Diagram showing how precipitation water soaks into the ground and, depending of the layers of rock below ground, can take from days to millennia to get back into surface waters.

Groundwater — Right underneath our feet

March 10-16 is National Groundwater Awareness Week, when we give special recognition to one of our nation’s most valuable resources — groundwater.

Groundwater affects everyone.  It supplies the drinking water for nearly half our nation’s population and provides about 40 percent of our irrigation water.  It sustains streamflow between precipitation events and during protracted dry periods. And it helps maintain a variety of aquatic ecosystems that are dependent on groundwater discharge to streams, lakes, and wetlands.

Groundwater is a part of our daily lives.  Rural farmers and urbanites, water-supply managers and regulators, researchers and policy-makers all have a part to play in the current status and future of our groundwater resources.  This valuable resource is right underneath our feet.

Groundwater Challenges

The USGS strives to understand the dynamics of the many demands for groundwater from both human and environmental uses.  Understanding these dynamics helps answer important questions about current groundwater availability and long-term sustainability.

In many states, groundwater is a vital source of irrigation water for farmers.

Groundwater is everywhere, but its availability varies. Groundwater availability can be compared to a bank account.  An underground aquifer, a resource shared by many users, receives deposits from precipitation and surface water. The many users make withdrawals from the aquifer to irrigate farmlands or supply wells.  If there are too many withdrawals, and not enough steady deposits, there isn’t enough groundwater in the aquifer to go around.

Even when water is plentiful, it’s not truly available unless the quality is acceptable for the intended use.  Both water quantity and quality are essential to maintaining water supply for municipal, domestic, agricultural, and recreational use and for aquatic ecosystems.

Quantity Assessments

The USGS has a legacy of groundwater assessment, publishing the first national assessment of groundwater in the early 1900s.  The USGS is working toward determining water availability in 30-40 major aquifers as part of a national water census.  These aquifer assessments provide objective scientific information about the effects of human activities on water levels, groundwater storage, and discharge to surface-water bodies and explore how climate variability could affect groundwater availability.

Various regional USGS groundwater studies either complete, planned or in progress

Many states are experiencing groundwater decline in places where withdrawals have increased largely in response to economic and population growth.  Many regions in states such as Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Louisiana, Texas and Illinois have experienced lowered groundwater levels by as much as several hundred feet.  In other locations, increased withdrawals have caused saline groundwater to encroach inland.  Extensive groundwater pumping has resulted in land-surface subsidence and sinkholes.  The USGS has recently released a scientific study illustrating  how increased groundwater withdrawals can result in streamflow depletion.  The stress of increased demands on groundwater resources – for domestic supply, municipal supply, irrigation and industrial uses – has decreased availability in some areas.

Quality Assessments

In parallel, USGS groundwater quality assessments assist water-quality managers and regulators in making decisions about monitoring needs and drinking water issues.  The USGS collaborates with other federal, state, and local drinking water programs to conduct extensive monitoring for regulatory and compliance purposes.  The whole of the nation’s groundwater can be divided into 62 principal aquifers; these provide one-third of the Nation’s population their drinking water from public supply systems and 15 percent of the Nation’s population with drinking water  from private domestic wells.  Each aquifer can cover multiple states, yet management decisions are made on the local level.  USGS groundwater quality assessments provide that large-scale perspective on each aquifer, providing consistent information needed by decision-makers.

Cascading aerator at aquifer storage and recovery plant (credit: Cassi L. Otero, USGS)

USGS groundwater quality assessments have shown that many aquifers contain low concentrations of at least one contaminant.  Nitrate and man-made contaminants like insecticides and gasoline chemicals were at levels of potential human-health risk

USGS data assists in conservation

USGS groundwater assessments help inform the public so that citizens across the nation can engage in best practices for management, protection, and conservation.  Groundwater conservation is a matter of both conserving the quantity and protecting the quality from contamination.

Everyone can take steps to do their part.  Excessive well water withdrawals lower the water-level to the point of having to drill deeper to reach water, which can become increasingly expensive to maintain.  To conserve groundwater, individuals can identify routines where water use is highest and where it can be limited.  Individuals can also take steps to prevent groundwater contamination:  1) position wellheads a safe distance from potential contamination; 2) update septic system inspection and cleaning; 3) conduct annual well inspections; 4) properly dispose of hazardous materials; 5) decommission any abandoned wells using a professional.

USGS groundwater availability studies make up an integral part of the Department of Interior’s WaterSMART, which is helping water resource planners and managers tackle America’s water challenges by providing funding, leveraging partnerships, and commissioning projects specifically aimed at understanding and conserving water.  DOI recently released a three-year progress report for WaterSMART, showing that the program is saving water, finding better ways to use water resources more efficiently, and helping partners plan to meet future water demands.

The USGS is dedicated to providing the public with unbiased, timely and relevant information about the Nation’s groundwater resources.  More information on USGS groundwater data, products, publications, and news can be found at the USGS Groundwater Resources  information pages.

2012 is the worst fire season on record for many areas of the U.S. The USGS plays an integral role in preparing for and responding to wildfires by providing tools and information before, during and after to identify wildfire risks and reduce hazards, while often providing real-time firefighting support. When the fires are contained, USGS scientists assess the aftermath of wildfires in order to build more resilient communities and ecosystems. This shot shows fires burning in Waldo Canyon in Colorado.

This year has been one of the most destructive fire seasons on record. Smoke from fires currently burning in the foothills and mountains of Colorado is visible as far away as Nebraska and Kansas. The Whitewater Baldy Fire in New Mexico, which has been contained, set a new state record with 298,000 acres burned.

Over 30,000 people have been evacuated from around Colorado Springs and more than 300 homes have burned due to the 16,000-acre Waldo Canyon Fire. Elsewhere in Colorado, more than 250 homes have burned in the 87,500-acre High Park Fire near Fort Collins, and another wildfire is burning in the foothills west of Boulder. Other people are being evacuated from areas in Utah and Montana. Communities across the West are scrambling to ensure people and property are protected, as Idaho and Wyoming also anticipate wildfires.

Wildland fires pose a threat to life and property in many parts of the United States. Over $1 billion was spent last year in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas alone, a cost that is spread between federal agencies, states, rural fire departments, and local municipalities.

The secondary effects of wildfires – erosion, debris flows, changes in water quality, and the introduction of invasive species – can also be dangerous and costly.

Start with Science

The USGS plays an integral role in preparing for and responding to wildfires by providing tools and information before, during, and after the disasters to identify wildfire risks and reduce subsequent hazards, while providing real-time firefighting support during the events.

2012 is the worst fire season on record for many areas of the U.S. The USGS plays an integral role in preparing for and responding to wildfires by providing tools and information before, during and after to identify wildfire risks and reduce hazards, while often providing real-time firefighting support. When the fires are contained, USGS scientists assess the aftermath of wildfires in order to build more resilient communities and ecosystems. This shot shows fires burning in Waldo Canyon in Colorado.

Fire managers and support staff require high-quality, timely GIS maps to guide firefighting. The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center and Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center provide up-to-the minute map information and satellite imagery about the current wildfire extent and behavior throughout the nation.

“Useful and timely geospatial data provided by the USGS are critical in helping the Department of the Interior make decisions that support wildland fire management across the nation,” said Kirk Rowdabaugh, Director of the Department’s Office of Wildland Fire Coordination. “Having access to this scientifically valid information is key to helping us successfully respond to fires that threaten the public’s well-being and practice adaptive management during fires to protect resources and enhance landscape resilience.”

Landsat Images of Western Wildfires.

As the fires are contained, USGS scientists are assessing the aftermath of wildfires in order to build more resilient communities and ecosystems. Meanwhile, USGS scientists are preparing for flooding as monsoon season begins later in the summer.

Because fires remove vegetation and the burned soil is less able to absorb rainwater, communities downstream from burned watersheds are at risk of flash flooding and debris flows. To help in National Weather Service flood warnings, USGS scientists in Arizona and New Mexico will install an early warning network of gages, including four stand-alone rain gages and two streamflow gages. The data provided by the new gages will alert downstream communities and emergency management officials and can provide up to an hour of advance warning. The USGS Colorado Water Science Center is working with local agencies to produce a debris flow hazards assessment using a USGS-developed methodology to identify those areas with the highest susceptibility for debris flows when heavy rains hit the fire-stripped slopes.

After the wildfires and other hazards subside, USGS scientists will work with partners to characterize the severity of individual fires and their effects on water quality and supply, hillslope stability, invasive species potential, and impact to other ecosystem services such as wildlife habitat and treasured landscapes.

Wildfires of the Future

The effects of climate change, such as hotter and dryer conditions, are expected to significantly increase wildfire frequency and severity in many parts of the country and world. Wildfires also produce greenhouse gasses that can contribute to and accelerate climate change. USGS scientists are actively involved in studying the connections between climate change and wildfires to help improve our understanding of the future and enhance community preparedness.

2012 is the worst fire season on record for many areas of the U.S. The USGS plays an integral role in preparing for and responding to wildfires by providing tools and information before, during and after to identify wildfire risks and reduce hazards, while often providing real-time firefighting support. When the fires are contained, USGS scientists assess the aftermath of wildfires in order to build more resilient communities and ecosystems. This shot shows fires burning in Waldo Canyon in Colorado.