Management Water resource management is the practice of obtaining and evaluating key information on your source of supply over time.  One key component of water resource management is the collection of water level measurements from wells.  Water level measurements are the basic indicator of the status (health) of the aquifer supplying the well.  Does your system have a formal management "effort" to acquire this most basic of data? OAI developed a cost effective and efficient program to address this aspect of water resource management.  What began with a four aquifer/seven well water level monitoring program in 2004, grew to become a ten aquifer/37+ well program for seven public water systems across southwest Alabama, see Newsletter page for the latest updates.  The data collected is used to monitor each well's effect on the water supply stored in the aquifer.  This data provides critical information on whether or not the aquifer can support additional wells, see graph below.  Can the aquifer currently supplying your well safely support another well?  If it can, you don't need to budget for a test well at a cost of $60,000+.  If you don't know, the lack of an answer may end up costing your system the cost of a test well and months of time.  Call OAI today to implement a cost efficient groundwater level monitoring program. The figure below shows that the water level in the aquifer tapped by a local water system's well, a well that tested out at 1,800 gpm, is in balance with no significant change in non-pumping water level since the well's completion in 2001.  This un-bias data gives the system a strong management tool showing that the aquifer supplying this well is in great shape with no indications of being over produced, information contrary to what is commonly reported for aquifers in the area. For their next well, this system can complete aquifer testing to establish the appropriate well spacing and continue to develop this aquifer knowing in advance its water quality and production capability eliminating the need for and expense of test wells.