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The City of Flagstaff will soon add a new fountain to its inventory. Drilling of a second groundwater well in Fort Tuthill County Park began on February 22, 2021.
Drilling this well is part of the city’s medium to long-term water policy. The ten-year capital plan launched after the 2002 drought left Upper Lake Mary reservoir nearly dry, causing water shortages across the city. This is the first of five wells in the plan that will make the city’s water supply more stable and serve as a safety net against climate change and the resulting drought, forest fires or infrastructure failure. Groundwater wells are the main producers of city water and have made up an average of 65% of the city’s drinking water supply since 1950. They develop the C aquifer at an average depth of 1,000 feet below the land surface, with the bottom of most wells being more than 2,000 feet.
The city has drilled over 30 groundwater wells in the Coconino or C aquifer in the past 65 years. The first deep well, Woody Mountain Well # 1, was drilled in 1954 by the Perry family of Flagstaff. The last well was drilled in 2009 when a series of wells were constructed to support the city’s growing water needs.
The location of this well is strategic. A geophysical study indicated the first Ft. Tuthill was well drilled in 2009 and the town was rewarded with its location with the highest production of 1,300 gallons per minute. Although Ft. Tuthill No. 2 is expected to perform similarly. Finding wells is still not a foolproof science, and dry wells are not uncommon.
Salt Lake City drilling contractor Boart Longyear is using more efficient technology that saves money and creates a straight well. The innovative drilling system effectively seals cracks or caverns along the way and does not require the circulation of drilling water. Loss of water at the cracks in the rock would require large underground open spaces that would have to be filled with concrete to close the gaps. This is an expensive solution and not a problem with this method. The well will be drilled to a depth possibly 2500 feet below the land surface in order to capture the maximum amount of available water. The drilling team expects to reach the aquifer at an elevation of approximately 1,300 feet.
This well is expected to provide a flow rate of at least 250 gallons per minute and up to 1,200 gallons per minute, expanding the southwest area of the Flagstaff distribution system. While the entire city’s water supply will benefit from the resources of this and future wells, the cost of using it will be paid for by capacity fees paid by new developments for their plumbing. It doesn’t affect user rates.
Follow the drilling project using the story map on the capital improvement page on the city’s website at www.flagstaff.az.gov/4237/Capital-Improvement-Map.
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