Water-Resource Studies

Given the protracted nature of many water-resource problems, it is critical that a consultant has the ability to define and focus on the relevant issues in order to develop timely and cost-effective solutions.

Through its years of experience, SSP&A has developed that ability -- to pinpoint the technical and regulatory issues confronting our clients, to conceptualize the most pragmatic and cost-effective approach for the particular issue at hand, and to provide state-of-the-art technical services for investigating and addressing our clients water-resource needs and issues.

SSP&A's water-resource services include: 

Groundwater Surface Water
  • Identification of the direction and rate of groundwater movement;
  • Analysis of aquifer recharge / discharge mechanisms;
  • Analysis of vadose-zone and design of groundwater monitoring networks;
  • Development of groundwater supply, and evaluation of suitability of a water-resource for irrigation and industrial use;
    • Testing and analysis of aquifers to define:
    • Hydraulic properties of water-bearing units,
    • Secondary or low permeability characteristics,
    • Leakage of confining units,
    • Storage capacity,
    • Safe yield of aquifer systems, and
    • Pumpage rate estimates;
  • Analysis and implementation of subsurface disposal/injection of liquids;
  • Dewatering (of mines and for slope stability).
  • Analysis of groundwater/surface-water relationships and conjunctive use;
  • Identification of local and regional water use;
  • Evaluation and simulation of circulation and flow in rivers and estuaries and of sediment transport;
  • Identification of sediment deposition and impact zones;
  • Water-quality monitoring of springs, seeps, streams and ponds;
  • Monitoring stream-stage/piezometer relationships.

 

Featured Projects

Onondaga Lake
Syracuse, New York

Onondaga Lake in New York, USA is one of the most contaminated lakes in the United States as the result of industrial activities along the lake for over 200 years.  A remedial program is now underway to define the nature and extent of groundwater contamination, to quantify groundwater contributions to the lake, and to quantify the role of groundwater in remobilizing contaminated sediments. Read more...

Bay Road Superfund Site
East Palo Alto, California

Since 1984, S.S. Papadopulos & Associates has directed the investigation and remediation of the 1990 Bay Road Superfund site. The site was used for over 50-years for formulation of inorganic pesticides resulting in gross contamination of arsenic and other inorganic compounds in soil and groundwater in a 30-acre area adjacent to extensive tidal wetlands in San Francisco Bay. Read more...

Kansas vs. Colorado

SSP&A served as a technical assistant to the State of Kansas in a legal dispute involving the availability of water from the Arkansas River. The State of Kansas claimed that the State of Colorado was pumping extensive groundwater from alluvial aquifers in Colorado to an extent that it reduced stream flow in violation of the Arkansas River Compact. Other claims involved Colorado’s operation of surface reservoirs and their impact on stateline streamflows. Read more...

Middle Rio Grande Water Supply Planning Study
New Mexico

Surface waters of the Rio Grande  and stream-connected groundwater constitute a shared water supply for  municipal, industrial and agricultural use within three counties in the Middle Rio Grande Basin.   The Middle Rio Grande Water Supply Study conducted by SSP&A was designed to quantify the inter-related groundwater and surface water supply, and its variability, to provide a common basis for regional and state water planning activities. Read more...

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Montana

For the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation, SSP&A has prepared comprehensive groundwater assessments for three major stream-connected groundwater basins. Present uses within the groundwater basins on the Reservation include irrigated agriculture of non-Indian lands under a federal irrigation project; and, tribal priorities include maintenance of instream flows for fisheries, wetlands and cultural purposes, in addition to water use for economic development. SSP&A has been working for several years to develop and apply groundwater models to assess groundwater management approaches. Read more...

Kickapoo Surface-Water and Land Use Impacts Anaylsis
Kansas

On behalf of the Native American Rights Fund, SSP&A investigated impacts of watershed land use and conservation practices on the surface water supply for the Kickapoo Tribe of Indians in Northeast Kansas.  Land use changes, including construction of ponds, sediment and flood-water control structures and application of Best Management Practices to agricultural and range land, were evaluated with respect to their impact on runoff that would otherwise be available to the Tribe in the Delaware River.  Read more...