Groundwater – Vital to Healthy
Communities
Steve Gaffield – Montgomery Associates
Thomas Hovel – City of Fitchburg, WI
Madeline Gotkowitz – Wisconsin Geological Survey
Topics
• Groundwater basics &
current issues
• Madison’s drinking
water issues
• Fitchburg’s groundwater
issues & approach
• Project examples from
Fitchburg
• Discussion!
TravelWisconsin.com
Wisconsin DNR
The water cycle…
recharge
aquifer
Groundwater discharges to springs,
streams and lakes
Stream Baseflow
USGS Circular 1139 (1998)
Lakes are the water table…
Pumping groundwater reduces discharge
to surface water somewhere, always.
Wells intercept groundwater and diminish
discharge to streams, springs and lakes
Changes to the water table and
baseflow can be significant
Little Plover River, Portage County
Clear Lake, Milton Wisconsin
July 2009
May 2012
Regional groundwater system:
Madison, Fitchburg, Verona, Sun Prairie, Middleton, Monona, McFarland
Monona Terrace
Well 17
Madison Water Utility Board Policies
Madison’s groundwater use 1960 - 2014
2008 water conservation goal: decrease 20% by 2020:
73 gal/person/day → 58 gpd (now at 64 gpd)
63,000 wireless transmitters and water
meters to comply with PSC requirements, in
order to move to a conservation rate
structure, ~ $12 M
Madison became the largest city in Wisconsin to
offer a residential conservation rate structure
Cost of 4,000 gallons/month will increase 13% ($17.24 to $19.51)
Groundwater and
Healthy Communities
Planning Challenges
Planning Challenges
What is Important:
• Quality of life
• Health
• Environment
• Balance competing concerns
• Resource-based neighborhood plans
• Today, we are concentrating on one aspect important to
our way of life….
…water
Where is Fitchburg?
The Comprehensive Plan
sets forth a long-range
growth boundary of 50
years. Several
Neighborhoods have been
established to provide for
future growth.
Completed Neighborhood
Plans:
• North Stoner Prairie (NSP)
• McGaw
• Northeast (NE)
Each Neighborhood has its own
set of challenges arising from its
unique natural features
McGaw—S branch Swan Creek
NE—Ephemeral wetland
NSP—Closed depression
Northeast Neighborhood
• Upper and lower
aquifer
• Housing to the
northeast built on
hydric soils
Northeast Neighborhood
Town of Dunn--Meadowview flooding
Source: DCI map 9/18/2015
Photo from Ed Minihan
Northeast Neighborhood
• Waubesa Wetlands a
State Natural Area
• Spring flow
• Calcareous fens
• Nine Springs and
Swan Creeks
Source: madmimi.com
McGaw Neighborhood
• Maintain stream flow in Swan Creek
• Waubesa wetlands
• Meet higher density desires & retain sufficient recharge, but be
concerned about higher groundwater levels
North Stoner Prairie Neighborhood
•
•
•
•
Closed basin
Emergency pumping overflow
Groundwater mounding
Nine Springs Creek, spring flow
Closed depression flooding in
June 2013 following 2” rain
Source: MARS
North Stoner Prairie Neighborhood
Water recharged at NSPN will
flow east-northeast toward
Nine Springs Creek
Opportunity to enhance
baseflow
Little risk of groundwater
flooding to south
• Gradient to Nine Springs Cr is
5x higher than gradient
toward Lake Harriett
• Groundwater follows path of
least resistance & highest
gradient
Source: SAA and MARS
Groundwater is an important resource
Balance between withdrawal and recharge
Stream base flow
Methods to how that can be accomplished is
the next part of the presentation
Well zones of contribution
Source: Dane Co Water Quality Plan
Urban Water Balance
Natural
Tree
Canopy
Interception
Developed
Evapotranspiration
Stormwater
runoff
Surface
Runoff
Low Impact Development
NE Neighborhood Plan
Stormwater
infiltration
Urban Groundwater Balance
City well cased
through shale
Northeast Neighborhood
Lake Waubesa
Glacial Deposits
Bedrock surface
Upper Sandstone Aquifer
Eau Claire Shale
Lower Sandstone Aquifer
Granite
Groundwater Response
?
Modified from USGS
Evaluating Groundwater Response
• Review available data
• Install monitoring
wells
• Simple analytical
equations
• Computer models
(Bouwer, 2002)
(USGS, 2010)
Northeast Neighborhood: Flooding Concerns
• Groundwater
rise predicted
if recharge
increased.
• Plan designed
to maintain
existing
recharge
• No rise
expected
(RJN Environmental Services)
McGaw Neighborhood: Downstream Resources
• Computer model
available
• Increase in recharge
with stormwater
infiltration
• Increased water
supply pumping
McGaw
Where Does Groundwater Go?
McGaw
Partial Offset of Pumping Increase
• 2 in/yr recharge
increase
predicted
• Water demand
scenarios: low,
mod & high
• Streamflow
losses limited
to 1-5%
North Stoner Prairie Groundwater Concerns
Basement
flooding
Closed depression
flooding
Borings and Monitoring Wells
County Water Table Map
• Water table slopes east
• Consistent with borings
& wells
• Land rises to east
• No flooding impacts
expected in adjacent
neighborhood
• Recharge will benefit
Nine Springs Creek
West:
groundwater
shallow
East:
groundwater > 20 ft
(WGNHS)
“Take Homes”
• Groundwater is an important resource for
people and nature.
• Groundwater should be considered in urban
water management.
• Managing urban land use and groundwater
requires a balancing act.
Why Bother?
• Drinking water
quality and quantity
• Quality of life &
property values
• Mental & social
benefits of natural
areas
• Physical & economic
benefits
http://depts.washington.edu/hhwb/
(American Rivers)