The City of Grovetown is creating an efficiency program for its water system.
On Aug. 9, the Grovetown City Council approved a contract for engineering firm Goodwyn Mills Cawood to do a hydrogeological study to identify possible well locations.
Hydrogeology is the study of groundwater and “how water gets into the ground (recharge), how it flows in the subsurface (through aquifers) and how groundwater interacts with the surrounding soil and rock,” according to the International Association of Hydrogeology’s website.
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Bradley Smith, the city’s finance director, notes that finding productive water wells within the city limits would help increase the water system’s resiliency. It would mean Grovetown would not have to rely solely on the water supply from Columbia County.
“It’s not a matter of Columbia County not providing enough water to us,” said Smith. “It’s just a matter of being prepared in case the worst were to happen.”
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The process for the program is in its earliest stages. The project will start with a desktop study, or research study. The engineering firm will contact the Environmental Protection Division and the United States Geological Survey to find what records already exist regarding Grovetown’s groundwater and monitoring wells.
“From there, we’re going to be trying to come up with several locations which would be ideal for further investigations,” said Marie Corbin, senior project manager at GMC. “Once we get several locations fixed in our mind that would be good options, we will present those to the City of Grovetown, and from there, we’ll make a selection of where we want to start doing field work.”
Corbin notes that it will take three months to complete the preliminary study and create the report. Once those steps are done, the report will be presented to the city. Even if the results of the study prove promising, any project that entails further inquiry, drilling or installation could take years.
“Drilling the well and to actually get a well online where it could pump into a system is a much larger task,” said Corbin. “There’s other infrastructure that has to be installed in order to connect wells to system, as well as permitting with the state.”
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Smith said that because the resiliency project for Grovetown’s water system is in its first phase, it’s difficult to foresee how this study relates to that project’s objective. This study is primarily about investigation.
“We have goals in mind,” said Smith. “But those goals may shift, depending on the results of the study.”
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The study can be traced back to American Rescue Plan funds provided by the Biden Administration. When these funds became available to Grovetown, GMC contacted public works director Sylvester Rosier about a grant opportunity. Smith said that this opened up the possibilities for infrastructure work.
“This is something that we’ve always considered,” said Smith. “However, funding is something that’s always been elusive. The idea has always been there, but the funding is more important.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
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