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Boreas Pass Road part-time resident Ken Slaughter and his family have been doing dishes by hand, refilling toilets with buckets and bathing at the neighbors' since arriving in town to find their well had run dry.
BRECKENRIDGE - Ken Slaughter, his wife Vicki, two daughters and a friend enjoyed a roasted chicken dinner with green beans on Christmas - all served on something less than the family's finest china.
"We ate on paper plates," he said with a laugh. "It wasn't your typical Christmas dinner."
Slaughter is one of four residents along Boreas Pass Road whose wells went dry the day before Christmas.
Slaughter noticed the water pressure in his tank decrease Christmas Eve. Then he saw sediment in the water. Thinking it might be due to dirty water softener filters, he replaced those - and the water pressure plunged to zero.
The pump repair man who came out the next day issued the verdict: The pump had burned out looking for water that was no longer there.
Slaughter noted that his next door neighbor had to drill a new well between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and two other neighbors have had problems with their systems, as well.
"The (pump) guy said he sees more and more of this all the time," he said. "All these wells are going dry because of the drought."
Wells sometimes go dry in the winter because water isn't flowing as well and things begin to freeze up, said state water commissioner Scott Hummer. Regardless, he has received numerous phone calls this year from people seeking help to dig new wells to replace those that have gone dry.
"We ate on paper plates," he said with a laugh. "It wasn't your typical Christmas dinner."
Slaughter is one of four residents along Boreas Pass Road whose wells went dry the day before Christmas.
Slaughter noticed the water pressure in his tank decrease Christmas Eve. Then he saw sediment in the water. Thinking it might be due to dirty water softener filters, he replaced those - and the water pressure plunged to zero.
The pump repair man who came out the next day issued the verdict: The pump had burned out looking for water that was no longer there.
Slaughter noted that his next door neighbor had to drill a new well between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and two other neighbors have had problems with their systems, as well.
"The (pump) guy said he sees more and more of this all the time," he said. "All these wells are going dry because of the drought."
Wells sometimes go dry in the winter because water isn't flowing as well and things begin to freeze up, said state water commissioner Scott Hummer. Regardless, he has received numerous phone calls this year from people seeking help to dig new wells to replace those that have gone dry.
To blame is a combination of the continuing drought and growth in the county.
In some areas, people hooking up to the sewer system are to blame. Water that usually would have gone back into the groundwater supply no longer replenishes it, and wells begin to go dry.
"It's not something that surprises me," he said. "We had another relatively dry year in 2004, and we're not getting the snowmelt in the cracks in the fissures of the rocks."
Areas prone to drying up include Lakeview Meadows at Farmer's Korner, Bill's Ranch near Frisco and Summit Cove. Hummer hadn't heard of wells going dry atop Bald Mountain.
Between a quarter and a third of customers who are supplied water by the East Dillon Water District that serves Summit Cove found their wells pumping up mud last July, most likely due to the high demand over the Independence Day holiday.
The district draws water from seven wells near Summit Cove Elementary School, relying on the Soda Creek aquifer for up to 400 gallons per minute. One hundred gallons per minute are pumped in from the Snake River system.
Cindy and J.D. Murphy of Summit Cove were one of those affected, but since haven't had any problems.
Others are more random.
Nick Logan, a resident of Huron Heights north of Breckenridge, had to redrill a well last year to a depth of 400 feet. At $15 to $18 a foot - not including the pipe and pump - that can add up.
In some areas, people hooking up to the sewer system are to blame. Water that usually would have gone back into the groundwater supply no longer replenishes it, and wells begin to go dry.
"It's not something that surprises me," he said. "We had another relatively dry year in 2004, and we're not getting the snowmelt in the cracks in the fissures of the rocks."
Areas prone to drying up include Lakeview Meadows at Farmer's Korner, Bill's Ranch near Frisco and Summit Cove. Hummer hadn't heard of wells going dry atop Bald Mountain.
Between a quarter and a third of customers who are supplied water by the East Dillon Water District that serves Summit Cove found their wells pumping up mud last July, most likely due to the high demand over the Independence Day holiday.
The district draws water from seven wells near Summit Cove Elementary School, relying on the Soda Creek aquifer for up to 400 gallons per minute. One hundred gallons per minute are pumped in from the Snake River system.
Cindy and J.D. Murphy of Summit Cove were one of those affected, but since haven't had any problems.
Others are more random.
Nick Logan, a resident of Huron Heights north of Breckenridge, had to redrill a well last year to a depth of 400 feet. At $15 to $18 a foot - not including the pipe and pump - that can add up.
"That was just so we wouldn't run out," he said. "Every now and then it would dredge up some stuff from the bottom. But it's still not like you can just let things run and it replenishes. You can take a good long shower, but you don't want to do three or four in a row. It doesn't fill as fast as you can use it."
He wonders how a proposed development at the top of Gibson Hill might affect his well in years to come.
"It's hard to put the words '10,000 square-foot homes' in the same sentence as 'conservative,'" he said. "No one can tell us if drilling will affect our well, but we know we've had problems on this hillside."
Development merely exacerbates the drought situation.
Four new wells were drilled this summer in Lakeview Meadows where some residents have been battling water flow problems for years.
"One woman called me in tears, saying she can't get any of her neighbors to stop using water (for outside uses)," Hummer said. "We know using wells to grow vegetation isn't a smart thing to do. If this dry weather persists, people are going to have to pay serious attention to what their wells can produce and how they use their water."
It's too early to project spring snowpack, Hummer said.
Currently the snowpack in the valley is 78 percent of normal. The state's 32 snotel sites are reporting snowpack of 32 to 134 percent of normal. And only one of Colorado's eight river basins - the Gunnison - is reporting snowpack of 100 percent.
"(Weather forecasters) are backing off their talk about snowpack being more toward normal this season," Hummer said. "They're tending to go back to 'normal' or 'below normal.'
He wonders how a proposed development at the top of Gibson Hill might affect his well in years to come.
"It's hard to put the words '10,000 square-foot homes' in the same sentence as 'conservative,'" he said. "No one can tell us if drilling will affect our well, but we know we've had problems on this hillside."
Development merely exacerbates the drought situation.
Four new wells were drilled this summer in Lakeview Meadows where some residents have been battling water flow problems for years.
"One woman called me in tears, saying she can't get any of her neighbors to stop using water (for outside uses)," Hummer said. "We know using wells to grow vegetation isn't a smart thing to do. If this dry weather persists, people are going to have to pay serious attention to what their wells can produce and how they use their water."
It's too early to project spring snowpack, Hummer said.
Currently the snowpack in the valley is 78 percent of normal. The state's 32 snotel sites are reporting snowpack of 32 to 134 percent of normal. And only one of Colorado's eight river basins - the Gunnison - is reporting snowpack of 100 percent.
"(Weather forecasters) are backing off their talk about snowpack being more toward normal this season," Hummer said. "They're tending to go back to 'normal' or 'below normal.'
Currently, Dillon Reservoir is 83 percent full; Green Mountain Reservoir is 51 percent full.
"We're hoping for a snowpack to fill those reservoirs back up," he said. "But there are no guarantees. People need to be frugal."
Hummer also wonders how development will affect existing wells over time.
"There's more and more demand for the resource and less and less of the resource to meet that demand," he said. "The more holes we punch in the rocks, the less water is coming out of each and every one of those holes.
"People need to realize we live in a dry place," he continued. "We are putting more and more demands on a finite resource that simply, the resource can't meet."
Slaughter looks at the bright side - he's gotten to know all his neighbors.
"It gave us a chance to commiserate," he said. "It's a learning experience. I'll never take my water for granted again. You hear about drought, how water's a scarce and precious resource, but you never think about your well going dry. They're going to be drilling wells up here for the next week."
Jane Stebbins can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 228, or jstebbins@summitdaily.com.
"We're hoping for a snowpack to fill those reservoirs back up," he said. "But there are no guarantees. People need to be frugal."
Hummer also wonders how development will affect existing wells over time.
"There's more and more demand for the resource and less and less of the resource to meet that demand," he said. "The more holes we punch in the rocks, the less water is coming out of each and every one of those holes.
"People need to realize we live in a dry place," he continued. "We are putting more and more demands on a finite resource that simply, the resource can't meet."
Slaughter looks at the bright side - he's gotten to know all his neighbors.
"It gave us a chance to commiserate," he said. "It's a learning experience. I'll never take my water for granted again. You hear about drought, how water's a scarce and precious resource, but you never think about your well going dry. They're going to be drilling wells up here for the next week."
Jane Stebbins can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 228, or jstebbins@summitdaily.com.
