More than a week after the shallow end of Deep Eddy Pool was closed, city officials said Friday they still had no idea how or when the original water levels in the pool would be restored.

On Aug. 28, the city closed the shallow end of the pool due to dropping groundwater levels and a malfunctioning well. A lightning storm the previous night damaged motor pumps that provided water to the pool.

Deep Eddy’s low water levels can also be attributed to a persistent drought in the Austin area.

“The lack of water for the Deep Eddy wells is unprecedented in anyone’s memory,” said Tom Nelson, an Aquatics Division manager with the City of Austin.

The pool receives water from two wells, one that feeds the whole pool and one that feeds only the deep end.

The storm damaged motor pumps in a well that provided water to the whole pool. Before the shallow end’s closure, the pumps were already drawing more water than could be replaced in the pool due to low groundwater levels.

The deep end remains open for now. A second well that provides water only to the deep end of the pool continues to function but faces the same difficulties with low groundwater levels, said Wendy Morgan of the City’s Watershed Protection Department. If water levels continue to drop and if the pumps in the second well begin to malfunction, the upkeep of the deep end will be put in jeopardy.

Nelson said that because the Deep Eddy wells are so old, built around 1900, no one is quite sure how the wells are constructed, making it difficult to pinpoint the location of the damaged pumps.

The source of Deep Eddy’s water remains unclear to environmental experts like geologist Scott Heirs of the Water Protection Department.

“We are not sure where the source of Deep Eddy’s water is from. We have reason to believe that Town Lake might not be the source,” said Heirs.

Because Deep Eddy is adjacent to Town Lake, a common assumption is that the pool’s water came from the lake, which appears to be three levels below its original elevation, Heirs said.

Deep Eddy’s lack of water is not an isolated incident. Lake Travis and other area lakes have also been suffering the effects of extremely low water levels.

Biology sophomore Rachel Brenner often visits Lake Travis during the summer and said that the low water levels at the lake are noticeable.
“My uncle’s sailboat actually got stuck, and some of my family had to go pull it out,” Brenner said.

Victor Ovalle of Austin Parks and Recreation said Barton Springs, Northwest and Big Stacy pools were nearby alternatives to Deep Eddy.

In 2006, Austin voters approved $5 million in bonds that could go toward either fixing or replacing both wells, but finding adequate supplies of groundwater to fill Deep Eddy will remain a problem, Ovalle said.