Very discouraged!

View across big tank looking SW early this morning

Today as I was watering the oasis, I climbed the ladder to the new tank to satisfy myself that it's still brimful. I do that about twice a year, or more. To my horror, it was down 5". A little investigation showed me the valve near the bottom was covered with sand from under the tank. Only a gopher could have done that. I removed the sand, in my panic, before I took this photo.

The sand I removed filled a five gallon bucket. I contacted the seller. Earthquakes and gophers aren't covered in the 20 year warranty. Only installation flaws or errors are covered. When I was purchasing the tank, I asked about burrowers. My concerns were glossed over like I was being ridiculous.

For the past year or so I saw gopher holes near the tank and it made me uncomfortable. Now I wish I had put poison into every gopher hole. I did make sure we put up an underground barrier while we were installing the new water feature. If Mike thought I was being paranoid, he didn't say so.  I've since learned that gophers will dig as deep as five feet. Our barrier doesn't protect the bottom floor of the reservoir liner, so I'm declaring war on gophers.

The company that sold me the tank also installed a huge commercial tank for the water supply of Study Butte. That tank is leaking. They're in the process of negotiating repair costs. I wonder if the cause of their leak is gophers. Their liner is better than mine since they have to treat the water with chemicals, but the pad underneath is the same. It has a three foot concrete footing around the tank perimeter, a requirement for commercial tanks. But gophers dig deeper than 3 feet. I found this online when I googled. "Feeding burrows are usually 6 to 12 inches below ground, and the nest and food storage chamber can be as deep as 6 feet, depending on soil type." 

So I figure the gophers thought that was a good place to put their nest. Perhaps the claws of the juveniles scratched a hole in the liner. With so much sand, and then gravel, beneath the tank, the water could seep away without ever showing up at the surface outside the tank. I've often seen leaks that go straight into the ground without any evidence nearby. When I had a line from the well to the house it used to leak and do that all the time. Got too expensive to maintain the well for what little water it produced and I let it go. 

Some birders showed up today, happily getting their lifer Lucifer Hummingbird. I didn't mention the calamity to them. Didn't want to spoil their fun. But I did a very half-hearted watering today. I think the only thing that could be worse is feral hogs. 

Anyway, the tank liner can be patched. It'll be expensive, possibly as much as two thousand dollars. A crew will have to come out from Austin. If the stucco tank is already full, like if we get a good monsoonal rain, then I'll have to lose the water, or maybe find a way to put it into the lower dirt tank. Will have to see. First, I want to check the water level in a day or two to see how fast it's leaking.