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Consultants tell Fauquier supervisors drought, PFAS and fractured bedrock put county’s groundwater at risk
Summary
Emery & Garrett told the Fauquier County Board on Nov. 14 that multi-year rainfall deficits and declining water levels threaten the county’s groundwater-dependent supply; consultants urged expanded well-by-well monitoring (including PFAS sampling), targeted recharge protection and local land‑use changes.
Jamie Emory of consulting firm Emery & Garrett told the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 14 that the county is “completely dependent on ground water,” and that a multi‑year rainfall deficit has driven measurable declines in monitoring wells across service districts.
Emory gave a technical briefing on a groundwater monitoring program the county began in 2021, showing declines in some wells of roughly 10 to 15 feet during recent dry periods and describing how the county’s fractured bedrock geology produces widely varying well yields. He said Hurricane Helene’s rainfall provided temporary recovery in 2024, but the longer trend remains below historic average and “this drought is real.”
Why it matters: Fauquier’s public water systems rely on production wells in multiple service districts. Emory said that, because recharge areas and groundwater flow vary by district and by rock type, a countywide one‑size‑fits‑all drought…
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