In Editor Steve Bouser's Aug. 19 column, "Don't Fight Over the Little Water We Have," the following quote is in error:

"... the Middendorf Aquifer, that mysterious underground reservoir that we keep draining faster than it can recharge by sinking wells into it, like too many straws sucking at one milkshake."

There is nothing mysterious about the Middendorf Aquifer; we understand it pretty well. If municipal wells are spaced according to state recommendations and pumped according to state directives, there is no way we can pump the Middendorf Aquifer dry.

Properly spaced wells, managed pumping rates and daily hours of production are tools used to maintain sustainable development of aquifers like the Middendorf.

Milkshakes and aquifers are apples and oranges. There is no way to compare the two. Milkshakes don't get recharged, for one thing. I write this to reassure Moore County residents and to ponder the value of editorial discourse that provides more opinion than knowledge.

Any person who has studied geometry should be able to calculate the amount of water available in the Middendorf Aquifer at each well location, and any person could calculate how much water can be produced by that well each year. Also, that person should be able to calculate the amount of recharge per well per year that each well location receives.

A well is essentially a cylinder. Do the math. I think you will be surprised and pleased to find that the Middendorf Aquifer is a magnificent water resource that can be safely developed to expand the Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen well fields.

If anyone is interested in "doing the math," I will give the formulas and data to The Pilot so you can figure it out for yourself.

John Ruggles

Consulting geologist (ret.)

Pinehurst