The Meadows Center for Water and The Environment

The mission of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment is: To develop and promote programs and techniques for ensuring sustainable water resources for human needs, ecosystem health and economic development.

At the headwaters of the San Marcos River, more than 200 artesian springs bubble up to form Spring Lake. Here, human history stretches back more than 12,000 years to the last ice age and natural history even further. Spring Lake is a jewel for divers.

Spring Lake at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment is home to:

• Crystal-clear waters that remain a constant 72 degrees year-round
• One of the world’s largest aquifer-driven spring systems
• Seven threatened and endangered species
• State antiquities landmark
• The longest continuously inhabited site in North America
• Ongoing biological and archaeological research and many collaborative projects
• Likely the densest population of turtles in the United States..and more

Our diving program partners with select scuba divers to protect and preserve Spring Lake's abundant natural, historical, and cultural resources. We train citizen scientist divers, and in return, they volunteer their time to one of the most unique habitat restoration projects in the country.

The Spring Lake Management Plan requires that anyone diving in Spring Lake must first take the Spring Lake Dive Authorization course (DAC). This requirement is in place to ensure that all divers are proficient, familiar with our policy, and have a basic understanding of this unique environment.

Scuba diving in Spring Lake, for any reason, is complicated by the delicate nature of the environment. Declared a "Critical Habitat" in 1980, Spring Lake is home to seven federally listed species and is governed by the rules and regulations of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In addition, Spring Lake is registered as an Archaeological site governed by the rules of the state of Texas Antiquities Law. Consequently, there is no recreational diving in Spring Lake.