Facts about Groundwater Levels
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Village of Barrington Hills
Groundwater Elevation:
| Surface and groundwater elevations are recorded in feet Above Mean Sea Level (AMSL). The ground surface at the well location is approximately 891 feet AMSL. With a water level of approximately 782 feet AMSL, the depth to the groundwater is about 109 feet. As with most public and private wells in the BACOG area, this well is located in the shallow aquifers that lie within several hundred feet of ground surface.
Groundwater levels in the shallow aquifer system fluctuate in response to seasonal changes, nearby or on-site pumping, and variable precipitation and recharge. For more information about Barrington Area wells and the shallow groundwater system, visit the publications portion of the website.
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Barrington Hills Implements First Local Water Level Monitoring Well in Barrington Area
At 112 Algonquin Road in Barrington Hills, groundwater level is measured, logged, and displayed on the Village's website every hour. The Village's website widget represents something more significant than the current water level. Over time, this water level data can be used to help the village determine trends in water levels, evaluate impacts of pumping and climate, and assist in making informed decisions about water resource management.
Obstacles to scalable water level monitoring systems include liability and health concerns about opening wells to take water level measurements, lack of funding for logger equipment and qualified personnel to collect data in the field on a scheduled basis, concerns about consistency and accuracy of measurements, and timeliness of analysis and distribution of collected data.
The Village of Barrington Hills has provided an innovative solution that addresses these obstacles:
- The well automatically transmits data on open radio frequencies, meaning the well only has to be opened once for installation of the equipment.
- Maintenance costs are low when data is returned automatically because qualified personnel are not required to gather data from the site. Data can be accessed remotely from any location once it is published to the web.
- The creation of a network of water level monitoring wells would provide the data required to identify significant increases or decreases in groundwater levels that can be used to anticipate effects of stress to aquifers, and promote local and regional stewardship of the shared resource.
This program has set a model by which other agencies can monitor groundwater, and see their well's information in concert with other area monitoring wells, as these wells are fitted with water level monitoring equipment. With the first real-time groundwater level monitoring ell in the area, the Village of Barrington Hills has provided the initial step to creating a network of monitoring wells to guide data-driven responses to groundwater resource challenges in the future.
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| Click the image to view levelogger equipment information |
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