"C" asked me why do I have to rely upon the rain? First, I live in a rural area where the government doesn't provide water to everybody. That means, no "city water" on this farm. On the road I live on, the county water department will not run water lines to my farm. If I wanted county water, they would install a water meter one mile away down the road. This means that I would have to buy and install a mile of my own water pipe (a mile's worth ain't cheap), plus go to the expense of trenching it in and restoring the ground surface to the county's satisfaction. PLUS purchase and install a booster pump to bring the water up to the farm. And pay for the county to install a water meter. Who knows how many tens of thousands of dollars that would cost me. But believe me, I have no intention of finding out. The county can keep their water.
Another thing to consider......Once I would hook into county water, then I'd have the expense of having to maintain my own water system, pay an electric bill to run the booster pump, pay to maintain that pump, and pay a monthly water bill on top of it all. Not a good deal any way I look at it.
"P" voiced concern about the farm running out of water during a drought. Yup, could happen. But there are steps that can be taken. First I could do things to reduce water use, such as using deep mulches, going to drip irrigation, growing some crops in non circulating hydroponics, creating wicking beds. For livestock, instead of open water troughs, they could learn to use water nipples. And finally, I could simply haul more water myself or buy a water tanker full and have it delivered. There are water delivery services here that make buying delivered water easy.
"E" wrote to say that it sounded like I had the water system in place, so what would I be doing in the future? Well actually there are a few water related projects that I have planned.......
1- install a hose system to distribute the greywater easier to different areas. Right now there are only 3 spots that get greywater. I plan to create a better system so that the greywater can be sent to numerous more sites where it is needed.
2- make a system to divert the overflow water from the residential catchment tank to the agricultural water tank down in the field. Currently the overflow runs into the woods. It could be better utilized by using it to replenish the ag tank.
3- create more water storage in locations adjacent to food crops. When it comes to a strong drought year, I'd like to see the available water be easily utilized by the food gardens.
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