UPDATE

My gofundme campaign is going good. Nearly halfway to the goal. A different tank company contacted me saying they would sell me a 65,000 gallon tank at cost ((about $22,000 installed), so that's much less expensive than the one that I was trying to get funds for ($30,000). On either of them I'd have to provide the pad, which probably means buying truckloads of sand, but we're still discussing that expense. And I can make it with the 12,000 less gallons, I think. I'll still have the in-ground tanks that should catch some water too. And I'm going to focus on getting the 11,000 gallon rock tank sealed and covered next.

My sister called me this evening to tell me that we got a big rain at the oasis and the arroyo is raging. I'm in Alpine because I have a dental appointment in the morning, but I'll be headed down there afterwards. Everything should be full with no place to pump the water in the dirt tanks, but soon I plan to remedy that. It won't happen if I don't push for it, starting with pressuring my son to make the pad.

Other encouraging news. After I patched the stucco tank I pumped the water back in, then measured how far it was down from the inlet at 3 AM (Sep 13th). It was dark and hard to tell exactly the distance, but the best I could tell it was 32" down. Then 4 hrs later, in daylight, I measured again and it was 32-1/2" down. And another 4 hours later at 11 AM it was 33" down. So I determined that if it went down one inch in 8 hrs, it was leaking 3" per day. I was really bummed. It's hard to be real accurate when dangling over the edge of the tank, poking a tape measure down to the water. After that I came to town. This morning (the 16th), before the rain, I went back down and remeasured. It had by then been 3 days. Being ½" off one way or other isn't so critical at that point. Still gives a good general measurement. The water measured at 36" down. So that's 3" in 3 days. That's really good. Evaporation could account for most of that, meaning it's not leaking very much, probably as sealed as I can ever get it. (Before patching it, it was losing 4" per day.)

If I had the new tank there today, I could fill it from the dirt tanks and leave the water in the in-ground tanks. That would really be great. But I'll get the tank as soon as possible. The company says it may take a month. By then the dirt tanks will be empty, but I'll have enough in the stucco tank that I should be able to fill it. Because during that month I'll keep topping off the stucco tanks from the dirt tanks.

To be clear, if I didn't get a new tank, I would make it through until next rainy season this time, but the first year the rains didn't come, like happened in 2011, the oasis would die. It has to be prepared for that. It's not something that can wait until it happens. Buying and hauling water, like I did in 2011, is no longer an option.

Bottom line, the oasis is going to make it. I worried that by the time I got a new tank I wouldn't have water to fill it, but I now feel I can make it happen. Then, if we don't get rain next rainy season I'll have that to fall back on. By being frugal with the water and letting some things go, there'll still be an oasis for us all to continue enjoying. That's my plan anyway.