Groundwater Modeling Study for A Proposed In-Lieu Fee Wetlands at Watson Woods Preserve, Prescott, AZ

Prescott Creeks, a local non-profit, is proposing a project to create in-lieu wetland areas in the Watson Woods area located adjacent to the Watson Lake Reservoir. The proposed project would construct in-stream features in the Granite Creek floodplain to create Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdictional wetlands which may be utilized as in-lieu wetlands to mitigate impacts to CWA Waters of the United States (WOTUS) by other, unrelated projects. The City was interested in understanding the short- and long-term impacts that the proposed in-lieu wetlands project may have on the excess flow input volumes in the Watson Lake Reservoir.

In partnership with JE Fuller, Courtney Consulting conducted groundwater modeling work to help describe groundwater conditions for consideration of a proposed in-lieu fee wetlands (ILF) project in the Watson Woods Riparian Preserve. The modeling work concluded that shallow groundwater in the Preserve exhibited higher lateral velocities than vertical velocities and that groundwater levels in the Preserve will respond relatively quickly to changes in reservoir water level.