Drilling will begin soon for test wells in Granville and St. Albans townships to determine the volume of groundwater between Alexandria and Granville – and whether the aquifer could be a water source for future growth in western Licking County.
The firms of EMH&T and Eagon & Associates sent a letter on Sept. 9 to owners of properties near one owned by James Geiger just east of Alexandria and the 106-acre former VanNess site that is now owned by The New Albany Company. The development company began working with the City of New Albany in 2022 to find water sources that could serve Intel and other customers in rapidly growing western Licking County.
The letter said the engineering and consulting firms are providing professional hydrogeological services for the City of New Albany in collaboration with the Village of Granville. And they said that drilling will happen in late September and early October and will take about six weeks, and pumping is anticipated in November.
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Before that happens, they are asking neighbors for access to their water wells to measure water levels in their wells. If given permission, the firms would collect information such as well depth, pump setting and typical usage. They also would pump their wells to observe any changes in water levels during use and record the pump rate.
“As part of this initiative, aquifer testing will be conducted at two sites located along Raccoon Creek,” the letter says. “Aquifer testing involves drilling a test well, conducting controlled pumping, and monitoring water levels at nearby designated wells.”
And the purpose of the testing is “to evaluate the aquifer’s capacity and understand how it responds to groundwater withdrawals,” says the letter from Chris Cobel, principal scientist with Eagon & Associates. “This testing will be used to evaluate groundwater resources that could be used to support long-term water planning for the region.”
When pumping begins in November, the first test well will be pumped continuously for 24 hours, and the second will be pumped continuously for 72 hours.
“Groundwater levels will be monitored in the area surrounding each test well using a network of observation wells and selected residential wells,” Cobel’s letter says. “Because of the distance of most residential wells away from the test wells, and the relatively short duration of the pumping tests, no noticeable impact to private wells is expected, and normal use should not be interrupted.”
The Village of Granville has hired two hydrogeologists to be involved in the testing.
“The City of New Albany, which is the lead on this, welcomed us to collaborate and to bring additional subject matter experts to contribute to the tests,” said Village Manager Herb Koehler. “We’ll have a front-row seat as results begin to materialize early next year.”
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He noted that Granville village officials initially opposed any drilling on the former VanNess land because groundwater under that land is part of the same aquifer from which Granville draws drinking water for residents of Granville and Alexandria. There was and still is concern that wells drawing water for commercial or industrial purposes could negatively affect Granville’s wells.
After some discord between Granville and New Albany, officials in New Albany halted earlier plans for test wells and began meeting with Granville officials about their mutual interest in that water source.
Koehler said that as a result of those conversations, New Albany invited Granville to be part of the testing. That includes having the two hydrogeologists represent the village during the testing and increase the scope of the testing to include additional monitoring wells – including one the village recently drilled just west of Wildwood Park.
Granville Township officials are in the loop, too, Koehler said, because one of the test wells is in the township and near some township residents.
Alan Miller writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.