In the U.S., the typical method of measuring groundwater levels takes a fair amount of manpower. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the primary federal agency that collects water level data, takes a bottom-up approach utilizing thousands of monitoring wells. While some of the wells can provide measurements in real time using telemetry, at least 18,000 of them require regular visits, according to Bill Cunningham, chief of the USGS Office of Groundwater.
“An individual measurement involves driving out to a well, opening up the well, dropping a tape in it, recording that measurement, and then quality assuring that measurement and placing it into our database,” Cunningham says. And although wells that use telemetry require less manpower, check-up visits are still necessary.