By this time every year New Hampshire has had about 37 inches of precipitation. This year we’ve had only 27 inches. Lakes, rivers and streams throughout New Hampshire are low. State officials say thousands of wells are dry. And the drought that initially hit Northern New England now has spread down the East Coast. As NHPR’s Dan Gorenstein reports, the lack of water has had far-reaching affects throughout the Granite State.
15:51 there is probably about two ft. of water down there, but when you use that two feet of water, it’s gone. It doesn’t come back.
Randy Harris is examining his now nearly empty 18-foot sand and gravel well in Chichester.
2:48 we just ran out of water, like that. Boom. And we are drinking bottled water.
The Harris’ were lucky. Most people who need their wells deepened wait a good four or five weeks. But Deb Harris’s cousin is a well contractor, so the family waited only two. It was, however, enough time to get across the idea of conservation to the family’s two teenagers.
15:15 till we actually ran out of water, it was like talking to the wall, don’t take a 20 minute shower. Yeah, teenagers. But after we really did run out of water, it was like ‘oh, my god, dad was right.’ Even now that we have it back, we don’t have to yell at them, I think they learned something, an expensive lesson, but
Expensive to the tune of six thousand dollars for the new well, and that was with the family discount. Even with a healthy 9-gallon a minute pump rate, Deb says all is not well at the Harris’.
9:43 in the shower I could smell it. I could just smell metallic. I don’t know how else to say it.
The new well has a high concentration of manganese and iron, something the old well didn’t. So a new filter cost an additional 1800.
That doesn’t surprise The US Geological Survey district chief, Brian Mrazik.
14:28 When those types of actions are taken to go after new water supplies, at the same time folks should be aware, what may have been high quality water, they may be drawing part of acquifer that has poorer quality.
Track 5
1:46 out of water for a couple of months. One guy keeps filling up his well…2000 gallons delivered, just disappears.
Rick Schofield, is a hydro-geologist with the state. And he is getting a ton of calls. About 40% of the state gets water from private wells. And through surveys he has sent out to well contractors across the state, Schofield says they are busy.
3:39 some of the results indicate the number of wells these guys is replacing is doubled if not tripled from a normal year.
Contoocook Artesian Well Company’s Don Weiss can testify to being busy.
13:53 we are getting calls from all over the state, Vermont, Maine, and we are getting calls from outside general drilling area, b/c the demand for wells is so great that the local drillers can not meet the need. And people are seeking someone who can meet their needs.
And when homeowners find that person they are all too happy to welcome him. Well digger Don Arsenault knows first hand.
1:14 a lot of the people are really nice when you get there, b/c they want water really bad, so they will bring you out homemade blueberry muffins, or maybe give you $20 dollars. They are just really happy to see you b/c they want waters.
Sfx: drilling
It’s a little before 9 o’clock in the morning about 6 miles from downtown Concord. This is loud, but neighbors having been hearing it since 7:30. Last month Contoocook Artesian Well Company drilled 89 wells. With four crews of two, it’s not unusual for diggers to work 60-70 hour weeks.
Business is good, says Weiss, but when you get more than 20 calls a week, you can’t satisfy everyone. And some of those calls are tough.
22:07 An individual might say they can only afford to pay so much for another well. I am not in a position that I can guarantee that a well will stop at x number of dollars…It is unfortunate to me, to those who say they don’t have the money to do this. What I try to do is discuss with them what potential they might have, or what circumstances might satisfy their needs.
Repercussions of the drought certainly go beyond people’s drinking water supply. Many of the state’s lakes, rivers and streams are low. Way low. Lake Winnepausake is at its lowest level in 36 years. And fisheries are hurting.
John Vier, a biologist with Fish and Game, points at the obvious, less water means the fish have less habitat available for feeding, room to escape predators, and spots to spawn. Vier also is a fisherman. And while he maintains the drought didn’t affect his fishing, he did have an uncommon experience.
5:46 a couple of my little gems were so dry that it was like, I could have went in and pulled the fish with my hands, and when you are in that type of situation, you almost feel bad about that, I just let them be, observed them for a while, and looked for more water.
Vier’s scenic, off the beaten path favorite fishing holes for brook trout just weren’t the same this year. Vier doesn’t expect a big fallout, and is confident fish will repopulate quickly. Provided, of course, there’s more water.
Brian Mrazik from USGS doubts there is anything terribly beneficial about a drought environmentally, but he notes the hard times point out the need more water resource investigation.
28:05 if there is a benefit to having a drought it is that it points out the need for water resources investigations and good planning based ont hose investigations. The question we are most frequently asked is, is it just a drought, or is it the paving of our aquifer over the past 30 years, is it the installation of public water supply wells. Is it the greater use of water for irrigation and landscaping with our sauna and Jacuzzi. The answer is that it is both. Demand is increasing, development of the watershed, they are all having an impact on the fixed supply of water. The problem rears its ugly head, not during normal conditions, but during drought conditions. It’s a wakeup call, we need to investigate the resource, we need to plan accordingly.
New Hampshire’s state climatologist says this is the second driest year on record- back to 1895. But if the long term forecast is correct, conditions will improve this winter as precipitation is predicted to return to normal. For NHPR News, I’m DG
