![\"Coloured](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761263587_182_default.jpg\")
Conditions as of the end of September show parts of New Brunswick experiencing exceptional and extreme drought. (Agriculture and Agri-food Canada)<\/p>\nThe New Brunswick Groundwater Association says it\u2019s hearing reports of many wells in the province going dry. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis magnitude, it’s something that we haven’t really seen before,\u201d said Roger Roy, executive director.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re starting to see some all over the province right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
That includes southern New Brunswick from Moncton to St. Stephen and the Acadian Peninsula in the northeast, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The association is led by representatives of well-drilling companies, and according to its website, the group\u2019s mission is to preserve and protect the province’s water resource.<\/p>\n
Roy keeps in regular contact with drilling contractors. They haven\u2019t provided any specific numbers to him but relayed anecdotally that they\u2019ve seen quite a few. Most of those going dry are shallow wells, 50 to 60 feet (about 15 to 18 metres) deep.<\/p>\n
Steve Buell of TM Burpee Drilling in Scotch Settlement, west of Fredericton, reports 10 to 12 dry well calls since the summer.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Conditions as of the end of September show parts of New Brunswick experiencing exceptional and extreme drought. (Agriculture and Agri-food Canada)<\/p>\n
Some were up to 120 feet deep, or more than 36 metres.\u00a0 Those wells were located in the area from Woodstock to Fredericton, and in the Grand Lake, Chipman and Gagetown areas.<\/p>\n
Sometimes wells must be drilled to a depth of 500 feet, or more than 150 metres, before enough water is found.According to the Canadian Drought Monitor, the entire eastern half of New Brunswick is in extreme drought, and the region along the Bay of Fundy east of Saint John is in exceptional drought.<\/p>\n
Extreme means a one in 20-year event, and exceptional, one in 50.<\/p>\n
This week’s rain helps a bit, but it far from solves the problem, Roy said.<\/p>\n
A lot of dry earth would have to be saturated before any rainwater made it into underground reservoirs, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can take months or it can take years to replenish the aquifer or the water underground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some municipal reservoirs are also low, he said.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s urging residents and municipalities to take the situation seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we do keep going this way, and we don’t have the amount of rain or snow that we’re used to \u2026 next summer you might not have any water. Or you might be on a restricted use of water, you know, for the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy’s advice is to conserve water as much as possible, by not doing laundry every day, only using the dishwasher for full loads, and turning off the tap while brushing teeth.<\/p>\n
LISTEN | Groundwater Association worries about dry wells in N.B.:<\/p>\n
Information Morning – Fredericton13:09G\u200broundwater worries<\/p>\n
If you’re on a well, you might be concerned about water levels after several months of drought conditions.\u200b Colleen Kitts-Goguen spoke to Roger Roy with the NB Groundwater Assoc. about wells running dry in the province, and what to do if that happens.<\/p>\n
Steven Watson of Harvey, southwest of Fredericton, has as 235-foot well and has been dealing with low water issues and taking conservation measures for months.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to resort to sponge baths there for a while,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Since July, Watson has been hauling 30 litres of spring water to his home on Rear Settlement Road twice a week to use for washing dishes and flushing the toilet. He does his laundry at a relative\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
He uses a long piece of string with some nuts tied on for weight to check for water in his well. He also had a low pressure switch installed, because he\u2019s wary of burning out another pump. He\u2019s on his third since moving in six years ago.<\/p>\n
Pumps can overheat if the water is too low, he explained, because the pressure point at which they are set to shut off is never reached.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s still waiting for the drilling company to scope things out, but suspects lack of rain is the issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New Brunswick Groundwater Association says it\u2019s hearing reports of many wells in the province going dry. \u201cThis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-235609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}