Finding a spring in dry weather

[lhfarm]

We haven't had rain for 2 months. I have found a couple of spots on the property that remained green. The pictures are of a small area along the fire break around the prairie grass meadow. The contrast to the surrounding area is amazing. There are springs in our part of the country and we have a few "wet-weather" types. I'm not sure we would have a great volume of water, but I would really like to see what is down there.

I have a BH and PHD. I've considered using one or the other to see what I might find. Anyone have suggestions for how to go about exploring the possibilities?

Thanks,

 

[Tony_S]

Dowsing?

 

[smstonypoint]

Dowsing?

Despite the lack of scientific evidence to support its success, it wouldn't hurt to try.

Steve

 

[MossRoad]

Just be sure those green spots aren't over your septic tanks! :laughing:

 

[txdon]

..or over small leaks in water lines.

If you are sure there are no man made things underground then use your backhoe to dig down and see if your hole fills with water.

If you are not 110% sure of no type of line underground call 811. (remember the gas line in California last week)

 

[lhfarm]

The spot is at least 500' from our water line and probably that many more from the septic. There aren't any other building, roads or utilities within a half mile. It is at the edge of the meadow, in a shallow bowl, so assumed in the past it got extra moisture from the runoff.

The post wasn't really clear. I didn't know enough about springs to know how to go about some simple exploration. The area has lots of sandstone outcrops. Do I just dig a hole in the middle of the green patch down to the sandstone or dig several test holes in the area? Do I need to be concerned about doing some damage that shut down the flow?

Thanks,

 

[txdon]

I'm not a spring expert, hopefully one will reply. I have a slow spring and clean it out with the back hole whenever it stops flowing. Like yours it is a low spot. I have dug several test holes around the area and the further from the spring the deeper the hole has to be. My test holes did not affect the flow.

On mine I put a 8" pvc pipe 4' down. On the bottom foot of the capped pipe I drilled 1000 small holes so the water could enter (cheap filter). The water filled the pipe and ran out the top (via 4/3 PVC) to a small pond. From the small pond I set a pump and a solar panel and watered my garden which was about 10' higher and 600' feet away. It ran for three years before I had to re-dig it.

 

[jinman]

It is at the edge of the meadow, in a shallow bowl, so assumed in the past it got extra moisture from the runoff.

Barry, on one of my properties, I had a low spot like that which held so much water there were willow trees growing there. It turns out that the area was depressed, but surrounded by a bowl-shaped clay sublayer. It would catch water and underground seepage like a pond and hold it longer than the surrounding areas. It held enough that the willows were quite happy to grow there.

In the springs I have seen, the water is almost always in a body of sand. If it is sandy and wet right below the surface, then you have a possible spring. My dad had a spring on his place that he had a fellow dig out with a backhoe as deep as he could dig. That made a pool of water that never dried up or stopped running in the dryest of drought years. As a matter of fact, I sold the property to a developer who built apartments. That spring refused to be stopped and the developer had to modify his plans to make a greenbelt with a running spring-fed stream through it.

 

[lhfarm]

Barry, on one of my properties, I had a low spot like that which held so much water there were willow trees growing there. It turns out that the area was depressed, but surrounded by a bowl-shaped clay sublayer. It would catch water and underground seepage like a pond and hold it longer than the surrounding areas. It held enough that the willows were quite happy to grow there.

In the springs I have seen, the water is almost always in a body of sand. If it is sandy and wet right below the surface, then you have a possible spring. My dad had a spring on his place that he had a fellow dig out with a backhoe as deep as he could dig. That made a pool of water that never dried up or stopped running in the dryest of drought years. As a matter of fact, I sold the property to a developer who built apartments. That spring refused to be stopped and the developer had to modify his plans to make a greenbelt with a running spring-fed stream through it.

There are some springs in the area, but you may be right about underground seepage. To build a pond around here all you need to do is "shape" the clay. So it is possible that is some phenomenon you described. I'll dig some holes the next time I have the BH on.

Thanks,

 

[Carykong]

I have enjoyed reading this thread. My rugby club owns 10 acres that includes a rugby field with no irrigation and we have always mulled the worth of exploring for a low cost,do-it-yourself, well/spring on our property. In our local area,one has a good possibility of finding a constant supply of water in 20'.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge on fabricating a homemade auger that we could attach to 3" pipe for drilling.

 

[MossRoad]

There are some springs in the area, but you may be right about underground seepage. To build a pond around here all you need to do is "shape" the clay. So it is possible that is some phenomenon you described. I'll dig some holes the next time I have the BH on.

Thanks,

Just be careful you don't punch through any clay layer that may be holding the water. If you do, you may end up draining the area even more as the water will go down to the next level.

 

[txdon]

I was always thinking that their might be a huge cavern underneath that would swallow up me and the tractor. Do you have any caves in the area? My spring was on a documented fault line. My spring was one of the 7 in the area that had been used in droughts up to 120 years ago (I found out later). There also was old digging evidence around (overgrown old piles of dirt).

Make sure you do a follow-up post to tell us what you found and take pictures. Digging to the unknown is exciting work!

 

[lhfarm]

I was always thinking that their might be a huge cavern underneath that would swallow up me and the tractor. Do you have any caves in the area? My spring was on a documented fault line. My spring was one of the 7 in the area that had been used in droughts up to 120 years ago (I found out later). There also was old digging evidence around (overgrown old piles of dirt).

Make sure you do a follow-up post to tell us what you found and take pictures. Digging to the unknown is exciting work!

No caves in the area. My wife's grandfather purchased this farm in 1912 and her father grew up farming the area. My late FIL had a love of springs and was always hunting for new ones. He always attributed the green area I'm looking at as the result of fertilizer runoff.

As much as I want a spring, I suspect another explanation. I will record my efforts and report back.

 

[Highbeam]

Somebody may have buried a dead horse?

 

[lhfarm]

Somebody may have buried a dead horse?

I don't think so, but we do have the remains of a dead horse on the property. The place was farmed with horses from 1912 through the Depression. My late FIL and his two younger brothers found one of their horses dead at the bottom of a ravine (sometime in the 20s). They promptly named the spot Dead Horse Hollow. The old wagon and rural delivery roads that were abandoned in the 40s are still in use as jeep trails today. And we still call one section of the trail by that name.

 

[Car Doc]

In my area cottonwood trees are a good indicator of underground water if you see a big cottonwood in the middle of a field there is an underground stream there or 1st water is close to the surface.

 

[Jstpssng]

I have enjoyed reading this thread. My rugby club owns 10 acres that includes a rugby field with no irrigation and we have always mulled the worth of exploring for a low cost,do-it-yourself, well/spring on our property. In our local area,one has a good possibility of finding a constant supply of water in 20'.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge on fabricating a homemade auger that we could attach to 3" pipe for drilling.

Do a search on "well point"; it's relatively inexpensive designed for what you describe. Assuming no major rocks in the way,
you drive it into the ground with a sledge hammer until you hit the aquifer.

 

[Jstpssng]

I was always thinking that their might be a huge cavern underneath that would swallow up me and the tractor. Do you have any caves in the area? My spring was on a documented fault line. My spring was one of the 7 in the area that had been used in droughts up to 120 years ago (I found out later). There also was old digging evidence around (overgrown old piles of dirt).

Make sure you do a follow-up post to tell us what you found and take pictures. Digging to the unknown is exciting work!

Your place sounds somewhat similar to mine. There was an old springhole that was dug out years ago to water the livestock.After mucking around with my little backhoe I finally hired an excavater; he dug down to ledge and the water was coming up through in multiple places. :thumbsup:
We set a tile and buried 10 yards of stone;
this summer after 2 months with no rain I pumped over 10000 gallons of water out over a 2 day period... the next day it was full again.

 

[txdon]

We set a tile and buried 10 yards of stone;
this summer after 2 months with no rain I pumped over 10000 gallons of water out over a 2 day period... the next day it was full again.

This sound like what I would like to do.
What is "set a tile"?

 

[JohninCT]

This sound like what I would like to do.
What is "set a tile"?

I have an old shallow dug well on my property that used to be our drinking water supply. The tile is a concrete culvert pipe/drain tile about 3ft in diameter that is set vertically in the excavated hole with a concrete cover on top.

This link explains it a little better

http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/dwgb/documents/dwgb-1-4.pdf