Private wells across the Northeast are drying up in the face of a punishing drought over the past few months.Scores of homeowners from Vermont to Connecticut with shallow wells have in the past month found themselves depending upon relatives and neighbors for bottled water to bathe, cook and drink. Those with the much deeper, underground wells have largely been spared.
The drought, the worst seen in more than a decade, has been devastating to many farmers. It has led to numerous water restrictions and is threatening to disrupt the region's fall foliage tourist season.
The Environmental Protection Agency says about 2.3 million people, or 20 percent of the New England population, get their water from private wells.