Ragdollcatlady's Just a Little Patch of Weeds Farm journal

[MrsKuhn]

Oh no!! That really sucks about your well. I hope they can bump you up and get it fixed soon. I had a friend in Red Bluff whose well ran dry and it took her 7 months before they were going to do anything about it and then they got flooded out - Ironic They moved after the flood and filed for bankruptcy.

Sounds like a fun weekend though!!

 

[ragdollcatlady]

We had a well company come out and try to lower the pump. We only had 13-14 feet left. You need 11 feet of water over the top of a pump for it to work well. They explained the possible risk to the pump if it starts to pump sand and the short term, if any, of relief we might get. We tried it anyway. No luck. She is either dry as a bone or the pump is bad. I opted not to fix the pump with the poor prognosis. Now I need to get a new well dug. One company can do it immediately for $15,000. Now I gotta figure out where to get that from.

 

[babsbag]

We have a 1300' well

WOW, I thought my 300' well was deep...

 

[babsbag]

I am so sorry about your well, water is just something we can't do without. How deep are they planning on digging and will they guarantee you will hit water?

 

[ragdollcatlady]

He suggested 400 feet. Said that in our neighborhood, that is about how deep he has been going. I am sure noone will gurantee but we should hit water as we just ran out. If our paperwork from when we bought the house was accurate, I believe it said we were pumping from a mere 82 feet. Our neighbors only went 230 or something a few years ago before they hit hardpan and the company wouldn't drill any deeper.

This house belonged to a teacher since the 1930's and she was the only owner before we bought it, so a well that shallow doesn't seem out of the realm of possibilities.

The 2 new orchards on our same block and the one just over the road are likely the ones taking all the water.

 

[babsbag]

Agriculture verses homeowners, it is something we hear more and more. Even with El Nino, which didn't do as much as they had hoped, CA is in serious trouble. Agriculture feeds our economy so it is a tough call, I get that for all concerned but when it affects homes that have been established for years it doesn't seem quite fair. The state needs to build some desalination plants if agriculture is going to continue to be the major player in CA; it seems to be the only answer.

Then a water district in Shasta county tells its customers that all water restrictions have been lifted and the customers should use as much water as possible, water the world. That way if there are restrictions again next year it will be based on their usage for this year so if you want water during a drought year waste it during a wet year.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Update on the water situation: So I can't come up with the amount necessary to dig a new well. At least not with that company. I will call a few others for quotes, but I am not holding my breath. However, When I called to talk to Big River and let him now our situation/the amount I can cover, the guy told me to call Self Help. I did and they have a program that can supply emergency water (for humans only of course), for up to a year. She will come out and sound our well on monday, and if it looks like we are qualified, she will submit the paperwork. They deliver a holding tank and water up to a certain amount based on the number of people in your household.

In the meantime, Our neighbors are all pitching in to help. The neighbor across the way also lost her well this week and is already back online, but she borrowed a water trailer from the guys that lease her orchards. They have refilled the tank and it is in my driveway now for us to use. Prayers of thanks for the generosity of neighbors. The next door neighbors are still meeting us at the fence every night to help us water our goats and birds from their spigot in the pasture. Makes me glad I try and be a good neighbor even when it is difficult sometimes!

The new Dr at work is frustrating all of us. We are going to have to let our Dr #1 (and owner) know when he does things in ways that aren't quite correct or if he is rude etc. Normally we try to gently ask or suggest the methods and things we notice, but he seems to have too much pride and has been heard to lie on 2 occasions so far. Regarding him being rude, we were thinking he was only going to be here temporarily so we were just trying to ignore the rudeness, but he really does not respect us as technicians, staff or even Dr #2.

I have a name for Spellys little spotted buckling. Every time I look at him, I think of bubbles like champagne and I hear the lyrics "champagne supernova in the sky". So I want to name him Champagne Supernova but we already have a nickname for him too "ChampaQue".

I have decided to try and sell a few goats. Gonna start with those I am less attached to of course. If anyone is local/california and is interested, I am going to try and list them soon on my website. I am thinking of letting one of our nubian girls go, Colby (nicknamed Kermit cause she looks like Kermit the frog), maybe one of my boer girls, and I am thinking of possibly retiring my nigerian doe, Georgia. This is in addition to several of this years babies that are already slated for sale once they are old enough to be weaned. I have to wait on the DNA test from Rocky before I can register and sell this years boer kids. I am not drastically cutting my goat herd yet, I am hoping I can get the water situation sorted out and downsize my poultry flocks first.

 

[babsbag]

Have you thought about a class action suit against the orchards for water rights? Your house was there first. If the orchards have put in any new wells they could be responsible for your water loss.

In the meantime...sorry about the water woes. People that have city water just don't understand the stress and yet the state wants to put a meter on our wells and charge us for our water, and yet they don't want to pay for the well maintenance. It stinks.

 

[Hens and Roos]

sorry to hear about your well. Glad that your neighbors are lending you a hand.

 

[Ferguson K]

^^^^^^^


What Babs said.