The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County are providing assistance to the Illinois State Water Survey in a study of the County’s groundwater system.
In the 1990’s the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) conducted a study in which the water level in about 600 McHenry County wells was measured. The wells, mostly residential, were located throughout the county and were individually visited by ISWS staff who measured the water level in each well. This data enabled the ISWS to map the water levels in our sand and gravel aquifers and resulted in the publication, in 1998, of a landmark study titled “Groundwater Studies for Environmental Planning, McHenry County Illinois” by Scott Meyer. This study greatly increased the understanding of the county’s groundwater resources and served as the basis for much of the later research into the County’s groundwater supply, including that used in preparation of the County’s current Water Resources Action Plan.
Now, the County and the ISWS are in the process of updating the Meyer study. This update will show what changes have occurred in groundwater levels during the past 17 –21 years, and will also enable verification of recent groundwater flow modeling techniques.
To develop the new data, ISWS staff must re-measure the water levels in as many of the 600 previously measured wells as possible. The measurement is free and can be performed with or without the homeowner present, depending on their preference. It will take about 15 minutes during which ISWS staff will remove the cap of the well, lower a disinfected steel measuring tape, calculate the water depth, reattach the well cap and replace rusted nuts and bolts as needed.
The ISWS needs to secure permission from well owners, which is a very time consuming process as people have moved and phone numbers have changed. The Environmental Defenders have volunteered to contact well owners to secure permission for ISWS to measure water levels.
Defenders members are telephoning or hand delivering messages to addresses that previously had well levels measured. For more information, please contact the Defenders’ office at 815-338-0393 or at mcdef@owc.org.
The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and improvement of the environment. The group provides community residents with educational programs and volunteer action on pollution prevention, sustainable land use and energy and natural resource conservation. Donations are encouraged and are tax-deductible as charitable contributions.
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