noticed Utah is in a severe drought, how has this impacted your wells and irrigation? Or has it? What restrictions has the state put on you or may in the future? If this drought continues, will your wells eventually run dry? How deep is your current well and are there other wells in the area that are having issues?
We’ve noticed no drop in water levels or well output.
Currently the State has temporarily stopped our well drilling, presumably due to the drought, though they won’t give a straight answer.
Whether the wells will ever run dry is difficult to know (if it’s a 10-year drought, probably they’d run low). We think it unlikely since all the rain falling on three mountains and thousands of acres has no where else to go except into the aquifer that runs under our little valley.
The pre-existing wells on the property, from south to north are: 200, 215, 448, 448, and 448 feet deep respectively. Most of the 9 new wells were dug to 205′, 8 of which hit all three layers of water the pre-existing wells hit.
We’re not aware of any wells in the area being affected by the drought.
By the way, all the records of our wells can be accessed on this interactive map.
Thank you so much for your responses, and where to find your well information, I hope Utah has a better snow year and you are able to resume drilling, if you are not able to drill for a few years what have you looked into as possible solutions?
Again possible solutions if you are unable to drill for a longer period of time? Such as shared well or other options?
Update!
Once we hired a water rights attorney, and organized the co-op as a water company, we’ve been able to proceed with drilling our wells.
24 new wells have been dug to date.