Preliminary Results on the Impact of OGWRP Implementation

By Dr. Sasha Richey McLarty, Assistant Professor at Washington State University

Monitoring groundwater is crucial to understand how the amount of groundwater is changing, either going up or down, and why. Groundwater levels are measured as “depth to water” to determine how deep groundwater is in a well. We can quantify the rate and volume of declines or increases in groundwater by tracking these levels over time. Groundwater levels in the Odessa Subarea have been experiencing the most widespread declines in Eastern Washington. The goal of OGWRP is to offset these declines, but is the project working? Preliminary results look promising!

Figure 1 shows the groundwater level in one well within the EL 47.5 delivery system.

Figure 1 shows the groundwater level in one well within the EL 47.5 delivery system. The solid line shows that groundwater had been declining in this well until 2021, when the delivery system came online. As we would hope, the groundwater level in this well begins to increase as pumping is reduced. The well in the dashed line is just outside the of the EL 47.5 delivery system and is also behaving as we’d expect. It takes two more years to see a response, but the water level begins to level out in 2023. The change is delayed and smaller than for the well within the project area, but this could still show that changes within an active delivery system can potentially positively impact surrounding areas.

These results are exciting, but they only show two locations for a short time period. My team is collaborating with the Columbia Basin Conservation District to continue to expand our analysis of how groundwater is responding in the Odessa Subarea and neighboring regions so we can determine the full impact of OGWRP implementation. Please contact Britton Baker (britton-baker@columbiabasincd.org) if you are interested in having your well monitored for free, or complete this survey. We are looking for any wells within and outside the OGWRP area.

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About Dr. Sasha Richey McLarty

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Washington State University in Pullman, WA. I study how groundwater is changing in Eastern Washington with a goal to support long term water supply reliability. You can learn more about my recent research on groundwater in Eastern Washington here. The OGWRP is a world class project and I’m honored to work in the region. Please reach out with any questions (sasha.richey@wsu.edu, 509-335-1691).