Protecting Groundwater

With all the flooding regional people have seen over the course of the past several months, protecting our precious water from contamination can become a major concern. Even without flooding issues, preserving the quality and the availability of our groundwater is of paramount importance to everyone. Considering 95% of all available fresh water comes from aquifers, and surface water bodies are connected to groundwater, good stewardship makes sense.

Jon Reiten, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, defines groundwater as “any water underground in aquifers and in porous mediums that allow water to run through it. It’s a zone of underground water that contains enough water to support a well.”

Reiten points out that we can pollute this water if we aren’t careful. “Any water on the surface moves into the groundwater surface,” he says. “A chemical spill or any other sort of spill, the contents of a septic system, all these can make their way into the underground water system.”

Pollution isn’t the only issue we face. Overuse or over pumping can make a huge impact in availability of water. Aquifers may be held in deep channels, such as the aquifer that serves the town of Sidney, or they can be flowing aquifers like the Fox Hills/Hell Creek aquifer from which communities such as Circle and Richey receive their water. Flowing aquifers, if overused or over pumped, can cause serious problems for multitudes of people if the water level drops. “There are some issues with flowing aquifers,” Reiten remarks. “Flowing aquifers can be vulnerable if they are overused or over pumped. This can affect water wells for miles, and a lot of people can be affected.”

He continues, ‘Water is a need for new development in gas and oil and for other industrial purposes, but if we overdevelop there is a potential that this will impact people who depend on that water source.”

The dry-up or inability to use a well means tremendous cost in dollars to drill a new, deeper well. “Ranchers use flowing aquifers because they don’t need electricity to pump the water in some cases, but if the water levels fall, these people will have to drill new wells which can become a pricey issue,” Reiten remarks. “Over pumping is an important issue as water for a large area could be impacted if we over pump for any reason.”

Reiten has begun to monitor the Fox Hills/Hell Creek flowing aquifer to try to get a grip on what, if anything is happening to water levels and how this will affect surrounding areas. “We’ve already had reports that people have had their water wells go dry,” Reiten comments. “If the aquifer keeps dropping and stops flowing, wells will become unusable. There are indications that this is going on.”

He continues, “Water is vital. We must know our geology and must map out the main aquifers in order to understand them and to know what we have to do to protect them. We have lots of water, but we need to map, find the sources, and then develop these aquifers properly.”

As far as individual water well owners are concerned, Reiten advises people to make sure they keep wells clean and uncontaminated. If for any reason people decide to abandon a well, Reiten encourages them to hire a specialist to properly cap and seal off the unwanted well.

“Properly plug abandoned wells, using bentonite chips and staying below the plow line,” he says. “Seal it off, because you don’t want surface contaminants flowing into it. We worry about chemicals, along with a whole host of contaminant materials that can form a conduit to an aquifer. You want to cut this off, so it is best to use a licensed well driller so the well is abandoned properly.”

He concludes. “If you just cut the well off, you can get all sorts of contaminants into the ground water.”