CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT
Groundwater Monitors

Citizen-Based Monitoring Program
MCD can provide assistance to groups of residential well owners who share a concern about the quantity of water available to their wells. Concerns about climate changes or nearby groundwater pumping activities have united neighborhood groups to learn more about this hidden, underground resource.

Currently, MCD assists homeowners in the Village of Carlisle in Warren County and homeowners along the Stillwater River in Miami County who monitor groundwater levels in their residential wells. In both cases, MCD staff trained homeowners how to properly measure the depth to groundwater in their wells.

Homeowners typically measure the depth to water on a once-per-month basis. Over a period of one to two years, the homeowner is able to establish a fairly good baseline record of groundwater levels for the climatic conditions and groundwater pumping conditions that were present during that time period. Continued monitoring of groundwater levels allows homeowners to detect trends in the average depth to groundwater due to changes in the amount of groundwater that is pumped or changes in the amount of recharge that the aquifer receives from precipitation or some other source of recharge.

MCD also provides assistance in compiling the groundwater level data into an annual report, describing any trends that may be present. For more information on MCD’s Citizen-Based Monitoring Program, contact Krystal Lacy, (937) 223-1278 ext. 3236.