It's field work Friday...

on a snowy early morning, so I'm gearing up and leaving soon for my monthly rounds of groundwater level measurements on the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer.  More snow is predicted through the day, and some local ski areas open this weekend.  Given the snowy winter forecast, I predict a good runoff next spring, which translates into good aquifer recharge.

It's field work Friday...

on the Rathdrum Prairie, and this time environmental science/geology student SD will accompany me on my monthly rounds.  We'll measure groundwater levels in four irrigation wells this morning now that they've shut down for the season.

It's field work Friday...

as I slip in under the wire to make groundwater level measurements on the Rathdrum Prairie during the month of July due to my recently relentless travel schedule.

It's field work Friday...

yet again and I expect to measure still higher groundwater levels in the Rathdrum Prairie in northern Idaho as compared to last month.  The Spokane River is swollen with spring runoff, and its losing relationship with the underlying aquifer is the primary source of recharge to the regional groundwater system.

The trip to a closed landfill...

today with my environmental science seminar class was instructive, where we viewed the successful implementation of a pump-and-treat groundwater remediation program at the Colbert Landfill about 15 miles north of Spokane.  The tour was guided by KB, a former EWU geology grad who oversees the functions at several closed solid waste sites in the county, seen here making introductory comments (click to enlarge):

Students peer into a vault that contains a groundwater interception well and associated electronic controls and sampling port at the periphery of the contaminated site:

Since the landfill originated as a sand and gravel pit in 1968 it doesn't have a bottom liner, but a cap installed during closure in the mid-1990s includes a thin HDPE geomembrane that prohibits water from infiltrating into the buried wastes and generating additional leachate:

The interior of the plant is a maze of pipes and valves where contaminated groundwater from a number of interceptor wells is collected and routed to the top of the air-striping tower outside of the plant:

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) rapidly disperse from the descending column of water in the four story air-striping tower while a blower forces air up through the base and out the top, venting the evaporated VOCs into the atmosphere:

The treated water is collected and discharged to the Little Spokane River, about a half-mile to the west.  In sum, this represents a local environmental success story.

It's field work Friday...

on the Rathdrum Prairie, and I anticipate finding rising groundwater levels in my monitoring wells due to the above average precipitation we've received this late winter and spring.  Here's the latest summary for the area from the National Weather Service:  March 2011 Weather Watcher (.pdf file).

It's field work Friday...

on the Rathdrum Prairie yet again, the first of the new year.  Time to take the pulse, um, measure water levels, in the aquifer.

It's field work Friday...

again, the last of the year, as I go about my monthly rounds measuring water levels in monitoring wells in the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer.  I'll bring my spreadsheet up-to-date and post a time-series graphic of the complete data set in the new year.

It's field work Friday...

on the Rathdrum Prairie in Idaho today, and I was able to finally measure groundwater levels in all the monitoring wells and the equipment functioned perfectly.

It's field work Friday once again...

and I hope equipment problems don't interfere with my groundwater level measurements in monitoring wells in the Rathdrum Prairie, Idaho.

UPDATE:  It was not to be.  More equipment issues.  Doh.

It's field work Friday...

again, and I anticipate finding the lowest groundwater levels in the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer for the year when I make my measurements in six monitoring wells later today.

UPDATE:  Equipment problems prevented me from making a full round of measurements.  I'll fix the sounder and try again in two weeks.

Solinst equipment is entirely unreliable...

for monitoring groundwater, as I've just discovered that two more of their LTC loggers have died while deployed in the field. That makes a total of six of eight Solinst loggers that have ceased to function and resulted in months of lost data, a failure rate of 75% based on my experience. Sheesh.

Here's a blog post about their earlier failures, and it doesn't involve battery problems. In addition, I got no satisfaction from their technical support staff, and valuable research data was irretrievably lost.

They have competitors. Use them.

It's field work Friday...

once again as I resume my regular rounds measuring groundwater levels in monitoring wells in the Rathdrum Prairie, Idaho.

It's field work Friday...

on the Rathdrum Prairie in Idaho, as I make the rounds measuring groundwater levels in a select set of monitoring wells this morning. It's been more than three months since my last visit to gather data so it will be interesting to see the status of the aquifer.

Then it's back to the university for final prep and packing for a week-long field class that departs early tomorrow morning - more about that later.

Final field work Friday...

in the Rathdrum Prairie occurs today, at least for the next several months. I'm heading to Utah tomorrow where I will spend the spring term on professional leave from the university, engaged in various field activities. Stay tuned, people who like to tune in.

It's field work Friday...

once again on the Rathdrum Prairie as I go about my monthly rounds of acquiring groundwater level measurements. I had difficulties with a sounder last month and have since repaired the device. Hope it works better this time around.

It's the first field work Friday...

of the new year as I continue to gather groundwater level data for monitoring wells in the Rathdrum Prairie, Idaho. Here's a graphic showing nearly eight years of measurements based on these monthly efforts.

The raw, unmanipulated data...

from nearly eight years of groundwater monitoring of five wells in the Rathdrum Prairie, Idaho (click to enlarge). The gaps represent points of time when the wells were being used for summer irrigation, or inaccessible due to snow, or I was traveling. Note, since 2004, the significant rising trend in the surface of the water table in all of the wells.

[Perhaps global climate change since 2004 is the cause for the increase. Heh.]

Spokane's "unusual water supply"...

was mentioned in a 1930 article in the short-lived The Spokane Woman newspaper (click to enlarge), a relict accidentally discovered by a former student of mine. Here's his account of this interesting find:

"So I was sledge hammering my basement apart today and found an entire intact copy of an old local publication called "The Spokane Woman" that was being used as a shim for framing a door opening. The first page had a caption about the mysterious source of Spokane's water.

Enjoy,
Deacon"

We know today - 80 years later - that Spokane is indeed fortunate, with a bountiful water supply provided by the sole-source Spokane aquifer.

Thanks, DB, for sharing this with me, and the readers of this blog.

It's the last field work Friday...

on the Rathdrum Prairie this calendar year. I'm making my usual rounds measuring groundwater levels, and I'll post an updated year-end graph as soon as I am able.

(There's no hidden, manipulated, modified nor discarded data in my projects!)