Arizona Department of Water Resources will survey
wells in parts of Yavapai and Coconino Counties
Phoenix-
March 10, 2017 - Beginning in early March, the Arizona Department of Water
Resources will be making an extensive effort to measure water levels in wells
in the Prescott Active Management Area and the Verde Basin (see attached map).
Every year the Department’s
field services technicians collect water levels in a statewide network of about
1,600 to 1,800 “index” wells that have typically been measured annually over
the last several decades. There are roughly 250 groundwater index wells
measured annually or semi-annually in the Prescott AMA/Verde Basin
region.
During the remainder of the
2017 field season Water Resources staff will measure several hundred wells in
the Prescott AMA/Verde River basin area in addition to those 250 index
wells.
This 2017 survey of area wells
– or basin “sweep,” as it is known -- will be the first such basin survey of
the area since 2009. The data collected will be analyzed and used to obtain a
comprehensive overview of the groundwater conditions and used to support
scientific and water management planning efforts.
Frequently
Asked Questions about basin surveys:
What will
the ADWR do with the data?
The
department uses the information from the basin survey to develop water level
maps to support scientific, planning and management studies of the basin’s
aquifer system.
The
department produces invaluable “Hydrologic Map Series” reports, and “Water
Level Change” reports which show groundwater conditions statewide.
What if
well owners don’t want the ADWR measuring their well depth?
Participation
and cooperation with the department’s basin survey is entirely voluntary.
The data
collected from basin surveys has proved valuable to property owners and lessees
just as much as it is to state and municipal water planners.
Why here?
And why now?
Historically,
the department measures its index wells in the Prescott/Chino Valley/Verde
Basin area in the late winter/early spring. During this time, the water levels
in the aquifer have typically recovered from the previous summer “pumping”
levels and represent a more “static” condition which gives a more
representative picture of what’s happening with the aquifers in the area.
Do well
owners and lessees get to review the data?
Arizona
Department of Water Resources data are all public records. Data collected
should be available by early to mid-summer. As maps are completed, the data
will be available via the department’s website at azwater.gov. The
department’s Groundwater Site Inventory (GWSI) well database is available at: https://gisweb.azwater.gov/waterresourcedata/GWSI.aspx
For more
information regarding this matter, please contact Doug MacEachern,
Communications Administrator, at dmaceachern@azwater.gov or (602) 771-8507.