Tales from the Trenches - News from ALWI

Tales from the Trenches
Regional Land and Water News You Can Use

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November 2011 Issue 10

ALWI Awarded Statewide MDE Contract for Source Water Protection

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has awarded us a two-year, large-scale contract to assist groundwater-supplied communities in better protecting their water quality from possible future contamination occurrences.

MDE identified 20 groundwater-sourced systems statewide that it judged particularly vulnerable to future occurrences of contamination from man-made sources. Of those 20 vulnerable water systems and following a competitive proposal solicitation process, 12 have been awarded to ALWI to assess and develop protective recommendations.

This new federally-funded work builds upon our award-winning Source Water Assessment work of several years ago, when we prepared hundreds of Wellhead Protection Plans statewide for communities and private water system owners throughout Maryland and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic region.

Under the guidance and direction of MDE SWPP Project Manager David Pielmeier, the current effort updates technical elements of that earlier work, as well as entailing greater use of the internet, social media and other marketing methods to solicit a broader consensus and foster buy-in on the part of the water systems and their customers.

Amy Martinez Presented at Annual MDE Groundwater Symposium

Amy C.Martinez, R.S., P.G., presented a talk at the September 2011 MDE annual groundwater symposium. Her accepted abstract was entitled "Hydraulic Conductivity Parameterization May Depend on Investigative Methodology: Implication for Uncertainty."

Hydraulic conductivity is an innate aquifer property, the accurate measurement of which supports calculations of the height of groundwater mounding (for wastewater projects), the speed of contaminant migration (for remediation projects) and the areal extent of groundwater withdrawal effects (for water supply projects).

Hydraulic conductivity can be determined in the field from slug testing data, from long-term water level monitoring and from pumping tests. Ms. Martinez proved a long-held ALWI theory that field methods (i.e., slug testing protocols, long-term water level monitoring procedures, and pumping test rates & durations) can impart bias and uncertainty on the value of this important aquifer parameter.

Disclosure of this finding to agency officials and other interested scientists may help raise the technical bar of objectivity and lessen the risk of inadvertent bias affecting future projects. This presentation exemplifies how ALWI continues to be a regional leader in verifying the scientific defensibility of our technical evaluations and analyses for the betterment of both client interests and environmental protection as a whole.

In This Issue

ALWI Awarded MDE Contract

Amy Martinez Presentation

E. Cranmer Joins ALWI Team

New Staff Scientist

Elizabeth Cranmer

ALWI is pleased to announce that Ms.

Elizabeth Cranmer has accepted a full-time position as a Staff Scientist.

Already Ms. Cranmer has been supporting both water appropriation and discharge projects throughout Maryland and Virginia. Ms. Cranmer also will be assisting with the MDE SWPP project (see left column).

Ms. Cranmer completed her M.S. in Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech earlier this year, where she performed specialized research on the interaction of groundwater and surface water in urban environments.

She also holds a B.A. in Geoscience from Franklin & Marshall College. Moreover, she possesses several years of relevant GIS experience and expands ALWI's geo-spatial capabilities as a consequence.

Ms. Cranmer serves as an advisor to the "Venture Crew" (high adventure) program of the Boy Scouts in her free time.

Recent Events:

October 13, 2011; MDE Groundwater Supply Presentation to Carroll County Commissioners in Westminster, MD

October 27, 2011; Exhibit Booth at MOWPA Trade Show in Baltimore, MD

About Us - Read More at www .alwi.c om

Advanced Land and Water, Inc. is a hydrogeological and environmental consulting firm with extensive Mid-Atlantic regional experience in water supply and wastewater disposal. Our water supply experience extends to both groundwater and surface water and includes exploration, development, permitting, management and protection of both new and existing supplies. Our wastewater services include soil classification and suitability evaluations, percolation tests, spray and drip irrigation studies, infiltrometer tests, groundwater mounding calculations and nitrate loading assessments. We also provide a diversity of GIS mapping, environmental and other specialty consulting services.