Water is often taken for granted, until the well runs dry.Residents of Falcon and Black Forest get their water from wells. The citizens’ advocacy group, Black Forest Water and Wells, has put out a document on well water, and it includes the following: ìEverything that other owners of wells do affects your well’s ability to maintain its water source and your water quality. This includes people not even neighbors to you.îWater in wells comes from bedrock aquifers, which are geological formations of sand, gravel, rocks and water. The Black Forest document also states that the aquifers receive little recharge of water because of low precipitation and evaporation, and only 1 to 2 percent of precipitation makes its way into the aquifers. Once the water in an aquifer is used up, there is no way to replace it. Permits for wells in the area are issued by the state engineer. However, according to the ìRules and Regulations and Statement of Policyî of the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Ground Water Management District, the state engineer issues well permits on the recommendation and qualifications set by the district.According to its bylaws, the district, which includes Falcon and Black Forest, is a taxing authority, formed under state law by the taxpayers of the district to administer and manage ground water resources of the water basin, including protection of quality and quantity of water. The district is not involved with enforcing covenants and filings or regulating small wells that serve no more than two-family dwellings. District ìRules and Regulationsî state that large water users such as Cherokee Metropolitan District and Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District must provide a monthly accounting to the UBSGD as to the amount of water withdrawn from their wells to ensure they are within their permitted withdrawal amounts. The district has the authority to prohibit the use of any well that pumps more than its permitted amount or a well that would result in unreasonable depletion or contamination of groundwater sources. Tracy Doran, office manager for the district, said existing water users would be grandfathered in and would not be bound by any future regulations or restrictions enacted to conserve water.
