As someone who has lived with a low yield well that is getting lower every time someone puts a house in nearby, I doubt the well was always empty. It can be that as people moved in nearby and started using up the water, they lowered the water table enough so some of the wells started running dry. They may have drilled a well with a good flow rate to a water source that is now empty. The options are shitty. The best option might be to drill a very deep well. If the cost to put in a good well gets high enough, setting up a small water system might be a better option.