Groundwater Monitoring
Year-over-Year Trend Analysis, Pueblo CO
• ArcGIS Pro • Contour Analysis • Longitudinal Data • Satellite Imagery • Field Data Integration
About the project:
Understanding groundwater behavior near the former Pueblo smelter is critical for assessing long-term environmental risk. Pacific Western Technologies monitored potentiometric groundwater levels which is the height water rises within a well across a network of boreholes and monitoring wells placed throughout the site. Original boreholes were installed in 2018; additional boreholes were added to improve spatial coverage near the historic smelter buildings.
My work
Expanding the monitoring network I enhanced satellite imagery of the site to identify optimal borehole placement locations and supported the field crew in positioning new monitoring points. I then mapped the latitude and longitude coordinates of all existing and new boreholes in ArcGIS Pro to build an updated spatial dataset.
Year 1 analysis (2023) After the field crew collected groundwater measurements across all locations, I processed the data and generated a contour map depicting groundwater elevation levels across the site. The contours provided a spatial picture of groundwater flow direction and relative depth that provides critical context for understanding how contamination may move through the subsurface.
Year 2 comparison (2024) The following year, the same measurement protocol was repeated. I created a second contour map using the new data and produced a side-by-side comparison with the 2023 dataset. This year-over-year view allowed the project team and EPA stakeholders to identify trends, detect any changes in groundwater behavior, and assess whether remediation efforts were having measurable effect.
Conclusion
Longitudinal data is only useful when it's consistently collected, accurately processed, and clearly communicated. This project demonstrates the full cycle of spatial data, from collection, integration, analysis, and comparative visualization delivered to environmental stakeholders over a multi-year monitoring period.