‘Pump and dump’ prompts need for new well pump at Colton

Colton city council last week authorized Public Works Director Bill Frye to get a cost estimate for lowering a pump in one of the city’s wells. Because of a drop in the water table, the pump, which is located 100 feet below the surface, keeps shutting down. Automatic sensors shut the pump off when the water level in the well drops too low.

Frye said the water table drop is believed to be the result of Colton’s adherence to a state mandate to pump 85,000 gallons a day into Union Flat Creek. The mandate is the result of Colton’s role in trading water rights linked to the proposed Hawkins project...