Fault creep has stopped or slowed in the eastern part of the Houston, Texas, land subsidence area where reductions in pumping of ground water have allowed water levels to recover partially. Creep has continued across faults in the western part where heavy pumping causes water levels to continue to decline. The observations support the long‐suspected relation between historical faulting and withdrawal of ground water and indicate that partial water‐level recoveries can reduce fault movement and structural damage.