The park’s domestic water supply originates from an underground aquifer southeast of the escarpment and six miles south of Carlsbad Cavern.
Hydrologists state that Rattlesnake Springs is below the confluence of two aquifers, which merges in a “Y” shape, and that mixing of these sources can vary considerably.
The aquifer is susceptible to contamination from leaks in gas wells in and near an underground natural gas storage plant less than three miles west of Rattlesnake Springs. Leaks into nearby aquifers have contaminated other private water wells two miles west of the spring.
The water from Rattlesnake Springs is currently within the recommended limits of the 1982 Public Health Service drinking water standards, as adopted and amended by the Environmental Protection Agency. Due to the potential for contamination by local oil and gas wells, biweekly testing is done for hydrogen sulfide.
