Most drillers, large and small, drill irrigation wells, and like many other fields of drilling, the market can be cyclical. The larger drillers drill irrigation wells for farmers and ranchers for crop irrigation, or livestock watering. The smaller drillers drill irrigation wells for landscape irrigation and ornamental uses. Irrigation is one of the largest uses of groundwater worldwide, and deserves some special attention.
All the fresh water stored underground in our aquifers was once rain water. The aquifer is like a savings account. You can’t take out more than goes in without eventually running out. The Ogallala Aquifer in the American Midwest and high plains is a perfect example. Recharge is mostly from snow-melt on the east side of the Rockies, and water levels have been declining there since we discovered that we could make dry land bloom and create the breadbasket of the world.