Peak water -- pumping it dry

Took the scenic route through a neighborhood yesterday and noticed a lot of activity at one house. The subject of all that activity was a shallow well drilling rig on a truck hovering over a patch of yard. Today the thing you see in this photo is what was left behind.

It's the head of a water well. And the house right next door has one, too. One wonders if they are in competition -- the race is on to see who can get the last drop.

The underground water reservoir is exhaustible, and the more people drawing from it the quicker it will shrink. Eric touched on this same topic in Water Musings. The only relief will be in the form of rain, which these days is a scarce commodity.

And if the summer is as dry as forecast, then we'll see deep rooted trees, which get their nurture from the reservoir, show drought stress just like they did last year. And the "A" street duck pond will get smaller just like it did last year. But this time we'll get to see what the difference is with all those straws sucking from the same soda.

Comments

[Rob O.]

I've wondered - and asked my neighbors - the same. If all of these new water wells are tapping into essentially the same underground aquifer, how long can we reasonably expect that to hold out, especially when the well-owners' mindset seems pretty cavalier re: the quantity of water used.

I believe that this is not a short-term problem and we're going to have to rethink what lawns should look like in West Texas. Abandoning our suburban notion of lush, green fields of turf may end up being the most practical and responsible route to take.

[Geo]

Rob O, I'm surprised we don't see more gutters being installed on roof edges. Even small amounts of rain can add up if it's collected.