Northwest Land & Water

read moreWe help governmental entities, private companies, tribes, and other organizations with a variety of water-resource projects ranging from strategic planning and management to technical investigations and problem solving.

read moreMuch of our technical work directly or indirectly supports the acquisition and transfer of water rights for our clients. For the projects listed below, we provided technical support, including hydraulic analyses, to address water availability, impairment to existing users, and/or the "value" and validity of historic water rights. The City of Lacey plans to develop two new water sources in the Hawks Prairie area, which occupies a peninsula in Puget Sound. Given the proximity of these sources to the marine shoreline, the potential for seawater intrusion into the deep confined aquifer required investigation.

read moreNLW offers services for stream and habitat restoration projects requiring an understanding of hydraulic systems. Adequate, high-quality water supplies are needed to support fish and other aquatic life; unfortunately, their habitat has been compromised in many areas because of land use practices. We work with clients to identify impacts to streams and to develop strategies for restoring flows. Restoration activities for this project included realigning the channel of Meridian Valley Creek, which drains into Big Soos Creek via a concrete flume.

read moreNLW specializes in characterizing the hydrogeology of watersheds, a process that often entails assessing the complex relationship between surface water and groundwater. Depending on their scale and the client's goals, these projects may require field, hydrogeochemical, modeling, and GIS, and/or other analyses. Faced with continued development in the areas surrounding the Spokane Valley, Ecology has been funding studies and monitoring efforts to better understand water availability. This project was an extension of a hydrogeologic characterization we conducted for middle- and upper-Hangman Creek.

read moreNLW has designed and implemented monitoring plans to protect water and other natural resources throughout Washington State. Many of these plans are driven by common local, state, and federal environmental regulations. NLW prepared a monitoring plan, which followed WDOE guidelines, for collecting groundwater quantity / quality data from representative wells within the Skokomish-Dosewallips watershed (WRIA 16).Toidentify potential monitoring wells, we first conducted A GIS mapping analysis. We then visited select well sites to confirm citizen participation and access to private wells.