According to Varvel, ELJs help the fish reconnect to their food plain, making more food available so juvenile fish are able to grow bigger before moving to the ocean, increasing their survivability rates. To erect the structures, Biohabitats had to drill 40-foot holes for the foundation, and those holes had to stay dry during construction, which is where submersible pumps came in handy. “We used six Tsurumi KRS2-B6 15-horsepower electric submersible pumps to dewater the holes. They operated 24/7 for nearly three months at a time during the two summers we worked in the area,” Varvel said. “We battled both surface and groundwater, even as we were able to divert most of the side channel flow.” Biohabitats went to CESSCO, a Portland, Oregon-based sales and rental house for the pumps. “One of the project’s goals was to keep impact at a minimum, and that’s why we recommended electric submersible pumps,” said Casey Perry, a pump and power sales and rentals specialist at CESSCO. “The pumps allowed for the construction of a very sturdy structure that can withstand flooding and other once-in-a-while weather events.” The project was a great success. “The best part of these interventions is coming back a year later to see that it is working,” said Varvel. “You see fish coming and spawning. The Sandy River is one river in the Portland area in which the fish population numbers are improving. And that’s really our end goal.” by Tim Rasmussen Believe in it or not. Support it or not. Question the politics of it or not. A fact which cannot be disputed is the worldwide virus is hardest on poor countries. We have resources to meet the challenges. The poor countries do not, and Guatemala is the poorest of all Central American countries. This is very hard on the people. People who used to barely get by are now starving. Work that used to be scarce is gone. There is no social safety net for the people. They just suffer. Water For Life sees the need, and we are doing what we can to help. In addition to our work of making clean water available to the villages, we have started to distribute food and medicine to the very poorest of the villagers. We cannot turn our backs when people come to our trucks and beg for rice or beans. We have a small fund we are using to help the poorest. It is not much, but it is something. The drilling season this year has ended with 20 wells drilled. All but one are good producers. We are very happy with the total now of 150 wells in service. This is a milestone we have been 15 years in achieving. We could not have done any of it without the help of our volunteers and you supporters. Thank you very much. Another milestone we have reached this year is the first well drilled with an all Guatemalan crew. This has been accomplished largely as a result of the hard work and dedication of two of our volunteers, Jon and Chris Hansen of Washington. They have been working with us for several years and take over the helm of operations every year when Gary comes back from Guatemala. Jon and Chris were trapped in Guatemala by the virus this year. The six weeks they had planned turned out to be four months. They were finally permitted to leave the last of May. During this extended time in Guatemala, Jon and Chris focused on training and preparing three of our Guatemalan workers - Edgar, Huberto, and David - to operate the rotary drilling rig. We had earlier sent Edgar to Honduras to work with an American company to learn basic rotary concepts and he did very well in that training program. Jon and Chris helped him transfer his new skills to work with our older rotary rig and focused on getting the rotary rig repaired and ready in all respects for the coming season. After they left, Edgar, Huberto, and David took the drill to a little barrio nearby and selected a spot and drilled a well. The property is owned by Henry Lazaro and the water from there will be freely available to the nearby residents. This is a first- time experience for our workers, to drill without the help of the Americans. They did very well and their skills bode well for the future of Water For Life. If you would like to help, contact Gary Bartholomew at 208-907-0010 or 509-939-1941 Tim Tim Rasmussen may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com 64 DECEMBER 2020 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® WTR “New” architecture. ~Tom Bates Subscriber Snapshot © Tom Bates Submersible Pumps cont’d from page 58.
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