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At Upperville Horse Show, It's Water, Water Everywhere
At Upperville Horse Show, It's Water, Water Everywhere
By Vicky Moon
-Joe Fargis, President of the Upperville Colt and Horse Show
The 170th edition of the Upperville Colt and Horse Show takes place this year on June 5-11 where it began in 1853. Through many years, the subject of water at Grafton Farm has been a hot topic. Just ask Tommy Lee Jones, the manager of the prestigious event for the last forty years.
“It’s been boom or bust,” Tommy Lee said. At some point during the show, invariably a torrential rain storm will flood the tents in the stabling area and make a muddy mess all around. Then comes the bust—a sweltering heat wave will often trigger a severe shortage of water for the horses and the increasingly dusty grounds.
“We’ve been told there was no water here,” Tommy Lee explained, adding that several wells had been dug in previous years with disappointing results… seven gallons a minute tops. At times, spring boxes in a nearby stream were the sole source of water that often was used in the rings.
These days, it’s a different story, written when geologist Scott Eaton set foot on the hallowed grounds on the southern side of Route 50 late last year. No, he did not bring along a magical divining rod or sonar equipment. He was armed with a set of archived aerial photos and a mapping program that helps locate sources of water.
“The photos were taken seven seconds apart from fixed wing airplanes,” Scott said. “This is a technique that has been used since the 1940s. It reveals fractures and cracks in the ground from hundreds of years ago. It’s a wonderful tool.”
This mapping procedure was used during the 13-day standoff in October, 1962 known as the Cuban Missile crisis when the U.S. and Soviet Union successfully resolved a dispute over possible threatening Russian missile sites in Cuba. Ironically, during this diplomatic crisis similar methods were employed by the U.S. government.
Meanwhile, Scott called in colleague Andrew Forrest of Forrest Environmental Services, Inc. in Oak Hill to complete the show grounds task. He put in a 500-yard row of iron probes six feet apart at the targeted location. A twelve-volt battery was placed along the line and the most productive area to find water was revealed. Bingo.
Scott’s Eaton Geological Consultants, LLC is his part time business, headquartered at his dining room table in Staunton. A 1988 graduate of James Madison University (JMU), Scott earned a Masters degree at Southern Illinois in 1991 and has a doctorate degree in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia. He is a professor in the Geology Department at JMU.
He chatted with Country ZEST as a plumber in his basement repaired a sewer line. “It’s a major procedure,” he said. “I’ve got water on both ends.”
Meanwhile a new well, installed by Dennis Singhas of Valley Drilling in Upperville, is now gushing at 200 gallons per minute. “It’s the largest producing well I’ve had in the Northern Virginia Piedmont,” Scott declared.
“It’s like hitting an oil well,” said Joe Fargis, president of the delightfully hydrated horse show.
