[NatureNS] Freshwater Shortages and Bay of Fundy Tides

Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:28:41 -0300
To: NatureNS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
From: "P.L. Chalmers" <plchalmers@ns.sympatico.ca>
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	For most of my life, my family home in Bedford was dependant on a 
drilled artesian well, as there was no municipal water supply in our 
neighbourhood.  This is no longer the case, but I am still acutely 
aware of how valuable water is, and curious about hydrology.  I was 
in the Annapolis Valley last week and saw how very dry the fields and 
orchards were there.  So last Saturday, at the Halifax Seaport 
Farmers' Market,  I was asking some of the farmers how they were 
getting on in the present drought.

	I had an interesting chat with Greg Gerrits of Elmridge Farm.  Since 
there was so little snow last winter, and since it was such a dry 
spring, his normal water supply is down at least 40% from normal 
levels.  He doesn't have enough water to irrigate more than a few 
acres at a time.  However, he went on to explain the influence of the 
Bay of Fundy tides on his water supply. He said that the weight of 
incoming water in the Bay was sufficient to exert pressure on water 
deep below the ground, even where he farms (near Sheffield Mills, I 
think).  The flow of fresh water into his well improves significantly 
when the Bay is full of salt water.  So he has learned to schedule 
his irrigation so that it begins three hours before high tide, and 
stops three hours after high tide.

	There are so many kinds of knowledge that a successful farmer needs 
to have, but it hadn't occurred to me that a knowledge of the tides 
was one of them.  I may not be representing this very well, but I 
found it intriguing; perhaps someone could say more?

	Patricia L. Chalmers
	Halifax

	

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