A devastating end to the well saga

(CSA Newsletter: Main Season Week 10)

Meet this week’s vegetables:

Those of you who read our blog mid-week already know our very unfortunate news: the attempt to further develop our well ended in complete failure. Today (Monday), the well drillers are technically ‘abandoning’ the well — pulling out as much steel casing as possible and filling in the hole with concrete.

What exactly happened? This spring when we realized that the well was still not working (it was still sandy and throwing out small rocks that clogged our sprinkler heads), we called several drillers for possible solutions. The idea that appealed to us most was to drop a ‘telescoping screen’ to the bottom of the casing and then pull the casing out just enough to expose the screen. This seemed like the best option, and a local driller arrived last Tuesday to begin the process.

He special ordered a screen built to keep out the very fine sand at the bottom of our well, and we were optimistic that it would provide higher volumes of cleaner water. Installing these kinds of screens is a standard well development procedure, often done at the time of drilling, so we felt good about the prospects.

The only real possible complication or problem was the casing itself, specifically how well it was welded together by the original driller. It requires a lot of force to pull a 200’ long steel casing out of the ground, and each of the 10 or so welds would need to hold under that pressure.

A properly welded casing would be fine — the Oregon Water Resources Well Construction Standards mandate that joints be as strong as the casing material itself, in this case quarter-inch steel. So, we crossed our fingers and hoped.

By Wednesday morning, the day they dropped the beautiful stainless steel screen in the well, we were already dreaming about what we would do when this was all over. How much would we be able to properly irrigate at once? Would we maybe be able to get away for a weekend in the summer? Or, at least not worry about irrigation on Sundays?

Instead, the news we received Wednesday afternoon was a huge blow. A weld on the casing broke 100’ down the well, revealing about 30’ of unconsolidated material, which then partially caved in. In the driller’s words, the well was not ‘salvageable.’ Because the well was now technically in disrepair, we also had to pay to legally abandon it (the state doesn’t like non-functioning wells sitting around — understandable), and we’re officially without a well again.

Two years have passed since we started this process, and we never imagined that it would end this way. We’ve spent over $30,000 trying to get a functional well, and now we’re stuck in the middle of irrigation season looking at having to drill a new one. Drilling costs have tripled since last year, and we’re at the bottom of every driller’s priority list.

All because of a weld.

Needless to say, this situation feels terrible. To be so close to achieving a crucial goal and then lose it all — we feel battered, bruised, burned. And, of course, a second expensive well is not something that we’ve been budgeting for.

In fact, this was going to be the first year that we were projecting a real net profit from the farm. Each year, so far, the farm has earned a profit, but the majority of that money (beyond our basic living expenses) has gone right back into the farm and land for further capital improvements: tractors, sheds, implements, a house, the original well, etc. Because we’re invested so much so quickly, we were actually looking at the end of our list of ‘must haves’ for the farm — this year we had a few last little purchases we were hoping to make, and then the rest of the money we were planning to save. We’re not talking about gobs and gobs of profits here, but just enough to feel like we can start to relax and ease into our farm life with a little less stress in the day-to-day details.

Unfortunately, that nice financial plan has been thrown out the window and instead we’re looking at having to borrow money for the first time (besides our mortgage) to cover the costs of a well. We’ve worked so hard to avoid borrowing that we’re pretty discouraged.

The good news for the farm is that a well driller from the Salem area heard our pleas (technically my mom’s pleas, since she’s the one who called him to beg on our behalf unsolicited by us — thanks, Mom!) — he’s offered to fit us in sometime in the immediate future. Wow. While the financial reality of drilling a new well still daunts us, the prospect of running out of slough water is still our dominating worry, so this is very good news.

The other good news is that we now know a whole lot more about well construction and what we really need to have an adequate irrigation well on our sandy soil. Initially, we hadn’t actually intended to drill an irrigation well last year, but the test pump yields and driller reports led us to believe that we could use it that way. Turns out we couldn’t. But now we know exactly what needs to be done to build a well that can supply consistent, clean irrigation water, and we have a driller who’s willing to drill us a well to meet those goals.

It’s been a long haul to get to this point. I’d love to report that we’re still feeling hopeful, but quite frankly at the moment we’re not. We know from experience that perseverance can get us through most farm crises, but this is probably the biggest blow we’ve had so far. We’re holding together ok, considering — we showed up at market on Thursday, despite wanting to just crawl into a hole after receiving the bad news Wednesday. And we managed to have a good weekend with a visiting friend — a healthy distraction from moping around the farm.

So, that’s the big farm news for the week. I’m sorry that it’s such a bummer — I know that our stresses with water stuff have spilled over into some of your consciousness too. But, so you can rest easy, we’re certainly not giving up over this.

On some levels, it feels big enough to be a deal breaker, but we’re not going to let it be. Thanks to our careful financial planning, we will be able to proceed without bankrupting the farm (although it will be tight). And, we still want to do this work. Yes — we still want to farm. So, not to worry, we’re not going away or giving up.

Apparently we’re more persistent (stubborn?) than we even knew, because this is tough stuff. Once again, we are more grateful than ever for each other. (On hearing the news, we reflected that this was yet another ‘good’ marriage building moment, and then we both agreed that we wouldn’t mind just going for a romantic walk on the beach instead.) We are also so grateful for the community that surrounds and supports our farm efforts: my mom, for being our advocate when were too beaten to do so ourselves; and our regular blog readers who have sent us kind encouraging words through email and at market.

Sometimes I wonder how we got so lucky to have such support, but then I remember that this really isn’t just about us — our farm is a community farm. We are certainly the ones who bear the biggest risks, but all of you are connected as well. This is the story of agriculture: workers and land that feed a community of people, all connected and dependent upon each other for sustenance and survival. In our case, that farm story and connection is simply more tangible and transparent via our direct connection to you our eaters through the CSA, market, and my farm communications. What makes our farm unique isn’t the connectivity, it’s the fact that we all openly acknowledge and celebrate those connections.

As always, thank you for joining us on this specific farming adventure. It is a continual pleasure serving you by tending our little piece of land. We hope that knowing your farm’s story better deepens your appreciation and enjoyment of this week’s vegetables!

Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla

P.S. Vacation season reminder: If you ever miss a pick-up, all the veggies left at the stand go to good use. We take home a few to eat ourselves, but the vast majority are donated to the YCAP food bank!