Howdy Comms,
It looks like you may have a lot of questions about water retrieval and storage. I'm sure many folks here on the ETS Forum will give you some good advice.

I would also recommend this book ... "Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds for Domestic Supply, Fire and Emergency Use" (it's available at Amazon, etc...).
I think that book will be a big help to you, and will answer a lot of questions that you currently have, and some you haven't thought of yet.

Also, the "Real Goods, Solar Living Source Book" has a nice chapter on "Water Development", which I found to be very informative. That's a large book that also covers a lot of other self-sufficiency topics, with a big focus on renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro) and related equipment.

Best of luck with your water project(s)!