Susquehanna River Basin Commission

been approved previously, renewals must 

provide sufficient data to support future 

operations and allow the Commission to 

evaluate sustainability under changing 

conditions and any potential for significant 

adverse impacts to occur. Common data 

gaps are:

 Aquifer testing or a hydrogeological 

report was not completed;

 Aquifer testing was incomplete or 

inadequate;

 Long term operational monitoring 

data were not collected;

 Surface water monitoring, such as 

springs, streams and wetlands, was 

never performed;

 Impacts to other users were not 

evaluated; or

 The well has not operated at or near 

the desired withdrawal renewal rate. 

OPERATIONAL 

MONITORING VERSUS 

OPERATIONAL 

TESTING

Both Operational Monitoring and 

Operational Testing are completed 

during operation of the withdrawal, 

allow use of the water and require 

monitoring of withdrawal and water 

levels.

Operational monitoring 

is completed at or near 

the current withdrawal 

rates and can include 

expanded monitoring 

of nearby wells or surface water 

features.

Operational testing 

can include strategic 

changes in pumping 

rate and additional 

monitoring locations 

of nearby features to collect data to 

address specific data gaps.

This fact sheet is the second of a series of fact sheets intended to assist project sponsors with the 

Commission’s groundwater project withdrawal renewal process. Each fact sheet can be used and 

reviewed on its own, but the combination of fact sheets provide a greater understanding of the 

Commission’s renewal process. Please reference the Groundwater Project Renewal Process and 

Water Level Monitoring fact sheets for additional information. 

OPERATIONAL MONITORING and 

OPERATIONAL TESTING

Susquehanna River Basin Commission n 4423 N. Front Street n Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17110 n (717) 238-0423 n srbc.net

February 2021

BACKGROUND

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission 

(Commission) encourages projects to collect 

and maintain operational monitoring data 

that provides information about the 

performance of a project’s groundwater 

source and supports groundwater 

withdrawal renewal applications. 

Hydrogeological data collected through 

operational monitoring over a project’s 

approval term is important for evaluating 

sustainability and assessing potential 

impacts of the withdrawal. Additionally, 

collection of adequate operational 

monitoring and testing data often provides 

an opportunity to avoid the costs and efforts 

of completing a stand-alone aquifer test. 

DATA GAPS

As referenced in the Groundwater Project 

Renewal Process fact sheet, data gaps are 

missing information that the project will 

need to collect and provide in support of the 

renewal application and the Commission 

will need to review to ensure that a project 

conforms to current standards. The 

Commission strives to ensure that projects, 

whether new or undergoing renewal, do not 

cause significant adverse impacts to other 

users or the environment and are 

sustainable. Although a project may have 

(continued on next page)

 ....collection of adequate 

operational monitoring and 

testing data often provides an 

opportunity to avoid the costs and 

efforts of completing a stand-alone 

aquifer test.
OPERATIONAL MONITORING AND OPERATIONAL TESTING

2 Susquehanna River Basin Commission

Operational Monitoring

Basic or expanded operational monitoring is 

often appropriate for projects seeking 

renewal at or near current withdrawal rates. 

Basic water withdrawal and groundwater 

level operational monitoring may be 

sufficient to demonstrate that the requested 

withdrawal is sustainable, whereas expanded 

operational monitoring often includes 

collecting water level from one or more 

nearby wells or wetlands, or flow data from a 

nearby spring or stream. Expanded 

operational monitoring should be considered 

when historical testing did not address the 

potential for impacts to other users or the 

environment. Expanded operational 

monitoring is conducted during the routine 

operation of the source and few changes are 

made to the operation of the source during 

monitoring. Periods of little to no 

precipitation while the well is operating at or 

near its approved rate will provide the most 

appropriate data to support the withdrawal 

application.

Operational Testing

Operational testing should be tailored to the 

project in a way that generally aligns with 

the Commission’s Aquifer Testing Guidance 

policy. The guidance includes 

recommendations for monitoring equipment, 

phases of testing, system operations, and the 

monitoring network. Operational testing 

often includes operating the well at a 

constant rate for a specific period while 

monitoring features to eliminate identified 

data gaps. Collection of supporting 

operational testing data is best completed 

during a dry period with little to no 

precipitation. Operational testing should 

ADDRESSING DATA GAPS

Targeted operational monitoring or 

operational testing can often be completed to 

collect data to eliminate known data gaps 

and collect supplemental data during 

ongoing project operation that will provide 

support for a renewal application. Many 

projects are able to avoid data gaps by 

completing basic operational monitoring and 

eliminate data gaps with basic or expanded 

operational monitoring. However, some 

projects may need operational testing to 

eliminate data gaps.

utilize the test water, to the extent possible, 

to reduce costs and move water from 

groundwater source location. Although 

operational testing should be conducted in 

general accordance with the Aquifer Testing 

Guidance Policy, more flexibility is provided 

to projects in the design of the operational 

test, as the testing is intended to be 

performed in conjunction with the use of the 

water from the well.

Commission Assistance

Commission staff can provide guidance for 

operational monitoring or testing designed 

to collect the necessary hydrogeologic data 

for a groundwater withdrawal renewal that 

requests withdrawal quantities at or below 

previously approved quantities. Commission 

staff can also assist the project sponsor in 

evaluating its data to identify data gaps or 

deficiencies. The benefit of operational 

monitoring or testing is that the project may 

be able to collect data without having to 

conduct a comprehensive aquifer test, which 

reduces the time, effort, and cost of a 

renewal.

Questions & Additional Information

If you have any questions or would like to 

request a time to review or discuss a project’s 

data available, please contact the 

Commission’s Manager of Project Review at 

717-238-0423.

To identify potential data gaps, a project 

should:

1. Compile all available historical 

testing data and reports that may 

have been completed;

2. Compile all operational monitoring 

data, including withdrawal quantity 

and groundwater level data; 

3. Evaluate all available data and testing 

to determine if sufficient data is 

available to assess the sustainability 

of the withdrawal at the anticipated 

renewal rate;

4. Evaluate the potential for impacts to 

any nearby sensitive features, 

including springs, streams, wetlands, 

and rare threatened or endangered 

species; and

5. Evaluate potential impacts to other 

users.

If it is determined that insufficient data is 

available to evaluate items described above, 

completion of operational monitoring or 

operational testing may be able to gather the 

necessary data.

Target data collection to 

supplement historical testing 

and operational data to address 

data gaps.