Features Research Water Quality
$2.6M earmarked for U.S. ground water monitoring network

Dec. 31, 2014, Washington – Within hours of a government shutdown, Congress last week passed
$1.1T in spending that contains $2.6M for the implementation of the
National Ground-Water Monitoring Network, said the National Ground Water Association.

Dec. 31, 2014, Washington – Within hours of a government shutdown, Congress last week passed
$1.1T in spending that contains $2.6M for the implementation of the
National Ground-Water Monitoring Network, said the National Ground Water Association.

On Dec. 16 President Obama signed the bill funding the federal government through fiscal year 2015.

The money allows the U.S. Geological Survey to provide cost-share
grants to states in the form of cooperative agreements to upgrade
monitoring networks to national standards and to incorporate wells into
the network, said the NGWA, a strong advocate of the program, in a news release. The funding also will support additional work by USGS to
manage the network and provide data access to the public through an
Internet web portal.

NGWA led the effort with allied organizations and coalition members
to obtain funding for the network, which is a significant achievement
for the Association and its members. The network will rely on states to
collect and report monitoring data. This data will be used to generate a
comprehensive picture of the resource on a national scale, which has
never been done before.

“This funding is the result of nearly a decade-long effort led by
NGWA to raise awareness of the critical role groundwater plays as a
natural resource through the implementation of a nationwide monitoring
network,” said NGWA chief executive officer Kevin McCray, CAE, in the release.

The NGWMN will allow USGS and others across the country to have
access to data via an online portal, enabling a greater understanding of
groundwater resources on a national scale. With increased pressure on
water resources, particularly in the West, the implementation of the
NGWMN will help inform good management of groundwater supplies across
the country. This is important to the continued use of water wells as a
source of safe drinking water for millions of Americans who rely on both
public water systems and privately owned household wells.

NGWA and its partners will begin work on ensuring continued funding
for the network early in 2015. For more information on the NGWMN and the
portal, visit http://cida.usgs.gov/ngwmn/ .

An editorial on the network by Mike Wireman, retired from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, will be featured in the Winter 2015
edition of NGWA's journal, Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation.