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Guam Advisory Council Meeting 2020 is now Online
Water and Environmental Research Institute’s (WERI) Annual Guam Advisory Council Meeting (GACM) will be held online via Microsoft Teams hosted by the Global Learning & Engagement (GLE) office (formerly PIP).
Each year WERI hosts the GACM for water and environmental stakeholders in government agencies, military, and private sectors, as well as anyone who is interested in WERI’s research information. WERI presents its mission and vision, current status, project update, and recently accomplished research work. We provide professional scientific answers to questions concerning water resources, water quality, climatology, groundwater modeling, and information access/transfer. We also solicit research interests and concerns.
If you would like more information for this year’s GACM call Anthony Agustin 735-2685, or e-mail.
Agenda
October 20th, Session 1: Guam Advisory Council, Part 1
09:00 Welcoming Remarks, Introductions
09:10 WERI Overview: Dr. Jenson, WERI Director
09:30 WERI Services
- Guam CWMP | Jenson, Hoffman
- Guam Hydrologic Survey | Habana, Jenson
- GHS Website | Aguilar, Habana
- WERI Water Quality Lab Expansion | Kim, Cruz
- Nitrates baseline in the NGLA | Bulaklak, Habana
- Business Model | Jones
10:30 Break
10:40 Aquifer Recharge
- 70 Years of Temperature, Rainfall and Wind | Lander
- Surface Hydrology of the NGLA | Heitz and Habana
11:00 Roundtable Discussions
11:30 AWWA Business Session
- Announcements
- Election of Officers
October 29th, Session 4: Guam Advisory Council, Part 2
09:00 Welcoming Remarks, Introductions
09:10 WERI Overview: Dr. Jenson, WERI Director
09:30 Groundwater Quality and Aquifer Protection
- Nitrate Analysis Update | Bulaklak, Habana
- Potentially Impacted PFAS Sites | Duenas, Kim
- Analysis of Patterns and Trends of Salinity | Omelau, Wen
- Groundwater Protection Zones | Chargualaf, Wen
10:10 Aquifer Basin Analysis and Modeling
- Hydrological Features in Finegayan | Wen
- Model of Yigo-Tumon Basin | Aguilo, Habana
- Break
- Groundwater Discharge | Yeo
- Stormwater Management Modeling | Yeo
- Geotechnical Characteristics of Guam Soils | Patil
11:00 Roundtable Discussions
11:30 Closing
- Joseph D. Rouse Scholarship | Jenson
- Closing Remarks
One Guam MOU GWA and DOD
With the “One Guam” vision in mind, this Memorandum of Understanding defines the relationship between the US Department of Defense and the Government of Guam. WERI is committed to protecting our island’s resources by working to maintain and further improve the island’s water utility systems and sharing water-related data with the US DOD. Read more >>
Link to News >>
Water and Environmental Research Institute's (WERI) Workshop
WERI | January 31st & February 7th | Starts at 08:00 AM
Water and Environmental Research Institute’s (WERI) Workshop will be held at WERI Room 105 on January 31st and February 7th.
If you would like more information for this year’s WERI Work shop call Anthony Agustin 735-2685, or e-mail.
Agenda
January 31st, Session #1: The Northern Guam Lens Aquifer Database and Aquifer Map
Time | min | Topic | Instructors |
08:00 | 30 | Sign-in, coffee and donuts, WERI room 105 | |
08:30 | 15 | Welcome and workshop overview | Jenson (WERI Director) |
08:45 | 40 | NGLA review | weri.uog.edu | guamhydrologicsurvey.uog.edu Northern Guam Lens Aquifer Database, Map, and Videos | Habana |
09:30 | 30 | Sinkholes in the NGLA | Kottermair |
10:00 | 30 | Break | |
10:30 | 60 | Crosstalk Forum: Production well rehabilitation and lessons learned | Polevich, Railey, Marquez, Shambach |
11:30 | 45 | Working lunch | Q&A session: Well rehabilitation and lessons learned | |
12:15 | 45 | Deep Observation Wells in the Yigo-Tumon Basin: EX-7, EX-10, GD | Dougher, Habana, Jenson, Lander |
13:00 | 30 | MSERP – Monitoring System Expansion and Rehabilitation Program OGAMP – One Guam Aquifer Monitoring Program | Bautista, Jenson |
13:30 | 15-30 | End of session | feedback forms | Jenson |
February 7th, Session #2: Salinity, Nitrogen, PFOS, Modeling Results
Time | min | Topic | Instructors |
08:00 | 30 | Sign-in, coffee and donuts, WERI room 105 | |
08:30 | 15 | Welcome and workshop overview | Jenson (WERI Director) |
08:45 | 45 | Climate: Rainfall and Drought | Lander |
09:30 | 30 | Review of salinity basics | Production chloride update | Habana, Jenson, Aguilo |
10:00 | 30 | Break | |
10:30 | 30 | Groundwater Modeling: The capacity of the parabasal zone | Superales, Habana, Jenson |
11:00 | 30 | GIS map analyses of wells: production and salinity | Wen |
11:30 | 45 | Working lunch | Q&A session: GEPA & GWA | Bearden, Kemp (Railey) |
12:15 | 30 | NGLA map of wastewater vulnerabilities | Bulaklak, Habana |
12:45 | 30 | PFOS investigation | Duenas, Kim |
13:15 | 15 | Q&A session: all topics | |
13:30 | 15-30 | End of workshop | feedback forms | Jenson |
2019 WERI Guam Water Resources Research Advisory Council Meeting
Dusit Thani Guam Resort | November 7 | Thursday 08:30 AM
Water and Environmental Research Institute’s (WERI) Annual Guam Advisory Council Meeting (GACM) will be held at:
Each year WERI hosts the GACM for water and environmental stakeholders in government agencies, military, and private sectors, as well as anyone who is interested in WERI’s research information. WERI presents its mission and vision, current status, project update, and recently accomplished research work. We provide professional scientific answers to questions concerning water resources, water quality, climatology, groundwater modeling, and information access/transfer. We also solicit research interests and concerns.
If you would like more information for this year’s GACM call Anthony Agustin 735-2685, or e-mail.
Agenda
08:30 Coffee, juice, pastries
09:00 Welcoming remarks, introductions
09:10 WERI overview: Dr. Jenson, WERI Director
09:30 Briefings on current and completed research activities
- Aquifer Sustainable Yield | Superales, Habana
- Coastal discharge survey | Walker, Villareal, King, Jenson
- Lens response to recharge | Dougher, Habana
- Modeling Yigo-Tumon Basin | Aguilo, Habana
- Nitrates baseline in the NGLA | Bulaklak, Habana
- Wastewater treatment with seawater | Liu, Kim
10:15 Break
- PFOS in the NGLA | Duenas, Kim
- GIS analysis of groundater salinity patterns | Wen
- Fena Reservoir sedimentation hazard | Patil, Jenson
- Santa Rita Spring rehabilitation | Bourke, Jenson
- Water Kids outreach program | Bautista, Jenson
- 2020 WERI aquifer tours and workshops | Kim, Jenson, Habana
11:30 Roundtable discussions: update of Guam water resources issues and discussion of critical water resource research, education, and training needs
12:00 Lunch buffet, presentations and discussion
Fañomnåkan 2019: Guam Hydrologic Survey Outreach - NGLA Tour
Guam Hydrologic Survey Outreach provides the Northern Guam Lens Aquifer (NGLA) Tour to our policy makers, department executives, island development professionals, our children’s educators, and college students. This outreach tour is about gaining a better understanding in our quest towards the sustainable management and development of our island’s most valuable renewable resource, water. For more information, please call Anthony Agustin, 735-2685, agustina@triton.uog.edu.
Guam Water Kids & Department of Education – 4/17 | Executive Tour – 4/15 & 4/22
Friday, April 26: Northern Guam Lens Aquifer (NGLA) Tour, for UOG Students
Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific and Professional & International Programs, University of Guam, team up to host this year’s Guam Hydrologic Survey’s NGLA Tour for UOG Students.
Friday, April 26, the tour starts at UOG, Annex A, Room 6, 8:00 AM, for a 3-D virtual tour of the aquifer to take you for a dive into the freshwater lens. We then board the tour bus for the field experience of the NGLA.
See the itinerary map, below, of tour stopovers (1 – 6), starting and ending at (1) UOG, Annex A. Select site number icon for stop description. Plus, to view the map below in (entire browser page) Google Maps, select the box corners icon, right of the menu bar. To view the map legend below, select the left arrow panel icon, left of the menu bar.
Download Aquifer Tour Materials: Tour Booklet NGLA Map Tour Poster Evolution NGLA Guam Geology Guam Stratigraphy Philippine Plate Chronology | and more GHS Water Resource Library. Executive Tour binder and latest full size rolled up print of the NGLA map will be provided.
Wear & Bring: wear – pants and closed toe shoes (quarry, MSHA regulations); bring – own lunch and drink at least 1 liter water, umbrella, sweat towel, sunglasses, sunscreen, and mosquito repellent.
Provided – Hard hats, and reflective safety vest.
Sustainable management in your hands
The Guam Hydrologic Survey and Comprehensive Water Monitoring Program (GHS and CWMP), Guam Public Laws 24-247 and 24-161, respectively, were established to develop an inter-agency cooperation for gathering and publicly providing water and environmental information. The ultimate goal is to support our quest of determining sustainable development and management of our island’s most valuable renewable resource, water. The mandate intent is to form a network that will help us improve our understanding of our water resources through data collection, analysis, interpretation, recommendations, reports, and presentation in all efforts to determine its optimum development for sustainable utility. GHS and CWMP contains the island’s collection of water resource and related hydrologic and environmental information by way of an organized online database system. Read more >>
Get the PDF files:
Guam Hydrologic Survey – Guam Public Law 24-247
Comprehensive Water Monitoring Program – Guam Public Law 24-161
Sustainable Development and Management of Guam’s Groundwater: A Recommended Program – Executive Summary
GHS and CWMP Annual Reports
Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific (WERI), University of Guam (UOG), is charged with administering the GHS and CWMP. Annual reports are prepared for the years:
FY1998 Jenson and Jocson (1998) Hydrologic Data Collection on Guam: FY1998 Report, Technical Report No. 83
FY2019 FY2018 FY2017 FY2016 FY2015 FY2014 FY2013 FY2012 FY2011 FY2010 FY2009 FY2008 FY2007 FY2006 FY2005
WERI Publications, Conferences, Products, Presentations, and GHS sponsored research products – annual listing, 2015-1998.
GHS and CWMP Program Mission Statement, Goals, Funding
Mission Statement
The Guam Hydrologic Survey (GHS) and the Comprehensive Water Monitoring Program (CWMP) were created in 1998 by the 24th Guam Legislature under Public Laws No. 24-247 and 24-161, respectively. The Water and Environmental Research Institute (WERI) was charged with administering the annual legislative appropriations to drive these two programs and facilitate, direct, and implement their objectives. Both programs are now an integral component of water resources research, information dissemination, education and training on Guam.
Goals
The Guam Hydrologic Survey consolidates and archives new and historical hydrological data collected by local and federal government agencies and private consultants, and conducts research on water-related issues of local importance. GHS also funds a variety of water resource educational programs, including guest lectures and seminars at UOG and in the community, informational and training workshops for teachers and other professionals, field trips and talks for schoolchildren, and the publication and distribution of educational posters, maps, and fact sheets.
The CWMP was created to collect data on saltwater intrusion and water lens thickness in Guam’s northern aquifer, and stream flow for surface waters in the south. The program builds on studies previously undertaken by the US Geological Survey (USGS) that had been abandoned in the 1990s because of a discontinuance of matching funds from the Government of Guam. The CWMP annual appropriations from the Guam legislature restored the program in 1998 and since then have facilitated the collaborative reinstatement of these studies with USGS under their 50-50 Federal/State-Territory cost-sharing program for water resource monitoring.
The foresight of the Guam Legislature in creating these two very important programs deserves special mention here. With the continued support of the Legislature, we now maintain several vital water resources databases for Guam and collect essential water resource data in collaboration with the USGS. Our understanding of the complex physical, chemical and biological processes that influence Guam’s water resources has broadened considerably and the increase in graduate student research opportunities has substantially added to the number of highly trained water resources professionals in the island’s technical work force.
Funding 2018
GHS and CWMP appropriations written into each public law are $204,200 and $173,948 respectively. Local budgetary constraints saw a 6% reduction in funding support for both programs in FY’09, i.e., $192, 309 and $163,817 awarded for GHS and CWMP respectively. These shortfalls continued through FY’12. An additional 5% reduction was levied against each account by Governor Calvo in FY’12 and is continuing through FY’14. This reduces the total awards to $182,694 for GHS and $155,626 for CWMP. The information presented herein summarizes all GHS and CWMP program objectives and related activities undertaken in FY’17.
Cooperators and contributors (GWRDG|TEG)
WERI is also a member of the local water resource interagency organization called the Technical Experts Group (TEG) and the Groundwater Resource Development Group (GWRDG) establish by the 16 July 2010 Memorandum of Understanding between the US Navy and Guam Waterworks Authority (Appendix I). The MOU provides an additional venue for meeting the GHS and CWMP mandates to “establish a direct working relationship with each organization collecting hydrologic data important to Guam, and maintain a permanent flow of new data from each organization to keep the data library up to date.” Local and federal agencies that are party to or affected by the MOU include Guam Waterworks Authority, Guam Environmental Protection Agency, CUC, US Navy (NAVFACMAR), USAF (36 CES), and USGS. Interagency groups also include private consultants: Duenas Camacho and Associates, Allied Pacific Environmental Consultant (APEC), EA Engineering, Brown and Caldwell, and AECOM. Meetings are organized and held quarterly at Guam Waterworks Authority (Gloria B. Nelson Public Service Building), Fadian. Current discussion is the expansion of monitoring (observation) wells, see details in CWMP Research Projects section. The interagency group organization, formed of three groups: executive, working, working group, and the technical team (See the GHS and GWRDG organization chart>>).
The inter-agency group meets quarterly to discuss concerns, pool resources, share ideas, provide update, consult, and gain professional acquaintance and partnerships. Here is a list of agencies in attendance:
Government of Guam:
GWA – Guam Waterworks Authority
GEPA – Guam Environmental Protection Agency
GCUC – Guam Consolidated Commission on Utilities
GBSP – Guam Bureau of Statistics and Plans
GDPW – Guam Department of Public Works
GPUC – Guam Public Utilities Commission
NGSWCD – Northern Guam Soil Water Conservation District
UOG – University of Guam
WERI – Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific
US Federal:
USGS PIWSC – US Geologic Survey, Pacific Islands Water Science Center
NAVFAC Marianas – Naval Facilility Command Marianas, US Navy, Guam
36th CE – Environmental Flight, 36 CE SQ, USAF, Andersen AFB, Guam
Private Sector:
AECOM – Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Operations, and Management: Guam Expansion Project
APDI – Allied Pacific Drilling Inc.
APEC – Allied Pacific Environmental Consulting, Inc.
B & C – Brown and Caldwell: Essential Ingredients®
DCA – Duenas, Camacho and Associates, Inc.
GHD – Gutteridge Haskins & Davey
GWK – Guam Water Kids
IREI – Island Research and Educational Initiative
PCR – PCR Environmental, Inc.
Interagency Charter and Cooperation Agreements
Guam Water Resources Technical Experts Operating Charter (near Final Draft)
The Guam Water Resources Technical Experts plan and cooperate towards the best technical solutions and advice in support of sustainable development and management (See Draft of the GWRTE Operating Charter >>).
The operating charter includes the following agencies:
- Guam Waterworks Authority
- Guam Environmental Protection Agency
- Guam Department of Public Works
- Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific
- Department of Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Marianas
- United States Geological Survey
GWA and WERI
GWA and WERI have a great interagency partnership for more than several decades now. We continue to work together and have formed an agreement to expand the Northern Guam Lens Aquifer (NGLA).
See GWA-WERI Memorandum of Agreement >>
See GWA-WERI Memorandum of Understanding >>
GEPA and WERI
WERI and GEPA also have a long history of cooperative partnership through research projects (e.g. GWUDI determination, septic tank survey…), data contribution, water quality lab, scientific advise and recommendations, and field surveys. A memorandum of understanding has been discussed and a document similar to GWA-WERI MOA is in the works and will be done soon.