ARCHBOLD WEATHER

Kidston Well Impact Limited To Two Miles




Any problems created by a large well withdrawing groundwater from the Michindoh aquifer would most likely be a local one.

Jeremy Rentz, professor of environmental engineering at Trine University, Angola, Ind., said for a well to be impacted by a large production well like the one proposed by Ed Kidston, of Artesian of Pioneer, the impacted well would probably have to be within two miles of the production well.

Kidston’s plan is to pump potable or “drinkable” water from a well in the Michindoh aquifer to the east, eventually reaching communities in Lucas County.

Those communities are looking into the possibility of breaking away from the city of Toledo as a source of municipal water.

Rentz has spoken to groups concerned about Kidston’s proposal.

When speaking on the topic, Rentz said he does not represent Trine.

When asked if he personally opposes Kidston’s proposal, he said, “My job is to educate the public, but I cannot hide my tree-hugger roots.

“The main message I have for folks is it’s a local issue. You have to be close” to a large production well.

“If you’re going to be affected… you have to be within a two-mile radius of the well.”

But…

“My real concern is if this project comes in, what’s going to stop project number two, or project number three, and now we are no longer pumping 10 million gallons, we’re pumping 50 million gallons,” he said.

“So, my concern is not for this individual project, but what it means for the future.”

In an article in last week’s edition of this newspaper, Kidston said a 72-hour well test could determine what impact a large production well would have.

An evaluation of the results of the test, utilizing computer modeling, would be accurate for many years into the future.

Rentz asked, “It’s going to be a three-day test?

“So anything you want to think about, anything in life, if you just look at it for three days, think, can you predict out 40 to 50 years?

“Anything in life. Anything you’ve ever encountered, in however many years you’ve lived. Is a three-day observation enough to predict the 40 to 50 years?

“Ground water is no different.”

Aquifer And Archbold

One question that has arisen is: where is Archbold in relation to the Michindoh aquifer?

The Michindoh, so named by officials from the city of Bryan in 2007, covers a threestate, eight-county area.

Rentz referred to a 2012 study conducted for the Fulton County Commissioners titled, “Fulton County Water Supply and Demand Analysis.”

A chart found in that study, “Aquifers of Fulton County,” based on information from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, shows Archbold outside the Michindoh boundary.

The line in the chart shows the boundary roughly running from the northeast to the southwest, with the line crossing through the US20ASt. Rt. 66 intersection.

All to the northwest of the line is in the aquifer; all to the southeast is out.

The boundary line makes a jog back towards the village in the area of St. Rt. 2. The line crosses the highway about a mile west of Archbold.

Rentz refers to a second chart, “Groundwater Resources of Fulton County.”

That chart shows half of the village within an area where a well could be expected to produce 100 gallons of water per minute (gpm) to 500 gpm, from underground deposits of thick sand and gravel.

The other half is in what the chart calls glacial fine sand, silty clay, and gravel, and can be expected to produce between three and 10 gallons per minute.

The line delineating those two areas starts at roughly the Co. Rd. D-Co. Rd. 22 intersection, exiting the village at the village wastewater treatment plant.

Archbold does not rely on underground wells that would tap the aquifer.

Instead, the village draws water from a pump station on Co. Rd. G west of Co. Rd. 24.



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