|
|
|
The groundwater elevation in southern Beltrami County has been decreasing since May of 2001. This is good news for many Beltrami County homeowners, who have experienced groundwater flooding in the previous three years. This year’s water levels most closely reflect 1994 levels. There are 19 groundwater observation wells that are measured once a month, except January and February. These wells can be placed into 3 categories of depths: shallow, medium and deep. The first is 0-15 feet (9 wells), the second is 15-30 feet (8 wells), and the third is greater than 30 feet (2 wells). For comparison, we will evaluate this year averages to 1999, the highest groundwater levels on record for the 13 years of monitoring. The first group of wells (<15’) fluctuate the greatest with precipitation and are the areas that impact homeowners the most. We have seen a 23-inch drop in groundwater from 1999 to 2003. The other two groups of wells have also shown a drop in groundwater from 1999 to 2003. The medium depth wells (15-30’) have decreased 39.6 inches. The deep wells (>30’) fluctuate the least. These wells have decreased 22.4 inches. The decrease in groundwater is directly related to precipitation decreases in all three of these cases. The data that is collected from these observation wells are provided to the county, townships, and are available to anyone else who needs the data to make good land use management decisions.
Contact Chris at chris.parthun@mn.nacdnet.net for more information on observation wells in Beltrami County Questions or comments about our site? Email Dede at deanna.kubitz@mn.nacdnet.net | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
