Project: Aquifer Studies in Walla Walla Basin

Eastern Washington

Working for three main clients — HDR/EES, the Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council, and the Walla Walla Watershed Alliance — GSI has led a series of inter-related projects examining shallow sediment aquifer and deep basalt aquifer groundwater availability and shallow aquifer recharge to reduce or reverse shallow aquifer water level declines. The recharge work, which is in its preliminary stages, has focused on pilot testing the feasibility of using winter/spring surface water runoff to restore diminished shallow aquifer levels with the ultimate objective of restoring lost baseflow to the Walla Walla River and improving habitat.