How much water is available to JCSA customers and independent well users?
It is impossible to measure the exact amount of water in the aquifer at any given time, but what we do know is that the surface level of the aquifer (how many feet from the surface of the ground to the surface of the aquifer) has dropped approximately thirteen feet since 1990. Aquifers are replenished through a process called recharge. A portion of the rain, hail, or snow that lands on the ground will enter the soil. This process is called infiltration. Because of gravity, the filling of spaces between soil particles, and the pressure of the overlying water, water may continue to move down through the soil layer. As water moves past the root zone, the movement is referred to as percolation. The recharge rate is dependent on natural factors like the makeup of the soil, plant cover, slope, and rainfall. Because we have little control over these factors, we cannot ensure that the aquifer is being replenished at the same rate it is being depleted. When the withdrawal of groundwater in an a
