Juniper Ridge residents say their wells are drying up

By Morgan GwynnOriginal articleSarah Gettinger, a Juniper Ridge neighborhood resident, is concerned about her well water levels, just after having it filled a week ago.She has rented the same house in the area for 12 years. She told us the issues started getting worse about five years ago.“It’s something to keep your eye on because you don’t want to be in the middle of taking a shower and have the water go off,” said Gettinger.Now, the well water levels are lowering at an alarming rate, which means she will have to have water hauled in more frequently.“We just looked, it’s kind of low so I’ll probably have to have somebody check it,” said Gettinger.She is not the only one experiencing this in the area. Two other neighbors told Central Oregon Daily News that their wells are completely dry.They have not had running water for three weeks.RELATED: Despite above average snow, Kotek declares drought emergency for Deschutes Co.RELATED: Water contamination in Eastern Oregon could prompt EPA to step inAndy High, owner of Thompson Pump and Irrigation, has worries about the wells in Juniper Ridge.“There’s definitely some concern maybe some wells are going dry,” said High. “We see probably one out of every three or so that either need to be drilled or deepened and there’s even a tighter supply on drillers in the area, so a lot of people, what we’re seeing is from the drought is finally maybe catching up to some of these areas.”High offered some solutions.“If they need to deepen the well that there is some grant dollars out there helping that,” said High. “Often times the home owner has to front the money and the county reimburses it. I know some people are using equity loans, lines of credit, anything like that.”Gettinger explained that saving water has been her top priority.“I’ve been very thrifty with the quick showers and the one load of laundry a week if I can get away with it,” said Gettinger.She will continue to get water delivered to her well as needed.Since she rents her property, she does not have to pay for it, but her home-owner neighbors are not as lucky.