Mid-year but not quite mid -season for us as we tend to work
into November. We
are however through the early bookings and into the summer schedule.
With all the rain in SK and MB and at the
request of clients we pushed off and will do a loop, centered around Medicine Hat and Swift
Current and head to BC before heading further east in SK and into MB. Originally from southeast MB I can relate and hope the water goes out much faster then it came.
We did a rush survey near Stavely, AB 2 weeks ago and were
able to get the on site portion of the survey completed within a day of being called. Pretty close to home. They had already drilled 2 dry holes with the new home already on site so
everyone was getting a little nervous with the water issue. With the survey
done we completed the report late that evening and left for Medicine Hat dropping off the report on
the way. The "best of survey" site was
estimated at 3-5 gpm with the bottom of the aquifer at 60 meters. The driller
got back on site drilled and called within a day saying they got water above
the estimated depth. He called the next day to say yield was closer to 10 gpm
than the 3-5 gpm estimated in the report. It
all worked out OK, little further to trench the power and waterline, and the
cost of the dry holes, but still much needed water for the new home already on
the lot that may have been forced to haul water. I always say "get the water first".
Trenching a bigger distance in itself is doable and not that big a
deal with people at times trenching ½ mile to bring water to an existing yard.
However it can get pretty expensive and hard on the budget if it isn't expected. If it’s a new site,
finding where to drill first, is the best thing you can do to maximize the
yield you can get. Drilling the well after a survey, and before you plan your
yard, is the second best thing to prove your water supply so you know what you have. From there you locate your house, buildings
and avoid the surprise of a bigger bill that can easily be into the thousands putting extra pressure on your building budget.
It is becoming very normal for us to be
working with clients or developers that insist on proving water before they even buy
the property making offers to purchase conditional on finding and proving a viable
water supply. Here in S.AB a new water well(s) can easily increase the value of a property by 2 or 3 times.
As always the more advance notice we have on your booking a survey the better. More than ever we need
to plan our loops to save overhead and save you extra cost. With fuel being our
biggest expense if we can group 4-5 surveys in a planned loop everyone avoids
surcharges. If we need to travel 500+ km to get to you we have to work in the extra
costs. Call early. It's worth your while.
AB Ranchers and Farmers wanting to take advantage of the
Growing Forward 2 Program should check out http://www.growingforward.alberta.ca/.
You need to contact your local ARD Water Specialist and get your forms and
paperwork completed before you start a project. Rural Water development projects
that are eligible can get reimbursement of up to one-third of expenses which
include most related costs for water development to a maximum of $5,000 per applicant.
Do remember that for us to do a survey you need complete
your underground locates anywhere we may be working, before we arrive. Have a great and profitable summer.
