Donate now and bring water to the animals!

1. The Problem

This recent fall season brought unexpected changes to Animal Wonders and the land that provides sanctuary to the animals. As the normal dry weather set in in August and September, our main source of water that's been supplying the Animal Center for 15 years became critically low. We were running out of water daily as we tried filling the beaver pool, clean enclosures, mist those who were too hot, wash over 100 dishes, fill water bowls, and simply fill our water bottles. We set up a schedule to try and spread out the use so we didn't empty the holding tank, filled the beaver pool half full, saved laundry loads for another day, and hope that another day would bring rain. As we struggled through the dry season, we knew the struggle wasn't sustainable. We needed a plan.

The Hope

There is a second well... Our current well produces 2-3 gallons per minute for most of the year, but in the dry season we've often gone down to 2 gallons per minute, and this last season we went down to 1 gallon per minute. This meant, we could run a hose for 8 minutes before we ran out of water in the holding tank and we'd have to turn off the pump, prime it, and then wait 2 hours before there would be enough in the tank to start using the water again, though sparingly. Now, there is a second well on the property that has never been used and it could potentially be the answer to our hopes of finding a solution. In order to know if the well would fill our need, it had to be tested. The testing cost $1200. It would be a risk to spend the money since the well might not bring in enough of a flow to be worth it, but the only other viable option was to work on digging a brand new well, which was estimated at about $25,000 (not including the amount needed to get the well hooked up to the Animal Center). So, we made the decision to get the well tested, and SUCCESS!! The well produced over 15 gallons per minute possibly closer to 20!! We literally jumped for joy at the good news. But, now came the hard part, we still needed a solid plan to get this amazing supply of water to the animals. Huckleberry the beaver needs his pool!

The Plan

Let's get the water to the animals! To do this, we need to dig a trench from the new well to the Animal Center and lay down pipe for the water and thick cord for the power supply to the pump. We need a pump, fasteners, valves, and several horse head spigots to place at the new well site and the old well site. The horse head spigots will provide access to water for our summer camp pavilion (for the kids and the animals that attend the camps) and the pasture for our two rescue horses, Pashta and Sundance. Digging the trench entails going through a riparian zone, across a road, and up a hill. It can be done, but it's going to take time and skill. We'll hire an excavator and once the trench is dug, we'll purchase and lay down the piping for the water and the electrical cord for the power supply. These two parts are the most expensive and will cost about $5,000 each. There is additional funding needed for attachments, nozzles, and other hardware that will cost another $5,000. So, with all the costs together, we're looking at raising $15,000 for the water project to be successful. We've already invested funds into the well testing and we've hired the excavator to start on the trench. $15K is a big goal, but this simply isn't something that we can do without. So, we're asking for your support to help us reach this goal.

The Goal

The goal is big, and if you know a bit about the team at Animal Wonders, you know were always looking for ways to continue to make improvements in all aspects of what we do. We have a big dream of opening and Visitor Center to broaden the services we can offer our community and help even more animals. The first step in making this dream come true is to extend water access to the building site. The estimate for this project is another $10,000.

Now, this goal is even bigger! But we're not doing it alone! A very generous donor has pledged a $10,000 matching donation! I'd we can meet this match challenge it will secure the success of our original project and bring us one step closer to the Visitor Center! Please help us reach our goal by donating today to help bring water to the animals!