Are wells affected by droughts and water restrictions?

ASK THE HORT AGENT

Question Are wells affected by droughts and water restrictions?

Answer A well is simply a tap into an underground water source. The ground under our feet does not contain flowing rivers or vast lakes. It contains many types of rocks and soil particles. Some of these materials, like clay, pack together very densely and may not allow water to pass through them. Other materials, like sand or limestone, have space between their particles. Water will fill this space. Layers (or pockets) of these porous materials may hold many gallons of water in these tiny spaces. These pockets of underground water are called aquifers.

The Coastal Plain area of North Carolina has very old layers of geologic material underground. Eastern North Carolina also has several large aquifers. The largest of these aquifers is the Castle Hayne-Aquia aquifer which stretches from New Jersey to South Carolina. This aquifer is the public water source for several cities like New Bern, Jacksonville and Wilmington.

Central and western North Carolina depend more on surface water as a source of public water. These regions contain fractured bedrock aquifers which are complex and not nearly as well understood as the confined aquifers of the Coastal Plain. However, there are many residents and industries that rely on aquifers in central and western North Carolina.

The water holding capacity of an aquifer does not change. When water is taken out, the aquifer has to be replenished. Rainwater works its way through the soil back into the aquifers. The problem is this process may take many years. Water can be taken out of an aquifer faster than it is being recharged. Old timers refer to this as “the well is running dry.”

Shallow wells are tapping shallow aquifers. These aquifers rely heavily on rainwater. The amount of water they hold decreases in a drought very similar to a surface pond or lake. Deep aquifers are less affected by rainfall over the period of one summer. When the level of a deep aquifer drops, it may take many years and much conservation to refill.

As the current drought continues and water is restricted, more attention is given to homeowners watering their plants. Television reporters need to be showing people standing in a bathroom looking at an empty shower or bathtub. Far more water is wasted every day by people taking long showers than people watering their gardens.

Regardless of the drought, gardeners need to be as responsible with well water as they are with surface water. The supply is not endless, and we can not live without it. For information about using water wisely in your landscape and home, visit http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/programs/extension/publicat/wqwm/usewtr.html

For more info about aquifers, check out http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/programs/extension/publicat/wqwm/ag450.html If you do not have internet access, then call me at 910-893-7533 or email me at gpierce@harnett.org

Reporters take note: A pouting lady standing in a dry bathtub with a towel wrapped around her would generate more concern for our situation than a landscaper walking on brown grass.

Gary L. Pierce

Horticulture Extension Agent

Harnett County