bayou profile
The King of Springs Before Jay Yates, COO of King Springs, toured me through his family’s one-year-old water bottling facility, he wanted me to see the land. “Alright, so this is one of our largest hay meadows.” As I rode shotgun in his pickup, he pointed to lush green fields spreading to a far-reaching horizon that met a bright blue sky peaking through layers of clouds. “There’s never been cattle on this side of the property.” That’s why we chose to use the springs over here,” he continued, only to get abruptly interrupted by his front wheel aggressively jolting into a deep rut. “Sorry about that. Grass gets so high you can’t see the ground.” He laughed, “Pray for my truck.” Most of the vegetation was overgrown, proof that not many tread through this remote location. He pointed to thick woods explaining that a system of creeks run between. “There’s waterfalls back there.” We passed two visible springs in that area, and though other springs remained unseen, they produce anywhere from fifteen to twenty gallons of natural spring water a minute from deep underground. It bubbles out from the ground and looks like “water from the Caribbean” because of a thick layer of sand at that depth that acts as a natural filter. Driving through the ranch-side of the land, Jay passed an incredible spring-fed pond. “That water has been there for 150 years. Back in those woods there’s a wagon trail,” he mentions, noting that the pond was a pit stop for weary travelers and their horses. VA N EL I S R I V ER A
114 AUGUST 2021 | WWW.BAYOULIFEMAG.COM
K E L LY M O O R E C L A R K
