EAST BETHANY, N.Y. (WKBW) — Poor water quality and dried-up wells are forcing farms in Bethany to take matters into their own hands and truck water to their property on a daily basis.
Lor-Rob Dairy Farm is one of these farms. Its East View Farms location cares for 1,500 mature cattle, and each cow drinks 40 gallons of water per day.
"We started in May of this calendar year ... trucking in water for this location, which uses 60,000 to 80,000 gallons of water per day," Mark Barie, farm owner, said.
In efforts to have enough water to fuel his farm, Barie bought two tankers that are used to truck 15,000 to 35,000 gallons of water per day from Batavia back to the farm.
"It's about an hour-and-a-half to a two-hour round-trip by the time we leave and fill and come back," Barie said.
Barie said this extra effort to get water is making farm work even harder.
"We're tying up equipment that we could be using in the fields and with other needs, and we're tying up personnel that is very valuable right now. It's a very inefficient and not sustainable process."
What started as a logistical issue has become a financial strain.
"We've had to purchase a semi and a tanker — which is about $30,000 right there. We've had to easily put $20,000 of labor into that," Barie said.
The farm's 55 employees who help with dairy operation and cropping are feeling the weight of this shortage.
"We supply housing to about 40 of our employees ... and we have three of their residents now that we're trucking water in for as well," Barie said. "We're very fortunate because compared to the other residents in Bethany — that's a small number."
Barie told 7 News reporter Hannah Ferrera for the time being, the farm will have to make-do with the current situation.
"We would like to concentrate efforts at this dairy and expand a little bit, but we can't do anything until we get some answers on water," Barie said. "We need the state to step in. We need some help to get this problem solved immediately for the businesses of Bethany."
