Building a well

In all my years I have never encountered a problem with building a well. This place may just be cursed by the carp. As soon as we smelted our newly found copper to bars Vdil Mothdastmorul took control of the black smith forge and used all of our copper for the well chain to build a goblet. I am happy to see our dwarfs taking an initiative to craft fine things but the need for a well outweighs any trinkets right now. We have lost more to the carp half of the new recruits didn't come back from collecting water how am I suppose to protect the people from the carp when our own military is helpless against this foe. We told everyone it was a kobold ambush some are refusing to go out now. Worst case was the stoneworker that died of thirst from refusing to leave the fortress lower levels. I half considered locking up Vdil Mothdastmorul and smelting his cup back to copper bars to make the chain. But lucky for him the miners hit another vein of copper and I spared his sanity and the goblet and went to work smelting and building the chain for the well.