Gila River Well Database for Managing Groundwater Resources

Client: Gila River Indian Community Location: Southern AZ Contact for information management projects: Michael Scrafford

Project Background & Challenges

The Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) wanted to improve management of its water resources as well as expand irrigation. A basin-wide characterization of GRIC groundwater resources was essential to the tribe’s water management goals. To effectively characterize water resources on tribal lands, the project team required a data management model and plan, a data-collection program, and a water-resources database. .

Solution

As part of Aspect’s first steps in our basin-wide groundwater characterization, we created a user-friendly database in MS Access format. This database allows users to manually enter data, perform QA/QC verifications, and import data from downhole dataloggers. We then compiled and reviewed a variety of historical data that enabled Aspect hydrogeologists to select representative baseline wells for monitoring. We also collected field data to verify and update the historical information. The GRIC now uses the database for its ongoing monitoring program.