I'm not usually a fan of ''National Such-and-Such Week' but I have to announce that 6-12 March is National Ground Water Awareness Week.

So why should I relax my otherwise high standards and make this exception? Is it because I've been a member for almost 40 years and former board member, Vice President, and Scientists and Engineers Division chair of the National Ground Water (two words, if you please) Association (NGWA)?

Actually, it's because I think groundwater is the most misunderstood/neglected component of the hydrological cycle. And I don't mean among lay people; I can understand that. I mean among water managers, decisionmakers, policymakers, and many other water professionals.

Yeah, I realize that out of sight is out of mind, but water professionals should know better. Groundwater is often treated like surface water or worse, even ignored.

I cringe when I hear someone lament, 'We turned the pump on and the water levels started dropping!'

OMG! Well, that's what they're supposed to do. There is more to it than water levels dropping.

This could be the beginning of a rant, but I've got a proposal and grading to finish. For more, check out my posts on ground water and the water budget myth or groundwaster and sea level rise.

So what is my proposal on? Surface water quality modeling. Go figure.

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." ~ Dan Quayle (thanks to SuperWaterMan)