The Twin Platte Natural Resources District (TPNRD) has enlisted Olsson to help design a solution to address the long-term conservation of groundwater and surface water that is essential for the irrigation of 320,000 acres of cropland in west central Nebraska.

Olsson’s contribution to the project includes the expertise of our water resources scientists and the Groundwater Evaluation Toolbox (GET), a cloud-based platform that has revolutionized the adaptability and utility of groundwater models. GET evaluates the impact on groundwater supplies before management scenarios are employed, giving water managers the ability to save time, expense, and, most importantly, water.

To assist with the project, Olsson recruited a team of computer programming and engineering students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Jeffrey Raikes School of Computer Science and Business. The students created a sensor to track groundwater levels and a computer dashboard to monitor water fluctuations, making it easier for groundwater managers to do their work effectively.

The project will aggregate electrical usage records to help estimate groundwater pumping, account for precipitation and evapotranspiration data, employ a wireless network to send data to servers where it can be input and processed, and run the processed results through Olsson’s GET.

Additional project partners are contributing key elements to the project that will allow TPNRD groundwater managers to determine the effectiveness of their conservation measures in real time. As a result, adjustments can be made to conserve water immediately in response to changing hydrological conditions.

Many of the nation’s aquifers are being depleted faster than they can be replenished, according to an analysis of a century of groundwater data by the U.S. Geological Survey. The system developed by Olsson, TPNRD, and their partners has the potential to be replicated in other regions where groundwater supplies are in peril.