Information for Well Users
Shallow groundwater is linked to streams and reservoirs and impacts surface water supplies. If shallow wells are not being recharged by rain, then the groundwater supply will dwindle.
We are already seeing evidence of the groundwater affecting surface water in some parts of North Carolina. For example, hydrology students at N.C. State University recently worked on a project to test water quality in Black Creek near Raleigh. But due to the drought, the creek – which is fed primarily by groundwater – was dry in many places and students were unable to do water quality sampling.
The bottom line: all of our water sources in North Carolina are connected. When groundwater supplies begin to dwindle, many of these supplies pull on the supply of surface water that many people depend upon for consumption, bathing and emergencies such as firefighting.