FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 7. 2010

For further information, contact:
Gabrielle Belfit, Hydrologist
Cape Cod Commission
(508) 362-3828
www.capecodcommission.org

BARNSTABLE COUNTY, MA -- Several of the groundwater wells that the Cape Cod Commission monitors across the region demonstrated record high water levels during March 2010.

As a service to Cape officials, engineers, and other interested parties, each month the Commission's water resources staff measures groundwater levels in 61 observation wells originally installed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) across the region. The Commission publishes data from nine of the monitoring wells as "index wells" to predict high groundwater levels for construction and land use planning.

In March, groundwater levels at monitoring wells in Barnstable, Bourne, Falmouth, and Sandwich reached all-time highs since monitoring began (for some wells, in the late 1950s or early 1960s). Wells in those communities and Mashpee also reached record highs for the month of March.

According to Gabrielle Belfit, staff hydrologist for the Cape Cod Commission, on average Cape wide 9.2 inches of precipitation fell in March 2010, nearly triple the usual monthly average of 3.5 inches. For the year so far, the Cape on average has received about 17 inches of precipitation, more than a third of the 42-inch normal average for an entire year.

"The extremely wet spring and early summer of 2009 combined with this year's conditions resulted in the record high groundwater levels," says Belfit. "With two more months of spring still left -- months that are normally rainy -- the groundwater levels may climb higher still, and more records may be set at the end of April."

The data for March indicate that on average the monitoring wells have risen a foot since February and are 2.3 feet above normal for the period of record. Freshwater ponds and vernal pools, which reflect the height of the water table, are also expected to rise higher. Stormwater systems may be subject to flooding, and basements and septic systems that were installed during much drier times may also be affected.

Civil engineers across the Cape can use the collected data to design developments so that future flooding situations may be avoided. Data from the nine index wells are available on the web site: www.capecodcommission.org/wells.htm

The high groundwater levels are noteworthy, but Belfit also clarifies that only about half the precipitation that falls on the Cape recharges the region's groundwater aquifer: "November through April is the period when we see the water table levels rise in response to the rain and snow fall. After the vegetation is in full leaf in late spring, growing plants capture most of the precipitation, or it evaporates from pavement. Only a fraction of what falls during the period of May through October each year makes it back into the aquifer."

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