Well depths are highly variable over time and location. There is an artesian puddle to the north side of Fetlock, which means that the well depth is about negative two feet (the water bubbles out of the ground) in wet years, and then sinks to 80 feet below the surface in dry years (so far). Just two miles to the east of that artesian puddle, another friend of ours in the same valley has a 450 foot deep well. We are at the summit of Red Rock Road halfway between the start and the finish of the road, and our well is at 260 feet. One mile south are some properties whose wells have dried up completely and the houses appear to have been abandoned for the past three years or so.
There is a commercial water project that has rights to pump massive amounts of water from Dry Valley and pipe it down to the Stead area. At one point in the planning department discussions, they admitted that they would probably cause all the domestic wells in Sierra Ranchos and Rancho Haven to dry up, and that in turn would invoke a law that would require the company to provide a system to deliver domestic water to households (not ranchers), and of course to charge for that water. Ranchers would have to import water by truck.
Often people will assume that, if their well dries up, they can always drill deeper (if they have the money). As the stories about dry wells in Lemon Valley attest, sometimes there simply is no more water down there, no matter how deep you dig. A personal friend in Flagstaff found that out the hard way. He stopped drilling at 1,800 ft. and spent $130,000 -- still no water.
Our well can produce about 4 gallons per minute.
Minimum lot sizes were originally established based on the state water master's estimate of the available flow, assuming that each household will consume one half acre-foot of water per year. So, the wetter areas have smaller lots (typically, 10 acres), and the drier areas have larger lots (typically 40 or 80 acres).
Washoe County officials have talked about putting meters on domestic wells so that usage can be monitored (and excess water use controlled), but nothing has come of that proposal yet.
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