At the ACWI 2006 meeting a Roundtable was held to discuss a proposal
from National Ground Water Association to create an ACWI subgroup on
Ground Water (GW). Notes from the Roundtable discussion are provided
below. The Roundtable forms the start of an Ad Hoc ACWI planning group
to further develop this idea.

**ROUNDTABLE: \"Ground Water Monitoring\"**

**January 19, 2006**

**[Participating, in alphabetical order:]{.underline}**

> Emery Cleaves, Association of American State Geologists, MD
>
> Joe Lee, Ground Water Protection Council, PA
>
> Bob Hirsch, U.S. Geological Survey, VA
>
> Eileen O\'Neill, Water Environment Federation, VA
>
> Bob Schreiber, American Society of Civil Engineers, MA
>
> Edith Stephens, League of Women Voters U.S., PA
>
> Dave Wunsch, Association of American State Geologists, NH

**[Conclusions and Recommendations]{.underline}**:

-   GW deserves special attention and focus, and consideration separate
    from the existing work group of the National Water Quality
    Monitoring Council (NWQMC) on Watershed Components Interactions.

-   Excellent candidates exist for GW focused tasks and activities:

    -   National Monitoring Network for GW.

    -   Assessment / estimation of stored GW and availability /
        sustainability of GW for supply and ecological health.

    -   GW quality factors and how they constrain GW supply and GW
        related ecological support.

-   Sufficient \"energy\" exists in ACWI for a GW initiative.

-   GW related initiative should be phased in through a step-wise
    process.

-   Target the National Monitoring Conference in San Jose in May as a
    great opportunity to get ideas and volunteers.

**[Action Items Suggested:]{.underline}**

Follow this process:

-   Communicate during initial stage via email and mail.

-   Get indications of people interested in participating.

-   Solicit, compile, and discuss proposals for goals/objectives,
    format, and deliverables.

-   Create and submit Terms of Reference to ACWI, including
    recommendation for formation of group.

-   Obtain ACWI approval and implement plan, as contained in Terms of
    Reference.

-   Talk to organizers and leaders of the San Jose conference, to create
    a GW Initiative session. Conduct the session as one vehicle for
    obtaining ideas, identifying volunteers, creating plans, and
    reaching consensus.

-   Talk with Mary Ambrose from the NWQMC's Watershed Components
    Interactions Work Group, to fill her in on the GW initiative and get
    her buy-in.

-   Get commitment for agency staff time to support the GW initiative,
    primarily from USGS and USEPA, as well as other agencies, if
    appropriate.

-   Bob Hirsch will talk with Bill Alley, USGS Chief, Office of GW,
    concerning this GW initiative, and report back to the group.

**[Chronological Set of Notes]{.underline}**

Reasons for a GW related initiative to \"stand on its own\":

-   Importance of baseflow characterization and its relation /
    dependence on stream gaging efforts. Strong support for stream
    gaging from GW professionals lends itself to ACWI hosting GW as a
    separate and important resource.

-   Shear number of GW supplies and high % of GW use.

-   GW basins do not always coincide with surface watersheds, with some
    notable examples of extreme differences (e.g., Coastal Plain
    confined aquifers in MD and Delmarva Peninsula, which extend under
    and beyond Chesapeake Bay on both sides of the bay).

    -   Current NWQMC Watershed Work Group has GW people, but focuses on
        several components and on water quality. A new GW initiative
        under ACWI would infuse energy and additional volunteers.

    -   Need to consider whether to focus on resource / overall
        questions, vs. water quality and other factors.

    -   Must decide whether the initiative would form into a full
        subcommittee. Thus, one objective of the initial exploratory
        work should be to decide the form this group will take.

    -   The \"charge\" to the group could be to develop a design for the
        National Ground Water Monitoring Network, Plus.

-   Some issues and approaches discussed:

    -   In PA \-- very little data on GW taking vs. streamflow.

    -   In WI \-- GW flow model has been created and used for helping
        allocate GW.

> Need to make items like \"% change in GW storage\" better interpreted
> and explained.

-   In MD \-- fact sheets have been created (distributed to the group)
    explaining the statewide GW database and modeling efforts being
    undertaken by Maryland Geological Survey.

-   Suggested \"motivator\" for a GW initiative: From Prof. David
    Maidment, during Gov. Bush era in TX, who asked, \"How much water is
    there in TX?\" Moral of story: Be able to say how situation is
    changing, the \"drivers\", mining vs. short-term use with
    replenishment, etc. Analogy posed relating GW to \"home finances\",
    and consideration of \"long-term\" vs. \"liquid assets\".

-   Several factors differentiate GW from surface water resources.

-   Guessing that there would be significant \"energy\" available within
    ACWI for a GW initiative.

-   Quanity and quality GW related issues need to be considered,
    including sustainability and storage. Within \"water quality\",
    special issues relate to GW.

-   New EPA rule on arsenic is a good example of such a WQ issue that
    applies mostly to GW, including distinguishing \"natural
    contamination\" from \"human-induced\".

-   Another issue is \"GW supply abandonment and moving to new supply
    sources\".

-   GW initiative / group should address and/or incorporate these items:

> \- \"Sunset clause\".
>
> \- Integration with other groups.
>
> \- Personnel resource issues.
>
> \- San Jose conference, May 7th-11th, 2006:
>
> Good place for discussions for forming this GW group.
>
> Talk to organizers, to secure a special session.
>
> Also, check in with Mary Ambrose of the NWQMC's Watershed Components
> Interactions (WIS) Work Group.

-   Further direction and suggestions on approach and mission of GW
    group:

-   Call it an \"exploratory group\" (use term "Ad Hoc") for now with
    purpose to define mission and approach.

-   Best to narrow-down and focus the group, to fit the energy /
    personnel resources available, including agency staff and
    volunteers.

-   Push on the quantitative factors aspect (storage, yield,
    sustainability) and consider GW quality as a \"constraint\".

-   Need to define / determine a \"problem statement\" as part of the
    terms of reference.

-   Check the work and published articles by Marios Sophocleous of
    Kansas Geological Survey, on \"sustainability\" of GW resources.
    Important and valuable insight.

-   Get indication of people interested in participating in a GW
    initiative. Need to check with ACWI representative organizations, as
    well as within agencies.

-   Process suggested for now:

> -Communicate by mail and email amongst members at this lunch session,
> and appropriate ACWI members and staff.
>
> -Develop Terms of Reference for the full ACWI to consider and approve.
>
> -Need commitment for agency staff time.
>
> -Discussed \"state control of GW\" as a real \"hot button\". Example:
> State Geologists in Ogallala-High Plains Aquifer area proposed
> legislation that would have passed some control onto a regional
> entity. However, TX legislature shot this down due to \"federal vs.
> state\" jurisdiction problems.
>
> -USGS\'s Bill Alley, Head of USGS-GW, is soon taking on Director role
> at NGWA. Bob Hirsch will talk with him about this GW initiative.
>
> \- Q: How would this GW group work, if formed. A: Depends on mission
> defined. If mission is \"National GW Monitoring Network\" here are
> some products from the GW group:
>
> Objectives.
>
> Case studies / examples.
>
> Data accessibility.
>
> Concepts report.
>
> KY anecdote / case study of statewide GW monitoring / assessment
> approach:
>
> Identified different hydrogeological regions, and got experts for each
> region.
>
> Worked well. Lots of input from experts.
>
> Suggest using this approach for nationwide effort.
>
> Example of sub-network within overall network \-- here are some
> possible categories for helping define sub-networks:
>
> Seasonal patterns.
>
> Confined vs. unconfined.
>
> Coastal / affected by saltwater intrusion.
>
> Shallow vs. deep.

**[Strawman Mission Statement \-- Proposed Wording for Terms of
Reference:]{.underline}**

(drafted by Bob Schreiber - Jan-24, 2006)

Suggested title and organizational form \-- National GW Monitoring Ad
Hoc Task Force.

\"Sunset\" objective and schedule: Aim for completion of mission within
one year or less, at which time the Task Force will be dissolved and/or
superseded.

Problem statement \-- Although GW comprises xx% of total water supply
volume and YY% of water users, nationwide characterization of GW
quantity, availability, and sustainability is currently lacking. Such
characterization is currently fragmented according to state boundaries
and/or national agency regional office bounds.

Overall mission \-- Foster emphasis on \"GW\" so that it receives the
\"monitoring and assessment attention\" that it deserves, given its
importance for water supply and the sustenance of ecological, riverine,
lacustrine, estuarine, and coastal resources. Develop a consistent,
nationwide monitoring and assessment program leading to an accurate
estimation of GW stored volume, availability, and sustainability across
the U.S.

Overall objectives \-- Define needs for National GW Monitoring in a
conceptual form, and develop recommendations for carrying out the
planning and initial implementation of such monitoring. Also, recommend
the need for, and form of a follow-up group within ACWI for further
facilitation of National GW Monitoring and/or oversight of
implementation.

Primary purpose \-- GW monitoring for helping assess and estimate GW
reserves in the U.S., both \"total\" and \"available,\" the latter with
emphasis on \"sustainable supplies\" under constraints from ecological /
environmental needs and from water quality conditions.

Secondary purposes \-- GW quality monitoring, for helping determine
WQ-caused constraints on supply, and for helping assess ecological
impacts caused by changes in GW storage and flows.