"Precious resource needs comprehensive oversight"

Intelligencer editorial, September 3, 2010:

Residents who rely on shallow (generally speaking, less than 100 feet) private wells for their water have long been familiar with the anxiety brought on by extended periods without rain.

"Lack of rainfall, geology bring water restrictions"

By Christina Kristofic, Intelligencer, August 30, 2010:

Geology contributes to regular groundwater shortage problems in the Furlong area.

"Residents blame PBA for dry wells"

By Theresa Hegel, Intelligencer, August 29, 2010:

Last month, Robert Schlitz, 75, turned on the tap at his East Rockhill home, and nothing happened.

After 42 years with no problems, his 90-foot well, which had weathered several droughts, had run dry. He spent nearly $10,000 to drill a 280-foot-deep replacement well.

"Residents question why E. Rockhill wells went dry"

By Erin DuBois, MontgomeryNews.com, August 26, 2010:

For 40 years Robert Schlitz, who lives . . . [on] West Schwenkmill Road in Perkasie, has been able to rely on his well, even filling his 24,000-gallon swimming pool without a sputter. But that all changed July 23 when his approximately 100-foot-deep well went dry.

About the same time, . . . another West Schwenkmill Road resident, who did not wish to comment, discovered that his well had dried up; and neighbors . . . began experiencing intermittent water supply from their wells.

The growing epidemic led well owners to question whether they should blame the hot, dry summer or if a troubling coincidence was the culprit.

The day before Schlitz’s well went dry, Menlo Aquatic Center’s competition pool accidentally drained overnight. Perkasie Borough Authority used 300,000 gallons of water to refill the pool July 23. . . .

Wells running dry in East Rockhill

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/video?id=7615278

"Water report nears completion"

By Amanda Cregan, Intelligencer, August 22, 2010:

As officials grapple with a declining supply, the goal is to translate complicated information into an understandable form.

After a decade of collecting and charting well water samples they say show a looming groundwater crisis in Upper Bucks, residents and local officials will soon have the information in hand.

Nockamixon: "Panel to address water problems"

By Amanda Cregan, Intelligencer, February 24, 2010:

After rounds of detailed research on a growing water crisis in Nockamixon and the surrounding communities, scientists are ready to flush out an overview.

Scientists with the Bridgeton-Nockamixon-Tinicum Groundwater Committee will have the floor at Thursday night's work session in Nockamixon, which will bring together township supervisors and planning commission members.

The committee is expected to highlight years of collected data, showing increased stress on the rural Upper Bucks region's groundwater supply. . . .

Nockamixon: "Forum planned for water concerns"

By Amanda Cregan, PhillyBurbs.com, September 17, 2009.

"Water 'hot spots' starting to crop up"

PhillyBurbs.com: "Water 'hot spots' starting to crop up," by Amanda Cregan, Intelligencer, August 19, 2009: "Tinicum supervisors had their first look at recent groundwater reports Tuesday night. Although much of the attention has focused on Palisades High School and surrounding neighborhoods, The Bridgeton-Nockamixon-Tinicum Groundwater Management Committee reported some other trouble spots across Upper Bucks. . . ."

"An 'inconvenient truth'"

PhillyBurbs.com: "An 'inconvenient truth,'" by Amanda Cregan, Intelligencer, August 3, 2009:

Spring and summer rains are simply a Band-Aid on a growing water crisis in Upper Bucks.

"We're not out of the woods by any means," said Stephen Donovan, research scientist for the Bridgeton-Nockamixon-Tinicum Groundwater Committee.

A new report outlines increased stress on ground water around Palisades High School and the surrounding region.

If levels continue to decline, it eventually could spell disaster for the school district and area homeowners, all of whom rely on private wells to pull water from the underlying rock where it is collected.

"States digging deep to monitor water"

PhillyBurbs.com: "States digging deep to monitor water," by David Tirrell-Wysocki, Associated Press/Intelligencer, July 5, 2009:

About a quarter mile into dense woods, geologists watch as a drilling rig twists a shaft deep into the granite bedrock of southeastern New Hampshire. They are searching for water _ not to drink _ but to watch.

State and federal agencies have been watching, or monitoring, lakes and rivers for more than a century, but less attention has gone to vast amounts of water in cracks and rock fissures deep underground, leaving a void in understanding a resource growing in importance as demands for water increase and surface water sources are being used to the fullest in many areas.

New Hampshire is drilling a series of wells to monitor groundwater in cracks in granite hundreds of feet below the surface. The goal is to allow scientists to check for contamination; learn about how long it takes for rainfall or melting snow to make its way into the supply; and keep tabs on how climate change, population growth and development affect the water.

State Geologist David Wunsch would like to share the information as part of a nationwide network.

"In the future, your water may come from hundreds of miles away, so in order to get that national picture of 'Are we depleting some area for the sake of another region?,' you need to have that national picture," said Wunsch, who represented state geologists on a national committee that has developed a national groundwater monitoring plan.

Groundwater provides drinking water for 130 million Americans and 42 percent of the nation's irrigation water, and while many states have monitored groundwater, they have done so for state-specific reasons, using different criteria. So, while groundwater supplies spread beneath large regions, monitoring generally stops at state lines.

"Some states have several hundred wells and sample them four times a year. Others have absolutely nothing," said Wunsch.

The goal of forming a network got a boost this year as Congress approved the SECURE Water Act, directing the U.S. Geologic Survey to work with states to develop a national monitoring program for underground water supplies, known as aquifers.