The Daily Drop

August 6, 2026

This week’s photo is courtesy of P.W. Gillibrand Co.- CA and TX, USA

Safety Focus

Part 4 of 4: Snake Safety- Implement

Knowing all of this does no good if it lives in one person's head. The last step is to make snake safety part of how the crew runs a site, the same way you handle any other potential hazard.

Start with what people wear. In snake country, that means boots that cover the ankle, long pants, and, in high-risk ground, snake-proof gaiters or chaps. When anyone moves brush, leaves, wood, pipe, or debris, they wear leather or Kevlar gloves and use a tool, lifting the far side of the pile away so it opens toward the ground, not toward them.

Then clear the field. Keep the work area cut back and free of tall grass and standing piles, so snakes have nowhere to set up next to the crew. Make noise as you move; snakes feel the vibration and tend to clear out. And set the rule that nobody handles a snake, alive or dead, and nobody tries to kill one. A severed head can still bite by reflex.

Finally, write the plan before you need it. Everybody should know the nearest hospital that stocks antivenom, who is driving, and who to call. On a job that moves site to site, that answer changes, so take the time to discuss response actions with your crew.

Key Takeaways

• Turn this week's information into a crew standard.

• PPE plus housekeeping removes most of the risk before work starts.

• The response plan is only useful if it is written down and site-specific.

Sources:

• NIOSH: Venomous Snakes at Work

• NIOSH: Venomous Snakes, A Neglected Hazard for Outdoor Workers

Industry Update

Montana’s New Rule: File Before You Drill an Exempt Well, or the Paperwork Stalls

If you drill in Montana, a rule that took effect earlier this year changes your sequence on small wells. Under House Bill 681, anyone developing a new exempt well, the 35-gallon-per-minute, 10-acre-foot class that used to skip permitting, must now file a Notice of Intent with the Department of Natural Resources and get it authorized before using the water. DNRC reviews it within 10 business days, the filing runs 400 dollars, and an authorization is good for five years.

The catch for drillers is timing. The Notice of Intent has to be authorized before the completion paperwork can move, and DNRC says it will not process a Notice of Completion without one, even if the well is already in the ground. So a client who drills first and files later can leave the job hanging.

This grew out of years of Montana fights over 'combined appropriation,' where a 2024 court ruling closed a loophole that let phased subdivisions stack multiple exempt wells. Other Western states with exempt-well rules are watching how Montana's version plays out. For anyone working there, the practical move is simple: make sure your client's Notice of Intent is authorized before the rig shows up.

Sources:

• Montana DNRC: Exempt Well Updates

Knowledge Share

Part 4 of 4: Geophysical Logging for Water Wells- Implement

To close this week’s Knowledge Share, let’s focus on what we should do before the job starts: make a call to set up and plan the logging service. A good log run is set up before the truck arrives, and a handful of details decide whether you get usable data or a wasted trip.

Most of the standard logs need an open, uncased, fluid-filled borehole. Tell the logging company the total depth, the hole diameter, and the drilling fluid, and whether the borehole is stable or giving you trouble, because that drives which tools they bring.

Decide what you need the logs to answer: screen placement, water quality, casing seat, or correlation to nearby wells, and book the suite that answers it. That is the difference between a targeted run and paying for the full catalog.

When you have all your data, and you are ready to design the well, use the available information to ensure it is designed correctly. Here are some reference texts are worth owning and having handy: Roscoe Moss’s Handbook of Ground Water Development, ASCE Hydraulics of Wells, Marvin Glotfelty’s- The Art of Water Wells, and Driscoll’s Groundwater and Wells. The logs tell you what is down there; these reference tools help to tell you what to do about it.