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'Not a quick fix': Ottawa County still facing serious groundwater shortage despite recent heavy rain

Ottawa County is still 3.04 inches below the seasonal precipitation average, which runs from Jan. 1 through June 29.

OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — The last five or six days gave us enough rain to cause minor flooding problems in parts of West Michigan.

But even that heavy rain we saw over the weekend isn't providing a final solution for Ottawa County, where the groundwater shortage continues to be a serious issue.

The county has been facing this groundwater shortage for years now, and with the historic drought this year, there is an even bigger emphasis on water conservation.

"The significant rainfall that we have had over the last many days has certainly been welcomed, considering the near-historic dry spring that we've had," said Paul Sachs, Director of the county's Planning and Performance Office, in charge of the Ottawa County Groundwater Sustainability Initiative.

"But while we're dealing with this deluge of precipitation that's within our surface waters, it does not solve the sustainable yield issues that we're dealing with within the deep bedrock aquafer system," Sachs added. 

Beneath a large portion of Ottawa County, there is a thick layer of clay that sits on top of that deep bedrock aquafer system. 

Credit: Ottawa County
A diagram from Ottawa County shows what it looks like beneath the surface in Ottawa County to better explain the groundwater shortage issue.

Sachs said the system is like a cap, so solving the county's groundwater shortage will take more than just heavy rain. 

"If we just looked at rainfall, we would need continuous deluge, possibly of biblical proportions, consistently coming down over an extended period of time," he said. 

Even with all of the rain this past weekend, Ottawa County is still 3.04 inches below the seasonal precipitation average, which runs from Jan. 1 through June 29.

"Regardless of rainfall, when you're thinking practically, we need to be very cognizant of the yield issues within that system," said Sachs, "and think about withdraws relative to how much water is available because it just doesn't 'fill the tub.'"

Sachs said there wasn't too much flooding in Ottawa County during the weekend's heavy rain because the ground is like a sponge.

"The ground was especially dry, and the majority of our county has really good, porous sandy soils," Sachs added, "so that water does seep into it really well."

Sachs said the rain was helpful for many residents needing to water their lawns, but the efforts to conserve water shouldn't stop here. 

Nearly 50% of the Ottawa County is still in a below-normal water supply.

"We still need to be very mindful consistently, and moving forward," said Sachs.

He added that rain can be part of the solution, if efforts are made to use it as an "alternative water source" through retention systems and irrigation.

"Utilizing and capturing that storm water before it flows away, those are big opportunities for us," Sachs said. "The recharge of the marshal takes a very long time, but doing what we can to help that system is really important and storm water is one part of the equation."

You can read more about the Ottawa County Groundwater Sustainability Initiative by clicking here

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