Dane County Groundwater Model

press release: The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS), in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC) have recently completed a multi-year project to update the Dane County Groundwater Model.

Project partners include the Dane County Land and Water Resources Department, Madison Water Utility, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, as well as several other water utilities and municipalities in Dane County.

The model is a decision-support tool which can be used to:

- Aid in the siting of new groundwater wells

- Improve well-head protection plans for water utilities and municipalities

- Assess short and long-term responses to climate change

- Determine the impacts of land-use change on groundwater resources

- Evaluate well and groundwater quality problems

- Develop more detailed groundwater models for site-specific evaluations

“This collaborative effort seeks to provide sound scientific information to support informed decision-making regarding our County’s groundwater resources,” says Mike Parsen, hydrogeologist with the WGNHS. “This tool will be of immediate value to many including county planners, engineering consultants, water utilities, researchers, and others interested in better understanding Dane County’s groundwater resources.”

A project roll-out event will be held at the Fitchburg Public Library (main meeting room) on Tuesday, January 19, from 10:00am to 12:00pm. The presentation is intended for professionals involved with Dane County’s groundwater resources, but the general public is welcome to attend. For those unable to attend, the event will be video recorded by Fitchburg Access Television and made available by the WGNHS.

Mike Parsen and Ken Bradbury (WGNHS) will provide an overview of the updated Dane County groundwater model and we’ll have the following guest presenters describe their recent research which used output from the model:

- Matt Diebel (WDNR) – Ecological limits of hydrologic alternation (ELoHA) in Dane County streams

- Cory McDonald (WDNR) – Characterizing the sources of elevated groundwater nitrate in Dane County

For additional information, contact Mike Parsen, hydrogeologist with the WGNHS at: michael.parsen@wgnhs.uwex.edu, 608-262-9419.