Welcome to the Center for Sustainable Groundwater

The Mission of the Center for Sustainable Groundwater (CSG) is to support landowners, businesses and governments in sustainable development and management of groundwater. CSG uses earth sciences, social sciences, and ecology to characterize individual, municipal and industrial water supply needs, and make recommendations for well siting, drilling, and related infrastructure design & management.  The Center is unique in its focus on the intersection of groundwater, ecology and hydrology.  CSG designs groundwater programs that enable long-term utilization of well water by our clients, while safeguarding groundwater services provided to natural ecosystems, as well as the interests of other human users of groundwater.  Based in central Virginia, our service area is historically focused on the mid-Atlantic states but we seek opportunities elsewhere in the US and world-wide.

The Center provides two areas of groundwater services:

CSG Geotechnical Services provides technical and consulting services in the areas of groundwater, geology and geophysics, focused on site-specific sustainable development of groundwater resources.

  • Find the best place to drill a well on a given piece of land, using a combination of science, technology and old-world methods
  • Determine Sustainable Yield – how much water can be pumped from a given well without exceeding available recharge?
  • Test Water Quality – we correlate land use, geology, soils, and other information to formulate advanced water testing recommendations, and perform sampling and analysis services

The image below is a geophysical profile that extend more than 300 feet beneath the ground surface.  The blue colors represent areas of low resistivity where water is likely present.  We use this technology to determine where the most favorable location is to drill a well on a given site.  We also use geologic mapping, aerial photography and satellite imagery to map groundwater flow and recharge.

CSG Groundwater Management provides technical and consulting services focused on ensuring sustainability of groundwater resources.  CSGGM services include

  • evaluate groundwater availability and develop sustainable groundwater management plans for local, regional and state governments;
  • develop groundwater management plans for agriculture and industry, including mines and quarries;
  • delineating groundwater recharge areas and characterizing groundwater flow on local and regional scales;
  • assessing local and regional threats to groundwater sustainability, in terms of both water quality and water quantity.