Last year Oro Valley pumped nearly 3 billion gallons of water out of the ground, lowering the water table under the town an average of about seven feet. By 2030, the town will be using about 5.5 billion gallons of water annually

       Water levels at six of Oro Valley's 22 active well sites have dropped by more than 20 feet in the past two years and the water levels at more than half of those wells have dropped by the same amount since their inception, based on town records.

       Water levels at three of the 22 wells have dropped by more than 40 feet since they were first drilled and six others have dropped by more than 30 feet since first drilling, town Water Utility records show.

       Is this a crises situation for Oro Valley?

       Not by a long shot, says Alan Forrest, the town's water utility director.

       Is it a major concern in light of Oro Valley's status as one of the fastest growing communities in the nation?

       You bet, Forrest says.

       One of the town's wells at 12151 N. Oracle Road, dates back to 1946 and its total decline of nearly 22 feet over a span of nearly 55 years stands out as remarkable in comparison with many newer wells.

       As an example, the ground water level at the town's well at 1545 Pusch Wilderness, drilled in 1986, has plunged almost 45 feet in just 15 years.

       At another well, at 222 E. Naranja, the ground water level has dropped by 32 feet since the well was drilled in 1995.

       "The community needs a wake up call," said Mark Stratton, general manager of the Metropolitan Water Improvement District, not just residents in Oro Valley, but in the Northwest area as a whole based on the impact their water use is having on the Canada del Oro Basin, and the effect it will have on the central Tucson Basin as well.

       The problems it will present to the Northwest area in terms of limiting residential growth and business development and potential subsidence problems will only be compounded by their impact on the Tucson Active Management Area, says Stratton.

       "We're all creating problems and without bringing in an alternative water source as quickly as possible those problems will only get worse," Stratton said.

       According to the Arizona Department of Water Resources, Oro  Valley is the heaviest pumper of ground water in the upper Santa Cruz River Basin.

       But looking just at plunging water levels at well sites tends to portray a sense of a failing system that is way out of proportion, Forrest says.

       "It's awfully hard sometimes to put your finger on exactly what's going on underground, especially when you're digging a well that may be 1,000 feet deep," Forrest says.  "Every well is unique in terms of where you drill."

       "Sometimes a well doesn't produce as you expected because of the soil structure.  Some draw more water out and so have higher drawdowns than expected."

       "Yes we're drawing down further, but I can't in good conscience even imply there's a crises situation here when you look at the depth of the wells and the water levels at those wells," Forrest says.  "We've got a lot of water right now."

       "I'm concerned, but not overly so," he said.

       The fact that Oro valley is currently negotiating with the city of Tucson to acquire rights to more Central Arizona Project water from the Colorado River and effluent for use on the Town's golf courses, the biggest single consumers of groundwater, underscores that concern, he says.

       A major problem in determining why there are discrepancies in the way a certain well is functioning is that you have to quit pumping from that well fro some time to allow it to rebound and the town often just doesn't have the luxury of doing so, Forrest says.

       Under Arizona Ground Water act regulations a hydrologic impact statement must be drawn up for any new well.  Until 1995 a well pumping more than 35 gallons a minutes couldn't exceed 10 feet over a five year period.  The drawdown limits were contingent in part on how far out from the well the 10 foot drop occurs.

       Utility Administrator Shirley Seng said the reasons for drops in water levels are many.

       Two wells in the Oracle Road area, as an example, collapsed in 1999, so they were pumping at one third their capacity at best, Seng said.

       That put extra pressure on a well in the Naranja Road area which then had to supply water to both the Rancho Vistoso and Canada Hills area as well as what it normally was serving, she said.

       Among the things Oro Valley's water utility is doing as it negotiates with the city is to abandon old wells when it drills a new one nearby to a combined pumping won't produce an excessive drawdown and the less efficient well is taken out of service.

       Well casings are also being designed with screens now so water will flow through better in the case of wells being drilled 1,00 feet deep as the utility is now doing, Forrest said.

       While ground water levels at some wells are drawing down more and some less than expected,the average drawdown today is only about two feet a year over the life of the wells, compared with about a foot a year five years ago, Forrest said.

       In the past year, however, the town's ground water table has dropped by nearly seven feet.

       The town regularly monitors its well system to keep track of excessive ground water draw downs and is replacing those where utility officials think levels are lower than they ought to be, Forrest says.

       "The goal of our recharge plan is to stop the decline, to get it to zero.  We've got a lot of water in storage, but we want to put the brakes on as soon as we can."