From our December 28, 2000, edition.

Groundwater district taking measurements 

Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Currently underway and lasting through mid March, the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District will be conducting its annual winter water level measurement program throughout the District. 

The following counties will have winter water level measurements taken from them: Armstrong, Carson, Donley, Gray, Hutchinson, Potter, Roberts, and Wheeler.

Winter water level measurement’s help not only the District, with vital data and information for their records, but it also helps out the general public, farmers, and ranchers.

Winter water level measurements are gathered by using an E-line or a steel tape down the casing of the well.  An E-line consists of a long measuring tape with a battery-powered circuit running through it.  The end of the E-line that is first placed in the hole purposely has a short in it.  When this short is submersed into water, a buzzer will sound on the reel relaying to the operator that it has found the water level. 

The steel tape is used in much the same way.  The tape is first covered with a blue or yellow chalk for four to five feet.  This end is then inserted into the casing.  The operator must know what the previous depth was, in order to put the right amount of tape into the well.  The tape is then pulled back out of the well.  The operator then finds the area where the chalk has been washed off the steel tape.  From this reading, the operator can than calculate the water level.

The benefits that come from gathering this data includes that the PGWD will be able to make saturated thickness maps that are useful in locating the amount of water under the ground in a particular place. 

Many farmers and ranchers use these maps to locate the best places to drill irrigation wells or windmills.  Other maps prepared from this data are water level and depletion maps.  The water level maps tell where the present water level is located.  The depletion maps tell how many feet the water table has risen or fallen in the last year. 

The depletion maps used to determine the amount of depletion are the same maps used for those landowners who are eligible for depletion allowance on their income tax returns.

The PGWD has been measuring water levels on many different wells throughout the District.  On some wells, as much as 40 years worth of data has been collected.  The main goal is to be able to provide useful and accurate information to farmers, ranchers, and anyone who may have a question about water in our area. 

If you see a red pickup on the road with groundwater district decals on the door, don’t worry.  They are just doing their job the best they can, so they will be able to provide the people of the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District with the best information they can collect.

For answers to your questions or for more information, call 1-800-320-3536.