Groundwater Assessment in Washington State

Welcome to the groundwater assessment website! The Environmental Assessment Program maintains a staff of groundwater scientists who conduct technical studies across a broad spectrum of groundwater-related issues*. Current staff members on the groundwater team include:

Martha Maggi, L.G., L.HG.; Unit Supervisor; mmag461@ecy.wa.gov; (360) 407-6453

Barb Carey, L.G., L.HG.; bcar461@ecy.wa.gov; (360) 407-6769
Melanie Redding, L.G., L.HG.; mkim461@ecy.wa.gov; (360) 407-6524
Pam Marti, L.G., L.HG.; pmar461@ecy.wa.gov; (360) 407-6768
Charles Pitz, L.G., L.HG.; chpi461@ecy.wa.gov; (360) 407-6775
Kirk Sinclair, L.G., L.HG.; ksin461@ecy.wa.gov; (360) 407-6557

*Within Ecology, most groundwater field assessment and research is conducted by the Environmental Assessment Program. For information on Ecology policies and regulations related to groundwater, see Water Quality Program’s Groundwater information page and Water Resources Program page. For additional information regarding cleanup and regulation of groundwater at specific facilities, see the web sites for the Toxics Cleanup Program, the Hazardous Waste Program, the Nuclear Waste Program Groundwater Page, and the Solid Waste Program.

Contents of This Website

Ecology Groundwater Assessment Studies

Descriptions and contact information for groundwater studies currently underway in the Environmental Assessment Program, as well as a comprehensive map showing completed studies and links to available on-line reports.

Links to Information on Groundwater in Washington State

Stumped about where to find information about groundwater in your area? We’ve compiled sources of information that we often head to when conducting one of our studies.

Environmental Assessment Program Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Groundwater Monitoring

We're starting to pull together documentation describing the standardized field methods we use during our groundwater studies. Our first SOP is focused on procedures for Manual Well Depth and Depth-to-Water Measurements. We hope to be adding additional SOPs to this site in the future.

New Items of Note, Current Events & Announcements -

NEW - The U.S. Geological Survey has recently released the findings of a nationwide study of the water quality in private domestic wells. Since domestic wells are not currently regulated by the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act, they are not routinely monitored for chemical contamination. This study reveals that more than 20 percent of private wells sampled across the U.S. contain at least one contaminant at levels of potential health concern. To see the recent press release about the study, and link to the full reports, visit: USGS Press Release - Water Quality of Potential Concern in US Private Wells.

NEW - Upcoming Conference - Water and Land Use in the Pacific Northwest: Intergrating Communities and Watersheds (November 4-6, 2009 in Skamania, Washington). Deadline for abstracts was May 6th, 2009. To learn more visit: Water and Land Use Conference Web Site.

NEW - We've recently added a number of legacy Department of Ecology Water Resources Program Open-File Technical Reports related to groundwater to our map-based groundwater study bibliography. In the near future we'll be redesigning the map interface to make it easier to find groundwater studies in your area of interest.

For questions or comments on this web site, please contact Charles Pitz (chpi461@ecy.wa.gov).