"Drought" in upstate NY

[KWRB]

So despite living in Oswego County, darn near Lake Ontario almost my entire life, this is the first time I can recall being told we have a "drought". I'm not very agricultural, so I was wondering if anyone knew what the long term precipitation forecast is like for August and September, if such a thing can even really be predicted. Is the almanac real? Can I look in there? I get a feeling it isn't too good for things like weather, but I've been wrong before.

My well ran dry today. There is a drilled well on the property I've never used, that isn't plumbed to the house. I was thinking about dropping a submersible in there and pumping into the dug well that is plumbed into the house. It's not ideal, but it would be a short term solution if it's only needed every few days or so until some rain shows up. In fact, I wonder if that is why the previous owners drilled the well in the first place. Seems silly to drill a well and not use it.

I'm a little panicked, to be honest. Even as a child, we've never, ever had water issues, and I have no clue how to handle this.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

You wouldn't use it if it never produced acceptable result? Not enough flow, methane, salty?

A poly water tank might be a temporary solution and haul in potable water. Is your pump in the well?
FYI much of the rest of the country will have no experience with dug wells.

 

[fishheadbob]

You wouldn't use it if it never produced acceptable result? Not enough flow, methane, salty?

A poly water tank might be a temporary solution and haul in potable water. Is your pump in the well?
FYI much of the rest of the country will have no experience with dug wells.

6 wells and holding...
I would agree. Nobody would spend the money to drill a well but not pump it out unless preliminary testing showed a problem of some sort. Low recovery, sulphur, E. Coli, whatever.
Dug wells are relics of the past as they aren't very deep and get extremely problematic in the drought conditions we are experiencing. I'm 5 or 6 miles from Lake Erie and can watch my crop withering away.
Besides peeing outside - great water conservation- there are steps you can take to replenish the little water you have available. You could buy a poly tank and haul a few hundred gallons at a time from grandma's city water supply. This assumes you have a pickup or trailer, some spare cash, and the time. You could call your local water hauler and he'll deliver a thousand gallons for a few hundred bucks. You can find a water hauler by checking out the local Pennysaver/advertiser. Those guys know when they are needed. Usually the water haulers are also the farm to processor milk truckers looking to make a few extra dollars on the tanker they already have, so I would look around there. Even if whoever you contact doesn't do it, they should have leads on who does.
Almanacs that predict the future are fortune tellers, so if you put a lot of faith in fortune tellers see what they have to say.
When it does resume raining as it will someday, one or two good storms aren't going to miraculously make your well produce. The ground is dust to a depth of over a foot. It will take time to recover from the longest and driest period I've experienced; including 2 years of well below average snowfall.
You may have to consider the considerable expense of drilling a new well someday. I suppose well drillers in our region are backlogged at present.

 

[tcartwri]

How close is your nearest neighbor.

When I had well pump problems a few years ago, we just ran garden hoses from house to house to the exterior faucets. You'll need a female female adapter for one end, I used the feed hose for the washing machine.

Very temporary solution though.

 

[Clint S]

It is the worst I have seen it in many many years. I have seen it drier with lower pond and lake levels, but never for this length of time. It's been 6 plus months. This weekend was the tipping point when we did not receive the rain we were supposed to get and we are in for another week of 90s with no rain. Crops are suffering. I still do not have a red tomato yet even with watering. All we can hope for is it breaks soon.

 

[radioman]

its bad here. my garden is awful - . i never given up on my garden before. everything is dry- i recently buried in new invisable fence wire and its showing the line now, dirt is crack at the seams and grass dying. normally it would have healed on its own by now. im less then 5 miles from lake ontario shore and its not helping.
I remember we had a drought less then 10 years ago, but we recovered after month and half. this is the longest we have gone and there is still no relief in sight. for the first time ever, i am afraid of flooding. this area is known for its clay like soil and its parched and dried like cement.

i thank my lucky stars im connected via city water lines, but my septic leach field is showing its uglyness now. i can see exactly where the tank is, i can see where the lines are now as its all dead and brown grass. the rest of yard is greenish meaning the roots are deeper there . i have not seen a single local grown crop veggie stands around here either.

 

[MF283]

I can remember years like that in the past. When we were on well water, the drought years were hard, ours is only 65' deep & has some of the best water i've ever drank. At the time, there were only 2 other houses on our dead end road, their wells were 250' deep with black sulphur.
Since we have had city water for a number of years, the well hasn't been used, i've been thinking about trying to run it again to see if it still exist
It looks like we'll be seeing 3rd cuttings of hay around these part's this year & if the crop farmers are lucky, it will dry out enough to get the crops out of the fields.
Drought is a terrible thing, it can take a few years to get everything back on track, i hope it ends soon for you..

Ronnie

 

[CobyRupert]

How close is your nearest neighbor.

When I had well pump problems a few years ago, we just ran garden hoses from house to house to the exterior faucets.

Very temporary solution though.

Sometimes the nearest neighbor can also be the problem instead of the solution. Especially if they decided to fill their 10,000 gallon pool out of the water table instead of trucking in water. Or they had a pipe break, etc...

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Our dug well is about 12ft deep and at least 100yrs old. Fortunately it's right next to a primary wetland. Basically swamp water but reliable swamp water.

 

[Mendonsy]

It has been extremely dry here also. The local corn crops are a disaster. A lot of the corn is less than 2' tall.
I can think of a lot of reasons why that drilled well might have been abandoned, none of them are good. I would suggest hauling water for a while until the water table recovers to a point where you can use your well again.