Hundreds of Wells to Be Surveyed for Groundwater Snapshot

Around 300 Rakaia-Ashburton wells will be resurveyed in early May as part of an ongoing Environment Canterbury programme to model and understand the groundwater system in mid Canterbury.

Environment Canterbury groundwater hydrologist Mike Thorley said the piezometric[†] survey will provide more information on the three-dimensional water flows in the aquifer system below the Rakaia-Ashburton plains area.

“Environment Canterbury staff will measure the water levels inside wells while other staff will be measuring flows in the Rakaia and Ashburton rivers to provide additional information on river recharge.”

“This phase of the project repeats the measurements made in August 2010 so that we can determine the seasonal change in groundwater level conditions. Our aim is to understand how groundwater moves through Canterbury’s aquifers and the balance between groundwater and surface water,” said Mike Thorley.

The survey is the final stage of field work of an ongoing two year water resource investigation across the Rakaia-Ashburton Plains area. The field work is planned for Wednesday May, 4 2011 (or Thursday May 5 if required).

Results of the survey will be available in a technical report scheduled to be published in July 2011.

By the end of April every landowner with a well included in the project should receive a letter, an email and/or a phone call from an Environment Canterbury staff member about the upcoming survey day.

The survey involves an Environment Canterbury staff member making a short visit to measure the groundwater level in each well. The measurements are not part of Environment Canterbury’s compliance activities and the data is for the scientific research programme only.