More water on Mars than first thought?

http://carnegiescience.edu/news/extensive_water_mar%E2%80%99s_interior

Dig a well on Mars and you are likely to find some water. At the surface of Mars the air pressure is so low that water sumlimates directly from ice to vapor. Consequently that Mars looks to be dry on the surface is quite to be expected. Scientific estimates are that there is as much water under Mars' surface as there is under Earth's.

Find plenty of water, add carbon dioxide and you have all the resources you need for life: Water, Air and Plastic!!!

In the book Mars Exile: Second Chances, all the water needed for the outpost is drawn from a well. Excess heat from a nuclear power plant (and later on from excess solar energy) is used to heat the water and draw it to the surface. It is then used in everything from basic support of life (drinking, watering, washing) to the creation of materials (Plastics from the hydrocarbons created by combining Carbon Dioxide and Water in a very clever way which we will explain later...)

This makes Mars a more attractive destination than the moon, even though the moon is much closer (Nights lasting over 300 hours is also pretty much a put off too. Mars' day is only a few minutes longer than on Earth.)