Although it is a joy in the air, but after drilling through the basalt. The rig is back to work, and the drill bit is significantly faster. The speed of drilling can only take seven or eight minutes to drill one meter. After half an hour of drilling, some slurry began to emerge from the borehole, which was at least several times higher than the previous mud moisture content.

This means that there is water in the sandstone layer below, but the water pressure can't gush the water out quickly. Ben Stein seemed to be looking forward to something. He said. "It's probably the water that seeps into the aquifer that we need to find. You know, there are also small crevices in the various formations that can become conduits through which groundwater passes. If the gap is small, the water pressure generated is too small to allow the groundwater to gush out quickly. ”

He said and paused drilling. After waiting for about three minutes, the water at the wellhead was still bubbling outward. It's just that the amount of water is very small, and three minutes out is not enough for five gallons. He dipped his fingers in the water and put it in his mouth.

Such a little water does not mean much to Fairy Peak Farm. Of course, maybe pumping them at a depth of one hundred to two hundred meters, maybe the amount of water will be a little larger.

But it's clear that neither Link nor he thinks it's what they want.

He let the well continue to work, and as he walked off into the distance, he said, "If we're lucky enough, maybe we'll be able to drill through the next aquifer and we'll get groundwater." This water is freshwater! It proves that the groundwater in this layer is flowing. Otherwise, it will be salty like an inland lake. ”

Although it was only a little bit of water, it also increased Link's hope a lot. That at least proves that there is indeed water under this land. It's just that he's worried that this layer of water is the one Ben Stein said it was, and if that's the case, it's really bad.

They found water, but it did nothing to alleviate the drought he was facing.

Fairville Peak Farm is a large area, 274,000 acres. But it's all desert. And Baker's Farm, which is also mostly deserted. He owns more than 400,000 acres of desert farms in Nevada. If these farms have groundwater that Ben Stein said. The value of these three farms will increase by one or two times in a moment.

If there was water pressure a few hundred meters above sea level, he might only need to drill a few wells to turn those deserts into oases.

The drill bit soon encountered the fourth layer of basalt again, and the rate of drilling slowed down again. Before that, though, it had drilled 17 metres in just two hours. That's a lot faster water gushing out. There can be about a cube in three minutes. This amount of water is enough to meet the needs of some small farms.

With such an artesian well, his investment this time is not a loss. That's enough water to irrigate 1,000 acres of pasture and feed thousands of cattle at the same time.

It took another two hours for the well to drill two feet. Ben Stein said: "This layer of basalt is slightly softer than the upper layer. Maybe just drill through this layer. and we will find what we are looking for. ”

Link felt that this was more like a self-encouragement. But that's what he wants. He asked, "You know, I have two farms, I wonder if those two farms will have that kind of aquifer?"

"The one by Lake Mead?"

"Yes. There's another one to the east, just off Route 50, but that's the border with Nevada. ”

Ben Stein thought for a moment and said, "Probably not! Maybe we can look at the map." ”

He led Link back to the tent and spread out his topographical map, which had a lot of stuff. He pointed to the approximate location of Baker's farm and said, "According to you, your farm should be right here." Snake Valley!"

Link nodded and said, "Yes." That's about the range on my farm. He used his finger to roughly mark the extent of Baker's Farm.

Ben Stein also pointed to the top edge of the fold belt: "Look here, Mr. Hans. ”

Link saw the trail of his finger gliding over the map, a low mountain range running northeast-southwest, and heard him say, "There's a fold here that stretches from Idaho all the way to central Nevawa and then south." I think this fold probably cuts off the flow of groundwater. ”

Ben Stein thought for a moment and said, "These passes should have only appeared after the invasion. And the folds in the ground are still very deep. Unless the original aquifer was very large, the confined water we were looking for would not exist on the south side of this fold. Of course, there is also the possibility of geological changes that allow groundwater to flow into the area through some ground crevices. But even then, they will have less water. ”

Link heard him say that, so Hans Farm had no hope even more. It's further south to the south.

"As for Hanse Farm, there is even more hope. From my experience, the geological structure in that area is more complex. The folds near Las Vegas are very disordered. Of course, we can expect, because it has now been proven that we have found that the water of the aquifer is constantly flowing. Geographically, this aquifer should flow southwards and eventually into the sea. ”

If it was really as Ben Stein said, he would be satisfied. As long as two deep wells can be drilled, which can flow 20 cubic meters of water per hour, the entire Hans farm will be enough.

Despite the negative response, Link called Martha and asked her to find two more drilling teams to dig a well for water at Hans Farm. As long as a well like the one found at Fervi Farm, Hans Farm will not be constrained by water, no matter how severe the drought is. Hank's Farm is also capable of developing several oases.

However, he also needed to make sure that it was better to drill in that place. He flew Ben Stein back to the location where Hans Farm had chosen to drill wells.

Whether or not he can find the aquifer that Filvi Farm has now drilled into is not sure what Ben Stein is at Hans Farm either. Because finding the artesian well water layer in Fairway Hill was also unexpected for him. It is unlikely that the same water layer can be found hundreds of kilometers away.

He also made this question clear to Link, but Link would rather spend a little money on a gamble. He set a depth limit of 1,500 meters for Martha's drilling team, and asked them to drill through four basalt formations.

The location for the well at Baker's Farm was well arranged, and Link was set on the hill to the west - the original Oskeola Farm.

By the time the newly hired drilling team arrived, Martin's crew had already left to shoot elsewhere.

By early June, the effects of the drought on agriculture were starting to be felt.

Drought has prevented all or part of farms and pastures in Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Ohio, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico from being able to sustain agriculture. The price of livestock feed, especially dry pasture, becomes in short supply within two months. Because a large amount of pasture has not yet been able to grow, ranchers can only buy fodder to feed. This can significantly increase the cost of farming.

Agriculture in California's Central Valley has also been hit hard. The drought has spread to Montana in the north and in eastern Washington. However, there is some surface water in these areas that can alleviate the immediate need.

However, the federal agriculture department has warned that if no measures are taken, the western states could lose more than $4 billion in agriculture this year.

If there's one city most affected by the drought, it's probably Las Vegas. It is one of the few large cities in the world with a population of more than one million built in the desert. In fact, Los Angeles is one of them.

There is a "water shortage" in Las Vegas. The mayor of Las Vegas publicly stated two days ago that the Las Vegas population is now being outflowed. In the past month, the number of visitors received by hotels has decreased by 3% compared to the same period last year. This is the first time in more than a decade that there has been negative growth.

"That's a red flag!" said the mayor of Las Vegas.

That's a very red flag, at least for Las Vegas.

For decades, one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., if this drought is not resolved soon, or if the drought is over, the water supply from before will not be available again. Las Vegas will stagnate, or even experience a severe recession.

The farmer interviewed in the West had the view of the drought: "It's hopeless!" The farmer from western Utah said he was considering selling most of his cattle. Because his pasture has not grown grass until now.

Link watched the news, his brow furrowed. Of his several farms, only Ozette's cattle are now completely safe.

Hanova Farm has wells, but the pastures do not have a well-developed irrigation system. Only a small amount of pasture grows grass there, and only a portion of the cattle can be fed. The grass that had been saved in previous years has now been used for feeding.

He didn't want to buy corn to feed his herd. Problems were identified with the use of corn to feed the herd. Some pregnant cows have miscarriages or stillbirths after eating corn. There were even cows that died of eating corn – because the cows suddenly ate corn like that and couldn't digest it effectively.

Today, more than 85% of corn in the U.S. is genetically modified. There is DNA that can automatically produce sandworms, and those pesticides are kept away from destroying the digestive system of pests, making the pest's stomach perforated and killing pests.

However, it can also seriously disturb the native colonies in the stomach and intestines of animals, including humans, so that the animal's digestive system is disordered, unable to absorb certain trace elements, and causes severe malnutrition.

Although the producers of that corn claim that such substances only work on pests. But in fact, relevant studies confirmed in 2013 that it can cause serious harm to animals, including humans. In many countries, U.S. corn will be strictly inspected, and once some harmful genetically modified types of corn are found, they will be returned by the port or even destroyed directly.

This year alone, millions of tons of corn exported from the United States have been returned. Of course, the U.S. government will say that it is protectionism, not that it is because corn is seriously harmful.

For example, it causes severe allergies, gastrointestinal disorders, various inflammatory diseases, infertility and even cancer risks.

In addition, there have been reports that dairy products in the United States may contain a genetically modified product that can cause four times higher rates of breast cancer.

A large number of scholars say that the mistake of popularizing genetically modified organisms has made the average life expectancy of the population in the United States, the world's largest brokerage, not high. Moreover, its infant birth mortality rate is very high in developed countries.

His cattle, which focus on organic food, can't use corn like that. But if you want to find corn that is not genetically modified, people can't eat enough corn like that. Where else is there for the cows?

He didn't even dare to buy hay. Because now the FDA considers Roundup forage to be harmless. In fact, Roundup can cause an imbalance of colonies in the animal's digestive system. And polymerize nutrients so that animals can't absorb them.