Page 3 of 3

the transfer of surface waters to groundwater. There are multiple groundwater aquifers, some of which are confined and others that interact with surface water.

Routine public well testing includes monitoring for:

Through collaborative work in the Zoning, Watershed, and Health Departments, we are preparing a presentation on historical public well test results for Dubuque County and statewide. This should be available in the next few weeks.

The County has identified a gap in its understanding of groundwater availability, including its recharge rate, and any cyclical variation. This was pointed out by Iowa State Geologist, Keith Schilling during his presentation at NICC in August.

Our collaborative department efforts have been reviewing some options for how to develop an understanding of the groundwater status in Dubuque County. We have connected with Johnson County that has recently updated a USGS aquifer analysis and model. This was an expensive process and does not include ongoing monitoring, but does create a useful water model that can be a resource for municipal and public well owners.

We have also engaged with Linn County and a private Midwest company that provides non-intrusive technology to monitor water “height” in existing wells. With the number of public wells, including the County Conservation wells and municipal wells, and others, this could create a geographically diverse way to monitor groundwater levels in real time, and with time, a historical trend or pattern.

As our investigations continue, we anticipate providing a report later this year, possibly with budget suggestions and possible opportunities for interjurisdictional collaboration.

This would go hand in hand with the well testing for contaminants, and the surface water testing already being conducted.

The goal of these monitoring and testing regiments would be to