Groundwater Monitoring - Brown's Creek Watershed District

Groundwater Dependent Natural Resources

Land-altering activities can impact groundwater resources and groundwater dependent natural resources. Without proper land-use and water resource management, the following impacts may occur:

Reduced groundwater recharge
Reduced groundwater quality
Alterations to drinking water supply
Alterations to the functions and values of groundwater dependent natural resources.

The Brown's Creek Watershed District contains groundwater dependent natural resources which have the potential to be impacted by increasing development pressure in the watershed. While some of these resources are well known to the public, for example Brown's Creek, there are other unique resources that had not been identified until the North Washington Groundwater Study and the Natural Resource Inventory were performed.

The impairment of Brown’s Creek, declining groundwater levels, and reduced baseflow in the creek highlight the need to protect, conserve, and utilize the region’s groundwater in ways that protect public health, support economic growth and development, maintain habitat and ecosystem health, and provide for recreational opportunities.

Groundwater Planning

The Washington County Groundwater Plan (2025-2035) lists several actions that should be addressed by Watershed Management Organizations (WMOs) including BCWD:

Develop, through the Washington County Water Consortium, a county-wide groundwater monitoring plan and a data tracking and mapping system in coordination with WMOs.
Collaborate with LGUs and WMOs to identify and preserve regional recharge areas. Encourage LGUs and WMOs to incorporate protection of recharge areas into plan updates.
Work with Public Water Suppliers and WMOs to strengthen education efforts, and develop and distribute materials needed to inform home owners on where they get their water from, what source water protection is, and the efforts they can make to ensure that they do not contaminate their drinking water.
Identify available partnerships and funding opportunities to address agricultural nutrient management (with) Watershed Districts/WMO programs.

BCWD Groundwater Data

Resident Well Measurements

Thank you to our resident volunteers for allowing the Brown’s Creek Watershed District to take annual groundwater well measurements at your property. The measurements help identify trends in groundwater elevations that relate to interactions with our streams (such as Brown’s Creek), lakes, and wetlands that depend on groundwater for their source of water.

With your participation, we have taken these measurements in 2002 and began taking annual measurements in 2012. We’ve been learning a lot, but your ongoing support will help us build a robust data set that will continue to be more useful.

In-Stream Piezometer Measurements

In 2015 BCWD installed piezometers into the bed of Brown’s Creek at eight locations. The piezometers measured groundwater levels 1-2 feet below the creek bed. Groundwater levels were compared to stream levels to determine if groundwater was flowing into or out of the creek. The results showed that some reaches of the creek gained groundwater throughout all of the monitoring season, while other reaches gained groundwater during part of the monitoring season and lost water during other parts of the monitoring season.

The data from this study are important for understanding groundwater interaction within Brown’s Creek. Data collected in 2015 was used in the Brown’s Creek thermal model as well as the Riparian Shading Study.

2015 In-stream Piezometer Measurements