GIPAC 2023 USGS Update

As part of its November 19, 2023 Annual Meeting, the Guemes Island Planning Advisory Committee scheduled a ZOOM-in report on the status of the USGS water study currently underway for Guemes Island.  The goals of the study are presented below in quotation marks to refresh memories.  Prior to the meeting, GIPAC forwarded a list of questions to the USGS study principals indicating areas of prime interest for islanders. These questions were:

1. How does the supply of water in our aquifer compare to the supply at the time of the last study?
2. How does our water quality, i.e. seawater intrusion, compare?
3. Are there obvious recharge areas on the island which we should try to protect?
4. How does the online report work? Could you please walk us through how to access the information?

Leland Fuhrig, Hydrologist for USGS and lead for the Guemes study, presented via ZOOM the status of the work to date.  He addressed Question 4 by referencing the well data base which is nationwide. (The curious need to zoom into Guemes Island and then click on one of the well site pegs on the map.  This link opens the map:

USGS: National Water Information System: Map View

Unfortunately, the report is not complete so that questions 1-3 could not be answered at this time.  The study, according to Fuhrig, will not be published until September 2024.  The main data and well sampling for the report were completed in September, 2022 with an original target date for publication of September 2023.  A special request to evaluate the ground water recharge of the beaver pond was cited by Furhig delaying the report. Fuhrig was awaiting input from Skagit County on the area covered by the water behind the beaver dam.  He said that information had just arrived from Skagit County and showed an outline of the pond.  This pond area was not displayed on a map of the valley that could be easily understood in the single slide shown. For example, the map did not show the location of Edens Road. 

So for now, the results of the complete USGS recharge area study are still in the future. “To sustainably manage the island’s groundwater resources, an analysis of water budget components is an important next step in characterizing the availability of good-quality groundwater for island residents. The specific objectives of this study are to describe aquifer recharge areas, provide better estimates of rates of recharge to the groundwater system, provide updated water use and water balance information for the island, and evaluate current groundwater conditions. 

Relevance and Benefits: Completion of the proposed work will provide information about the aquifer recharge areas and water budget components of Guemes Island and lay the groundwork for potential future studies to describe the groundwater flow system of the island. These data will also add to the USGS national database and will assist in understanding and describing the Nation’s water resources. The study will generate a published report and data sets that will be publicly accessible online. This proposed study also addresses the USGS Water Mission Area priorities of (1) expanding and enhancing water-resource monitoring networks, (2) delivering water data and analyses to the Nation, and (3) conducting integrated watershed assessment, research, and modeling (Evenson and others, 2013).

Approach: To meet the objectives of this study, the following tasks will be completed: (1) make an island wide recharge estimation using the USGS Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) model; (2) compile or estimate groundwater withdrawals by water-use category and describe a water balance for the island and the fate of precipitation (surface runoff, evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge, interception, and change in soil moisture); and (3) evaluate current (2021) groundwater conditions by characterizing groundwater flow directions and gradients.” 

Steve Orsini on behalf of GIPAC