So, my wife and I are thinking about moving to Flagstaff... I've been there on several occasions and on my recent trip I checked out some acreage (10 ac. parcels) about 5 minutes west of Flag... What I was wondering though is what is the ground water situation like? Are wells popular? I tried looking up "well service" in flagstaff and didn't come up with much. I've heard trucking water in is popular in some of the remote areas and wasn't sure if that was the case because of the cost of well drilling or the fact that ground water is scarce... I'd like to know...
It's been years since I've lived there but I remember that most of Flags water came from Lake Mary, I believe that most ground water is deep, way deep like 500 feet deep. Arizona is the desert and Flag is no exception to that. check this link Groundwater
I ran into the same situation when I considered purchasing a chunk of land in Williams, Az. The wells had to be drilled so deep, it made the adventure impossible to finance.
Flagstaff is in the mountains and though we have relatively low humidity we have a good amount of ground water and several natural springs. The city of Flagstaff is on the smaller side but provides many amenities. Having grown up in Los Angeles, I have really come to love Flagstaff. There is a lot of great outdoor recreation, rock climbing, spelunking, hiking, skiing, fishing, and my fav. - disc golfing.
Flagstaff is most definately in the desert. Altghough it is often referred to as "high desert". This designation is determined by preciptitation, which we do not get very much of. Argue all you want but we don't. Oh and if you are here for the "epic" ski season good luck. As a resident of LA you should be very versed in the role water has had in the development of this region of the country.
OP. wells are common but depth does vary. You did say west of town but not sure how far. Bellmont? Further? I would go to the ocounty website and poke around. NMight even give a county office a call for some more free info. I know that hauling water out taht way is very common. Septic tanks are also going to be common. HOws the price on your land by the way. Good luck in your ventures. IF it doesn't work out don't worry...nothing to see here keep moving;-)
yes the air is dry, no flag is not the desert. I think the massive amounts of pine, aspen, and the plethora of wild flowers we and other vegetation we have every spring is proof enough. Further, the fact that I am not from Flag changes nothing about the fact that it is not the desert.
and about the skii season, we had more snow than any other US city barring one town in Alaska last year.
DTM do you have a degree?
Wikipedia is far from a reliable source of information. In acedemia Wiki will never pass for a legitamate resouce.
I do however have a degree. It is in Geography.
I know how much snow we had last year, I live here. I also know how much snow we didn't have throughout the years past, and last year was an anomoly.
And with all that snow how is our drought situation shaping up? You being the expert from LA and all. Yup, we're still in a drought. Now ten more winters like that and we might be moving out of our more than ten year drought, but don't count on it.
DTM you should comment on topics you don't understand.
1 who cares if you have a degree? 2 I have two degrees working on a third 3 who gives a crap about one random person with a degree in geography? as if that makes you an expert. I think a qualifier might be something more along the lines of work history no?
lastly, wikipedia may be flawed but it is far from completely unreliable, ever notice the big references section at the bottom? here are some more "reliable" sources that still say you are wrong...
Wow... My question has certainly opened up quite the debate...
Doing additional research and talking to some rural land owners around Flagstaff, I've learned a few things...
1) There is ground water in and around Flagstaff...
2) The ground water is a bit "hit and miss" in many areas around Flagstaff...
3) Accessibility to ground water can be deep but not necessarily because again, it's "hit and miss" to find a good aquifer... And of course, going deeper doesn't necessarily mean more water if your not on the aquifer...
And by "good aquifer" I mean a well capable of producing a reasonable gallons per minute volume that is not seasonal. I've read quite a few people have wells but produce low GPM and many are seasonal...
As for Flagstaff being a desert... Well, it certainly doesn't resemble the harsh, dry environment that is often associated with Arizona topography... A few of the attractive qualities that draw my wife and I to Flagstaff is the vegetation, trees, and seemingly un-desert like qualities found more commonly throughout AZ... It many ways, it seems Flagstaff has more in common with the Sierra Nevada mountains than the baron landscape of say, Phoenix. Of course, this is my casual observation and not on any professional or scientific study...
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