EVOLVING APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING WISCONSIN'S GROUNDWATER (Invited Presentation)

Over the past four decades our understanding of Wisconsin’s hydrogeology has evolved generally in step with national and international trends. These developments fall into four interrelated categories:

1. Simultaneous progress in hydrogeologic science and computing technology. The evolution of groundwater flow system concepts and numerical methods combined with steadily increasing computer power revolutionized our science nationally, and Wisconsin is no exception. Today almost all studies include simulation models that integrate groundwater flow systems, groundwater-surface water exchange, three-dimensional flow, transience, and uncertainty. Such models provide our regulatory agencies and the public with a better understanding of groundwater issues and are powerful tools for decision support.
2. A revolution in the storage and collection of hydrogeologic data. Data historically available only in paper form is now spatially organized and almost instantly available in GIS databases. Data collection now involves relatively inexpensive and rugged sensors that acquire thousands of data points with minimum cost and effort.
3. Contaminant hydrogeology as a research discipline. In the 1970s, the main contaminants of concern in Wisconsin groundwater were nitrates and bacteria. Today, numerous contaminants are regulated. Our understanding of pathogens such as viruses and their ability to penetrate deeply into bedrock aquifers has in turn renewed our focus on aquitards, well construction practices, and groundwater protection.
4. Groundwater management for quantity and quality in Wisconsin endured a series of fits and starts over the past decades as changing political and economic interests impacted the work of state regulatory agencies. One continuous bright spot has been Wisconsin’s Groundwater Coordinating Council, established in 1984 as a forum for state agencies with groundwater responsibilities to communicate with each other and sponsor applied research projects.