Cooperators:

Georgia Department of Natural Resources    Environmental Protection Division Albany Water, Gas, and Light Commission City of Brunswick Glynn County City of Lawrenceville Jekyll Island Authority Liberty County Development Authority St. Johns Water Management District, Florida

Year Started: 1938

Ground water accounts for about 22 percent of fresh-water withdrawals in Georgia-more than 1.4 billion gallons per day. More than 1.8 million people are served by ground-water supplies, and 733 million gallons per day are withdrawn for irrigation (Fanning, 2003). The distribution and quality of ground water are highly variable and directly related to geology, and natural and human stresses. Monitoring ground-water levels and ground-water quality is essential to the management and development of this resource.

The objectives of ground-water monitoring conducted by the USGS are:

• Collect ground-water-level and ground-water-quality data to assess the quantity, quality, and distribution of ground water;
• Address water-management needs and evaluate the effects of national and local management and conservation programs;
• Advance the knowledge of the regional hydrologic system;
• Advance field or analytical methodology;
• Advance the understanding of hydrologic processes;
• Provide data or results useful to multiple parties in potentially contentious inter-jurisdictional conflicts over water resources;
• Furnish hydrologic data required for interstate and international compacts, Federal law, court decrees, and congressionally mandated studies;
• Provide water-resources information that will be used by multiple parties for planning and operational purposes; and
• Contribute data to national databases that will be used to advance the understanding of regional and temporal variations in hydrologic conditions.

Basic ground-water monitoring activities in Georgia are conducted by the Georgia Ground-Water Information and Project Support (GWIPS) Unit in cooperation with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources; the Albany Water, Gas, and Light Commission (additional information is available on the Ground-water monitoring in the Albany area page); the City of Brunswick; Glynn County; the City of Lawrenceville; the Jekyll Island Authority; and the Liberty County Development Authority. Water-level data are collected for the various aquifers in the State by a network of observation wells that includes periodic observation sites and continuously recorded observation sites (Leeth and others, 2005). Well inventory data are entered into the Ground-Water Site Inventory database. GWIPS performs database searches upon request. Borehole geophysical data are collected from available wells. Water-quality samples are taken from selected wells for analyses. Selected continuous-recorder sites have been instrumented with satellite relays for real-time transmission of water-level information.

Reference: Leeth, D.C, Clarke, J.S., Wipperfurth, C.J,, and Craigg, S.D., 2005, Ground-Water Conditions and Studies in Georgia, 2002-03: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5065.

Reference: Fanning, Julia L., 2003, Water use in Georgia by county for 2000 and water-use trends for 1980-2000: Georgia Geologic Survey Information Circular 106, 176 p.

USGS Georgia Water Resources or Water Resources of the U.S. home page.

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