Ginnie Ballroom- 7/29/18

[EDirr]

Yesterday evening we had a dive in the ballroom at Ginnie and I thought I would share what we saw. Ginnie has put up a tarp in the run to keep the tannic river water/ debris held back. The water level was probably 2-3 feet higher than I have previously seen and flow was almost nothing at the opening.

The water in the basin was still clear and I was second in as we went back. The ballroom seemed oddly empty- as we got to the rope my buddy moved to the side and where the gate should be it was not visible. It took me a second to reconcile the differences but someone has gathered all of the small to medium sized rocks and piled them in front of the gate blocking it. I have only been around Ginnie for the past year so I don?t know if there is a history of this but I felt it was notable enough for me to make a post. We asked and no working at Ginnie did this, so I am guessing someone did it for kicks. I took a small video of it and the link is below.

With all of the carvings on the walls and now this, I think there should be a better discussion about cave conservation and protecting our springs but I am not sure how this would best be implemented with so many untrained visitors.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMKHuqa_G8M

[patpicos]

did i read and watch this properly...the grate is fully hidden by rocks now?

WTF, i mean that is a lot of rock moving to cover the grate...someone would have to be at it for hours

[EDirr]

Sorry the video isn't great but yep, completely covered with rocks all the way up. We were also discussing how long it must have taken...

[cmint]

Was this done with Ginnie Springs Outdoors approval? There were flow meters in there attached to the grate, I'm sure this will affect them. Lowering the flow may also cause silt to accumulate, making it unsafe for open water divers.

[EEL]

Once the Santa Fe water level drops the flow will scatter those rocks back on to the cavern floor where they came from. Like a rising tide levels all the kids sand castles at the beach.

[beau640]

This is why we can’t have nice things ��. You can’t even see the grate anymore.

[FW]

Diver bubbles have been eroding the ceiling for years. GSO used to move the rocks occasionally.

[T. Bix]

i mean, i could see someone blocking the bypass, but blocking the entire grate. Why oh why?

Maybe someone did this to blow the bypass open... Has anybody taken a look?

[Diverlee]

Diver bubbles have been eroding the ceiling for years. GSO used to move the rocks occasionally.

I had one fall on my head going through the ?window? in there. Thank God I had a helmet on. I was taking a cavern diver in and trying to get her to follow me. Lol, kind of glad I got hit and not her.


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