Advisory Committee on Water Information Subcommittee on Ground Water Presented to the NWQMC July 24 th, 2007 David R. Wunsch SOGW Member

Outline Background of the Subcommittee on Ground Water (SOGW) Current SOGW and Work Group Rosters Update of Work Groups Activities Benefits of SOGW Work Questions?

History of SOGW Ground-Water Quality Networks Ground-Water Level Networks USGS and others, but not complete or integrated nationwide January 2006: Suggestion made to ACWI to form a ground water subgroup May 2006: National Water Quality Monitoring Conference Session August 2006: Ad Hoc Steering Committee (SC) formed to develop a formal proposal to ACWI September 2006: SC began work on draft Terms of Reference (TOR) SOGW approved at January 2007 ACWI meeting

National Water Quality Monitoring Council National Liaison Committee for NAWQA Subcommittee on Hydrology ٭ Subcommittee on Spatial Water Data ACWI SUBGROUPS Methods and Data Comparability Board Subcommittee on Sedimentation Work Groups Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable Work Groups * Also reports to Federal Geographic Data Committee New Subcommittee on Ground Water Work Groups

American Society of Civil EngineersSchreiber, Robert P. (Non-Federal Co-Chair) Association of American State GeologistsWunsch, David R. Ground Water Protection CouncilPaque, Michael Interstate Council on Water PolicyBadr, Bud; Evans, Peter National Ground Water AssociationJansen, John; Reimer, Christine (Exec Sec) State of TexasAmbrose, Mary US Geological SurveyCunningham, William L. (Federal Co-Chair) USEPA Headquarters and Region Job, Charles; Wireman, Michael; Spooner, Charles Water Environment FederationSchweinfurth, Rob USDA Forest ServiceCarlson, Christopher P. Current SOGW Members *Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (ASWIPCA) is in the process to join

SOGW Setup Invitation to advise, inquire, and participate in the SOGW process “All call” for volunteers led to 55 participants to date

Work Groups Subcommittee on Ground Water (12) Bob Schreiber, ACWI – ASCE Bill Cunningham, USGS Executive Secretary Chris Reimer, NGWA Monitoring Inventory Work Group (13) Bill Cunningham, USGS Mike Wireman, USEPA Emery Cleaves, AASG Data Standards and Data Management Work Group (11) Chuck Job, USEPA Scott Andres, DE Geological Survey Monitoring Design Work Group (15) Bob Schreiber, ACWI- ASCE Kevin Frederick WY DEQ Field Practices Work Group (10) Rod Sheets, USGS Mike Nickolaus, GWPC Quantity Quality

Subcommittee and Work Group Membership* Federal 9 State/local25 Academia 4 Private sector17 Total 55 *As of 07/18/07

Field Practices Work Group Quantity and Quality Subgroups  Tasked with specifying national standards and practices for: techniques to make quantity (water level) and quality measurements in the field techniques to make quantity (water level) and quality measurements in the field data standards (including measurement accuracy and precision) data standards (including measurement accuracy and precision) data handling and management data handling and management  Soliciting field practices from regional, State, and National organizations (ASTM, USGS, USEPA, NASA, regional water authorities and State agencies)

Field Practices Workgroup Subgroup progress  Quantity Annotated outline of report section complete Annotated outline of report section complete Text of draft report section in review by subgroup members by end of July Text of draft report section in review by subgroup members by end of July  Quality Annotated outline of report section complete Annotated outline of report section complete Text of draft report section in review by subgroup members by end of July Text of draft report section in review by subgroup members by end of July  Combined Report Draft (combined) report for review by SOGW by mid-September Draft (combined) report for review by SOGW by mid-September

Inventory Work Group  Identified information needs necessary to assess the current status of ground water monitoring  Conducting research into what information is available that would help in answering information needs

Data Standards and Data Management Work Group—Current Tasks and Progress  Conducting ground-water attribute comparison among federal and state databases  Developing and documenting understanding of ground-water data exchange  Identifying data standards for ground water data  developing several case studies at the state, regional and federal level for comparison

Monitoring Design Work Group Currents Tasks and Progress  Researching network infrastructure designs, cost-sharing programs, and related topics  Evaluating other integrated network opportunities and efforts (e.g. CUASHI)  Collecting information and defining important discriminators, such as major aquifers, ambient or non-stressed wells, targeted networks, etc.  Evaluation of international efforts (e.g., EU monitoring efforts)  Draft framework document

Other Progress and Milestones

SOGW Webpage on ACWI Website

NGWA sponsored web site for file sharing, editing, and document development

SOGW Plans  Refine and populate report draft outline  Present Draft Report/Update on SOGW activities at January ACWI meeting  Present report for comments at NWQMC meeting  Host a session at the NWQMC ’08 meeting?  Present to ACWI to finalize Summer/Fall 08  Continued Outreach

Examples of What will the National Ground Water Framework Give Us:

Saturated thickness (feet) of the High Plains aquifer, 2000 (modified from Weeks and Gutentag, 1981). USGS Publication Series, Report no. 1243, McGuire, Virginia L., Johnson, M. R., Schieffer, R. L., Stanton, J. S., Sebree, S. K., Verstraeten, I. M.; Water in storage and approaches to ground-water management, High Plains aquifer, 2000 (2003).

Questions?