Agenda - 08-29-2002 - Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Drought Response Report Orange County August 14, ~U02 Background There has been a fair amount of both media and public attention to the worsening drought conditions throughout the spring and summer, While the majority of the focus has been on public water supplies and indeed those aze vital to service the majority of the population, it is important to remember that between 30-40% of our population are served by wells. Some of the issues related to wells going dry and appropriate response to other aspects of the drought that overlap into the public water supply area include: emergency supplies fax residents served by individual wells that ga dry, the education of the public about water conservation, the use of untreated graywater for irrigation purposes, and recommendations to food service establishments on how to reduce water usage and still. maintain good sanitation. It will be important to develop a local comprehensive drought management plan that incorporates practices for all water users; establishes cooperation among all jurisdictions; provides a framework for emergency supplies; and integrates bath public water supplies and a rural cornrnunity approach into such a plan.. Dry Wells When a water supply well begins showing syrnptozns of going dry, it is usually exhibited by surging in water pressure, air in the pipes, and periods when the water does not flow. After fuming the water off and letting the well recharge for a period of tinge, flow may be restored. However, a well may reach a point where water is pumped out at a rate faster than it can be recharged. This is referred to as the well "going dry". The Health Department's Environmental Health Division becomes aware of these situations only as well owners come to the office to apply for replacement well permits. Applications are typically received during the dry summer and fall seasons to replace dry wells, .however our ability to search records in prior years for the number of "replacern,ent wells" is limited. Anecdotally, we have observed that the number of applications received during this summer season is higher than we have seen in the past. In the period between June 1St and July 14~` 2002, the Environmental l-Iealth office processed 60 well permit applications. Of these, 11 (18%}were to replace wells or springs that had gave dry or were low on water. From July 15~'to August 13a' 2002, the office received another 60 well permit applications. Of these, 18 (30%) were replacements far existing wells or springs that were going dry. An additional 4 or 5 of the wells were drilled for irrigation purposes or for livestock. Of the wells that were reported to have problems with going dry, a vast majority of them were either springs or large diameter hand-dug or bored wells. These wells are supplied by very shallow sources of water and are rarely more than 30 or 40 feet deep. As such, they are susceptible to variations in the water table and are much more readily affected by seasonal drought. Since the sauxce of water is traveling in the soil layer over consolidated rock, they also are susceptible to contamination by bacteria and high levels of minerals.