Pump Problems: Dry Conditions Put Stress on Ozarks Water Wells

NIXA, Mo. -- Triple-digit temperatures are starting to have an effect on community water wells around southwest Missouri.

With the lack of rain, local well drilling companies are booked for jobs, and there's a lot of stress on water wells.

Now homeowners and business owners are having to get their wells drilled deeper -- but it may cost them.

''It's the domestic wells, the private wells, the community wells," says Richard Linebaugh, owner of Hewitt-Messenger Well Drilling in Nixa. "This go-around has been hard enough that everyone's affected."

Linebaugh says he hasn't experienced these dry conditions in six years. Calls are now flooding into his office and he says his company may make eight drills a day -- extending the season until November.

"There's such a stress on those wells right now. People are trying to cut back, but because of such stress and how it is."

He says there's so much maintenance it's hard to keep up with the demand.

"They're both running out of the amount of water they have, plus the mechanical equipment, it's so hard on the equipment they're having breakdowns."

Jared Whitlinger works at a local golf course and says the course has its own water well, but with little rain, watering the greens is difficult and more costly.

"The last three summers have been pretty rough," he says. "Progressively worse. This is pretty bad. I don't remember one rain in June."

Linebaugh says most of the water that is collected in wells comes from other areas, but even those parts of southwest Missouri are in drought conditions and now people are choosing to drill deeper. That adds on more than 30 percent to the cost of the well installation itself, but if they don't make the change, their well may suffer.

"The next time this occurs -- it will occur again -- is that the equipment will be more stressed and they will have a complete watered out condition and it will most likely ruin the existing equipment they have."