REGIONAL WATER PLANNING AERIAL SURVEY OF GROUNDWATER RESOURCES

Regional Water Rural Water Association is partnering with Aqua Geo Frameworks, a Nebraska-based company, to conduct a survey of aquifers in the south of Shelby County near the Nishnabotna River.  Using airborne electromagnetic surveying and advanced modeling, Aqua Geo Frameworks will be able to develop a three-dimensional model of the underground between the surface and the bedrock over many square miles.

This will give Regional Water comprehensive information about aquifers in this region, which are currently very poorly documented, at a fraction of the price of traditional ground surveys, and can be done without disturbing anything on the ground, allowing the survey to be conducted even during the growing season.  Regional Water will be able to use this information to plan for water protection around its existing wellfield, and also determine the location and layout of large-scale underground geological features relevant to future projects.

Aqua Geo Frameworks has previously done work for numerous state and local water conservation and study districts throughout the Midwest and Western United States, as well as for the US Army Corp of Engineers and the US Bureau of Reclamation.

The survey will involve numerous passes with a helicopter near the studied areas, and will take place over the course of one or two days around July 9, 2018.  Flight planning and compliance with all FAA and other regulations will be ensured entirely by Aqua Geo Frameworks or its subcontractors.