of 628 feet above sea 

level for the water in the lower aquifer and 614 feet above sea level 

for the water in the upper aquifer, a difference of 14 feet.

Observations made on wells 10 and 177, which were drilled in 1929, 

iurnish valuable information on the static level of the water in the 

upper and intermediate aquifers of the Trinity reservoir. Well 

177 is 53 feet deep, and its bottom is 568 feet above sea level. Well 

10 is 175 feet deep, and its bottom is 449 feet above sea level. The 

wells are at about the same altitude, about 650 feet apart, and each 

is cased with about 20 feet of pipe. Well 10 encountered practically 

no water at a depth of 50 to 75 feet, which is the average depth for 

obtaining water from the upper aquifer if conditions are favorable. 

It is considered, therefore, that the water supplied by this well comes
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 660 PLATE 4

EXPLANATION

Area of artesian flow in 1930

Data regarding wells and artesian 

conditions by A.G.Fiedler

Base map supplied by City of Glen Rose

MAP OF GLEN ROSE, TEX., AND VICINITY SHOWING LOCATION OF WELLS AND AREA OF ARTESIAN FLOW.

A-A', B-B', C-C', Lines of sections in plate 7.
HEAD OP AETESIAN WATEE 21

almost entirely from the intermediate aquifer, which was encountered 

at a depth of about 150 feet. On June 14, 1930, the pressure in 

well 177 was sufficient to raise the water to an altitude of 632.1 feet 

above sea level, whereas in well 10 it would rise to 633.8 feet above 

sea level. The small difference of 1.7 feet which was noted could 

probably be accounted for by the normal hydraulic gradient or the 

slope of the piezometric surface.

Because of the fact that the shallower artesian wells are usually 

cased with only one or at the most not more than two joints of 

casing, considerable leakage can occur from one artesion aquifer 

to the other, and as a result the head in the two aquifers has been 

largely equalized. Although the observations, therefore, are not 

necessarily conclusive as indicating that the artesian head of the 

upper and intermediate aquifers has always been nearly the same, 

they indicate that no great difference in pressure existed and that 

at present the artesian waters in the upper and intermediate aquifers 

of the "basal sands " of the Trinity group have essentially the same 

static level.

The observations of the head of most of the wells recorded in the 

following table were made with a pressure gage, and the observed 

pressure in pounds to the square inch was converted to equivalent 

pressure in feet of water by multiplying by 2.3, the resulting figure 

indicating the height in feet to which the water would rise above 

the point of observation. The head of flowing wells with only a 

small pressure was measured with a tube and a graduated rod, the 

reading being made directly in feet above the bench mark. The 

depth to the water level in nonflowing artesian wells was measured 

with a steel tape.

Measurements of head in observation wells in Somervell County, Tex., 

November 1929 to June 1930

[The altitude of the bench marks is referred to sea level]

10. John Anderson. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on discharge tee, 3.2 feet above ground; altitude 

626.9 feet

Date

Head above 

or below 

bench mark 

(feet)

+7.8 

+10.1

Altitude 

above sea 

level (feet)

634.7 

637.0

35. Childress. Bench mark, edge of casing, 

1.0 foot above ground; altitude not determined

Nov. 9 __________

Nov. 13..... _______ .

Nov. 16.... ________ .

Nov. 30.... ________ .

Dec. 10 __ .... __ . __

-61.1 

-60.7 

-60.4 

-60.4 

-60.3 

-61.5

36. J. L. Ceilings. Bench mark, three chisel cuts 

in edge of 556-inch casing, 0.3 foot above ground; 

altitude 726.4 feet

Date

Nov. 9.... __ ... __ ....

Nov. 13...... _______

Nov. 16... ...............

Nov. 30-... ________

Dec. 12 __ . _______

Dec. 15 ...................

Dec. 22. _________

Tlo/» 9Q

Ton 1Q

Jan. 26... ................

Feb. 2........ __ . _____

Feb. 9.. _________

Head above 

or below 

bench mark 

(feet)

-79.2 

-80.8

-81.3 

-80.9 

-82.0 

-81.1 

-81.3 

-79.6 

-79.3

7O 1

-78.7 

-78.4 

-78.1

77 Q

-77.6

Altitude 

above sea 

level (feet)

647.2 

645.6 

645.1 

645.5 

644.4 

645.3 

645.1 

646.8 

647.1 

647.3 

647.7 

648.0 

648.3 

648.5 

648.8
22 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMEEVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

36. J. L. Collings Continued.

Date

Feb. 16... ___ .--.... _

Feb. 23 __________ 

Mar. 2 __________

Mar. 10.. ________ 

Mar. 16 _________

Mar. 23 _________

Mar. 30... ________

Apr. 6. __________

Apr. 12..... _______ .

Apr. 20 __________

Head above 

or below 

bench mark 

(feet)

77 Q

-77.7 

-77.3 

-77.2 

-77.2 

-77.4 

-78.1 

-78.1 

-78.6 

-79.4 

sn Q

Altitude 

above sea 

level (feet)

648.6 

648.7 

649.1 

649.2 

649.2 

649.0 

648.3 

648.3 

647.8 

647.0 

645.5

71. Somervell County Court House. Bench mark, 

chisel-cut cross on top of discharge tee, 3.0 feet 

above ground; altitude 622.5 feet

Nov. 8... ________ +16.7 639.2

109. H. J. Cox. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross on 

top of discharge tee, 3.0 feet above ground: altitude, 

622.5 feet

Nov. 25....... __ . .....

Nov. 30.. ________

f +9.7 

I +12.4 

+16.5 

+6.8 

+10.8

629.3 

632.0 

636.1 

626.4 

630.4

110. H. J. Cox. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross on 

concrete curb of faucet drain on northeast side of 

bath house, 0.5 foot above ground; altitude 619.6 

feet

Nov. 25. _________

Nov. 26.. . __ . ......

I +14.4 

1 o+H.8 

 +II.8

634.0 

631.4 

631.4

« Well 109 open.

111. R. L. McAllister. Bench mark, chisel-cut 

cross on elbow of discharge pipe, 1.7 feet above 

ground; altitude 626.2 feet

Nov. 25.. ________

Nov. 26 _________

Nov. 30... ____ . __ ..

June 14... . _ _. 

June 26 __________

June 26. _________

+7.3 

+7.3 

+9.4 

+3.7 

»+3.1 

«+4.3

633.5 

633.5 

635.6 

629.6 

629.3 

630.5

* Well 141 open. 

» Well 141 closed.

113. E. L. McAllister. Bench mark, chisel-cut 

cross on bushing at top of well, 0.6 foot above 

ground; altitude 618.7 feet

Nov. 25... _ . _ 

Nov. 26. _________

Nov. 30.... . __ .

Nov. 26. _ . ______ .

Nov. 30.... ___ .... .

<» +15. 3 

<* +14. 0 

<> +16. B J+8.9 

 +9.5 

 +10. 5 

 +4.9

634.0 

632.7 

635.5 

627.6 

628.2 

629.2 

623.6

d Water from lower aquifer. 

» Water from unoer anuifers.

138. G. I. Daniels. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on elbow of discharge pipe, 2.8 feet above ground; 

altitude 608.4 feet

Date

Nov. 25 

Nov. 30 ________ 

June 14. _____ _ _ _ ...

Head above 

or below 

bench mark 

(feet)

+4.9 

+5.1 

+3.3

Altitude 

above sea 

level (feet)

613.3 

613.5 

611.7

139. Q. I. Daniels. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on concrete well curb, 2.0 feet above ground; 

altitude 606.2 feet

Nov. 25.. ________ 

Nov. 30... . _ ........

+11.8 

+15.8 

+7.2

618.0 

621.9 

613.4

141. Q. I. Daniels. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on discharge pipe, 2.5 feet above ground; altitude 

610.2 feet

Nov. 8... . .. .. .. .

Nov. 25.. _________

Nov. 26. ... _-.- - 

Nov. 30. -_-.___--_ 

June 14 _ . .._.. 

June 26. _________

Nov. 8 ________

Nov. 25 ... ________

Nov. 26 ____ - ____ -

Nov. 30 . ___ . __ 

<» +18. 6 

» +19. 6 

» +20. 2 

 * +24. 6 

<« +14. 2 

/ -J/+14.1 

1 <" +18.2 

 +3.8 

 +3.8 

 +4.0 

 +6. 1 

f «/+3.3 

\ "+3.8

628.8 

629.8 

630.4 

634.6 

624.4 

624.1 

628.4 

614.0 

614.0 

614.2 

616.3 

613.5 

614.0

* Water from lower aquifer. 

 Water from upper aquifers. 

/ Observation made following extended period of 

flow. 

a Observation made after well had been closed 3 

hours.

143. Q. I. Daniels. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on top of north discharge pipe, 2.4 feet above 

ground; altitude 612.4 feet

Nov. 30 _________ +16.2 628.6

144. Qresham. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on discharge elbow, 2.8 feet above ground; altitude 

613.4 feet

Nov. 8.. _ - +8.1 621.5

154. Lane & Sons garage. Bench mark, chisel-cut 

cross on discharge pipe, 1.7 feet above ground; 

altitude 618.1 feet

Nov. 8 - 

June 14 __ 

+18.5 

+18.5

636.6 

636.6

158. L. J. Wardlaw. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on discharge elbow, 4.4 feet above ground; altitude 

617.7 feet. Pressure recorder installed Feb. 10, 

1930, removed June 21

Nov. 15 ... ... .

Feb. 10 _____ . __ 

Feb. 16 _ .. . .

Feb. 20. __ 

+19.3 

+20.7 

+19.8 

+20.3

637.0 

638.4 

637.5 

638.0
HEAD OF ARTESIAN WATER 23

158. L. J. Wardlaw Continued.

Date

Teb. 24 __________

Mar. 4... ________

Mar. 6...- __ . ____

Mar. 11 _______

Mar. 15... ..... .......

Mar. 19... ________

Mar. 23... ...............

Mar. 28 ..................

Mar. 31 ... ...............

Apr. 3_ _ 

Apr. 4..... __ ..... __ .

Apr 7.. .......... ___ .

Apr. 12. _____ ........

Apr. 17. ..__......__.._...

Apr. 21 _________ .

Apr. 26. _________ .

Apr. 28...................

Apr. 30. _________ .

May 5 __________

May 11... ________ .

May 15... ________ .

May 18.. ________ .

May 22.. ________ .

May 26. ________ ..

May 31 __ ........

June 4 __________

June 13.._.___.._...__.

June 15 _________

June 18 ...._._..._..._....

June 21 -.._.._.__...__.._.

June 22 ___________________

Head above 

or below 

bench mark 

(feet)

+19.8 

+20.7 

+19.3 

+20.3 

+20.7 

+19.8 

+20.3 

+21.2 

+21.7 

+20.7 

+21.2 

+19.3 

+17.5 

+19.3 

+17.3 

+16.8 

+18.7 

+18.8 

+20.0 

+19.1 

+20.3 

+21.2 

+20.3 

+20.7 

+18.7 

+17.9 

+19.6 

+16.6 

+15.7 

+15.4 

+14.3 

+15.4

Altitude 

above sea 

level (feet)

637.5 

638.0 

637.0 

638.4 

638.4 

637.5 

638.0 

638.9 

639.4 

638.4 

638.9 

637.0 

635.2 

637.0 

635.0 

634.5 

636.4 

636.5 

637.7 

636.8 

638.0 

638.9 

638.0 

638.4 

636.4 

635.6 

637.3 

634.3 

633.4 

633.1 

632.0 

633.1

168. George Snyder. Benchmark, chisel-cut cross 

on discharge tee, 2.8 feet above ground; altitude 

618.8 feet

f * +20. 7 

1 '+4.0

639.5 

622.8

d Water from lower aquifer. 

 Water from upper aquifers.

169. George Synder. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on discharge elbow, 2.5 feet above ground; altitude 

619.3 feet

+17.5 636.8

175. R. L. Nickels. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on discharge elbow, 2.0 feet above ground; altitude 

623.7 feet

+6.2 629.9

177. Jack Morris. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on discharge elbow, 2.2 feet above ground; altitude 

623.8 feet

Date

Head above 

or below 

bench mark 

(feet)

+11.8

+7.4

Altitude 

above sea 

level (feet)

635.6

632.1

178. Pruitt's Park. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on discharge tee, 2.7 feet above ground; altitude 

623.9 feet

+8.5 632.4

196. T. K. Mathews. Bench mark, nail in post 

5 feet northeast of well, 1.6 feet above ground; 

altitude 618.5 feet

Nov. 18 _...........-...-. +3.0

+2.7

621.5

621.2

197. T. K. Mathews. Bench mark, cross on 

northwest corner of concrete curb; altitude 617.9 

feet

Nov. 18... _ .... __ . d +6.9

f "+6.9

I '+1.0

624.8

624.8

618.9

267. S. W. Stewart. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on discharge elbow, 3.1 feet above ground; altitude 

635.6 feet

+5.8 641.4

374. Young Women's Christian Association. 

Bench mark, chisel-cut cross on reducing elbow, 

3.7 feet above ground; altitude 607.1 feet

+15.8 622.9

396. Miss Daniels. Bench mark, chisel-cut cross 

on discharge elbow, 2.8 feet above ground; altitude 

648.8 feet

Nov. 15-.. _______ - +11.5

+ 10.6

660.3

659.4

DECLINE IN HEAD

The decline of the artesian head has been noted for a number of 

jears, but as accurate observations have not been made and recorde4 

no definite comparison for different periods is possible. As is typical 

 of newly developed artesian areas, it is likely that there was originally 

a fairly rapid decline, for the draft upon the artesian reservoir was 

increased considerably during a relatively brief period at the time 

of Hill's investigation, which coincided more or less with the early 

period of drilling. Afterward the decline doubtless proceeded more
24 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

gradually, as during the next 20 years there appears to have been, 

no special period of marked drilling activity. Within the last 10 

years several wells of somewhat more than average capacity have been 

completed, and as a result the head has probably declined at a somewhat greater rate.

Because the static level of the artesian water is generally higher 

in winter than in summer, observations made during the winter will 

be used as a basis for comparison to determine the amount of the 

decline in head. On November 18,1929, the static level of the artesian 

water at the well in front of the county courthouse at Glen Kose 

was 639 feet above sea level. By comparison with the altitude of 710- 

feet assumed for 1897 it is seen that the head had declined 71 feet 

during a period of 32 years, or at the rate of 2.2 feet a year. At well 

141 the maximum static level observed, which was on November 30,. 

1929, was 634 feet above sea level. This represents a decline of 76 

feet from the assumed level for 1897. As the level assumed for 1897 

may be somewhat in error the amount of decline is also subject to the 

same error, but a total decline of about 70 to 75 feet would appear 

to be a reasonable estimate for this locality.

Without more information it is impossible to state definitely 

whether the decline in head of the artesian water from the upper 

aquifers of the Trinity reservoir was more or less than that estimated 

for the lowest aquifer. The amount of fluctuation observed during 

this investigation indicates that the decline in the artesian head of 

the waters of the upper aquifers was certainly no more than that 

for the lower aquifer and probably was considerably less.

The decline in head has not been completely arrested, and though 

it does not appear to be progressing at an excessive rate at the present 

time it offers a real menace to the well owners. From an inspection 

of the map of the area of artesian flow (pi. 6), it is evident that 

wells will flow only in a relatively small part of the county. The 

highest pressure observed in any of the wells during the present 

study was only sufficient to raise the artesian water 25 feet above 

the ground surface. This observation was made during the winter,, 

when the head is the highest. During the summer the pressure in 

the same well was only sufficient to raise the water about 15 feet 

above the ground surface. In most of the flowing wells the pressure 

will raise the water only a few feet above the surface; during th& 

summer these wells barely flow and some cease flowing altogether. 

Thus it is seen that a further reduction of artesian pressure amounting to only a few feet will seriously affect many wells, and only 

the wells on the lowest lands in the county will continue to flow. It 

is evident, therefore, that the efforts of the well owners should be 

directed toward such measures of conservation as will tend to arrest 

the continued decline in head.
HEAD OF ARTESIAN WATER 25

FLUCTUATIONS IN HEAD

GENERAL RELATIONS

The static level of the water in an artesian well in the area under 

consideration is dependent upon the hydrostatic pressure in the 

respective aquifers tapped by the well. The pressure head or, as it 

is commonly called, the head in a well is the pressure on the particular aquifer when the water is at rest. Actually the water in any 

artesian aquifer in this area is never at rest but is always moving 

slowly toward the points of discharge. However, unless the well is 

appreciably affected by the operation of other wells, the difference 

in head caused by the imperceptible movement of the water is small.

The head of the artesian water is constantly fluctuating more or 

less rapidly, and the chief causes of fluctuations are: (1) Interference 

of wells, (2) seasonal variation in draft (3) variation in rainfall, 

(4) changes in atmospheric pressure.

INTERFERENCE OF WELLS

In view of the widespread comment by residents of the Glen Rose 

community regarding the effect of wells upon one another, several 

tests were made to determine the extent of the -interference. Because 

of the large number of wells in Glen Rose and vicinity well owners 

are prone to believe that certain large wells, either nearby or at a 

considerable distance, affect their wells so greatly that the reduction 

in pressure and the resultant lower yield can be readily noticed as 

soon as these large wells are opened. To a certain extent this is true, 

but the tests made indicate that in many places the interference is 

not due to the particular well or wells suspected but is due to some 

other well which may not have attracted attention. This was very 

pointedly brought out in the study of a well near the border of the 

area of artesian flow, where a very slight reduction in pressure causes 

the flow to stop. The owner of the well insisted that the pressure 

and yield of his well were being reduced by a neighboring well. 

Investigation showed, however, that on the day of the test the supposed offending well was not in operation nor had it been in operation for several days. Further study indicated that the interference 

was probably due to another well considerably more distant.

So many wells are concentrated in so small an area around Glen 

Rose that it is difficult to attribute interference to a particular well 

without having complete information upon the opening and closing 

of all wells for a considerable distance around the one affected. 

Without this complete information interference is frequently attributed to the wrong well or wells.

The cause of such interference may be explained briefly as follows: 

In an artesian well in this area, the level to which the water will rise
26 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMEBVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

is dependent upon the pressure in the aquifer or aquifers tapped by 

the well. This level, known as the static level, may be determined 

by ascertaining the shut-in pressure of the well in pounds to the 

square inch and multiplying it by 2.3. The result indicates the 

height in feet to which the water will rise above the point at which 

the pressure was measured. When an artesian well is opened and 

permitted to flow a reduction in pressure occurs. This reduction in 

pressure is the result of the expenditure of energy in causing the 

flow and in overcoming the friction of the moving water. The reduction in pressure in the aquifer is greatest at the flowing well and 

decreases in amount at points farther and farther away from it. The 

piezometric surface at the flowing well is therefore depressed in theshape of a cone with curved sides. The apex of the cone is at the 

well, and the sides slope upward, at first steeply, then more gradually., 

and finally flatten out until the depression in the piezometric surface 

is imperceptible. The boundary of the area in which the piezometric 

surface is noticeably depressed is known as the circle of influence. 

Where two or more wells are so close to each other that their circles 

of influence overlap, the yield of the wells is reduced and they are 

said to interfere with jone another.

In the area of artesian flow in the vicinity of Glen Kose, where 

measurements could be most readily made, most wells are subject 

to interference by surrounding wells. The interference from wells 

of small flow is hardly detectable, but the effect of the operation of 

some wells of large yield is measurable at wells 1,500 feet or more 

distant. The time required before the interference can be noticed 

varies with the distance between the wells, being least for wells 

close by and greatest for wells farther away. The time required 

before the full effect of the interference is experienced may alsa 

vary, ranging from several hours to several days.

The partial closing of a large well in November 1929 afforded an 

opportunity to note the recovery of head in other wells in the vicinity. 

The head for several days prior to the closing of the well was practically stationary, and though it cannot be definitely stated that the 

full recovery of pressure noted was due solely to the closing of this 

one well, as far as could be determined no other conditions were 

responsible. Within 2 days after the yield of the large well was 

reduced from 60 to 15 gallons a minute the head of a well 380 feet 

away rose 4.2 feet. The recovery during the same period in twoother wells, one 689 feet and the other 828 feet from the large well, 

was 3.9 feet. The recovery in a well 1,475 feet away was 2.7 feet. 

It was impracticable for various reasons to close the large well 

completely, and no other wells that were not subject to interfereneeby many wells were available for observation.
HEAD OF ARTESIAN WATEE 27

On June 26, 1930, several observations were made to ascertain 

the effect which the closing of well 141 had upon well 111, 1,125 feet 

away. Well 141 had been flowing for several weeks at the rate of 

about 50 gallons a minute, and at the time of closing it had a pressure 

head of 12.6 feet. No effect was noticed on well 111 half an hourafter closing well 141. Within 3 hours, however, the pressure head 

of well 111 had risen 1.4 feet and the head of well 141, which had 

been closed, rose 4.4 feet. After-3 hours further rise was very 

gradual, and because well 141 had to be reopened the test was, 

discontinued.

The wells that were available for observation had been flowing 

for some time, and it was not feasible to close these wells for a 

period long enough to obtain stable conditions of head before reopening them in order to note the effect of the drawdown. Noting the 

recovery of the head while the wells were closed after a period of 

extended operation, though the reverse process, gives essentially the 

same information upon the amount of interference.

SEASONAL FLUCTUATIONS

For the purpose of determining the seasonal fluctuations in the 

head of the artesian water a Bristol recording pressure gage was 

attached to a deep well that had been recently completed. The 

writer was unable to find a nonflowing well not in use that tapped the 

lower water-bearing formations, and hence it was necessary to make 

the observations on a well that was being used for domestic supply.

Well 158, to which the pressure gage was attached (pi. 6), was 

drilled in 1929 to a depth of 290 feet and was cased to 212 feet. As 

tke upper water-bearing formations were cased off, the shut-in 

pressure of the well indicated the pressure in the lowest aquiferof the Trinity reservoir. There was considerable fluctuation in the 

pressure due to the opening and closing of faucets supplied by the 

well and also a general lowering of the pressure following extended 

periods of draft which required several hours for recovery. During the day, therefore, the average pressure was not truly indicative 

of the prevailing pressure in the aquifer, as it was greatly influenced by the draft. At night, when the well was not drawn upon% 

the pressure again became stable. For this reason the pressure at 

midnight was chosen as indicating the pressure for the preceding 

day. Though this rather arbitrary record might be somewhat in 

error as indicating the average pressure for any individual day 7. 

over a period of time it would show essentially the average pressure 

in the aquifer tapped by the well.

The fluctuations in artesian head for well 158 are shown in plate 

5. The pressure in pounds to the square inch as recorded by the
28 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

gage was converted to equivalent pressure in feet of water and 

referred to sea-level datum. The graph shows that the pressure 

is highest during the early part of the year. A marked decline of 

more than 3 feet is noticed for April 1930. This coincides with the 

first period of heavy draft occasioned by warm spring weather. 

The head was at a relatively high level during May, then declined 

rapidly during June; at the low point during June it was more than 

7 feet lower than the high point at the end of March. In view of 

the unusually hot, droughty period which was so general during 

the summer of 1930, it is greatly regretted that records were not 

obtained during the period July to September, for it is quite certain that a minimum head lower than any previously experienced 

in this area would have been recorded. In the vicinity of Glen 

Rose recovery in head generally occurs during the fall and extends 

through the winter. This condition is in many respects similar 

to that noted in other artesian areas where the major draft from 

wells is largely seasonal.

The marked seasonal fluctuation in head is caused largely by the 

seasonal variation in the draft, which is greatest in summer and 

least in winter. Though the amount of water used primarily for 

domestic supply increases considerably during the summer, this 

increase represents only a small part of the total additional draft. 

The major increase is caused by a few wells of large capacity which 

furnish water for outdoor swimming pools.

FLUCTUATIONS DUE TO RAINFALL

The water in the artesian aquifers is derived from precipitation 

that falls as rain or snow on the intake area or is absorbed from the 

run-off of the tributary streams that cross the intake area. As the 

" basal sands " of the Trinity group, which supply the artesian water 

in Somervell County, are entirely covered by formations that are 

more or less impervious and hence confine the water under pressure, 

the precipitation which falls in Somervell County cannot penetrate 

the confining beds and thereby directly produce fluctuations in the 

pressure head of the wells. This precipitation, however, produces 

indirectly certain fluctuations of head by causing a reduction of the 

draft from wells.

Fluctuations caused by changes in draft due to heavy precipitation 

or to lack of precipitation are shown by plate 5. During the early 

part of April 1930 there was a general lack of precipitation in the 

area, as shown by the record for Cleburne, which is the nearest point 

at which precipitation records are available. The artesian head 

declined noticeably during that period. During May the precipitation in the area was considerably above normal and the draft from
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 660 PLATE 5

1930

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE 

5 10 15 20 25 31 5 10 15 20 2528 5 10 15 20 25 31 5 10 15 20 25 30 5 10 15 20 25 31 5 10 15 20 2530 ' I I I I I I I I T 

PRECIPITATION AT DUBLIN, TEXAS

cc

LU

I

o

z

PRECIPITATION AT CLEBURNE, TEXAS

646

642

OLU638

la

o<

HLU

u

U.

z

hX

o

u

I

634

630

WELL NUMBER REFERRED TO IN TEXT 

AND IN TABLE OF WELL RECORDS

GRAPHS SHOWING FLUCTUATION IN ARTESIAN HEAD IN A REPRESENTATIVE WELL AND PRECIPITATION AT CLEBURNE

AND DUBLIN, TEX.

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 660 PLATE 6

Palu

Base from maps of Godley 

and Gran bury quadrangles, 

U.S.Geological Survey

3 Miles

Contour interval BOfeet 

Datum is mean sea level

MAP OF SOMERVELL COUNTY SHOWING LOCATION OF WELLS AND AREA OF ARTESIAN FLOW.

fr.8.

680

8UEVET WATER-BOTH* frAfrfift 680 PtATE

Slope 12.50 feet per mile

Slope 13.75 feet per mile

UJ

§620

For Ipcation of sections see plate 4 

Well number refers to number in 

text and in table of well records

SECTION C-C'

600

2,000 Feet

DIAGRAMS SHOWING HYDRAULIC GRADIENT ALONG SECTIONS INDICATED ON PLATE 4.

HEAD OF ARTESIAN WATER 29

wells was consequently reduced, particularly from the wells of large 

capacity used for outdoor swimming pools. Plate 5 shows a recovery of head corresponding to the general period of increased precipitation and a marked decline during June corresponding to a period of 

increased draft which occurred with the arrival of warm weather and 

a deficiency of precipitation.

The well at which the records were made is influenced considerably 

by the operation of wells in the vicinity, and hence it is difficult to 

discern a marked relation between precipitation in the intake area, 

as shown by records of precipitation at Dublin, and the fluctuation 

in head at the observation well in Glen Eose. It is to be expected 

that there would be considerable lag between precipitation in the 

intake area and its effect on the pressure of the wells. Though information regarding all influences which affect the artesian head is 

not available, it would appear that the rise in pressure on May 31 

was more or less directly caused by the precipitation on May 27, as 

this precipitation was general in character and undoubtedly produced some recharge to the artesian aquifers. The heavy precipitation in May was also undoubtedly the direct cause of part of the 

recovery in head noted during that month.

INFLUENCE OF ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE

Changes in atmospheric pressure are another cause of fluctuations 

in the pressure head of artesian wells. The effect of such changes is 

summarized by Meinzer 8 as follows:

If a shallow well ends in a formation that lies at the surface and is freely 

permeable throughout, only slight barometric effects or none at all are to be 

expected, because any change in the atmospheric pressure is transmitted almost 

as freely upon the water table through the permeable material as upon the 

water level in the well. If a well ends in an artesian formation and this 

formation or the overlying confining beds have sufficient strength completely to 

resist deformation by slight changes in pressure at the surface, the well will act 

as a barometer. The fluctuations of its water level will have virtually the same 

range of fluctuations as would be shown by a water barometer, or 13.5 times 

the range in a mercury barometer. However, the movements of the water 

level in the well will always be in the opposite direction from those in the 

barometer. If this well is near the seashore its water level will not show any 

tidal influences.

If a well ends in a somewhat elastic artesian formation that is confined beneath beds, sudh as soft shale, that are impermeable but yield more or less to 

even slight pressure, its water level will have smaller fluctuations resulting from 

atmospheric pressure changes than that of a water barometer, and the ratio 

of the movements in the well to the corresponding movements in the barometer 

will give a measure of the resistance of the water-bearing and confining beds.

"Meinzer, 0. B., Methods of estimating ground-water supplies, pt. 1, Outline of available methods (paper presented at annual technical session of Society of Economic Geologists, December 1928), p. 23; also in U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 638, pp. 

140-141, 1932.

62037 34 3
30 AETESIAN WATEE IN SOMEBVELL COTJNTY, TEXAS

If such a well is near the seashore its water level will fluctuate more or less 

with the tide.

If a well ends in a formation that is effectively covered by an impermeable 

bed but is unsaturated in its upper part, thus having an air chamber between 

the water table and the overlying impermeable bed, the water level in the well 

will behave like that in an artesian well in competent beds. It will fluctuate 

through about the same range as the water level in a water barometer, because, 

as in the other cases, the counter pressure will remain nearly constant.

The well under observation was not sufficiently free from other 

influences to show any pronounced fluctuations of the water level 

that might be definitely attributed to changes in atmospheric pressure, and the information is not sufficient to warrant any statement 

as to whether the confining beds are of sufficient strength completely 

to resist deformation by changes in atmospheric pressure.

In considering the various fluctuations of head it should be remembered that the forces tending to produce such fluctuations are of 

varying intensity and are acting at the same time. The graph 

representing the fluctuations of head therefore shows the result of 

the action of a combination of forces, for it is practically impossible 

to evaluate properly the effect produced by the operation of each 

force.

AREA OP ARTESIAN PLOW

The only information available regarding the size of the original 

area of artesian flow in Somervell County is contained in the report 

by Hill,9 published in 1901. Hill's outline of the area of artesian 

flow was apparently based on the area included within the 750-foot 

contour line as shown on the United States Geological Survey topographic map of the Granbury quadrangle, which was surveyed in 

1887. The contour interval on that map was 50 feet, and recent 

more detailed surveys of a portion of Somervell County indicate that 

the position of the 750-foot contour line is somewhat in error. It is 

probable that, owing to meager data, no allowance was made for 

the fact that because of the general slope of the piezometric surface 

the artesian water doubtless did not rise as high in the southeastern part of the county as it did in the northwestern part, and in 

the light of present information it is believed that the area in which 

the flowing wells could probably have been obtained was doubtless 

somewhat smaller than is shown on Hill's map.

With the decline in the artesian head the size of the area of artesian 

flow also decreased, but because the land in the major stream valley 

slopes at a rather steep angle, the size of the area of artesian flow 

has not changed greatly, -considering the extent of the decline in 

artesian head. This condition is shown by figure 2.

9 Hill, R. T., op. cit., p. 473.
AREA OP ARTESIAN PLOW 31

The conditions in Somervell County approach those shown in the 

hypothetical section with the head at levels BE' and GG'. Because 

the highlands rise rather steeply above the major stream valleys the 

decline in artesian head has produced only the relatively small reduction in the width of the area of flow comparable to width 1>C+ C'V, 

rather than a reduction equal to ab+B'af, such as would have 

occurred had the surface sloped gently, as at AB.

The present area of flow is shown on plates 4 and 6. Plate 6 shows 

that the area of flow occupies a strip from a quarter of a mile to 

a mile in width along the valleys of Paluxy and Squaw Creeks and 

the Brazos River. This area is similar in shape to that in which 

flowing wells could be obtained years ago, when the artesian head 

was still at a high level.

FIGDEE 2. Hypothetical section showing the relation of the decline in artesian head to 

the width of the area of artesian flow. A-A', Width of area of artesian flow with head 

at level AA'. Decline in head Aa causes reduction in width of area of artesian flow 

equal to atB+B'a'. Further reduction in head Bb, equal to Aa, reduces width of area 

of artesian flow only by amount 6(7+C"6'.

The greatest reduction in the area of artesian flow due to the decline in head has occurred along the south side of Paluxy Creek and 

south of the Brazos River below the mouth of the creek. This area 

in which flowing wells can no longer be obtained lies parallel to the 

present area of artesian flow and ranges in width from a quarter 

of a mile to a mile. On the north bank of Paluxy Creek the land 

generally slopes more steeply up from the stream, and hence the 

area in which wells will no longer flow is only a relatively narrow 

strip parallel to the present area of flow. The general conditions 

are the same in the upper half of the valley of the Brazos River 

in Somervell County.
32 AETESIAN WATER IN SOMEEVELL COUHTY, TEXAS

QUANTITY OF WATER DISCHARGED BY WELLS 

TOTAL CAPACITY OF WBIXS

During the present study a survey of the flowing wells was made 

to determine the total capacity of the wells. From this survey it is 

estimated that the total average daily capacity of all the flowing wells 

In Glen Rose and vicinity amounts to about 775 gallons a minute. 

The average daily capacity of all other flowing wells in the county 

is about 325 gallons a minute. Hence the total capacity of all the 

flowing wells in the county is about 1,100 gallons a minute.

The nonflowing wells that tap the artesian aquifers are pumped

-chiefly by suction pumps, force pumps, or windmills. Their average

 capacity is relatively small and probably does not exceed 3 gallons a 

.minute. Their total capacity is estimated at about 1,000 gallons a 

jninute.

DISCHARGE AT THE SURFACE

It is difficult to make an accurate determination of the quantity of 

water used for domestic purposes and for watering stock, as the draft 

from individual wells varies so widely. The population of Somervell County in 1930 according to the United States Census was 3,016, 

and, allowing for the number of visitors who spend from one day to 

several weeks or more within the county, it is estimated that the 

average population throughout the year is about 3,400.

The average consumption per capita per day in rural communities 

without water-supply systems and on farms is relatively low, and 

in this area it undoubtedly does not exceed 45 gallons. The average 

da'ly consumption for domestic use throughout the year would 

therefore amount to about 150,000 gallons. With a liberal estimate 

of 60,000 gallons a day' for stock the total consumption for both 

domestic and stock use probably does not exceed 210,000 gallons a day. 

This quantity of water is equivalent to a discharge of 145 gallons a 

minute for 24 hours.

In addition to the water used for domestic purposes and for stock, 

several recreation pools are supplied by water from wells. The combined capacity of the wells supplying these pools is estimated to be 

about 170 gallons a minute during the period of low water in the 

summer. This discharge is equal to 245,000 gallons a day, or over 20 

percent more than the amount used for domestic purposes and for 

stock in the whole county. Water for the recreation pools is supplied 

entirely by natural flow. The amount used for irrigation averages 

about 125 gallons a minute, or a daily flow of 180,000 gallons. Other 

discharge is estimated at 360,000 gallons a day; this is largely waste 

but does not include underground leakage, which is considered on 

pp. 35-42.
QUANTITY OP WATER DISCHARGED BY WELLS 33

The total draft from wells in the county for all purposes during 

the slimmer is estimated to be about 1,000,000 gallons a day. This 

discharge is supplied by both flowing and pumped wells and includes 

the quantity wasted at the surface but does not include underground 

waste.

The draft during the winter is naturally not so great as during the 

summer. In winter the draft for irrigation is practically eliminated 

and the draft for recreation pools is reduced to about 55,000 gallons 

a day. Though the quantity used for domestic purposes and for 

stock is also less, the waste probably increases by at least an equivalent amount, owing largely to the seasonal recovery of the artesian 

head. The draft in winter is estimated to be about 370,000 gallons 

a day less than in summer, or a total of about 630,000 gallons a day.

An attempt to compute the total yearly draft would necessitate 

estimates of the time during which water was used for each of the 

various purposes, and information for such estimates is insufficient. 

The average daily discharge throughout the year, as calculated from 

the previous estimates, is about 800,000 gallons a day.

QUANTITY USED BENEFICIAI J,Y

The average daily surface discharge of the wells has been estimated 

at about 1,000,000 gallons a day during the summer, or 694 gallons 

a minute. Of this quantity about 635,000 gallons a day is used for 

purposes that are considered more or less beneficial. The quantity 

for domestic use and for watering stock, estimated at 210,000 gallons 

a day, represents the highest use of water. The estimate for domestic use includes a reasonable allowance for the watering of gardens and lawns. The quantity used for irrigation is relatively small 

and at the time of this investigation averaged not more than 180,000 

gallons a day. During the summer, of course, the consumption for 

this purpose on individual days may be considerably greater, but the 

estimate is based on an average daily quantity for the irrigation season. The remaining quantity of water used for purposes classed as 

beneficial is 250,000 gallons a day, supplied to recreation pools. Two 

of these are outdoor swimming pools operated in conjunction with 

tourist camps; a third is a private pond used largely for the propagation of fish. The use of water for swimming pools is generally 

regarded as a beneficial purpose, though under certain conditions a 

question may arise as to whether the water is devoted to the highest 

possible use.

One of the swimming pools is an artificial pool constructed of 

concrete and supplied by a flowing well that has an average flow 

during the summer of about 24 gallons a minute, or 34,600 gallons a 

day. The well flows almost continuously directly into the pool; the
34 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

overflow from the pool is pumped through a series of filters, and the 

filtered water is then returned to the pool. In this manner the 

water is maintained in a sanitary condition, and frequent draining, 

with consequent waste of water, is avoided. The other swimming 

pool has been constructed by building a dam across a large natural 

depression along the bank of Paluxy Creek. The pool is supplied 

by three flowing wells that have an aggregate capacity during the 

summer of about 135 gallons a minute. In addition, it is reported 

that a large spring that is essentially a natural artesian well flows 

directly into the pool near its deepest part. It was impossible to 

determine the flow ,of this spring, if in fact it does exist, but because 

of the head of water on the spring opening when the pool is filled 

to its maximum level it is rather questionable if the yield is as 

great as reported, though it does appear that there is no reversal of 

flow or great loss through this supposed opening. Two of the 

flowing wells discharge directly into a pond used for the propagation of fish, and the overflow from this pond goes into the swimming 

pool. The average discharge during the summer of the three wells 

supplying the combined fish pond and swimming pool is 135 gallons 

a minute, which is equivalent to 194,500 gallons a day. At the 

time the area was visited, in June 1930, the waste water from the 

pools, which flowed into Paluxy Creek, was estimated at 45 gallons a 

minute, or 64,800 gallons a day. The remainder of the flow from 

the wells, about 130,000 gallons a day, was dissipated by evaporation 

or leakage from the pools.

The third recreation pool is a private pond used largely for the 

propagation of fish. It is supplied by a flowing well that discharges 

about 11 gallons a minute during the summer. This flow which is 

equivalent to 15,800 gallons a day, is largely dissipated through 

evaporation and seepage.

It should be noted that almost 40 percent of the water used beneficially in the entire county is used for these three recreation pools.

QUANTITY WASTED

SURFACE WASTE

No measurements are available to indicate the amount of artesian 

water that has been wasted at the surface in Somervell County in 

previous years, but according to the best information obtainable it 

would appear that there has always been a relatively large waste 

of water from the artesian wells. Periodic attempts have been made 

through the efforts of public-spirited citizens to have the well owners 

close their wells when they are not in use, but usually after a short 

period of control the wells are again opened and the water permitted 

to waste.
QUANTITY OF WATER DISCHARGED BY WELLS 35

During a survey made in November 1929 and June 1930 more than 

60 wells were examined in Somervell County which were wasting the 

artesian water either because the wells had no valves or because the 

valves were in such poor condition that 'the flow could not be fully 

controlled. The average discharge of wells in Somervell County 

that are not properly capped is estimated at 250 gallons a minute. 

This flow that serves no beneficial purpose is estimated at 370,000 

gallons a day. The amount of water wasted is therefore nearly 

twice the amount used for domestic purposes and stock and more 

than half the amount used beneficially for all purposes during the 

summer. It represents a serious draft upon the artesian reservoir 

and is a major cause of the continued decline in pressure. The 

elimination of all surface waste will materially reduce the rate of 

decline and may prevent further decline altogether. The remedy is 

so simple and so easy of application in practically all wells that further surface waste of artesian water should not be tolerated.

UNDERGROUND WASTE 

EVIDENCES OF TTNDEBGROTTND LEAKAGE

Underground leakage in artesian wells is caused by insufficient 

casing, improperly seated casing, or casing that is defective. The 

methods most generally usable for determining whether an artesian 

well is wasting water underground into strata that contain no water 

or water under a lower pressure than that tapped by the well are 

the so-called " packer method ", the meter method, and the pressure 

method. In Somervell County it has been possible to draw certain 

conclusions also from recovery of head in wells and from measurements of seepage from springs into Paluxy Creek.

Packer tests. In the packer method a casing with a packer on the 

lower end is inserted in the well. If the well has been leaking, the 

casing and packer will shut off the leaks and consequently the water 

will rise higher and the discharge of the well will be increased. By 

making a number of trials the exact point of leakage can be determined. This method requires a well rig or a tripod with block and 

tackle for handling the casing and therefore is not adapted to general field use where many tests are to be made and the funds available for such work are limited. During the course of the leakage 

survey it was possible on one occasion to insert a short length of pipe 

with a packer on the end into a well that was in poor condition. 

Without the pipe and packer the well discharged about 2% gallons 

a minute at the surface, but after the pipe was inserted the discharge 

increased to about 4 gallons a minute. This increase was undoubtedly due to water previously lost by underground leakage.
36 AETESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

Current-meter tests. The principles underlying the meter method 

are very simple. Water passing through a filled pipe or conductor of 

uniform cross section has a certain average velocity. If a portion of 

the water is diverted from .the pipe or conductor through a leak into 

a permeable stratum, the velocity of the remaining wate^r in the 

conductor will be less because less water is moving through the conductor above the leak than below it. Water passing upward through 

an artesian well that is in good condition has a comparatively uniform velocity at all points in the well where the cross section is the 

same. Hence, if a leak occurs in the casing, the water above that 

point will move at a slower rate than below it. It is the purpose of 

the leakage meter to determine the location of the points of marked 

change in the velocity and thereby determine the location of the 

leaks. The same principle is involved in the exploration of the 

uncased portion of the well to determine if the casing is properly 

seated or if the well is cased to a sufficient depth.

The deep-well current-meter equipment and method of operating 

it, as developed by the United States Geological Survey during the 

course of investigations in the artesian basins at Honolulu and in 

the Pecos Valley, New Mexico, are described in detail elsewhere.10 

The meter consists essentially of a turbine wheel mounted within a 

cylindrical brass base, which is suspended in a pipe and lowered 

and removed from the well by means of a cable. The meter is provided with a mechanism which makes and breaks an electric circuit 

at every revolution or every five revolutions of the turbine wheel, 

and by means of an insulated cable the electric impulse is transmitted to the surface and operates a telephone receiver. Each time 

the circuit is closed and opened a click is produced in the receiver, 

and by timing the number of clicks with a stop watch changes in 

velocity can be readily detected. In exploring a well observations of 

velocity are made at various depths to determine the presence of 

leaks. In a nonflowing well no current is recorded until a leak is 

passed; in a flowing well a leak will be indicated by an increase in 

velocity. As a reduction in the diameter of a well also causes an 

increase in velocity, check observations should be made above and 

below the point at which a well may be reduced in size and then 

compared with computations of discharge based on different standard 

sizes of well hole or casing in order to avoid misinterpreting such 

increase in velocity as being due to a leak.

The standard size of meter for use in wells of large diameter is 

3 inches, but the meter used in Somervell County was 1^ inches in

10 McCombs, John, Methods of exploring and repairing leaky artesian wells on the 

island of Oahu, Hawaii: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 596, pp. 4-24, 192S. 

Fiedler, A. G., The Au deep-well current meter and its use in the Roswell artesian fcasin. 

New Mexico : Idem, pp. 24-32.
QUANTITY OF WATER DISCHARGED BY WELLS 37

diameter and was built especially for use in small wells. Its operation is identical with that of the larger meter except that it was 

raised and lowered in the wells by means of a steel sucker rod threeeighths of an inch in diameter instead of by a cable.

The work of determining leakage by means of the meters was 

seriously handicapped by the way in which the wells were finished 

at the top. Most of the wells that seemed likely to furnish useful 

information on the problem of underground leakage were found to 

be plugged with material that had been thrown into the well, or 

the well hole had caved and hence it was impossible to lower the 

meter to the bottom of the well. In addition to these difficulties, 

it was found that the velocity in the wells of small yield was so low 

that it could not be reliably recorded by the leakage meter. Most 

of the wells are finished at the top with one or two joints of 5%-inch 

casing, and within this casing a short length of 1^- or 2-inch pipe is 

concreted. When the meter is within this small pipe a flow of 3 to 5 

gallons a minute is ample to operate the meter satisfactorily, but 

when the meter drops through the small pipe and enters the large 

casing the velocity there is insufficient for a satisfactory test. In 

spite of these unfavorable conditions a number of wells were explored 

with the leakage meter during this investigation, and although the 

quantity of underground leakage and the location of the leaks could 

riot be determined positively, the information obtained was sufficient 

to form a basis for certain conclusions.

The minimum velocity at which the meter operates satisfactorily 

was determined by laboratory tests to be 0.08 foot a second. A flow 

of water of lower velocity was insufficient to turn the turbine wheel 

of the meter. Most of the wells in which underground leakage is 

likely to occur are cased to depths of 20 to 40 feet with 4-, 5-, or 

5%-inch casing. A velocity of 0.08 foot a second corresponds to 

a flow of about 3 gallons a minute in a 4-inch casing, 5 gallons a 

minute in a 5-inch casing, and 6 gallons a minute in a 5%-inch casing. 

As the equipment is not sensitive enough to record velocities of less 

than 0.08 foot a second leakage of the amounts stated previously is 

likely to be passed by unnoticed.

As far as possible wells that appeared to be in the poorest condition and were reported to be insufficiently cased were chosen for the 

exploration with the meter. In none of these wells was the current 

at any depth great enough to operate the meter; hence it is evident 

that no large amount of underground leakage was occurring from 

any individual wells, but the undetected leakage, though relatively 

small, can amount to a large percentage of the available flow, as 

many wells that apparently leak underground have an average 

discharge of only 3 to 5 gallons a minute.
38 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

Pressure tests. The pressure method for determining leakage 

consists in obtaining the shut-in pressure of the well with a pressure 

gage. This pressure is compared with the pressure of other wells 

in the vicinity which are known to be in good condition and which 

tap the same water-bearing formations. In comparing the wells 

proper allowance must be made for difference in altitude. If a well 

free from marked interference is found to have a pressure considerably below the general pressure of the wells of the locality, the well 

undoubtedly leaks and requires further attention.

In Somervell County most flowing wells are subject to interference 

by surrounding wells, and many of them cannot be closed for lack 

of effective valves. Because the pressure of the wells is small, differences in pressure due to underground leakage are not likely to 

be great enough to indicate definitely that the well is leaking. After 

a number of preliminary trials had been made, the use of the pressure gage for testing was abandoned as being unsuited to this area.

Material evidence of underground leakage from the wells was 

afforded, however, by the action of some of the flowing wells, which 

showed a gradual increase in the shut-in pressure for some time 

after they were closed following extended periods of operation. 

The subjoined table shows the pressure at various times after the 

closing of a flowing well and the rate of recovery for the various 

periods.

Recovery in pressure of flowing well following period of operation

Time after 

closing of 

well 

(minutes)

0 __.-

1 .... .

4. ....

6. ....

8... ...._

10.-...--

25--..-.-.

Head (feet)

8.63

9.21

10.13

10.58

10.92

11.05

11.28

Rate of increase in 

pressure 

(feet per 

minute)

0.58

.31

.22

.17

.06

.015

The recovery is at first rapid and then slows up gradually until 

the rate of increase becomes negligible 0.58 foot for the* first minute after the well is closed, 0.06 foot a minute at the end of 10 minutes, and only 0.015 foot a minute at the end of 25 minutes. (See 

fig. 3.)

The gradual return of pressure after the closing of a well indicates that a cone of depression exists around a well for some time 

after the well has been closed. A cone of depression is evidence 

of a definite hydraulic gradient toward the well, and the presence 

of a hydraulic gradient always indicates a movement of water.
QUANTITY OF WATEK DISCHARGED BY WELLS 39

However, the cone of depression in the vicinity of a well tapping 

an artesian aquifer does not represent depletion of storage, as in 

a well tapping a water-bearing formation in which the water is 

not confined under artesian pressure; the artesian aquifer is filled 

with water, therefore the cone of depression in it represents only 

a reduction in pressure.

Several explanations of the persistence of the cone of depression 

may l>e given. The water removed from the aquifer may have 

been replaced by gas, but because gas is generally absent from the 

water issuing from wells in this area this theory does not appear 

valid. Meinzer " has advanced the theory that when water is withWATER

to 

u. 

o

uilO

UJ 

Uz

Q 

<

£9

8 

(

/

/

/

/

/

/^

. - 

 

__ 

35 10 15 20 25 30

MINUTES AFTER WELL IS CLOSED 

FIGDBB 3. Graph showing recovery of head after well is closed.

drawn from the water-bearing beds they may undergo a certain 

amount of compression due to the removal of water from the interstices. When the withdrawal of water ceases, before the pressure 

in the well can- again completely reach the prevailing pressure in 

the formation sufficient time must elapse to permit the water to 

percolate into the depleted and compressed parts of the formation 

surrounding the well and to expand the interstices that have been 

previously compressed. In view of the character of the formations 

and the relatively low pressure of the wells and hence the small 

reduction in pressure in the aquifer when a well is permitted to

a Meinzer, O. E., and Hard, H. A., The Artesian water supply of the Dakota sandstone, with special reference to the Edgeley quadrangle: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply 

Paper 520, pp. 73-95, 1925. Meinzer, O. E., Compressibility and elasticity of artesian 

aquifers: Econ. Geology, vol. 23, pp. 263-291, April 1928.
40 AETESIAN WATEE IN SOMEEVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

flow, this explanation does not appear to account fully for the very 

plow recovery of pressure.

Another explanation that may bel offered to account for the slow 

recovery of pressure is that of underground leakage. In a well that 

leaks underground the water wasting out of the well may percolate 

into a formation that contains no water or into a formation that 

contains water under a lower head than that which is supplying the 

well. When a flowing well is closed the pressure should rise immediately to that which existed prior to the operation of the well, if 

the casing is tight and if there is no accumulation of gas or compression of the aquifers. But if the well leaks underground the 

pressure in the formation that contains no water or water under a 

lower head must be raised to that of the formation supplying the 

well, and the original pressure of the well will not be recovered until 

the pressure is equalized in all the formations. As theories of gas 

accumulation and of compressibility and elasticity of the artesian 

aquifers do not appear to be entirely applicable to the Somervell 

area, it is believed that the slow recovery of pressure here is indicative of underground leakage.

Seepage into Pabuayy Creek. A porous gravel stratum several feet 

in thickness is reported by the local well drillers to have been encountered within 20 to 30 feet of the surface in some wells in Glen 

Kose and vicinity. In such wells when water is first encountered 

it generally rises in the well to the level of this permeable stratum 

and no higher; but after the well is cased the water rises nearly 

to the surface or may even begin to flow, depending upon the altitude at the well site. This permeable stratum, therefore, undoubtedly permits underground leakage from wells that are not properly 

cased.

The hard limestone of the lower part of the Glen Rose formation 

is overlain in some places by gravel and other unconsolidated material. The channel of Paluxy Creek has been cut into this limestone. 

Along the banks of thei creek in the vicinity of Glen Rose there is 

a line of small seepage springs. The discharge from the individual 

outlets is relatively small, and the location of many of them is concealed during the growing season by weeds and grasses; but during 

the winter, when freezing temperatures occur, the line of seepage is 

prominently marked by ice that forms along the banks of the stream. 

At least a part of the artesian water that leaks from the wells undoubtedly finds its way into the creek through these springs. As 

the individual flows were too small to be measured, an attempt was 

made to determine the total flow of all the outlets. Measurements 

were made June 30, 1930, of the flow of the creek at different points 

between the town of Paluxy and the mouth of the creek. All in-
QUANTITY OF WATER DISCHARGED BY WELLS 41

crease in flow in this stretch of the creek was due to the springs, 

and there was no underflow at the places where the measurements 

were made.

Gain or loss in several sections of Paluxy Creeh -from, the town of Paluxy to 

the mouth, in yallons a minute

[Measurements made June 20,1930]

Point of measurement

1H miles west of Qlen Rose ______________ - ______

Discharge

900

1,265

1,480

1,553

1,675

;,572

1,689

Gain or loss

from preceding 

point o<

measure

ment

+365

+215

+73

+122 -103

+117

"~ t l gain

365

580

653

775

672

789

Within the part of Paluxy Creek covered by the measurements 

the channel has in most places been eroded into the limestone near 

the lower part of the Glen Rose formation, and most of the measurements were made at places where the limestone was clear of gravel 

and sand and hence there was no underflow. However, the sections 

were wide and the velocities were low, and conditions were not the 

best for measuring such small quantities of water. The surprising 

result of the measurements is the loss found in the section from a 

point of 1*4 miles west of Glen Rose to Pecan Street in Glen Rose, 

Check measurements made several days later gave 1,314 gallons a 

minute at the section 1% miles west of Glen Rose, 1,180 gallons a 

minute at Pecan Street, and 1,536 gallons a minute at the section 1 

mile northeast of Glen Rose. The loss in the section west of Glen 

Rose on that day was therefore 134 gallons a minute, compared with 

103 gallons a minute for the same section as noted in the table. The 

reason for this loss is not.definitely known, but it would appear to 

be due chiefly to evaporation from the large shallow pools in this 

stretch of the stream and the absence of inflow. The gain of 117 gallons a minute in the last section is probably all derived from surface 

waste from wells at Glen Rose and seepage from the gravel stratum. 

This quantity is not very large, and it would indicate either that 

losses from wells are not excessive or that the gravel stratum does 

not drain freely into the creek because the stratum is not continuous. 

The evidence that there is some leakage into this stratum seems to be 

substantiated by the fact that drillers report that they encounter 

more water at this horizon now than they did years ago.
42 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMEEVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

QUANTITY OF TJNDERGBOUND LEAKAGE

Though there is sufficient evidence to indicate that there is undoubtedly underground leakage from artesian wells in Somervell 

County, it is difficult to evaluate the total amount of such leakage, 

largely because the leakage from individual wells is too small to be 

reliably measured by any methods that have been developed thus far. 

In view of these conditions any determination of the total underground leakage from the artesian wells can be nothing more than 

an estimate based upon incomplete data and may accordingly be 

greatly in error. Until an opportunity is afforded to make a more 

detailed examination of many wells or to observe the action of test 

wells constructed especially for the purpose of obtaining information 

on the amount of underground leakage, it is considered inadvisable 

to attempt to make such estimates.

A study of all the information at hand indicates that the present 

leakage underground from wells is not excessive and is undoubtedly 

much less than is commonly believed by the average local resident. 

It was the opinion of a number of residents who were interviewed 

during the course of the study that the quantity of water being lost 

underground was as much as that which appears at the surface. 

The available information does not warrant such a conclusion.

PREVENTION OF WASTE

From a full consideration of both surface and underground waste 

it appears that surface waste is at present much the more pressing 

problem. The prevention of surface waste is feasible and may result 

in great benefit. Until the results of a constructive program of prevention of surface waste are fully determined or until more definite 

information on the amount of underground waste is obtained it is 

believed inadvisable to undertake an extensive program of plugging 

and recasing existing wells that are found to be wasting underground, except so far as this may be necessary to prevent pollution of 

the water supply. (See also p. 61.) However, all wells which may 

be abandoned in the future or replaced by new wells should be properly plugged. Improved methods of construction and of repair and 

plugging are described on pages 61-72.

RECHARGE 

GENERAL CONDITIONS

The water-bearing sands of the Trinity group, which produce the 

artesian flows in Somervell County do not crop out anywhere within 

the county but are exposed along the valley of Paluxy Creek from 

Paluxy, in Hood County, to the town of Morgan Hill, in Erath 

Countv, and also in the northwest corner of Hood County. They are
EEOHAKGE 43

also exposed in Comanche, Eastland, Erath, and Parker Counties. 

The outcrop area is of irregular shape and varying width and 

extends both north and south beyond the boundary of the territory 

covered by plate 1. The water-bearing formations receive their 

water supply by downward percolation from the rain or snow that 

falls upon this outcrop area and from seepage losses from the streams 

that cross it.

All of this outcrop area contributes more or less to the artesian 

supply, but the part most beneficial to Somervell County is that 

along upper Paluxy Creek and northwest of this county. In considering the problem of recharge it is well to keep in mind the fact 

that Somervell County is but a very small part of the area underlain 

by the same artesian reservoir and that many wells in other counties 

east of the outcrop area derive their water supply from this artesian 

reservoir.

The geologic section across Somervell County (fig. 1) shows the 

relation of the formations to one another and the reason for the 

occurrence of flowing wells at Glen Rose and vicinity. The underlying Paleozoic rocks form the lower confining beds and prevent 

downward percolation; the more impervious beds in the lower part 

of the Glen Rose formation form the upper confining beds. The 

" basal sands " of the Trinity group are relatively permeable, and 

the elevated body of ground water in the outcrop of this formation 

furnishes the source of supply and the necessary source of pressure. 

Because the area including Glen Rose and vicinity lies below the 

static level of the water in the."basal sands", wells drilled in this 

area sncounter water under artesian pressure and the wells yield 

flowing water.

METHOD OF ESTIMATING RECHARGE

The various methods available for determining the recharge to 

an artesian reservoir are, for several reasons, not entirely applicable 

to the area under consideration. Somervell County is but a small 

part of the area underlain by the same artesian reservoir, and the 

total draft by wells in other counties is doubtless much greater than 

the draft within Somervell County. The reservoir is so extensive 

and the unknown factors are so numerous that during the brief 

period of this investigation sufficient data could not be obtained to 

form a basis for a quantitative determination of the available 

ground-water supply in tne county.

The safe yield of an aquifer has been defined by Meinzer 12 as 

the rate at which water can be withdrawn from it without depleting 

the supply to such an extent that withdrawal at this rate is no longer

"Meinzer, O. E., Outline of ground-water hydrology, with definitions: U.S. Qeol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 494, pp. 55-56, 1923.
44 ABTESIAN WATEE IN SOMEEVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

economically feasible. Under artesian conditions draft in excess 

of safe yield may be indicated by a continued drop in storage of 

water in the reservoir, as shown by a lowering of the water level 

in wells in the intake area, where the water is not confined under 

artesian pressure, or by an increase in the hydraulic gradient in the 

area of withdrawal. As the ability of a water-bearing formation to 

yield water is also dependent on the rate at which the formation 

will transmit water under pressure, an increase in the hydraulic 

gradient in the area of withdrawal may indicate that the rate of 

withdrawal is greater than the capacity of the aquifer for transmittal. Eventually the reduction in head may be so great that the 

economic recovery of water is no longer feasible, because of the 

increased cost of pumping in the nonflowing wells or because the 

flowing wells no longer yield sufficient water.

Complete information regarding the water level in wells in the 

intake area is not available, but such information as was obtained 

indicates that there has been a noticeable lowering of the water level 

during the last 20 years. Information is too scanty to determine 

the rate of decline or to show whether the lowering of the water 

level has been more marked in recent years than formerly. The. 

records of precipitation for this portion of Texas 13 indicate no great 

deficiency of precipitation from normal for extended periods that 

would account for a continued lowering of the water levels in wells 

in the intake area.

Unfortunately records are also deficient regarding the hydraulic 

gradient from the intake area to the area of withdrawal in Somervell County. Undoubtedly the hydraulic gradient has increased a 

certain amount with the increased withdrawal from the artesian reservoir, but this does not necessarily indicate that the withdrawal is 

in excess of the recharge or that the safe yield is exceeded.

The following meager information gives some idea of the present 

hydraulic gradient from points in or near the intake area to Glen 

Kose,. At Thorp Springs, in Hood County, the altitude is about 765 

feet above sea level and the water level in a well which is believed 

to enter the " basal sands " stands about 40 feet below the surface. 

The altitude of the water table is therefore 725 feet, which is 92 

feet higher than that of well 158 at Glen Kose. As the distance 

between these two points is 17.6 miles, the hydraulic gradient is 5.2 

feet to the mile. At Tolar, in Hood Countv, at an altitude of about 

960 feet above sea level, the water table is reported to be about 200 

feet below the surface. The water table is therefore 127 feet higher 

than the level in well 158 at Glen Kose. The distance from Tolar 

to Glen Kose is about 15.4 miles, and the hydraulic gradient is thereu Williams, B. P., and Lowry, R. L., A Study of rainfall in Texas: Texas Reclamation Dept. Bull. 18, p. 15, 1929.
EECHAEGE 45

fore 8.2 feet to the mile. In a well near Lipan, Hood County, the 

water level was 14 feet below the surface. The altitude at this place 

is about 921 feet above sea level, and the water level was therefore 

274 fe«t higher than at Glen Eose. The distance between the two 

points is 26.2 miles, and the hydraulic gradient is 10.4 feet to the 

mile.

According to the foregoing data the hydraulic gradient is greater 

toward the northwest than toward the north-. This is to be expected 

and indicates that the greatest portion of the water withdrawn in 

the Glen Rose area is derived from the intake area lying along 

Paluxy Creek and to the northwest of Somervell County. It should 

also be noted that the general direction of the steepest slope of the 

hydraulic gradient is approximately at right angles to the intake 

area or outcrop of the " basal sands " of the Trinity group.

No streams of consequence cross the intake area from the southeast 

corner of Eastland County to the Brazos River, consequently the outcrop of the " basal sands " would receive in this stretch only minor 

contributions to the artesian reservoir from seepage losses from the 

run-of! of streams. Therefore, most of the contributions to recharge 

here must be derived from precipitation which falls upon the intake 

area.

The precipitation over the area of intake that contributes most to 

the ground-water supply tapped by wells in Somervell County averages about 30 inches a year. On this basis each square mile of intake 

area receives about 521,000,000 gallons a year, or 1,400,000 gallons 

a day. The total estimated average daily draft of 800,000 gallons 

from wells in Somervell County is therefore only 57 percent of the 

average annual precipitation upon each square mile of the intake 

area. However, only a small percentage of the precipitation upon 

the intake area reaches the water table and augments the groundwater supply in the artesian reservoir; the rest is carried off by the 

main streams, evaporates, or is given off by plant growth.

The hydraulic gradient along various sections in the region of 

Glen Rose indicates that a marked cone, of depression in the piezometric surface has been developed in this locality, and that the depression becomes less at points increasingly distant from the main 

center of draft. (See pi. 7.) The cone of depression in the vicinity of 

Glen Rose apparently is not so great during the winter as during the 

summer, but a marked hydraulic gradient from the intake area 

toward the area of withdrawal at Glen Rose persists throughout the 

year. This condition is to be expected. The artesian reservoir is 

not a tight basin available only to Somervell County, but drafts are 

made from it by municipalities to the east and north in other counties, arid the draft at these places naturally continues throughout 

the year.

62037 34 4
46 ABTESIAN WATER IN SOMEEVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

In view of the lowering of the water level in wells in the intake 

area, the continued decline in head of the wells in the vicinity of 

Glen Eose, and the apparent increase in the hydraulic gradient in the 

vicinity of Glen Eose, the conclusion is drawn that the present draft 

in Somervell County has about reached the safe yield of the aquifers 

in this portion of the artesian reservoir.

PERMEABILITY OF AQUIFERS

TESTS ON SAND SAMPLES

The hydraulic permeability of a formation is defined by Meinzer 14 

as its capacity for transmitting water under pressure. This capacity 

can be quantitatively defined as the rate of discharge of water 

through a unit cross-section area of the rock at right angles to the 

direction of flow if the hydraulic gradient is unity. It may also be 

expressed by a coefficient of permeability,15 which is the rate of flow, 

in gallons a day, through a square foot of the cross section of the 

material, under a hydraulic gradient of 100 percent and at a temperature of 60° F. In field terms the coefficient of permeability may be 

expressed as the number of gallons of water a day at 60° F. conducted 

laterally through each mile of the water-bearing bed (measured at 

right angles to the direction of flow) for each foot of thickness of the 

bed and for each foot to the mile of hydraulic gradient.

During the present investigation no deep wells were drilled that 

penetrated the lower aquifers of the Trinity reservoir in Somervell 

County. Samples of the water-bearing formations encountered by 

wells were therefore not obtainable. For determining the physical 

properties of the formation two samples for laboratory testing were 

taken from an outcrop of the " basal sands " on Eobertson Creek, in 

Hood County, about 5 miles northwest of Thorp Springs. (See pi. 

3, A.) One sample was a core of the sandstone in place; the other 

was loose, unconsolidated sand.

The physical properties 16 of the unconsolidated sample were found 

to be as follows:

Apparent specific gravity____________________ 1. 52

Porosity ______________ __ ____percent_ 41.5

Moisture equivalent:

By weight _____________ do . 9

by volume __ _ _ do 1.4

Permeability coefficient_______ _ - _ 437

14 Meinzer, O. B., Outline of ground-water hydrology, with definitions: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 494, p. 44, 1923.

18 For description of laboratory method of determining coefficient of permeability, see 

Stearns, N. D., Laboratory tests on physical properties of water-bearing materials: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 596, pp. 121-176, 1927.

18 For definition of terms used in designating physical properties of materials, see 

Stearns, N. D., op. cit.
RECHARGE 47

Mechanical analyses:

Gravel (greater than 1 millimeter). ___ .percent 0.0

Coarse sand (1 to 0.5 millimeter do_ 2.0

Medium sand (0.5 to 0.25 millimeter) _____do __ 3.4

Fine sand (0.25 to 0.125 millimeter) _______ do __ 86.8

Very fine sand (0.125 to 0.062 millimeter) ___ do __ 5.4

Silt and clay (less than 0.062 millimeter) ___ do __ 2.2

The test made in the laboratory to determine the permeability of 

the consolidated sample of sandstone was not entirely satisfactory. 

Difficulty was experienced in forcing water through the sample, because the cementing material that held the sandstone together disintegrated on the application of water. A test with dilute hydrochloric acid showed that no lime was present and that the cementing 

material was probably clay. A test on the unconsolidated material 

resulting from the disintegration of the core was run for a period of 

12 hours. At the start permeability coefficient was 122, and at the 

end it had increased to 185.

DETERMINATION OF PERMEABILITY BY FIELD TESTS

The method of determining the permeability of water-bearing 

formations by field tests on existing wells, developed by Thiem,17 

has a special advantage over the laboratory method in that it deals 

with water-bearing formations in the vicinity of a well undisturbed 

and in place. The method consists essentially in measuring the quantity of water discharged from a well and noting the amount of drawdown in nearby observation wells. With this information available 

the permeability is obtained by the application of a mathematical 

formula.

The original formula as given in Meinzer's translation 1S of the 

work done by Thiem has been modified by Wenzel 19 for more convenient use in the United States and is as follows :

527.7 C lo lo

= _______

m(s Si)

In this formula P is the coefficient of permeability; q is the rate of 

pumping, in gallons a minute; a and a1 are the respective distances 

of the near and farther observation wells from the key well (in 

feet), m (for artesian conditions) is the thickness of the waterbearing bed (in feet) ; s and sl are the respective draw-downs at the 

nearer and farther observation wells (in feet) .

"Thiem, G., Hydrologische Methoden, Leipzig, 1906.

18 Meinzer, O. B., Dr. Thiem's method of determining permeability in the field by means 

of pumping tests and observation wells in which the resultant drawdown is measured 

(unpublished memorandum in files of U.S. Geological Survey, 1929).

19 Wenzel, L. K., The Thiem method of determining permeability of water-bearing 

materials: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper (in preparation).
48 AETESIAN WATEE IN SOMEEVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

The work done by Wenzel has demonstrated that, though themethod developed by Thiem is a very valuable one, satisfactory results cannot be expected unless proper recognition is given to the 

inherent limitations of the method.

The conditions in the Glen Hose region were not entirely satisfactory for making the necessary tests and observations. One series of 

tests was made on a group of wells that appeared to be adapted to the 

purpose, but the natural flow of the key well was not sufficient to produce a measurable draw-down in the surrounding observation wells,, 

and it became necessary to install a pump to increase the flow. Thisproved to be unsatisfactory, for it was impossible to install in the 

well a suction pipe of sufficient length, and as soon as the pump was 

operated at normal speed the suction would be broken and the water 

discharged in heads. This attempt was therefore abandoned. Somewhat later in the season an opportunity was afforded for making 

some observations on the effect of closing a large flowing well (no. 

142), which had been in operation continuously throughout the 

summer. It was not practicable to extend the observations into the 

winter in order to note the amount of draw-down on observation 

wells that would be produced by placing this key well in operation 

again after it had been closed for a period long enough to allow 

equilibrium to be established. The reverse process was therefore 

used observing the recovery in head on the observation wells after 

the key well was closed. Though this test was likewise not entirely 

satisfactory, it is believed that the results obtained are of some value 

and they are therefore presented herewith.

Observations were made on five wells (nos. 109, 111, 112, 139, 141) 

instead of only the two required by the Thiem method. This wasdone in order to have a check upon all observations and to make it 

possible to eliminate in a logical manner the various combinations of 

wells which were shown to be unsuitable for yielding reliable results. 

Wenzel determined during his work in Nebraska that the best results 

are obtained when the wells are in a straight line parallel to the 

hydraulic gradient. Furthermore, duplicate wells should be available down the slope of the water table at the same distance from the 

discharging well as the wells up the slope of the water table are 

from the key well.

If the proper arrangement of wells were available, the character of 

the water-bearing formation were uniform throughout the region,, 

and all observations were of the same degree of accuracy the computed permeability should agree within close limits for all combinations of wells used. Actually, however, the permeability of the 

formation undoubtedly varies considerably from place to place, and
BECHAEGE

 errors of observation may be cumulative for any particular group of 

wells. Furthermore, as the tests were made under field conditions, 

it was naturally impossible to control or evaluate the effect of extraneous influences, such as the interference from distant wells, and it 

cannot be expected that the results obtained are as accurate as those 

that may be obtained in laboratory tests, where conditions can generally be rather closely controlled. The relations of the individual 

observation wells to the key well and to each other are shown by the 

table below and by figure 4.

Observation wells studied to determine coefficient of permeability in Bomervell

County, Teas.

Well

141 ________ . __ ..... __ ..

139 ____ . ____ ...... __ ......

109.... - ...-. .- ..-

Ill _______ . _____ ... __ ....

112 __ . __ . _ . _ - - 

Distance 

from key 

well 142 

(feet)

380

689

828

1,415

1,475

Draw-down 

(feet)

4.17

3.92

3.91

2.08

2.77

of well records

400 Feet

FIGURE 4. Map showing location of wells used for determining permeability by Thiem method.
50 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

The following table summarizes the results noted from variouscombinations of two observation wells. The thickness of the waterbearing formation as given, 30 feet, represents an average of the 

thickness of the lower aquifer encountered in all the wells.

Permeability of water-bearing? formations in Somervell County, Teas., as calculated from measurements of draw-down in groups of wells

[Calculations made according to Thiem's formula (see p. 47). Well 142 is the key well (see fig. 4); rate of" 

flow, 40 gallons a minute; thickness of water-bearing formation, 30 feet]

Well combination.. _______

Distance from key well:

Farther well (01) ___ feet.. 

Nearer well (a) ____ feet 

Draw-down:

Nearer well (s) ___ feetFarther well (si) ....... feetPermeability. __ gallons a day..

Well combination ________

Distance from key well:

Farther well (01) ___ feetNearer well (a) ____ feet 

Draw-down:

Nearer well (s) ......... feetFarther well (si) ....... feetPermeability. gallons a day 

1

139 and 141

689 

380

4.17

3.92 

727

6

141 and 112

1,475

380

4.17 

2.77 

296

2

139 and 109

828 

689

3.92

3.91 

5,620

7

141 and 111

1,415

380

4.17 

2.08 

192

3

139 and 112

1,475 

689

3.92

2.77 

202

8

109 and 112

1,475

828

3.91 

2.77 

155

4

139 and 111

1,415 

689

3.92

2.03 

119

9

109 and 111

1,415

828

3.91 

2.08 

89.5

5

141 and 109

828 

380>

4.17

3.91 

915.

10

112 and 111

1,475

1,415

2.08^ 

2.77 

-19. 0*

The table shows a wide variation in the computed coefficient of 

permeability. This condition was more or less to be expected.

The wells in group 2 (nos. 139 and 109) are not the same distance 

from the flowing well (no. 142), yet the draw-down observed is. 

practically the same, and the coefficient of permeability as calculated, 5,620, is so extremely high in comparison with that of theother groups that it would appear to be unquestionably in error 

and is therefore disregarded. Furthermore, it may be seen by an 

inspection of the formula that, by reason of the fact that the denominator of the right-hand member of Thiem's equation is a difference 

of two quantities, when this difference is small a small error in 

the draw-down of either or both the wells may represent a large 

percentage of the total difference in draw-down and hence will 

be reflected as a major error in the permeability coefficient. The 

difference in draw-down for groups 1 and 5 is also small, and hence 

the computed coefficient is disregarded for both of these groups. 

The negative coefficient of permeability for group 10 is probably 

due to the fact that the observation wells are located upon almost 

the same circle of influence, to probable errors in measuring the 

draw-downs, and to interference from other wells.
BECHABGE 51

It is admitted that factors which cannot be fully evaluated affect 

the draw-down in the various wells and hence introduce errors into 

the results obtained by the application of Thiem's, formula. However, though a group of wells is disregarded in the computation 

of an average coefficient of permeability, the same wells when used 

in combination with other wells may (because of ( the reasons discussed previously) yield results that are reasonably accurate.

No apparent discrepancies are noted in groups 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9r 

and it is considered that an average of their coefficients might be 

used. An average of the coefficients for these groups is 175.

As determined in the laboratory the coefficient of permeability 

of an unconsolidated sample of Trinity sandstone with water at 60° 

F. was 437. The temperature of the artesian water from wells in 

the Glen Hose region ranges from 69.5° to 70° F. and for the purpose of these studies was assumed to be 70° F. According toSlichter's coefficients 20 for determining the flow at temperatures 

other than 60° F., a factor of 1.15 must be applied to obtain therelative flow at 70° F. The permeability coefficient of the unconsolidated Trinity sandstone as thus corrected is 502.

The coefficient obtained at the beginning of the laboratory test 

run on a disintegrated core sample was 122, and the coefficient at 

the end was 185. The application of the same temperature factor 

of 1.15 gives corrected coefficients of 140 and 213, respectively, and 

the average of these is 176.

The remarkably close agreement of the average coefficient of 176- 

obtained by laboratory tests on the disintegrated core sample with 

the average coefficient of 175 obtained by the field-test method is 

interesting in view of the obvious likelihood of error in both methods.. 

It is rather difficult to account for the much higher coefficient obtained 

by laboratory tests on the loose, unconsolidated sand, but it is believed 

that either some of the finer particles of the loose sand were lost 

in sampling and in transporting the sample to the laboratory or 

that the sand as arranged in the laboratory test was not as compact 

as it is in the field. The corrected coefficient of 502 for the sample 

of loose sand will therefore be disregarded, and 175 will be used as 

the coefficient of permeability for the " basal sands " of the Trinity 

group. According to the definition of the coefficient of permeability a water-bearing formation having a coefficient of permeability 

of 175 will transmit, when the head is 1 foot to the mile, 175 gallons 

of water a day, at 60° F., through a section of the formation 1 foot 

thick and 1 mile long at right angles to the direction of flow.

20 Slichter, C. S., Field measurements of the rate of movement of underground water : 

U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 140, p. 13, 1905.
,52 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

YIELD OF AQUIFERS AS ESTIMATED FROM PERMEABILITY TESTS

The average thickness of the water-bearing portions of the lower 

"basal sands" of the Trinity group is about 30 feet. Therefore, 

if the sand has an average coefficient of permeability of 175, a strip 

of the water-bearing formation 1 mile long will conduct 30 times 

175 gallons, or 5,250 gallons a day, when the hydraulic gradient 

is 1 foot to the mile. The hydraulic gradient between Lipan and 

Glen Rose was estimated to be 10.4 feet to the mile. With an 

average hydraulic gradient of 10 feet to the mile, a strip of the 

water-bearing formation 1 mile long would therefore pass 10 times 

5,250 gallons, or 52,500 gallons a day.

It has been estimated that the total draft throughout the year 

from wells in Somervell County amounts to about 800,000 gallons 

a day. If this quantity of water is supplied by the lower aquifer 

of the Trinity group under the assumed head the water must be 

drawn from a section over 15 miles wide. The distance across 

Somervell County from northeast to southwest through Glen Rose 

is about 15 miles, and this diagonal is practically perpendicular 

to the line drawn from Glen Rose to Lipan, which was used in determining the hydraulic gradient. Actually the water does not all 

come from one direction, but some water is undoubtedly drawn up 

the dip of the bed. Furthermore, some of the water used in Somervell County is supplied by the upper water-bearing portion of the 

" basal sands ", which has not been included in the 30-foot thickness 

of aquifer used in the preceding computations. As the hydraulic 

gradient near the outcrop area is undoubtedly considerably less than 

the average slope from the intake area to the center of the region 

of greatest withdrawal, it is probable that the water moves along a 

section 15 miles or more in width to supply the estimated draft.

The hydraulic gradient in the Glen Rose area is also of interest 

in conjunction with a consideration of the permeability of the different aquifers of the " basal sands " of the Trinity group.

Plate 7 shows the hydraulic gradient along various sections in 

the vicinity of Glen Rose. Sections A-A' and B-B' are based on 

observations made on wells drawing from the lower aquifer of the 

artesian reservoir, and section C-C' is based on observations on 

wells drawing from the upper aquifers. The gradient for section 

C-C' is 16.15 feet to the mile, whereas the steepest gradient along 

section A-A' is only 13.75 feet to the mile. This would indicate 

either that the hydraulic permeability of the upper aquifers is considerably less than that of the lower aquifer or that less water is 

being withdrawn from the upper aquifers. Without more complete information on the various factors involved a definite conclusion is not warranted, but from the fact that the most productive 

wells draw from the lower aquifer it would appear that the per-
EECHAEGE 53

meability of this aquifer is also somewhat greater than that of the 

upper aquifers.

In studies made in the Atlantic City region by Thompson 21 the 

permeability of the aquifers as determined by laboratory tests was 

used to predict the probable loss in head caused by increased draft 

upon the reservoir. Practically the same method is applicable to 

the conditions in Somervell County, though the basic data are not 

so complete as those for the Atlantic City region. The situation in 

Somervell County is complicated by the fact that some of the wells 

draw from one aquifer and others draw from several aquifers. 

Without reliable information on the depth of the well and the amount 

of casing in the hole it is impossible to estimate what part of the 

total estimated draft of 800,000 gallons a day is supplied by each 

aquifer. It is believed, however, that estimates based on the information available may be of interest in indicating the relative amounts 

of future decline in head that might occur.

With a permeability of 175 and a thickness of formation of 30 

feet for the lower aquifer, each strip of formation 1 mile long will 

yield 5,250 gallons a day under a gradient of 1 foot to the mile. 

If the water withdrawn from the lower aquifer in the Glen Rose 

region comes from a strip about 3 miles wide, which is about the 

distance from Squaw Creek to the bridge across Paluxy Creek west 

of Glen Rose, this section will yield 15,750 gallons a day under a 

gradient of 1 foot to the mile. If 400,000 gallons a day is withdrawn 

from the lower aquifer in this region, this quantity could be supplied by the 3-mile strip if the gradient is equal to 400,000 divided 

by 15, 750, or 25.4 feet to the mile. If the water enters the region 

from two directions a gradient half as much, or 12.7 feet to the 

mile, would be required. The gradient along section A-A', plate 

7, is 13.75 feet to the mile for the steepest part and 12.50 feet to the 

mile for the upper part. A 50-percent increase in the draft from 

the sand, or a total of 600,000 gallons a minute, would require a 

gradient of 38.1 feet to the mile with the water coming from one 

direction or 19.0 feet to the mile with the water coming from two 

directions. It is therefore probable that a 50-percent increase in 

draft from the lower aquifer would produce a decline in head of 

over 6 feet to the mile if the water was coming from two directions.

The results of permeability tests by either laboratory or field test 

methods cannot yet be considered sufficiently reliable to form an 

accurate basis for a quantitative determination of recharge and safe 

yield of an artesian reservoir. Nevertheless, the results are valuable 

in indicating the probable productiveness of the artesian aquifers 

under conditions of increased draft. The present value of the

a Thompson, D. G., Ground-water supplies of the Atlantic City region: New Jersey 

Dept. Conservation and Development Bull. 30, pp. 93-96, 1928.
54 ARTESIAN WATER IN" SOMEBVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

artesian waters in the Glen Kose region is to a great extent dependent upon the fact that a considerable portion of the water is obtained 

by natural flow. The present head available for producing flowing 

artesian water is rather low, and even a relatively small further 

decline will cause a number of wells to stop flowing. A probable 

decline in head of only 6 feet, as indicated for an increase in draft 

of 200,000 gallons a day, would undoubtedly be sufficient to cause 

a decrease in the number of flowing wells. Such an increase in draft 

could be caused by only one well of a capacity of 139 gallons a 

minute. Hence it is fortunate for the interests of the present water 

users that irrigation with artesian water has not assumed any great 

proportions, as the large quantities of water required for satisfactory 

irrigation would very soon make serious inroads on the present 

supply that is available by natural flow from existing wells.

QUALITY OF WATER 

CHEMICAL, QUALITY

Though the artesian waters of Glen Eose and vicinity are rather 

widely known in Texas and have been used medicinally, there has 

"been some confusion as to their chemical composition and medicinal 

properties. This confusion is largely due to misunderstanding concerning their source. The Glen Eose formation derives its name 

from the town of Glen Eose, largely because the formation is exposed 

so characteristically in this locality, and its beds crop out in an almost 

complete succession along the bluffs of the valley of Paluxy Creek 

from its mouth nearly to the village of Paluxy. The waters from 

the Glen Eose formation, where this formation supplies water under 

artesian pressure, are comparatively highly mineralized sulphate 

waters; they are similar to the waters used at some well-known 

resorts but, as noted by Hill,22 are unsuitable for ordinary domestic, 

industrial, or agricultural use. At Glen Eose and vicinity, however, 

by reason of the fact that the Glen Eose formation lies at the surface 

and is deeply incised by Paluxy Creek and the other streams of this 

area, it is not a water-bearing formation and does not yield water to 

wells. Some water in isolated wells appears to be derived from 

crevices and solution channels near the base of the Glen Eose formation, but this water is undoubtedly supplied by the upper aquifers

 of the underlying Trinity reservoir. Practically all the artesian 

waters at Glen Eose and vicinity are derived from the aquifers of the 

" basal sands " of the Trinity group, which yield water that differs 

greatly in character from the water of the Glen Eose formation and 

is vastly superior to it for general use.

During the course of the present study partial analyses were made

 of 17 samples of water from wells, 2 samples from springs, and 1

82 Hill, R. T., op. clt., p. 448.
QUALITY OF WATER . 55

sample from Paluxy Creek. In addition, 6 complete analyses were 

made of samples of-water from wells. The table on page 56 gives the 

results of the partial analyses made.

All the samples of well water except one contained varying 

amounts of hydrogen sulphide (H2S). In the water from some of 

the wells the hydrogen sulphide is hardly evident; in that from 

others it is present in sufficient quantity to produce a very strong 

odor in the vicinity of the wells while the water is flowing. The 

water from well 169, at the Snyder Sanatorium, contains no noticeable amount of hydrogen sulphide. This is in marked contrast to 

the water from well 168, which supplies both the Snyder Sanatorium 

and the Glen Rose Hotel. The two wells are only about 300 feet 

apart; there is less than 10 feet difference in the depth; and as 

shown by the complete analyses (p. 57) there is no marked difference 

in the composition of their waters.

The results of the partial analyses of samples of water from the 

isame well where the casing is presumed to separate the waters of 

different aquifers indicate no wide1 difference in the character of the 

waters. Well 168 is finished in this manner, and the two samples 

:show practically the same characteristics with the exception of the 

somewhat higher content of hydrogen sulphide in the water from the

-shallow aquifer, which was noted at the time of sampling. In well 

197, also, the water from the two aquifers is supposed to be separated, 

.yet the water from the deeper aquifer is practically the same as 

that from uncased well 196, about 15 feet away, which is 60 feet 

shallower and presumably taps only the uppermost aquifer.

Because of the lack of accurate and detailed information on the 

amount of casing in the wells, the condition of the casing, and 

the horizons tapped by particular wells, it is rather difficult to 

draw reliable conclusions regarding the character of the water supplied by different aquifers. This is illustrated by a comparison 

of the analyses of water from wells 177, 169, and 10. Well 177 is 

only 53 deep, yet its water is essentially the same as that from well 

169 which is 287 feet deep and located on ground of practically 

the same altitude about 1,500 feet away. The waters from the two 

wells are equally hard. At the time of sampling it was noted, however, that the water from well 177 contained a noticeable amount 

of iron (Fe), as indicated by the rust stain on the fittings at 

the well, and only a moderate amount of hydrogen sulphide, whereas 

the water from well 169 was in comparison relatively strong in 

hydrogen sulphide and showed less evidence of iron. Well 10 is

-about 700 feet from well 177 and yields calcium magnesium carbonate water (CaMgC2O6 ). Though both waters are moderately 

hard the water from well 10 contains more calcium than that from 

well 177.
Partial analyses of water from sources in and near Glen Rose, S

[ Parts per million. Analyses by W. L. Lamar, U.S. Geological Survey. The locations of wells 264, 276,277, an

table on pp.76-84.]

Well 

no.

10

65

128

158

168

169

177

193

196

197

276

277

OQft

A

B

C

Owner or location

L. J. Wardlaw--. _ ....... _____ . __

Snyder Sanatorium:

Dr. Mitain _____ ____ ___ ___

T. K. Mathews:

Spring at Glen Rose-Cleburne 'highway bridge over

Date of 

collection 

(1929)

Nov. 22

... do 

...do. 

... do 

 do 

...do....

 do 

...do 

... do 

...do 

... do 

...do....

 do _

... do _

... do .

... do 

... do 

 do 

Nov. 23

...do 

Depth 

(feet)

175

192

142

285

290

295

125±

287

53

160

100

328

1,500?

220

285?

Total dissolved 

solids 

(calculated)

359

465

374

373

374

370

380

382

374

383

356

395

395

414

388

385

372

444

323

391

Iron (Fe)

0.77

27

1.8

.40

Calcium

(OB)

(by turbidity)

44

109

20

30

36

24

24

37

24

43

41

32

36

9.0

13

20

36

28

51

O9

gupplies also Glen Rose Hotel.
QUALITY OF WATER 57

The water from the spring on Wheeler Branch (A in table, 

p. 56) is similar to the waters from the artesian wells in the vicinity. 

The water from Porter Springs (C), at the Glen Rose-Cleburne 

highway bridge across the Brazos River, is relatively hard. These 

springs issue from limestone crevices, and it is evident that they 

have taken up considerable calcium by solution of the limestone. 

The water from Paluxy Creek (B) is of like character, and its high 

calcium content is undoubtedly due to the fact that fof most of the 

distance from the village of Paluxy to the mouth of the creek the 

stream flows over the limestone bed of the lower Glen Rose formation. The excessive amount of iron (Fe) in the water from well 

65 is probably due to the corrosion of the well casing and pump 

fittings. The well had not been in use for some time, and it is 

probable that it was not pumped long enough before the sample was 

collected.

The following table gives the results of complete analyses of 

samples of water from eight wells. The analyses of the waters from 

the upper and lower aquifers tapped by well 141, as given in this 

table, show comparatively little difference in character. The water 

from the lower aquifer is less hard than that from the upper aquifer; 

it has less calcium and magnesium and also less hydrogen sulphide.

Analyses of water -from wells in and near Glen Rose, Somervell County, Tea.

(Parts per million. Analyses by W. L. Lamar, TT.S. Geological Survey, except as indicated. The location 

of well 274 is shown on pi. 6, the other wells on pi. 4. See also table on pp. 76-83.]

Silica (SiOt) ...........

Magnesium (Mg) ........

Potassium (K). ...... ... -

Bicarbonate (HCOj) .....

Chloride (Cl). ...........

Nitrate (NO.)... ... ... ...

Total dissolved solids. ... 

Total hardness as CaCOj

10

20

.05

30

24

78

4.6

376 

35

12

0

364

173

/June 19,

^ ItfoU

71 

16 »5

24

20

}«101

412 

9.7

9.8

400 

140 }.......

14

A

23

.04

16

12

f 126

L 4.2

413 

19

19

0

406 

89

/June 19,

( 1930

11

B

22

.07

21

16

102

4.6

398 

16

14

0

*371 

118

June 19,

1930

22

1.6

24

19

99

4.2

412 

12

16

0

379 

138

June 19,

1930

25

.08

23

18

104

4.5

410 

19

17

0

388 

131

June 19,

irau

19

»3

32

22

} «109

407 

41

21

405

167 }.......

63

.05

14

6.8

f 142

{ 3.8

389

44

16

1.3

468 

63

/June 19.

I itMU

 Analysis by Terrell Laboratories, Fort Worth, Tex.

*Iron and aluminum oxides (FeiOj+AlsOj).

«Calculated.

d Contained 1.0 part per million of hydrogen sulphide when analyzed.

10. Well 175 feet deep owned by John Anderson. 

71. Well 298 feet deep owned by Somervell County.

141. Well 321 feet deep at Lakeview Park. A, Sample from depth of about 321 feet; B, sample from 

depth of about 125 feet. 

158. Well 290 feet deep owned by L. J. Wardlaw.

168. Well 295 feet deep at Snyder Sanatorium.

169. Well 287 feet deep at Snyder Sanatorium. 

274. Well 277 feet deep at Y.W.C.A. camp.
58 ARTESIAN WATER IK SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

The water from all the wells in Glen Rose, regardless of the 

aquifers tapped, is slightly to moderately hard. No definite relation, 

between the depth of the well and the hardness of the water is evident, but the analyses for wells 276 and 277 (p. 56) and 141 (p. 57) 

suggest that the artesian water may be softer east of Glen Rosethan within the town proper. The water of well 264, about 1 milenorth of wells 276 and 277, is the softest of all the samples analyzed. 

The well was* reported to have been drilled to a depth of 1,500 feet 

as an oil exploration test, then plugged and abandoned. At the time 

of sampling less than half a gallon a minute was flowing from the 

casing. Information is not available regarding the depth of theaquifer that is supplying the water. In general, the water from the 

wells in Glen Rose, though moderately hard, is satisfactory for all 

uses. Some trouble is experienced with its use in boilers, as it shows= 

a tendency to foam and precipitates a sludge that must be removed 

by washing in order to maintain the boiler at good efficiency.

It is probable that a greater difference in the character of the 

water from the different! aquifers would be noted if uncontaminated 

samples from each aquifer could be obtained. It would appear,, 

however, that the many uncased wells permit more or less free 

migration of the water from one aquifer to another and hence the 

true characteristics of the water from each aquifer are not fully 

evident in the samples.

SANITARY QUALITY

By CHESTEE COHEN

In connection with the general ground-water investigations being 

conducted by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation 

with the Texas State Board of Water Engineers, the State Board 

of Health has made cooperative studies of the sanitary character 

of the waters of several of the areas under investigation.

Glen Rose has long been known as a health center, and a number 

of clinics and sanatoriums for massage treatment and rest cures are 

located in the city. A large part of the local prosperity is dependent upon the influx of persons who come to take the treatments and 

enjoy the recreational facilities of the region. It is obvious that the 

sanitary quality of the water is especially important, and a sanitary 

survey was therefore made during September, November, and 

December 1930.

Many of the wells are less than 175 feet in depth and are cased with 

only 20 to 40 feet of casing. A number of the wells had no casing: 

that was properly seated in the hole but were kept flowing simply by 

having one or at the most two joints of 1%- to 2-inch pipe inserted 

into the hole. The deeper wells are generally cased from about 200 

to 265 feet.
QUALITY OF WATER 591

The problem at Glen Hose was to determine the relative safety 

of the water supply from the numerous privately owned wells. Unfortunately, the city is without a sewer system, and each home employs an individual septic tank or a cesspool as a method of sewage 

disposal. These cesspools and septic tanks are dug into the gravel 

that underlies the town at depths of 10 to 20 feet from the surface. 

It is, therefore, possible that the upper materials at Glen Rose are 

generally polluted. This conclusion is partly borne out by bacterial 

analyses that were made on November 11, 1930, of samples of water 

from two springs in this area, which indicated a high proportion of 

undesirable gas-forming organisms with evidence of the presence of 

Bacillus coli. One of the springs is in the rear of the Walter Davis 

home, and the other is on the Glen Rose-Qleburne highway at the 

downstream side of the highway bridge across Wheeler Branch. The 

water from this spring on the highway contains no apparent hydrogen sulphide, in marked contrast to most of the artesian waters, but 

a partial chemical analysis (p. 56) showed it to be relatively high 

in nitrates in comparison with the artesian water. The presence of 

high nitrates may be evidence of past pollution. This conclusion was 

substantiated by further partial analyses made in the field by the 

writer.

In order to determine whether the water is these artesian aquifers 

is of satisfactory quality at the source, examination was made of 

three wells completed during 1929 that are considered representative 

of the methods of construction being used.

Well ITT, belonging to Jack Norris, was finished at a depth of 53 

feet and is probably cased with about 20 feet of 4^4-inch casing. 

This well is supplied by water that apparently comes from the 

crevices and solution channels at the base of the limestone in the 

lower part of the Glen Rose formation. Well 10, belonging to 

John Anderson, was finished at a depth of 1T5 feet and cased with 

20 feet of 5%-inch casing. The depth to the water-bearing bed is 

given by the driller as 108 to 150 feet. A little water was encountered 

in the limestone at about 50 feet, as in the Morris well, but the main 

water supply comes from the second water-bearing zone. Well 158, 

owned by L. J. Wardlaw, was completed to a depth of 290 feet and 

is cased with 212 feet of casing. Practically no water was encountered at the 50-foot horizon. The other two aquifers were 

encountered at 125 and 250 feet. The water from the 125-foot 

horizon was cased off by means of 212 feet of casing, and the well 

is supplied largely by 30 feet of water-bearing sand between the 

depths of 250 and 290 feet.

Six samples of water were taken from the three wells. None of 

these six samples showed any trace of pollutional bacteria, and in
60 ABTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

each sample the water at the time of sampling was entirely satisfactory for all domestic uses. The available evidence, therefore, indicates that the deeper waters have not been contaminated by the 

shallow ground water of unsatisfactory sanitary quality contained 

in the surficial deposits. The purity of the artesian water may be 

attributed in part to the natural purification that occurs in groundwater supplies during the period of storage and filtration through 

the sand strata, but it is due chiefly to the artesian pressure, which 

tends to prevent the downward percolation of polluted water through 

the overlying strata or its entrance into the artesian wells. The 

abandoned wells in the Glen Rose area may nevertheless in the future 

present a serious obstacle to maintaining the sanitary quality of the 

water of the artesian aquifers, inasmuch as they are not generally 

properly plugged to prevent the entrance of surface pollution. The 

fact that many of the wells in the area have insufficient pressure to 

flow at the surface creates a condition which should not be overlooked 

in any consideration of the maintenance of the purity of the artesian 

waters.

In order to determine the present condition of the older wells in 

the area, samples were taken from 23 such wells situated in different 

parts of the town, and 26 bacteriologic analyses were made of water 

from these wells during the period of the study. The samples from 

two of the wells showed evidence of pollution. One of these samples, 

however, was improperly collected, in that the faucet from which 

the water was taken was not sterilized prior to obtaining the sample, 

and therefore the results may be disregarded. The well from which 

the other sample was collected was equipped with a windmill; its 

water level had been drawn down considerably below the ground 

surface, and during the survey it was noted that water was standing 

around the well head, which was not properly constructed. Thus 

the surface conditions, the lack of a sealed casing head, and the 

lowered static level of the water are probably responsible for the 

pollution. The samples from all the other wells were free from any 

evidences of pollution.

The bacteriologic analyses were made chiefly in the State Hygienic 

Laboratories at Austin, Tex., on samples sent in to the laboratories 

by the writer. All the tests were made in accordance with the procedure recommended by the American Public Health Association 

in analyzing water for domestic use. In evaluating the sanitary 

quality of the water two terms have been used, " satisfactory " and 

"unsatisfactory." A well considered satisfactory is one that furnishes a supply which is free from any gas-producing organisms 

after 48 hours of incubation and which meets the standards of the 

United States Public Health Service. An unsatisfactory well is
CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR OP WELLS 61

one that does not meet the standards of the American Public Health 

Association for a drinking-water supply.

On the basis of the sanitary survey that was made the following 

conclusions and recommendations are presented:

1. The water supplies at present obtained at depths below 50 feet 

are satisfactory for domestic uses.

2. The shallow ground water in the area that is, the water 

originating in the shallow gravel is at least in part polluted and 

is not satisfactory for drinking or culinary purposes.

3. Any further decreases in the artesian head increases the possibility of the entrance of polluted water from the surface or from the 

upper gravel.

4. A program should be undertaken immediately for abolishing 

all surface privies, cesspools, and septic tanks and substituting therefor a modern method for disposal of sewage through a system of 

tight pipes.

5. As far as possible all abandoned wells should be located and 

plugged to prevent the entrance of surface water into them.

CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR OP WELLS 

PRESENT METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION

In Somerville County all artesian wells are constructed by the 

solid or cable tool percussion method. In the northwestern part of 

the county, where in some small areas the water table is relatively 

near the surface, a few shallow wells furnish small supplies for farm 

use.

The dug wells are constructed by excavating a square or circular 

hole in the ground with hand tools. Such wells are generally about 

4 feet in diameter. If the formations penetrated are sufficiently consolidated to stand without caving while the hole is being dug no 

 curbing is used until the water table is encountered. The hole is 

then curbed with wood, rock, cement, or tile, after which excavation 

is continued a short distance below the water table, the depth being 

more or less determined by the amount of water encountered and 

the rapidity with which the water percolates into the well. If 

caving occurs while the well is being excavated the walls are cribbed 

with wood in order that the excavation can be carried deeper. 

Because the curbing and the well cover cannot generally be kept in 

a, water-tight condition, it is difficult to keep such a well in a sanitary 

condition so that the water will be suitable for domestic use. The 

modern drilled well is so far superior in respect to sanitary quality 

that the dug well is not to be recommended even for isolated farm 

supplies.

62037 34 5
62 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMEEVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

As few of the artesian wells in Somervell County exceed 325 

feet in depth, all wells of this type are constructed by the cable-tool 

percussion method with portable drilling rigs. The essential operation of drilling consists in raising a blunt-edge clublike drilling 

tool and permitting it to fall of its own weight. For maximum 

efficiency in drilling, the features of the drill bit are varied according 

to the nature of the material to be penetrated. The percussive 

action of the bit breaks off, crushes, or penetrates the formations,, 

and the action of the tool as it operates up and down in the drill 

hole mixes the drill cuttings with water, which is poured into the 

hole if sufficient fluid is not encountered in the formations. A complete string of tools consists of the drilling bit, stem, jars, sinker,, 

and rope socket. On the shallow work in this area the sinker is 

never used, and the jars are also sometimes omitted. The stem is a 

heavy bar attached to the drilling bit; it provides additional weight 

to the blows struck by the bit and by increasing the length of the 

drill helps to keep the hole straight. The drilling jars are a pair 

of linked steel bars which assist in raising the bit from the bottom 

of the hole and prevent it from being stuck by affording a means 

for striking a sharp upward blow on the drilling bit. The sinker 

bar is similar to the stem; its purpose is to add weight and length to 

the tools and assist in sinking the drilling line and in keeping the 

hole straight. The rope socket furnishes the means for attaching 

the drilling rope or wire cable to the tools.

The portable rigs used in this area are built in compact form upon 

a frame mounted on wheels. The entire outfit can readily be 

moved from place to place by a tractor or a motor truck. The 

machine consists essentially of several drums upon which are spooled 

the drilling cable and sand line, a spudder for supplying the up 

and down motion to the tools, and a small A-frame which supports 

the cable sheave that is centered over the spot where the well is to 

be drilled. The power for operating the rig is supplied by means of 

a belt from a small gas engine.

In drilling a hole by the solid or cable tool percussion method, 

a small hole is first excavated by hand tools at the spot where the 

well is to be drilled. Drilling is then started with the tools, and 

after a quantity of cuttings has been drilled loose, the bit is removed and the hole cleaned out with a baler. Water is added 

from the surface if sufficient fluid is not encountered in the hole, 

and the drilling action, of the bit mixes the cuttings with the water 

to form a sludge, which is bailed out. The bailer consists of a 

section of tubing from 10 to 20 feet in length and somewhat smaller 

in diameter than the well. It has a valve at the lower end, of 

either the flat type or the ball and tongue type. After the hole
CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR OP WELLS 63

is bailed the drilling operation is continued until additional 

cuttings accumulate, which in turn are bailed from the hole.

Where the formation is unconsolidated and the hole caves, it is 

necessary to follow the bit with casing, and in some places the 

casing is put down ahead of the drill by driving. When the hole 

has reached a sufficient depth for setting the casing, the drill hole 

is cleaned and the casing is lowered into the well by the hoist and 

seated into a solid formation by driving. Drilling then proceeds 

to the final depth.

In Somervell County practically all artesian wells less than 150 

to 175 feet deep are cased with only 20 to 40 feet of casing at the 

upper end, as the hole remains open without serious caving belowthe bottom of the casing. Wells that penetrate the lower aquifers are 

generally cased to a depth of 200 to 250 feet, and the remainder of the 

hole is left uncased. This lower casing is in addition to the short 

length of 20 to 40 feet of casing at the top. The bottom end of the 

main casing in some wells is fitted with an improvised packer consisting of several circular disks of fabric belting, which are attached to the 

casing between metal washers and nuts that are screwed over a short 

threaded section of the casing at its lower end. The purpose of this 

packer is to provide a watertight seal between the casing and the 

sides of the drill hole, thereby preventing the loss of artesian water 

on the outside of the casing and the subsequent reduction in the 

artesian head. In some wells the deep inner casing is not inserted 

into the hole until after the well has been drilled to its final depth. 

If the completed well yields flowing water, a short length of 1%- or 

2-inch pipe is usually cemented into the top of the casing and a suitable valve placed thereon to control the flow. In several deep wells 

the water from the upper aquifers issues from a pipe between the 

two casings, and the water from the deep aquifer issues from the 

inner casing. Figure 5 shows the method of casing and finishing 

softie of the deep wells in which the water from the two main aquifers 

is separated.

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN CASING AND FINISHING

Considerable improvement can be made in the methods of casing and finishing the wells drilled in Somervell County, especially 

in the matter of using more casing and in seating the casing more 

effectually.

Most of the so-called shallow wells, which range in depth from 50 

to 175 feet, are cased with only one or two 20-foot joints of casing 

5% inches in diameter. In view of the marked similarity between 

the pressure of water encountered in the crevices of the limestone at 

about 50 feet in most of the wells and the pressure of the water in
64 ARTESIAN" WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

the first water-bearing sand encountered at 140 to 170 feet, it appears 

that this water-bearing sand is feeding the limestone crevices and 

that some of the artesian pressure is thereby dissipated. For wells 

utilizing the water in the base of the limestone, two1 joints of casing

Water from deep sand

Water from upper aquifers

Some water in 

limestone crevices

Water-bearin 

-. '. sand . .

FIGURE 5. Method of casing and finishing wells to separate the water of different

aquifers.

may be sufficient if properly seated, but it is believed that the artesian 

supply and pressure will be better conserved if all wells that draw 

from the uppermost water-bearing sand (encountered at about 125 

to 175 feet in wells at Glen Kose) are cased to a depth of about 100 

to 125 feet. Drive shoes should also be used on the lower end of the
CONSTRUCTION" AND REPAIR OP WELLS 65

casing in order to obtain a seat that will effectually prevent leakage 

between the outside of the casing and the walls of the hole. If the 

casing is not carried along while drilling but is seated in one string 

after the hole has been drilled, the bottom portion of the hole should 

be reduced slightly in diameter by using a smaller bit. The casing, 

with a drive shoe at its lower end, should then be securely seated 

in the reduced hole section by light driving to insure a watertight 

seat.

The practice of seating the inner string of casing by means of an 

improvised packer in wells in which the water from two aquifers is 

to be separated is believed to permit leakage from the lower aquifer 

and a resultant loss of pressure. This is indicated by the change of 

pressure of the water of the upper aquifer when the valve on the 

casing supplied by water from the lower aquifer is opened or closed. 

The casing in such wells should be securely seated in the red clay 

beds in a hole of slightly smaller diameter before the well is drilled 

to the deeper water-bearing sand, otherwise the formation in contact 

with the packer may be eroded by any slight leakage and eventually 

permit considerable loss of water from the lower aquifer and a resultant loss of pressure.

A number of wells in Glen Rose and vicinity have been completed 

without the use of any casing whatever by merely inserting a pipe 

in the upper end of the hole in order to keep the opening from 

caving in. Such makeshift methods of construction should not be 

tolerated; they result in a gross waste of water at the surface, because 

the flow is not controlled, and they also increase materially the 

underground leakage. Although most of the wells that have been 

drilled recently are supplied with valves to control the flow while 

the well is not in use, several wells, more particularly those of small 

capacity, have been completed without providing a satisfactory means 

of controlling the flow when the water is not required.

One of the most satisfactory methods of securing a satisfactory 

seal in the formation is to cement the casing around the lower joint 

or, preferably, throughout its length. Satisfactory methods of 

cementing casing have been developed in oil-well drilling, and in 

recent years these methods have been adapted to water-well construction with excellent results.28 The method of cementing casing 

by the use of the dump bailer is especially applicable to the construction of artesion wells in Somervell County. In cementing a well by 

this process the liquid cement is lowered in a dump bailer, which discharges its load on reaching the bottom of the hole. A dump bailer

83 For a detailed discussion of cementing methods see Fiedler, A. G., Use of cement in 

well construction: Water Works Engineering, vol. 82, pp. 587, 588, 620, 623, 1929; 

Tough, F. B., Methods of shutting off water in oil and gas wells: U.S. Bur. Mines 

Bull. 163, 1918.
66 AKTESIAlSr WATER IN SOMEBVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

is similar to a regular bailer except that means are provided 'to keep 

the bailer valve open when the bailer reaches the bottom of the hole 

in order to insure the complete dumping of the load of cement. 

After the necessary amount of cement has been placed in the well the 

casing is pulled 10 to 25 feet off the bottom, or far enough to bring 

the shoe above the level of the cement. The casing is then filled with 

water, sealed at the top, and again lowered to the bottom. Because 

the water is practically incompressible and there is no outlet at the 

top the cement cannot enter the casing and is forced up on the outside, where it is permitted to set before the well is uncapped.

In places where the water level in the well is low and the addition 

of water from the surface will not fill the casing because of leakage 

into formations containing no water or water under a lower head 

than that which would be built up in the casing, it is necessary to 

provide a means for sealing the lower end of the casing. If this is 

not done the entrained air above the water will be compressed after 

the well is capped and the casing is lowered to the bottom, and the 

cement will come up inside the casing instead of being forced up 

outside. To overcome this difficulty several types of cement plugs 

have been devised to seal the bottom of the casing and serve the 

same purpose as the column of water in the pipe.

The two plugs most generally used are the " sure-shot" cement 

plug and the Hall cement plug. The sure-shot plug is lowered on 

the bailer and may be readily raised or lowered in the pipe. It does 

not set until it passes outside of the casing, when a set of slips are 

released. When the bailer is picked up the slips will pull up firmly 

against the shoe and the plug will seal the casing, which is then 

lowered to the bottom, displacing the liquid cement. The Hall 

plug accomplishes the same purpose but is set in the pipe a short 

distance above the shoe by means of an upward pull on the bailer. 

Both plugs have appropriate valves which open to permit the water 

to flow through the plug while it is being lowered into place. If the 

sure-shot plug is properly seated below the shoe, very little cement 

will normally enter the casing. If the Hall plug is used, about 5 

feet of cement must generally be drilled out after the cement has 

set, because it is generally inadvisable to try to set the plug nearer 

than 5 feet from the end of the casing, owing to the risk of getting 

the plug below the shoe. After the casing has been reseated and the 

cement has had an opportunity to set thoroughly the cement plugs 

are drilled out and the hole continued into the water-bearing sand.

The method of cementing with a dump bailer is particularly 

applicable for use in Glen Rose. It involves little additional expense, as in most places the cement can be forced out of the casings 

by filling the well with water and. capping the top of the casing
CONSTEUCTION AND EEPAIE OP WELLS 67

before it is lowered. Some additional expense will be involved if 

cement plugs have to be used.

Where wells of especially good construction are desired the casing 

should be cemented throughout its length by tubing or casing methods.24 These methods are relatively more expensive than the dumpbailer method, and their use would add materially to the cost of a 

well. Under the circumstances they are not recommended for 

general use, for it is realized that methods of improving the construction, of the wells must be economical to be adopted.

Attention is also called to the danger of pollution in wells that 

have only one or two joints of casing and are ineffectively sealed in 

the formation. The mere fact that the wells yield water by natural 

flow is no guaranty that the water may not be polluted, for abandoned 

nonflowing wells that are not properly plugged may permit surface 

waste to enter the water-bearing formation, thereby contaminating 

the supply. It is especially important, therefore, that the wells that 

utilize water from the uppermost aquifer, which is encountered at 

Glen Eose and vicinity at a depth of about 50 feet, be cased with at 

least 40 feet of casing, and wherever the casing cannot be tightly 

seated it should be properly cemented by one of the methods described. Though the Glen Eose community has apparently had a 

very satisfactory record so far as typhoid and other water-borne 

diseases are concerned, some of the pumped wells undoubtedly yield 

water of questionable sanitary quality because they are not effectively 

sealed at the top to prevent the entrance of surface waste and consequent contamination. It is therefore recommended that greater 

attention be devoted to the matter of constructing the wells with a 

view to preventing pollution, and that they be finished* in accordance 

with the methods approved by the State board of health.

REPAIR OF WELLS

Comparatively little attention has been given to the repair of old 

wells in Somervell County, as the usual practice seems to have been 

to abandon an old well when it became no longer satisfactory for 

use and drill a new one nearby. According to the best information 

available it appears that only a few wells have been abandoned within the present area of artesian flow. In the belt which formerly 

yielded flowing water but in which the reduction in artesian head 

has caused the wells to cease flowing, probably many wells have 

been abandoned. The number and condition of such wells are 

not known, hence it is impossible to estimate accurately the amount 

of water that may be lost from them by underground leakage. 

However, as pointed out by Cohen on page 60, the abandoned wells

24 Fiedler, A. G., op. cit., pp. 588, 620, 623; Tough, F. B., op. cit, pp. 32-54.
68 ARTESIAN WATEE IN SOMEBVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

may in the future present a serious obstacle to maintaining the sanitary quality of the water of the artesian aquifers. Even if it were 

possible to locate most of the abandoned wells, a general program 

of repair would not be warranted at present. The problem is largely 

one of plugging these old wells to prevent avoidable underground 

leakage and pollution of the artesian supply. Methods of plugging' 

are described on pages 69-72.

Although the available information is not sufficient for a reliable 

estimate of the amount of underground leakage from wells that are 

now in use, the evidence indicates that considerable improvement 

might be made in the condition of some of the wells by making 

suitable repairs.

During the present investigation a number of wells were found 

which were reported as having no casing, the hole being kept open 

by a piece of V/2 - or 2-inch pipe about 20 feet long that had been 

placed in the well. Unfortunately the wells were in such poor condition that an examination with the leakage meter could not be 

made. As all these wells undoubtedly penetrate some formations 

that contain no water or water under a lower artesian pressure than 

the aquifer supplying the well, it is evident that some underground 

leakage must occur. This leakage can largely be prevented by 

casing the hole below all permeable strata and sealing the casing 

in a tight formation.

The most satisfactory method of casing a hole finished in this 

manner is to remove the small-diameter pipe and rotate a pipe of 

larger diameter into the hole. However, the hydraulic rotary system 

of drilling is not used in Somervell County, and hence the necessary 

machinery for rotating a casing is not available. Another method 

is to clean out the old hole to its original size and set a string of 

casing with a cable-tool rig. Though there is some danger of the 

surficial deposits caving, it is believed that no serious difficulty 

would be experienced in using cable-tool equipment in making the 

repairs, provided that care is used in carrying on the work. Some 

caving will probably occur in the superficial deposits, but as the limestone is relatively near the surface in most of the present area of 

artesian flow the surficial deposits that may cause trouble are not 

very thick. After the original hole in the limestone has been entered 

no further difficulty should normally occur, as the limestone is relatively hard and does not cave if left uncased.

To insure that the hole is tightly cased it is generally advisable 

to ream the hole to accommodate a casing one size larger than 

could have been used in the original hole. This will provide a seat 

for the new casing, and by using a casing shoe on the lower end 

the casing can be driven securely into the impervious formation and 

a tight seal made.
CONSTBTTCTION AND EEPAIB OP WELLS 69

A relatively large number of wells are wasting water at the suriace. (See table, pp. 76-84.) In many wells this waste is due to 

the absence of proper valves on the discharge pipes or to valves 

that cannot be completely closed because of worn or damaged parts. 

The repairs needed are relatively simple and inexpensive, and there 

is no justification for further waste of water from such causes. The 

waste is also a menace to health, for much of the water is permitted 

to collect in shallow pools or ditches that furnish excellent breeding 

places for mosquitoes.

PLUGGING OF WEUL.S

Various methods have been devised for plugging wells that leak 

underground, and the work done in other artesian areas has thoroughly demonstrated the wisdom of preventing underground leakage 

from artesian wells. In Honolulu 25 an effective program of plugging 

leaky artesian wells has been carried on for several years under the 

supervision of the United States Geological Survey in cooperation 

with the Territorial government. This work has proved the practicability and effectiveness of the methods developed, but it has shown 

that the plugging of a well is not an inexpensive undertaking. On 

the island of Oahu a population of over 100,000 is practically dependent upon the artesian waters for domestic and industrial supply. 

The prosperity of Glen Rose and vicinity is to a large extent dependent upon the permanence of the artesian supply, but the water cannot 

be considered nearly so valuable as in Honolulu. Hence, any program of conservation that involves the plugging of many wells would, 

of necessity, be limited by the value of the water that might be 

conserved. It should also be remember that Somervell County is 

but a very small part of the area underlain by the Trinity reservoir, 

which furnishes the supply of water, and that development of artesian water from the same reservoir in other counties cannot be 

prevented under the present laws of the State. Though it is not 

probable that any great development of artesian water will be made 

in the near future in areas adjacent to Somervell County, the fact 

should not be overlooked that a continued decline in head could 

result from such development regardless of any conservation measures that might be in effect within this county.

One of the most effective methods of plugging an artesian well 

that is leaking underground is to clean out the hole to its original 

depth and fill the well with impervious material so as to prevent 

the circulation of artesian water from one horizon to another. 

Leakage to a stratum that contains no water or water under a lower 

head than that of the aquifer supplying the well is thereby prevented.

^McCombs, John, Methods of exploring and repairing leaky artesian wells on the 

island of Oahu, Hawaii: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 596, pp. 4-24, 1928.
70 AETESIAN WATEE IN SOMEKVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

In order that a well may be plugged effectively it is essential that 

the hole be opened, preferably to the bottom of the original well or 

at least for some distance into the lowermost aquifer penetrated. 

Plugging the hole near the top to prevent the water from wasting 

at the surface does not prevent the possible waste of water underground, and such methods of abandonment should not be tolerated 

under any circumstances. Some casing will probably be needed in 

most wells to prevent the caving of the surficial deposits while the 

well is being cleaned and plugged. This casing is only temporary 

and may be removed after plugging has been carried to such a 

point that there is no further danger from caving. After the well 

has been cleaned iron lathe turnings, iron filings, or lead wool should 

be placed in the hole and tamped solidly in place with a blunt bit 

until the well is filled above the top of the aquifer and the movement of the water is overcome. It is evident that if the water is yet 

moving the cement cap used to complete the plug will not set, for 

the mortar will be so diluted with water that the cement will have no 

bonding power. After all flow has been stopped by the addition 

of iron turnings or similar material a plug of cement is placed 

with the dump bailer. Cement grout is used for this purpose, and 

after it has set thoroughly the hole is filled with crushed rock and 

the temporary casing is removed. Where the flow is strong it is 

desirable to ascertain by tests with the leakage meter that all flow 

has been stopped before the concrete is placed. However, in view 

of the relatively low permeability of the artesian aquifers and the 

comparatively low head of the water, it is believed that no difficulty 

will be experienced in completely stopping the flow of water, and 

if the plug of iron turnings has been properly placed by the driller 

to a level above the top of the aquifer the concrete plug can be 

safely placed without previous tests with a leakage meter. More 

complete information on this method of plugging artesian wells is 

given in the report covering work done in Honolulu.26

The use of cement under pressure in conjunction with mud-laden 

fluid, as used in oil-well practice, is particularly adapted to plugging 

wells that are partly obstructed and cannot be cleaned out to the 

bottom. If water is issuing at the surface from around the casing, 

such leakage is first confined by placing several sections of large pipe 

and thoroughly cementing the pipe in place by the usual methods. 

Proper fittings are then attached to this section of casing, and heavy 

mud-laden fluid is circulated in the well. Cement is then pumped 

into the well under pressure through tubing and forced out of the 

well into the aquifers. The pressure is then maintained on the well 

for several days to permit the cement to set thoroughly. There are

28 McCombs, John, op. cit.
CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR OP WELLS 71

several patented processes for introducing the cement into the well, 

and the process selected for any particular well would be governed 

by the existing conditions.

Under certain conditions mud-laden fluid, if properly applied, is 

an effective sealing agent that will prevent the circulation of artesian water from one aquifer to another or to porous beds that contain no water. This method is generally the most economical one 

that can be used. In order to be effective the mud must be free from 

sand and other coarse material that will tend to settle out. The 

effectiveness of the mud in overcoming the water pressure depends 

largely upon its specific gravity. According to Swigart and 

Beecher 27 the specific gravity of the average oil-field mud fluid 

ranges from 1.05 to 1.30, about 8.75 to 11.0 pounds to the gallon, or 

66 to 82 pounds to the cubic foot. When used for plugging, the mud 

should normally be as heavy as can be handled satisfactorily by the 

pumps, but it must be a fluid and not a pasty clay.

Mud-laden fluid can be applied most effectively by the use of 

pumps. The well should preferably be opened to the bottom of the 

original hole after which mud-laden fluid under pressure should be 

thoroughly circulated in the hole. The mud not only seals the interstices of the water-bearing formations, but the column of mud of 

high specific gravity counterbalances the pressure of the water, 

thereby preventing circulation.

Nonflowing wells can be sealed by introducing the mud fluid into 

the hole with a dump bailer if mud-hog pumps are not available. 

Flowing wells can be sealed most satisfactorily by inserting the 

mud under pressure through tubing or by the lubricator method, as 

described by Lewis and McMurray.28 After the fluid has been thoroughly circulated in the hole the hole should be filled completely with 

clean mud of high specific gravity.

During the investigation several methods of plugging leaky wells 

were suggested to the writer by interested local people. The suggestion that was made most frequently was to plug the well with 

sand. This suggestion was based on the fact that wells have been 

known to cease flowing when caving occurs in the aquifer and that 

newly drilled wells have started flowing when the drilling water, 

which contained a large amount of suspended sand, was bailed from 

the hole. A most serious objection to this method of plugging is that 

sand is not impervious, and though a well might no longer flow because the available pressure was counterbalanced by a column of fluid 

of higher specific gravity than water, leakage could still continue.

a7 Swigart, L. W., and Beecher, C. E., Manual for oil and gas operations: U.S. Bur. 

Mines Bull. 232, p. 33, 1923.

28 Lewis, J. O., and McMurray, W. F., The use of mud-laden fluid in oil and gas wells: 

U.S. Bur. Mines Bull. 134, pp. 19-23, 1916.
72 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMERVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

Heavy mud-laden fluid applied in accordance with the methods described is a much more effective material to use and will accomplish 

better results.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOE, CONSERVATION OF ARTESIAN WATER

The development that has taken place in Glen Rose and vicinity 

is due more or less to the very favorable location of the town in 

relation to the procurement of flowing artesian wells. Without this 

asset it is probable that much of the development might never have 

occurred and Glen Rose would have remained a typical small farming community. Because of the tourist resorts large numbers of 

people com© each year for rest and recreation, and a largo part of 

the business of the community during the summer is concerned with 

satisfying the needs of this group of people. As the flowing artesian 

water is an asset of considerable value, its conservation is especially 

important.

In any program for the reduction of the present underground 

waste by recasing and plugging existing wells it should be borne 

in mind that such work is expensive. The fact should not be overlooked that the value of the flowing water to an individual well 

owner may be insufficient to warrant any great expenditure by 

him to prevent underground waste, though the small quantities of 

water wasted from individual wells may in the aggregate assume 

considerable proportions and under certain conditions may warrant 

constructive action by the whole community.

From the results of the investigation as a whole it is evident that 

a general program of conservation must be followed faithfully in 

Somervell County if the residents expect to prevent further shrinkage in the area of artesian flow and the loss of additional flowing 

wells. The decline in artesian head and the resultant reduction 

of the flow of the wells is still in progress, though fortunately the 

rate of decline is not alarming and certainly is much less than it 

probably was some years ago.

Reoasing and repair of wells. After full consideration of all the 

information available regarding the problem of repair of wells, 

particularly with reference to recasing old wells, it is not considered 

desirable at this time to recommend a general program of recasing 

and repair. However, as the surface waste of water is excessive, it 

is recommended that valves be placed on all wells that are wasting 

water at the surface, so that the useless draft on the artesian basin 

can be stopped. For wells that have no casing or casing in such 

condition that a valve cannot be attached, the necessary repairs 

should include the placing of casing to such a depth as will prevent 

all underground leakage.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONSERVATION OF ARTESIAN WATER 73

Plugging abandoned wells. Without more complete information 

on the total quantity of underground leakage no recommendation is 

being made for a general program of plugging abandoned wells and 

wells that are probably leaking underground by reason of insufficient 

or defective casing. In order to prevent a further progressive increase in underground waste and to protect the ground-water supply 

from pollution it is recommended that no new wells be permitted to 

be drilled unless all existing wells on the property are properly repaired, recased, or plugged. Wells that are to be abandoned should 

be plugged by an approved method, such as has been outlined. Makeshift methods, such as pouring sand into the well, should not be 

permitted.

Draft of large wells. As far as the residents of Glen Rose are 

concerned, one of the most serious aspects of the situation is the 

rather heavy draft of a few wells of large capacity located on relatively low land. By reason of the use to which these wells are 

placed, they are permitted to flow continuously during the summer, 

and hence they tend to produce a regional cone of depression which 

includes a large number of the other flowing wells. Some reduction 

in head and flow is naturally to be expected during the summer, as 

the draft upon the artesian reservoir is greatest at that season. However, as the draft from the large wells is continuous, the head is 

lowered progressively until an essential condition of equilibrium is 

reached, after which further decline during the summer is only 

seasonal and proceeds at a relatively slow rate.

It is not within the province of this report to decide upon the 

rights of the respective water users supplied by the artesian basin, 

as such rights have never been adequately defined by court decisions 

or statute in this State. In view of the marked trend of judicial 

opinion in other States to define the rights of ground-water users 

on the basis of either the doctrine of correlative rights or the doctrine 

of prior appropriation, it appears probable that the wells of large 

capacity are diverting from the artesian basin more than their proportionate share of the available supply of water.

Enforcement of existing statutes. Ground water is now generally 

regarded in practically all States as a natural resource subject to 

supervision by the State so that it may be developed along the lines 

that will yield the greatest good to the greatest number. As such, 

it has been repeatedly ruled in numerous court decisions that the 

prevention of waste of ground water properly falls within the police 

powers of the State. Obviously this is a wise and progressive policy, 

for otherwise a valuable natural resource that might be developed to 

promote the prosperity and welfare of the people could be completely 

dissipated and wasted. Statutes have already been enacted in Texas
74 ARTESIAN WATER IN SOMEBVELL COUNTY, TEXAS

for the purpose of preventing the misuse of ground water, and 

though they have not, been enforced heretofore because of the lack 

of necessary enforcement machinery they appear to be adequate to 

cover the present situation in Somervell County. Considerable benefit would be derived from the complete checking of existing surface 

waste within the area, and though it cannot be stated definitely that 

further decline in head can be completely halted by this means, such 

a program is so inexpensive to apply that its execution should not be 

delayed longer. The residents of the area for their own benefit and 

welfare should therefore exert their best efforts to effect the strict 

enforcement of the following statutes: 29

ART. 7600. Artesian well defined. An artesian well is denned, for the purposes of this chapter, to be an artificial well in which, if properly cased, the 

waters will rise by natural pressure above the first impervious stratum below 

the surface of the ground. (Acts 1917, p. 232, sec. 90.)

ART. 7601. When artesian well declared a public nuisance. Any artesian 

well which is not tightly cased, capped, and furnished with such mechanical 

appliances as will readily and effectively arrest and prevent the flow from 

such well, either over the surface of the ground about the well or wasting 

from the well through strata through which it passes, is hereby declared a 

public nuisance and subject to be abated as such upon the order of the 

board. (Idem, sec. 91.)

ART. 7602. Waste defined. Waste is defined for the purposes of this act, in 

relation to artesian wells, to be the causing, suffering, or permitting the 

waters of an artesian well to run into any river, creek, or other natural watercourse or drain, superficial or underground channel, bayou, or into any sewer, 

street, road, highway, or upon the land of any other person than that of the 

owner of such well, or upon the public lands or to run or percolate through the 

strata above that in which the water is found, unless it be used for the purposes and in the manner in which it may be lawfully used on the premises 

of the owner of such well. (Idem, p. 233, sec. 92.)

ART. 7608. Proper irriffation of trees, etc. Nothing in the preceding article 

shall be construed to prevent the use of such water, if suitable, for proper 

irrigation of trees standing along or upon any street, road, or highway, or 

for ornamental ponds or fountains, or for the propagation of fish or for the 

purposes authorized by this chapter. (Idem, p. 233, sec. 92.)

ART. 7604. Well properly cased. Whenever any person desires to drill a 

well upon his own land for domestic purposes or use for stock-raising purposes or use that comes within the definition of artesian well, as defined in 

this chapter, he shall have the right to do so without subjecting himself to the 

provisions of this chapter, provided that said well shall be properly and 

securely cased and whenever water is reached containing mineral or other 

substances injurious to vegetation or agriculture it shall be the duty of the 

owner of said well to securely cap same or to control its flow so as not to 

injure the land of any other person or to fill it up so as to prevent the 

water of said well to rise above the first impervious stratum below the surface 

 of the ground. (Idem, sec. 93.)

ART. 7605. Accurate record kept. Any person boring or causing to be bored 

any artesian well shall keep a complete and accurate record of the depth

28 Texas Revised Civil Statutes, 1925, vol. 2, pp. 2198-2200.
WELL EECOBDS 75

and thickness and character of the different strata penetrated, and when 

such well is completed shall transmit by registered mail to the Board of

Water 

*******

Engineers a copy of such record. (Idem, sec. 94.)

ART. 7613. Penalty for permitting icaste. Whoever wilfully causes or knowingly permits waste, as defined in this chapter, shall be fined in any sum not 

exceeding $500, or shall be imprisoned in jail not more than 90 days, or by 

both such fine and imprisonment. (Idem, p. 234, sec. 101.)

ART. 7614. Sworn statement. Any person, association of persons, corporation, or water improvement or irrigation district owning or operating any 

artesian well, as defined for the purposes of this chapter at the time of its 

taking effect shall, within 1 year thereafter, transmit to the Board of Water 

Engineers a sworn statement showing the result of such test, together with a 

declaration of the use or uses to which the newly developed supply will be 

devoted, and the contemplated extent of such use. (Idem, p. 235, sec. 102.)

ART. 7615. Detailed statement fivrnished. On or before the 1st day of March 

of each year, every person, association of persons, corporation, water improvement or irrigation district who, during any part of the preceding 

calendar year, owned or operated any artesian well for any purpose other than 

that of domestic use, shall furnish, under oath, to the Board of Water Engineers, upon blanks to be furnished by the Board, a detailed statement showing 

the quantity of water which has been derived from such well and the character 

of use to which same has been applied, together with the change in level of 

water table of said well, and if used in irrigation, the acreage and yield of 

each crop, together with such additional information as the Board may require. 

(Idem, sec. 103.)

WELL RECORDS

The information concerning individual wells obtained during the 

study of artesian conditions in Somervell County is presented in the 

following table:
Records of wells in Somervell County, Tex

[ An asterisk (*) in front of the well number indicates a flowing well. Blanks in a column indicate that information wa

Under "Waste", a cipher (0) indicates no waste at the surface. Symbols indicating use: A, Abandoned; B, 

Symbols indicating type of pumping equipment: E, Electric motor-driven pump; En, internal-combustion engin

suction lift); P, hand pump (type not known); PP, pitcher pump (indicates water table within suction lift of s

Glen Rose and vicinity

[For locations of wells see pi. 4]

Well 

no.

*1 

2 

3 

4 

*5 

*6 

*7 

*8 

9 

*10 

*11 

*12 

13 

*14 

*15 

*16 

17 

. 18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31

Owner

 Kirk..... __ _ . ..

. .do 

J. M. Wales 

R. P. Campbell.. __ . ____

A. J. Price- . 

J. L. Ceilings ________ . ....

E. B. Earp _ ...... 

Year 

drilled

1929 

1927

1916

1929 

1924

1927

Diameter 

(inches)

5Ji 

5H 

4 

5 

4 

4 

5

3

2% 

4H 

3H 

3

m

5?6

5

Depth 

(feet)

128 

140

176 

165 

170 

145 

160 

175 

175 

150

150

286 

295 

141 

301 

302 

248 

206

177 

165

176

Casing

Length 

(feet)

120

30

28

30

20 

90

20 

271 

298 

160

18

Size 

(inches)

5$i

Discharge 

(gallons 

a minute)

Few 

Few 

3 

5 

4 

3

10 

4 

10

5 

5 

3

Head 

above 

or 

below 

surface 

(feet)

+10

+13.3

+7.0

Date of measurement

June 14,1930

June 14,1930
ftft

33

34

OK

36

37

38

39

4n

41

*4?

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

fin

fil

fi2

fi3

*54

«";fi

*5fi

fi7

fiS

59

fin

fil

«?

fi3

64

65

*67

68

*fiQ

7n

*71

*79

*7q

74

75

*7fi

77

78

79

sn

81m

J. D. Walker.. 

E. W. Small _ - _ . _

 Shields.... __

Billy Woods 

 Rodin.. __________

W. P. Hattler . ... ....

E. W. Small 

 do 

 do 

Glen Rose Golf Club ______

C. A. Milain. 

 . do ... .......

N. J. Otey.. _ _ .. _

Fred Gaither __________

G. G. Gibbs ....

T f} T^oniftla

C. A. Bridges ........ ...........

Lilly Airs... ___ __ 

O. J. Cory.- _________ ....

1928

1927

1908

1904

1927

5*i

fim6

4Ji

4V$ m

4tt

n\f 34

4^

#A

2Ji

"X&A 4

3%

178

180

72

144

72

60

173

68

175

170

173

308

298

316

260

222

165

192

287

298

217

291

291

272

308

fi

30

f 260

\ 20

20

........ 63

553

5%

3%m

50534

}---0530

40685

-60.5

-80.6

-60.5

+7

+19.7

June 19,1930

June 17,1930

Nov. 9,1929

Nov. 8,1929
Records of wells in Somervell County, Tex. Co

[An asterisk (*) in front of the well number indicates a flowing well. Blanks in a column indicate that information wa

Under "Waste", a cipher (0) indicates no waste at the surface. Symbols indicating use: A, Abandoned; B, b

Symbols indicating type of pumping equipment: E, Electric motor-driven pump; En, internal-combustion engin

suction lift); P, hand pump (type not known); PP, pitcher pump (indicates water table within suction lift of s

Glen Rose and vicinity Continued 

[For locations of wells see pi. 4]

Well 

no.

83 

84 

85 

86 

87 

88 

89 

90 

91 

92 

93 

94 

*95 

*96 

*97 

*98 

99 

*100

*101 

102 

103 

*104 

*105 

106 

*107 

*108

*109

Owner

F. C. Finley _-- -. _ -.--.'-

F. C. Finley-- __ ..............

J. W. Riddle.. ..................

Clinton Gaither. ................

Fred Gaither.------- __ .. ..-

Dr. Milling 

 Gibbs ____ 

 Ward...... ... .. ... 

Dr. West .................... -

H. J. Cox __________ ......

- do.... ......... .

.....do . . . 

Year 

drilled

1911

1930

1924 

1911

1912 

1921 

1905 

1911

1904

1930 

1911

1890

1924

Diameter 

(inches)

5

^

5 

3fc

4^

45$ 

W

Depth 

(feet)

152 

110 

128

135 

129

129 

196

328 

159 

213 

300 

316

65 

318

125 

145

341

Casing

Length 

(feet)

22

20 

/ 280 

\ 60

Size 

(inches)

5

W 

3

Discharge 

(gallons 

a minute)

15 

2 

2 

3

18

Few

5 

Few

J4

4

} -

Head 

above 

or 

below 

surface 

(feet)

-22

+7

+9.8

Date of measurement

June 16,1930
110

111

112

113

114

115

llfi

117

110

119 m

ra

124

1?5

i?R197

128

129

130

131

133

133

134

135

I Oft

1°.7

138

139

140

141

14?!

143

144

"145

14fi

147

148

149

150

151

15?

"153

'154

 do. . 

.....do... 

 IMcCowin

J. L. LillyDr. Gibbs 

PickuGV Tsvlor

Ed. Ward. -

.....do . 

 .do .. . 

_..__ do 

 do 

F. S. Williams 

 Hill.. .. _

J. D. Tankersly.. . ...

Lane & Sons garage. .. .._. 

1924

1924

1920

1923

1926

1925

54

2J4

3Ji

K5/ 5mm53

2M

368

332

Oin

312

150

312

142

281

325

312

187

150

305

195

321

311

140

324

305

308

92

296

f 12

\ 200 

/ 150

I 275

10

30

20

/ 125

I 225

260

554

3 4

25S

1H

&H3

10

{ «

1J4 06332

1024555

H72115

O16. 3

50

202

60 

6058685

35

+14.9

-i-z i

+5.5

+9.5

+0.8

+4.6

J-9

+11.5

+6.1

_I_Q O

+6.3

+20.9 

+18.6

+10.9

+7.5

+20.2

Nov. 25, 1930

June 14,1930

 do 

 do 

June 14,1930

 do... ..

June 26,1930

 ..do.. ... 

Nov. 30, 1929

Nov. 8,1929

June 14,1930
Records of weUs in Somervell County, Tex. Con

(An asterisk (*) in front of the well number indicates a flowing well. Blanks in a column indicate that information wa

Under "Waste", a cipher (01 indicates no waste at the surface. Symbols indicating use: A, Abandoned; B, b

Symbols indicating type of pumping equipment: E, Electric motor-driven pump; En, internal-combustion engin

suction lift); P, hand pump (type not known); PP, pitcher pump (indicates water table within suction lift of s

Glen Rose and vicinity Continued 

[For locations of wells see pi. 4]

Well 

no.

*155 

156 

*157 

*158 

*159 

160 

*161 

*162 

163 

*164 

165 

*166 

167 

*168 

*169 

170 

171 

172 

*173 

*174 

*175 

*176 

*177 

*178 

*179 

*180 

181 

*182 

183 

184 

185

Owner

L. J. Wardlaw __________

 .-do..... ......... ........

R. L. McAllister .- ___ ...

E. A. Davis. .....................

W. D. Felder... .... ... ... ... ... .

George Snyder __________

O. E. Winslow . 

L. B. Odom _ 

D. N. Boone ___________

 Pruitt _____ ...........

 -.do.. .................

 Booker ......................

E. B. Earp ____ .. ...........

Fred Ernst ____ . 

.....do ................ .......

.....do ............. __ .......

Year 

drilled

1929

1901 

1902

1925

1929

1930 

1929 

1929

Diameter 

(inches)

in

4

3H

2J4

4 

2H

294 

4J4

5 

4J4 

5

Depth 

(feet)

135

290 

146 

397 

283

287

320

316

277 

295 

287

163

289

124 

135 

174 

53

128 

170 

166

Casing

Length 

(feet)

212

271

21 

16

20+

24

21

Size 

(inches)

Discharge 

(gallons 

a minute)

M

3 

25

5 

2

30

4

25 

18

Few 

6 

40 

4

9 

9 

3 

5

40

Head 

above 

or 

below 

surface 

(feet)

+.5

+ 

9

+3.3 

+21

+7.0 

+6

+23

23.5 

+20.0

+8.2

+9.6 

+11.2 

+4.8

-20

Date of measurement

June 13,1930

June 13,1930 

 ..do .....

June 14,1930

June 14,1930 

... ..do .....
186

187

188

189

1W)

191

192

193

195

*19fi

 197

198

199

200

201

202

203

204

205

206

207

208

209

210

 212

 213

214

215

21fi

'217

218

219

220

221

222

223

L. P. Gibbs. 

Dr. Mitain. __________ .

C. W. Campbell... _______ .

.....do..... _ - .

. .do... __ . __ .............

.... .do _ .

Mrs. W. W. Young..... ___ .

W. W. Hudson _________

. do.... ___ . _____ ....

. .... Pmitt

__ do. _____________

Bill Woods ___________

1924

1929

1904

1Q11

1917

1911

1914

1918

4H

5Yt

4H

IM

5%

ALA

$4

Vi

2H

sy* 4

5%

146

141

148

172

132

156

160

328

150

287

172

136

324

146

307

146

300

140

0

280

/ 20

\ 20

3 {

0 26

} «

25

+43

+1.0

+6.9

-12

-15

-2.0

June 14,1930

..... do .

 do.. ...
Records of wells in Somervell County, Tex. Co

[An asterisk (*) in front of the well number indicates a flowing well. Blanks in a column indicate that information wa

Under "Waste", a cipher (0) indicates no waste at the surface. Symbols indicating use: A, Abandoned; B, b

Symbols indicating type of pumping equipment: E, Electric motor-driven pump; En, internal-combustion engin

suction lift); P, hand pump (type not known); PP, pitcher pump (indicates water table within suction lift of s

Somervell County outside of Glen Rose and vicinit

[For locations of wells, see pi. 6]

Well 

no.

224 

225

226 

227 

228 

229 

230

231 

232 

233 

234 

235 

236 

237 

238 

239 

240 

241 

242 

243 

244 

245 

246 

247 

248 

249

250

Owner

Gid White... .............. 

Sam White 

J. W. Kensey __ ______

Mrs. Barnet ....

Mrs. Pruitt. ____________

W. H. O'Neil .._

Year 

drilled

1907

1906 

1907 

1906 

1905 

1906

1906 

1907 

1919 

1894

1922

1894

1922 

1893

Diameter 

(inches)

4

2M

Depth 

(feet)

125 

81

128 

81 

96 

70 

62

300 

91 

400 

426 

326 

248 

347 

420 

243 

335

249 

484

Casing

Length 

(feet)

f 40 

\ 200

Size 

(inches)

6 

3

Discharge 

(gallons 

a minute)

1

'

Head 

above 

or 

below 

surface 

(feet)

-60

Date of measurement
wl

252

253

254

255

25fi

257

258

259

260

261

262

263

*264

265

266

*267

268

*269

270

271

272

*273

*?,74

*275

*276

277

*278

*97Q

*280

*281

282

283

2*4

285

286

2S7

288

289

294

2°5

*296

297

*298

299

300

*301

W. C. Woodard. .._.. 

Clem Elliott .- 

W. F. Lewis 

J. B. Bunch... __ --...-.-..---

Sid Mitchell. _ 

S. W. Stewart. ............ _ ...

... - do.---,...... ......... ..

.. do.......... ..............

J. R. Mitain ... ____ ..... ...

 do -..... ..............

Tim Stewart-.-.. _ ...... __ .

Y.W.C.A.. .....................

Ed. Martin ..... __ .... .

Will Chuks.. ...................

William Wilson.. ...............

L. J. Ward... ................

Jim Tate. ____________

 Tabernacle _________

1894

1894

1911

1898

1930

1928

1929

1Q9R

1924

1919

1899

1900

1898

414 3

K5^ W

6H

4H3

5%

5H

5H

4H55

5H

4^

336

375

135

132

387

201

1,500

350

375

332

169

200

196H

277

220

320

280

316

206

296

119

277

120

248

120

364

280

285

295

200

165

267

33

20

34

20

4H

5H

MM

256

60495

102

2J4

75

358

4-8.9

-18

+19.5

+8.2

-90

-84

+13.4

June 19,1930

June 19,1930

June 14,1930
Records of wells in Somervell County, Tex. Co

[An asterisk (*) in front of the well number indicates a flowing well. Blanks in a column indicate that information wa

Under "Waste", a cipher (0) indicates no waste at the surface. Symbols indicating use: A, Abandoned; B, 

Symbols indicating type of pumping equipment: E, Electric motor-driven pump; En, internal-combustion engin

suction lift); P, hand pump (type not known); PP, pitcher pump (indicates water table within suction lift of s

Somervell County outside of Glen Rose and vicinity C

[For locations of wells see pi. 6]

Well 

no.

302 

*303 

*304 

*305 

306 

*307 

*308 

*309 

*310 

*311 

312 

313 

314 

315 

316 

317 

318 

319 

320

Owner

W. B. Ellis........... -__.__....

Jim Wess..... ................

I.N.May............. ........

 ..do...........................

G. W. Wilson...................

Chris Roland.. __ . ___ . ...

R. L. Wess... ...................

C. B. Wheeler...................

W. L. Howard ..................

B. A. Collins.. _ ...............

Year 

drilled

1915 

1905 

1929

1915

1930

Diameter 

(inches)

4^ 

4^

m

6

6

Depth 

(feet)

277 

143 

175

300+ 

300 

375

176 

297

268 

280 

328 

315 

350 

336 

244 

220

Casing

Length 

(feet)

15

250

Size 

(inches)

Discharge ° 

(gallons 

a minute)

15 

6 

20

1 

1 

3

2 

2tt

Head 

above 

or 

below 

surface 

(feet)

-19

+1 

+3

+2.5 

-6 

-148

-70

-216

Date of measurement

Nov. 11, 1929 

.... .do.......

June 21,1930

June 21,1930

June 21,1930
INDEX

Page

Acknowledgments for aid_______ 5 

Analyses of water _ ____ 56, 57 

Aquifers, definition of_ 12 

in the area_ ________ 15 

permeability of____ __ 46-54 

yield of, as estimated from permeability tests_____ 52-54 

Artesian water, analyses of_____ 56, 57 

area of flow of 30-31, pis. 4, 6 

conservation of__________ 72-75 

definition of____________ 11-12 

fluctuations in flow of______ 25-30 

head of___________ 18-30,38-40 

history of development of __ 16-18 

laws governing use of_ ___ 73-75 

quality of 54-61 

quantity available, estimates of_ 32-34,

52-54

sources of_ __ 11-15,18

uses of ____________ 17-18, 32-34

waste of______________ 34-42

prevention of _ _ 42, 72-75

Artesian wells, construction of__ 61-67,

74-75

definition of__________ 11-12,74 

discharge of _____ 32-35, 54, 73 

factors necessary for occurrence

of ____________ 13 

interference of___________ 25-27 

laws governing construction and

use of _ _ 74-75 

plugging of__________ 69-72, 73 

pressure in__ __ 18-30, 38-40, pi. 5 

recording pressure gage attached

to flowing well __ pi. 3, B 

records of, law requiring 74-75 

repair of______________ 67-72 

sealing of_ 71 

 waste from________ 34-42,72-75 

Atmospheric pressure, influence of, 

on pressure in artesian 

wells___________ 29-30

" Basal sands" of the Trinity 

group, distribution and 

character of_ 8-9, 

46-51, pis. 1, 3, A

mechanical analyses of 47 

permeability of- __ 46-63 

water-bearing properties of 8-9,

13,54

Page

Climate of the area _______ 5-6 

Cohen, Chester, Sanitary quality of

water ____ 58-61 

Comanche Peak limestone, distribution and character of- 10 

Comanche series, distribution and

character of_ __ 8-10 

Current meter, leakage from wells

determined by use of_ 36-37

D

Definition of terms used in describing ground water 11-13 

Drainage of the area_________ 3

E

Edwards limestone, occurrence and

character of ______ 10,13

F

Fluctuations in head of artesian

water 25>-30

Fredericksburg group, formations

of___________ 10

G

Geology of the area 7-11,14, pi. 2 

Glen Rose, map of, showing location

of wells_ _ _ pi. 4 

records of wells in and near_ 8, 75-81 

water at, quality of- 54-61 

Glen Rose formation, distribution

and character of 9 

water-bearing properties of 9,15, 54 

Glen Rose Prairie, characteristics

of____-__-__ 7

Ground water, definition of terms-_ 11-13

recharge of_ 42-54

sources of_ _ 13-15

See also Artesian water.

Head of artesian water, decline in 23-24 

fluctuations in 25-30, pi. 5 

in 1929-30 19-23 

measurements of 21-23, 38-40 

original _____ _ 18-19 

recording pressure gage attached to flowing 

well pl. 3, B

85
86 INDEX

Page

Hydraulic gradient, estimates of-_ 44-45,

52-53, pi. 7 

Hydraulic permeability, tests of 46-54

Interference of wells, observations

on ___________ 25-27 

Irrigation from artesian wells___ 17, 74

Lamar, W. L., analyses by______ 56, 57

Lampasas Cut Plain, subdivisions

of_____________ 6-7

Leakage from wells, detection of__ 35 42 

prevention of___________ 42

Location and general features of the

area _ 3-4, pi. 1

Lower Cretaceous rocks, distribution and character of_ 8-10

M

Meinzer, O. E., quoted-. 

P

29-30

" Packer method " for determining 

underground leakage 

from wells _____ 36

Paluxy Creek, seepage of artesian

water into_ ____ 40-41

Paluxy Cross Timbers, characteristics of __ ____ 7

Paluxy formation, distribution and

character of______ 9-10 

water-bearing properties of___ 10,15

Permeability of aquifers, tests of-_,46-54

Population of the area________ 3

Pressure in wells, measurements

of _________21-23, 38-40

Quality of water ________ 54-61 

Quaternary alluvium, occurrence and

character of_______ 11

R

Page 

Rainfall, relation of, to fluctuations

in artesian head- 28-29, pi. 5 

Recharge of ground water 42-54

Sanitary quality of water, by Chester

Cohen________ _ 58-61 

Scope of the investigation 4-5 

Seasonal fluctuations in artesian

head____________ 27-28 

Soil of the area- _ 4 

Springs, discharge from 15-16, 40-41 

Surface features of the area _ 6-7

T

Texas State Board of Water Engineers, cooperative 

agreement with 4

Thiem's method for determining 

coefficient of permeability ____ __ 47-50

Trinity group, formations of 8-10

Vegetation in the area.

W

Walnut formation, distribution and 

character of_________

Walnut Prairie, location of________

Waste of artesian water, estimates 

of __________________

prevention of- _ 

Water, analyses of______ ____

See also Artesian water. 

Well records, availability of _ 

in Glen Rose and vicinity___ 

21-23,

in Somervell County outside of 

Glen Rose___________

logs of wells at Glen Rose_____

measurements of head________

Wells, construction of- __________

See also Artesian wells.

10 

6-7

34-42

42

56,57

18

8, 

76-81

82-84 

8

21-23 

61-67

O
I