Pure Glen Ivy Well Water
I would like to introduce you to Patrick Mitchell, Glen Ivy’s own Director of Landscapes and Sustainability. Not only does Patrick know everything and anything about all of the beautiful gardens and collections of plants here at the Hot Springs, he’s here to let you know exactly where our most important resource, water, comes from!
“Pure Glen Ivy Well Water.” We see these signs throughout the Hot Springs but what does that really mean? Where does our water come from?
In case it isn’t completely obvious, Glen Ivy Hot Springs is all about water. It is the one resource that makes this sanctuary a destination. Of course the beautiful landscapes and wonderful staff are invaluable, but Glen Ivy would not exist with out our water—and the availability of that water is a long and complex process.
In fact, the story of Glen Ivy Hot Springs’ water 
begins somewhere around 12-million years ago. That is when the Santa Ana Mountains began to rise up. Faults or deep cracks in the earths crust formed between the areas we now know as Lake Elsinore and Whittier and as those faults moved and adjusted, the land to the west was pushed up, often rapidly and violently. In this cataclysmic time hot molten magma from deep within the earth vented toward the surface making contact with underground pools or aquifers. As the pressure built, the hot water was forced to follow cracks and crevices eventually reaching the surface in what we now call hot springs. Where underground water stays protected from heat and pressure underground pools form. As these pools fill in the gaps underground, water is forced to move and often reaches the surface in cold water springs.
As both hot and cold springs are reliant on rain and snow to refill the underground pools or aquifers, the amount of available water changes seasonally and from year to year. Being aware of these changes, every person at Glen Ivy Hot Springs conscious of the need to plan and explore multiple ways to protect and conserve this most important resource.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of the innovative ways Glen Ivy is preserving and protecting Pure Glen Ivy Well Water.
-Patrick
