Some cities less concerned about water

SHELBURN, Ind. (WTHI) - The dry weather seems to linger over the Wabash Valley, forcing some communities to regulate water consumption, but those rules aren't in every city.

As many people expect, it's all about where the city gets the water.

The location of a well is important. Being along the Wabash River with a flood plain and an underground river explains the ease of some areas through the drought.

"We're in a river where it's 55 feet deep,” Jay Southwood of Shelburn, Indiana said.

That river isn't the Wabash you see around town. It's an underground river, referred to often as an aquifer.

It's serving the community of Shelburn, as well as several others around the area.

Even in dry weather like this, cities using the underground water aren't seeing many problems.

"We have our wells tested once a year, usually this time of year when it's really hot and dry,” Southwood explained. “Even though we haven't had rain for the last six weeks or so, the water level is essentially the same as it was last year, and the year before, and the year before."

Southwood said instead of the usual once a year test, the city will go on testing once a month through the drought.

It's not just Shelburn with water feeding off that kind of underground river.

Indiana American Water tells News 10 they haven't seen any problems with their wells either. The company serves multiple cities around the Valley.

In short, locations with wells similar to Shelburn's shouldn't expect any water problems from this drought in the near future.