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Bulloch County approves $235,000, five-year groundwater monitoring contract with Georgia Southern
Summary
The Bulloch County Board of Commissioners unanimously authorized a five-year, six-well groundwater monitoring program with Georgia Southern for $235,000 to establish baseline aquifer data as four municipal wells come online; commissioners discussed funding, mitigation reserves and monitoring design before the vote.
Bulloch County commissioners voted unanimously to authorize the county manager to execute a $235,000, five-year contract with Georgia Southern University to install and operate a six-well groundwater monitoring network.
The approval came after Planning and Development Director James Pope, who also serves as the county’s groundwater sustainability program manager, told the board that 24-hour pump tests on four new production wells produced better-than-expected results compared with the state model. Pope said the monitoring program would record water-level data every 15 minutes, produce quarterly and annual summaries, and provide a defensible baseline for future modeling and impact assessment.
County officials said the monitoring work was recommended by the advisory committee because it will document any aquifer drawdown once production wells are operational. Two bids were considered: Georgia Southern at $235,000 and Triple Point Engineering at $362,000. Pope said Georgia Southern was recommended because it was the lower-cost option and provides local research benefits.
Commissioners pressed staff on how the monitoring will be funded. Pope said the county established a groundwater sustainability fund seeded with $1,000,000 from four founding entities (the Joint Development Authority, Bulloch County development authorities and Hyundai Motor Group). He said the $235,000 is being committed over five years (about $45,000 annually) and that revenue from water sales will also replenish mitigation accounts. He noted a policy that 10¢ per 1,000 gallons is directed to the mitigation fund.
Several commissioners raised concerns about using mitigation reserves now rather than waiting for water-sale revenue. Staff replied the program can be paid on a yearly basis from the established fund and that mitigation dollars remain available for homeowner assistance if wells are affected. Commissioners also questioned whether monitoring locations would be existing homeowner wells or newly drilled sites; Pope said Georgia Southern will propose a statistically defensible sample and that locations are expected to be voluntary.
The board moved and approved the measure without recorded opposition. The contract authorizes Georgia Southern to begin the monitoring program pending final county manager execution; staff said monitoring could begin roughly two months after Bridal County (a partner in the program) finalizes its participation.
