During the past two weeks, the RM of Hanover and the Town of Niverville have been working in partnership with Manitoba Water Services Board and their consultants in response to reports of private well water issues in the community of New Bothwell.
The RM of Hanover reports that a total of six reports were formally registered, which all were individually investigated. Their findings were that wells in southeast Manitoba have all seen bedrock aquifer water levels down regionally due to the extremely dry conditions we’ve experienced in the last 12 months. Out of the six reported troubled wells, only two were able to be investigated, as the remainder of the wells were buried in yard sites, and could not be located. The problematic water wells have been attributed to the individual pumping set ups in each well. Provincial monitoring wells in the area continue to show that the New Bothwell region showing an abundance of groundwater availability with 75 feet or more of available drawdown.
Residents with issues are asked to contact licensed plumbers/well hook up contractors to have their private water well supply systems inspected and have their plumbers certify whether the problem lies with their private in home pumping system or groundwater levels have indeed lowered. Most often the specific issues can be attributed to mechanical problems where the well draw pipes are not long enough inside their well casings to access the lowered water level the region is experiencing. Most modern private wells should have no issues with these water table conditions.
If it can been determined that the private well has indeed been negatively affected by any large provincially licensed water user, a compensation program shall be put in place. It should be noted that there are several licensed groundwater users in the area.
