SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA GROUNDWATER DATABASE AND MONITORING NETWORK

The Department of Geology and Geography at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP) is teaming up with industry leaders and county and state administrators to analyze our local water resources so that we can sustainably use this resource. The Black Creek Aquifer is a primary ground water resource for five different counties in Southeast North Carolina and is the focus of this study. Undergraduate interns worked with their faculty mentor, county officials, and a local well driller to site 13 monitoring wells and 1 pumping well across the region. Each of the 15 wells in the network are monitored using pressure transducers and the data is collected and downloaded each month to a publically accessible database. The undergraduates create monthly piezometric maps for the local region based on the measurements from the wells and a report of these findings are reported to the county on a semi-annual basis. In addition the students collect well records from local well drillers, state and federal agencies and then analyze and map the data to provide a spatial database of many of the groundwater wells in the region. The students create well construction and formation diagrams for each of the wells in the database by synthesizing all the data we have for each well in order to simplify the records for the public. The monitoring of the ground water in the region and the database will hopefully act as a reference for water managers to determine how increased industrial and agricultural uses are impacting our local groundwater systems and to effectively manage the resource. The program has been a great way to help connect undergraduates with industry leaders and public administrators but also has been an opportunity to help our campus and community members to learn more about their local water resources.