The Groundwater Evaluation (GWE) Program is a grant that was awarded by the Department of Energy (DOE) to Nye County in April 2006 and has been extended through September 30, 2014.  Planned work elements and tasking includes the completion of on-going studies being performed by the Desert Research Institute (DRI) and Nye County, two work efforts to be conducted by the US Geological Survey (USGS) Nevada Water Science Center, and a drilling and well completion program to be performed by Nye County. 

 

 

The planned activities were developed in consultation with DRI, USGS, and the DOE.  Upon completion, these projects will provide data that are of use to these agencies as well as other stakeholders in the region, including the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Nevada Division of Water Resources.

TASKS ACCOMPLISHED

• Geophysical studies and determination of soil characteristics near Ash Meadows (BYU)

• Establishment of the Nye County Water District

• Construction of Groundwater Flow Model for Pahrump Valley ~95% complete (DRI)

WHAT'S NEW

• As of June 5, 2010, 6 of the 15 planned GWE wells have been completed: NC-GWE-33PA; NC-GWE-2P; NC-GWE-Felderhoff-25-1PA; NC-GWE-8PA; NC-GWE-PV-5; NC-GWE-PV-4

REMAINING WORK

 

 

The remaining work for the grant will be conducted by the Nye County Nuclear Waste Repository Project office (NWRPO), which has successfully completed over a decade of scientific investigations related to the Yucca Mountain Project, including the drilling and installation of over 40 monitoring wells and piezometers.  In order to complete scientific investigations under this grant, Nye County is conducting studies under the following four (4) work elements: