kickapoo springs

Located between Rocksprings and Brackettville are Kickapoo Springs which empty into Kickapoo Creek from a small side channel where the springs issue at the surface from alluvium but surely flow from an array of limestones buried below creek sediments. These springs also serve as the headwaters of the West Nueces River, at least until their flows sink into the riverbed.

During my visit, a record(?) drought was raging, yet the springs still flowed strong albeit at a lower rate as evidenced by lower flows past the dam in the creek as reported by the ranchowners. Long-term data in Brune’s book, Springs of Texas, indicates flows of about 2 cubic feet per second (which is about a thousand gallons per minute). It definitely wasn’t flowing at that rate when I was there last week. In 2021, the Texas Water Development Board measured a flow of 1.9 cubic feet per second; 1.6 in 2022, 1.8 in 2023, and 1.6 in 2024, earlier this month.

A spring survey in 2005 showed the same discharge points as I saw last week, so this system is pretty stout, suggesting a large, probably regional, contributing area. Given that its a headwater spring, it is surely benefiting from regional flows in the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer.