Overview:
Working with Wilcox Engineers, Aquifer Science & Technology (AST) assisted in completing a wellhead protection plan for the former K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, as part of the Sawyer International Business Center development for Marquette County, Michigan. AST prepared an analysis of the groundwater flow system of the aquifer supplying the well field. Aquifer Science & Technology updated and validated an existing 3-dimensional Modflow model of the aquifer. AST delineated wellhead protection areas for the well field. The plan included recommendations for further development of the well field to avoid potential contamination threats to the existing wells.
Unusual Facts:
A Wellhead Protection Area (WHPA) is the surface and subsurface area surrounding a water well or well field through which contaminants are reasonably likely to move toward and reach the well or well field. A wellhead protection plan is completed through testing and modeling to provide the best estimate of groundwater flow and levels. The resulting plan shows where the well will draw from over the next ten years.
Wells are expensive to construct and contaminated groundwater is costly to treat. The environmental cleanup of contaminated groundwater is a lengthy and very costly endeavor. Preventing groundwater contamination is far less costly than cleaning up groundwater after it is contaminated.
The former K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base closed in the fall of 1995. At its peak, the base supported a population of 4,500. Since the closing, the facility has been revitalized into a business park, related commercial services, and Sawyer International Airport. The current population is now at 3,300, much of this due to the availability of affordable housing on the former base grounds. There are also 1,160 full-time employees working at Sawyer. It is extremely important to protect the water supply so that it can continue to support this growing population.