Subdivision on well water ends up dry

By Scott Shenk

Published: August 26, 2008

Could Earlysville Forest be the “canary in the coal mine,” as one resident suggests?

The northern Albemarle neighborhood ran out of water on Saturday and the company that operates its well system had to truck in water to replenish it.

Mike McQueen, who lives in Earlysville Forest and has worked with others who have run the water system in the past, believes the primary culprit for the dried up wells was low ground water levels and that his neighborhood’s problem could be a harbinger for other Virginia areas.

It seems that canary has made the rounds.

Jerry Stenger of the University of Virginia Climatology Office said that if there were no more rain this month, it would be the area’s driest August since 1912. This month has set the record for the driest first 26 days in August, he said.

On Tuesday, Albemarle spokeswoman Lee Catlin said that ground water levels are “critically low” and suggested residents conserve water.

The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority followed suit, saying reservoirs that serve Charlottesville and Albemarle do not face a significant risk of a drought but that ground water is another issue.

“The biggest water news story today is about [ground water],” RWSA Executive Director Thomas L. Frederick Jr. said. “Stream flows are dropping more rapidly this year during periods without rainfall in comparison to the past two years, which tells us that [ground water] recharge to streams is critically low. We believe [ground water] recharge in Albemarle County is now at its lowest levels since 2002.”

That’s the year the state experienced a severe drought and then-Gov. Mark R. Warner instituted wide-ranging water conservation measures.

Other areas in Virginia are feeling the water pinch now. Last week, Richmond and the counties of Henrico and Hanover instituted mandatory water restrictions, according to news reports.

Also, Chesterfield County remains under voluntary water-conservation measures. Several other Richmond-area counties are asking residents to conserve water.

Some counties in the Charlottesville region are experiencing drought-like conditions, too.

John Thompson of the Fluvanna County Extension office said farmers are struggling, specifically with hay.

“We’ve already got farmers feeding cattle,” he said, noting that the second cutting of hay in some instances is at “50 percent.”

The soybean and corn crops also have been hit by the lack of rain, Thompson said.

He said most Fluvanna residents have wells, so they should focus on conserving water.

The counties of Greene, Madison and Orange haven’t been hit too hard, according to Dudley Pattie, general manager of the Rapidan Service Authority, which services those counties.

Nonetheless, he said the Rapidan River, the authority’s water source, is running lower than normal.

“The last week to 10 days, we’ve seen it drop,” he said. “Like everybody else, we would like some rain.”

He and Frederick said they are watching the water situation very closely.

The ground water situation is especially problematic because the Charlottes-ville area’s “rainfall has been below normal … for the third year in a row,” Frederick said.

Replenishing ground water takes time, Frederick said. Hence, he suggested that area residents be mindful of how they use water.

Aqua Virginia Inc., which operates the Earlysville Forest system, also is asking residents there to conserve, primarily by avoiding washing vehicles, watering plants or topping off pools.

Gary Austin, with Aqua Virginia, said control boxes on two wells “tripped out” on Saturday and caused Earlysville Forest’s water problem. That power outage led to a chain of events that depleted the water system.

He also said that resident usage, combined with the dry conditions, contributed to the water problem.

Jack van der Horn, Earlysville Forest Home-owners Association president, believes the system simply is inadequate to serve the 195-home neighborhood.

“People are pretty upset about it,” he said of Saturday’s loss of water.

Donna Alston, with Aqua Virginia, said the company recently finished installing the neighborhood’s eighth well, which should go online soon.

McQueen thinks Aqua Virginia is doing what it can.

The neighborhood has run out of water before, but he said it is “happening less and less. So there’s progress. … [Aqua Virginia] has spent a lot of money on the system.”

The ground water problem doesn’t look so good, though, he said, pointing out that two neighborhood ponds have grown shallow and that the streams feeding them are dry.

The rest of the area faces no impending drought warnings, according to Frederick, though he added that “we’ll keep watching it.”

There could be relief on the horizon, in the form of remnants from Tropical Storm Fay, according to Stenger. He said the system likely would bring rain to the area starting Tuesday evening and lasting through Friday.

“However,” warned Frederick, “nobody has a perfect crystal ball when it comes to predicting weather. There are simply no guarantees, so we will remain diligent in monitoring this situation.”