"Developed Spring" can mean either a natural seep that is worked on or one that is built from scratch to catch water that does not quite seep to the surface but is present in quantity at the particular spot. Either way, the source is ground water that is at or close to the surface. Dirty water at Trail Camp percolating to the water table and emerging miles away and thousands of vertical feet downward takes a looooooong time to get there and is purified in the process. That's essentially the story with the voluminous spring that joins Lone Pine Creek near the eastern end of Bighorn Park.
As Kathe says in her letter, the contamination in the WP spring indicates a structural failure at that point (they ae normally closed pretty tight in masonry or concrete). TO me that indicates a crack plus human or animal activity in the immediate area of the spring.
Can't tell exactly where the spring might be - the "hillside above the parking area" could describe a lot of real estate, but I am thinking more likely the North Fork drainage than Lone Pine Creek, which is some distance to the south There is a smaller creek to the north of North Fork, direcly above the store. that would be my choice for a bed to develop such a spring. The pond in front of the store is fed by the North Fork and that lesser creek only, not LPC itself.
