Representative Projects »
Watershed Planning & Hydrogeologic Characterization
Project: WRIA 14 Hydrogeologic Characterization
Client: WRIA 14 Planning Group
Location: Mason County, Washington
NLW recently completed a hydrogeologic investigation for Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 14, the Kennedy–Goldsborough watershed, in western Washington. The investigation entailed several tasks that not only improved our understanding of the area’s hydrogeology but also yielded data for future studies:
 Developing and later refining the preliminary conceptual model
Monitoring water levels to assess aquifer responses to natural and induced stresses
Collecting water samples and analyzing them for chemical parameters and environmental isotopes
The isotope samples provided information about the age and flow patterns of groundwater in the focus area. Ecology well records were incorporated into a project database and supplemented with published data. In addition, many wells were surveyed in the field to obtain accurate location and elevation information. We analyzed drillers’ well logs to identify key hydrogeologic, and then incorporated this data, along with water level information, into a project database. To develop a three-dimensional conceptual model, we linked this data to the software application Viewlog.
Project: Johns Creek Sub-Basin Preliminary Build-Out and Projected Water Quantity Analysis
Client: WRIA 14 Planning Group
Location: Mason County, Washington
The Johns Creek sub-basin features a substantial area of undeveloped land and habitat for fish. The WRIA 14 Planning Unit faced a unique opportunity to proactively manage growth so that people and fish can coexist in a sustainable way in the future. Land development and population growth pose two significant challenges in areas where the surface and groundwater systems are connected. First, traditional development practices can alter the natural hydrologic processes of runoff, recharge, and storage, impacting not only the availability of drinking water but also the amount and timing of water delivered to creeks that support fish habitat. Second, withdrawing water for domestic, irrigation, or industrial uses reduces local streamflows. Our work for this project entailed identifying possible impacts to flows at the sub-basin scale, projecting future water demand conditions, and exploring potential impacts to habitat under one of many possible future development scenarios.
Project: WRIA 14 Watershed
Management Plan
Client: Plateau TechComm
/ WRIA 14 Planning Unit
Location: Mason County, Washington
NLW worked with Plateau Technical Communication
Services to develop the WRIA 14 Watershed Management Plan. In addition
to providing technical support and review, NLW researced options
for addressing key issues related to water quantity, water quality,
and instream flows. The plan was intended to guide water management decisions
in this largely rural basin. As such, it involved input from various
stakeholders, including several municipalities, the Squaxin Island
Tribe, environmental groups, developers, and other interests.
Project: WRIA 9 Strategic
Assessment
Client: Anchor Environmental / WRIA 9 Technical
Committee
Location: King County, Washington
NLW recently completed portions of a strategic assessment for
the Middle Green River. Our work, which focused primarily on the
groundwater system and its interactions with surface water, entailed
compiling data from numerous sources and performing qualitative
and GIS-based analyses. Specific tasks included:
Indentifying
reaches with significant ground¬water discharge to the Green
River
Mapping
precipitation recharge using GIS
Assessing
the hydraulic connection between large wells and local streams and/or
the Green River
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