We have a well, let me just tell you this, if the well was going to run dry, it would have already. My kids take 45 minute showers daily!!!
And we do a lot of laundry, have a sprinkler system and water the garden. No issues. I think you can have the well checked for the water table(we did this a few years ago). There are also graphs online showing your neighborhood (and house) for FEMA flooding purposes. We live close to the ocean so the table is always high. You can check your own though.
It rained today! Not enough to replenish everything, but enough to water the garden and hopefully keep some plants alive. I’m really hoping that a stray thunderstorm comes over my house sometime soon and dumps a lot of water.
FWIW, even in non drought times we keep a 5 gallon bucket in our kitchen to put water in after rinsing out dishes, pans, or glasses before putting them into the dishwasher. I also keep a bowl in the sink to catch water when I’m washing veggies, then add that to the bucket. When it gets full enough the bucket goes outside to water plants - or just the yard if it’s been wet enough lately.
It’s just a “green” thing that our youngest son taught us to do. We think nothing of it at this point.
We also have a large container outside that catches rainwater from our roof. It holds 250 gallons or so. It’s also used to water plants - or just drained onto the yard if it gets too full and isn’t needed.
I don’t think any area is drought proof, esp as the climate is changing. I like having developed good water usage habits personally.
As so many areas of our planet are dealing with heat, drought, fires, floods, and wars (Ukraine and more) I honestly have started to wonder how much the global food supply is going to be affected - soon.
[quote=“Creekland, post:23, topic:3617035”]
We also have a large container outside that catches rainwater from our roof. It holds 250 gallons
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I live in a permanent drought area, Denver. We are only allowed to have one 55 gallon rain barrel (and that’s only been in the last few years).
Yes, you should water any trees that look like they need it. Your well should be deep enough that it is not being replenished by rain.
This isn’t true of all wells, especially older ones. As a pp mentioned, sometimes one can’t go deep due to brackish water. For us, our well is so old it was dug by hand not too long after the original homesteaders got the property. It’s only 30 some feet deep. We could have another one drilled, but it’s costly and as long as ours works fine, there’s no need. In a drought we watch water consumption. We’re not in one now though.
The wise old man who lived next door to us told me that our well is only 15 feet deep. Maybe I misheard him and he said 50. He’s gone now, can’t ask him. I live at the bottom of a hill, so maybe that’s why it’s shallow.
Someone suggested I go to the town offices and look for the records.
Can you open it and look? 20 feet is typical here. Each tile is 5’ tall if you can count the seams. Our well guy put in an extra tile for us so ours is 25’ deep. It recharges quickly.
Take a rope and put a weight of some sort on one end. Lower it into the well. When it hits bottom you’ll know how deep it is.
This only works for shallow wells unless one has a really long rope!
H uses this system to see how much water we have left in the well when we’re in a dry period. How much of the rope is wet tells us how many feet of water we have left. It’s been less than 2 feet in our worst times. By then laundry is being taken out and bottled water is being brought in. Fortunately, it’s rare (so far).