Monitoring Well/Lagoon design
GGI specializes in designing water wells that range from large production supply wells for irrigation purposes to small shallow monitoring wells for groundwater sampling. Monitoring wells provide a means to assess the quality and other characteristics of groundwater beneath a dairy. The individual monitoring well allows sampling of the groundwater to measure the quality by laboratory analyses. Groundwater flow rates and directions can be determined with a group of at least three monitoring wells.
Current regulatory policy has been leaning towards a minimum of three monitoring wells at a dairy operation with the potential for additional wells if the operation either has land application areas or is required to provide an abatement plan. The location of the monitoring wells and the quality of installation become key elements in producing a monitoring program that is accurate and does not burden the dairy owner with unnecessary expenses. Monitoring wells that are improperly located will not provide the necessary information to determine compliance with permits and will not offer the dairy owner with the proper picture of the groundwater situation beneath the dairy operation.
Drilling crew placing a proper surface seal around a new monitoring well.
Monitoring wells that are not properly designed and not installed to proper standards will produce poor results and will impact any assessment of the water quality for a location. Low-quality drilling methods, poor well construction, improper well design, and/or deficient well materials will cause a final well that will trouble the dairy owner for many years.
GGI hydrogeologists and hydrologists are experienced in the designing of production wells and the designing of monitoring well programs. GGI follows both regulatory guidelines (such as USEPA, NMED, and NDEP) and recognized industry standards (such as ASTM, AWWA, and NSF) to promote the proper installation and construction of monitoring and production wells. GGI also considers the expenses of well installation and works with the client to produce the best quality product with the available financial resources.
Every dairy requires lagoons to store the green water produced at the dairy and the storm water that runs from the dairy. Under current regulations, dairy lagoons required to have the capacity to hold at least 60 days of green water production plus any additional amount of rainfall that can be by a 25 year/24 hour storm event. Therefore, proper lagoon design is essential to make sure that the dairy meets the requirements for storage capacity.
View along the finished edge of a synthetically-lined lagoon.
GGI’s experienced staff includes NCRS-certified TSPs who can assist you with proper lagoon design that meets NRCS and NMED requirements. We engineer the lagoon design while taking into consideration all the factors that are unique to your dairy operation: the volume allowed under your discharge permit, the options for an evaporative lagoon design, the options for a combined storm water runoff and green water lagoon, your dairy’s type
of solid-separation equipment, and your use of green water as part of a land application system.
We also help you in acquiring cost-share (EQIP) funds from NRCS. Our staff acts as a liaison between you and the regulatory agencies. We understand building lagoons are large capital costs. This is why GGI makes sure the project is done right the first time.