Douglas County hears groundwater analysis showing lower physically recoverable water than legal allocations

Douglas County Water Commission members heard an update Aug. 25 on the county'wide water plan that emphasized technical mapping and a comparison between legal water allocations and what consultants consider physically recoverable groundwater.

Forest Grown Associates project manager Will Koger and Bill Fronczak of LRE Water described a multi-part analysis including a water-provider survey, a geophysical ("Petra") analysis of well logs, and an SB 5 (statutory) grid-based inventory of subsurface water. "We're now working on drafts of the water supply and demand analysis and the land use policy analysis phases 1 and 2, looking to complete those by the end of the year," Koger said.

The consultants told commissioners why the work matters: county land-use decisions hinge on both legally adjudicated water and what can actually be pumped from the ground. "What we're trying to do here is get the county the information that in the unincorporated areas ... how much water really is in these various aquifers?" Fronczak said.

Fronczak summarized the technical approach. He said the team synthesized State Engineer Office (SEO) records to classify domestic (exempt) and non-domestic wells, used Petra and…