Madison well breaks down

While not the only well from which Moorcroft draws their water, the Madison contributes the highest volume at around 600 gallons per minute, according to Moorcroft Mayor Dick Claar. A month ago, the Madison went down.

Public Works Director Cory Allison noted at the time that the town's water tank "had dropped". However, there was still a great deal of snow and wet in the area 30 days ago.

"We're just fortunate that it's a minimal use water time so we didn’t have to do anything,” Claar said. “Otherwise, we would have been in a bind.”

The mayor said that as soon as the wet ground dries enough to move a rig in, “We’re going to pull that well and see exactly what’s wrong.” He hopes to see this accomplished within the next week.

The governing body plan to refurbish the existing pump, if that is the problem, and buy a new one to be re-installed so that in the future the town will have a backup if needed. The anticipated cost of the endeavor will expend the $20,000 the town currently holds in a water reserve account for the water account.

Claar noted that he is considering a possible yearly dedication of funds to rebuild this reserve account in the future, “because about every ten years we’ll have to do this”.