The Bureau of Reclamation is charged with managing water—an important job in Yuma, where irrigation is key to the area’s agriculture industry. The Bureau’s Yuma Office recently conducted surveys to better understand the region’s groundwater. Maya Springhawk Robnett of the Arizona Science Desk reports…
The Bureau of Reclamation recently performed “airborne time domain electromagnetic surveys.” These surveys measured the groundwater through electromagnetic resonance, 350 meters beneath the surface.
The goal of the survey was to determine the quality, quantity, and location of the “Yuma Mound,” a mass of Yuma groundwater.
Denmark pioneered the use of the electromagnetic method for groundwater measurement; nearly a third of the nation's groundwater has been surveyed this way, sometimes referred to as "UFO style."
The electromagnetic instrument is a large metal hexagon hung from a helicopter. Carrie Scott of the Bureau’s Yuma Area Office says this method has been used in the oil industry but only recently was used for groundwater surveys.
“Electromagnetic resistance changes as it hits different materials," Scott explains, "So where you have a change in resistance—that would either be indicative of a change of material like a clay or a sand or it can also indicate water.”
The Bureau of Reclamation will use the survey results to more effectively reduce and manage Yuma area groundwater.