COLUMBIA BASIN — Declining water levels in the Columbia Basin are likely bringing crews to Moses Lake next week to conduct well tests.

The Columbia Basin is part of the Columbia Plateau, which encompasses areas of Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

“The Columbia Plateau is a priority based on the importance of ground water as a resource and the recognition that there’s been large declines in aquifers a lot of the agricultural economy is dependent on,” said Dave Morgan of the USGS.

The work is being done on more than 100 wells in the Columbia Plateau because ground water levels dropped by more than 300 feet since 1985, he stated.

The tests are part of a $1.8 million four-year federal study being done by the Oregon, Washington and Idaho Science Centers of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The USGS was charged by Congress to assess  the nation’s groundwater resources and availability.

The Columbia Plateau study is one of about six regional studies that are underway, he said.

The program eventually will be evaluating groundwater in 30 regional aquifers.

The USGS has sites in the Moses Lake area and is trying to get a snapshot of what’s stored in the aquifer and available, Morgan remarked.

Many of the wells they are studying haven’t been measured for 25 years, Morgan said.

There are several agencies that have longtime groundwater monitoring networks, such as the state Department of Ecology and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

But there are parts of the Columbia Plateau where there’s no well monitoring.

“We’re filling in the gaps,” Morgan explained.

When the study is done, it will provide a lot of information that can be used to make water resource management decisions and help people make plans for the future, he noted.

The data will give areas that may need to conduct further study a place to start.

Well analyses were done by geo-chemist Dimitri Vlassopoulos in the Columbia Basin Groundwater Management Area (GWMA), which includes Grant, Adams, Franklin and Lincoln counties.

GWMA makes up roughly 30 percent of the area the USGS is studying.

The USGS isn’t as far along as Vlassopoulos is, but will be using his data to help with their work, Morgan said.

For more information about the Columbia Plateau Ground-Water Availability Study, go to wa.water.usgs.gov/projects/cpgw/

To find the driller’s report for your well, go to apps.ecy.wa.gov/welllog/. The reports are for wells drilled since about 1955.