Public Health and Environment

Groundwater/Surface Water Management in Washington County

Over the last five years, Washington County has made a strong commitment to understanding and protecting its groundwater resources. It has allocated a significant amount of resources to planning, data collection, and water governance. In addition, the County has made a commitment to bringing together Water Management Organizations and encourages the sharing of information about a resource that does not conform to existing political boundaries.

Accomplishments

In 1999 the County published the Water Governance Study. This study was performed to identify and evaluate the best governance structure for water management from a countywide perspective.

One of the key recommendations of this study was the establishment of a county-wide Water Consortium whose objective has been to work on surface and groundwater issues that cross local water unit boundaries. Members of the Consortium include local water units, cities and townships, state and local natural resource agencies, and County Departments.

On a parallel track, the County adopted the Washington County Groundwater Plan in December 2003. This Plan identifies County-wide goals and corresponding implementation strategies that the various stakeholders (the County, Water Management Organizations, Local Units of Government, state agencies) should perform over the next ten years.

Over the last few years the Water Consortium has been responsible for accomplishing a number of tasks that are paving the way for efficient and effective water management. In the spring of 2003, it published a Comparative Review of Watershed District Rules and Recommendations for Standardization (PDF). This report provides a comparison of the rules and standards adopted by all of the watershed districts and water management organizations located in Washington County.

Currently the Water Consortium is in the process of developing groundwater rules that can be incorporated into existing and newly developed watershed district rules. These rules include:

A. Groundwater Appropriations

B. Volume Control

C. Groundwater Quality

D. Groundwater Dependent Natural Resources

The Water Consortium reviewed the draft language for the proposed rules and the Incorporating Groundwater Protection into Watershed District Rules report (pdf) was published in January 2005.

In 2004 the County completed the North Washington Groundwater/Surface Water Interaction Study and initiated its sister-study, the South Washington Groundwater /Surface Water Interaction Study which will be completed in 2005. Both of these studies provide local decision makers with planning level information on groundwater resources in their area and data to support management strategies and policies protecting lakes, wetlands, streams, and water supplies dependent on groundwater resources.

The work that Washington County and the Water Consortium have performed to date is setting a precedent for watershed management: it's acknowledging the link between surface water and groundwater and providing the resources and mechanisms for its protection.

Home | Info for Residents | Info for Business | Things to Do Here | Employment
Dept. Directory | Your County Government

General Information: 651-430-6000 • (TTY:651-430-6246)
© Washington County. Security/Privacy/Accessibility Statement. Contact Washington County.