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New Hampshire Groundwater Level Monitoring July, 2020 New Hampshire Geological Survey 29 Hazen Drive, PO Box 95 Concord, New Hampshire 03302-0095 August 6, 2020
New Hampshire Groundwater Level Monitoring
July, 2020
New Hampshire Geological Survey
29 Hazen Drive, PO Box 95
Concord, New Hampshire 03302-0095
August 6, 2020
GROUNDWATER CONDITIONS SUMMARY
According to the Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC) at Cornell University, New
Hampshire received an average of 4.20 inches of precipitation during the month of
July, which is -0.18 inches below normal or 96% of normal based on the 1981-2010
precipitation records. Although precipitation was evenly distributed across the
northern and southern portions of the state (Figure 1), the percent normal
precipitation map for July 2020 shows that distribution was highly variable (Figure 2).
As of July 30th, southern New Hampshire remains in moderate drought (47.76% of the
state) according to the United States Drought Monitor (Figure 3). Since moderate
drought in New Hampshire began on June 23rd, drought and abnormally dry
conditions have been declining steadily. Parts of Cheshire and Hillsboro counties are
now free from drought, although they remain abnormally dry, and the northern part of the state is now
free from abnormally dry conditions. The percent area experiencing moderate drought in New
Hampshire has decreased from 49.33% since last week and from 72.32% since June 23rd.
Figures 2 and 3 shows the monthly status of groundwater levels for both bedrock and overburden wells
in the network. Only wells with a period of record (POR) 10 years or more are placed within statistical
categories of low through high (symbols red through blue, respectively). Bedrock wells are installed into
bedrock and overburden wells are installed in the unconsolidated materials above bedrock.
The majority of the state is experiencing below normal to low groundwater levels. Exceptions include
normal conditions in Albany, Barnstead, Greenfield, New London, Ossipee, and the two bedrock wells in
Concord. Groundwater levels in Albany and New London have risen to normal, and levels in Campton,
Nashua, and New Durham have risen from low to below normal. Levels in Epping and Deerfield have
fallen from normal to below normal. All but one of the monitoring wells in the network (CVWB-01 in
Concord) are below their monthly average over their POR (Table 1). For the majority of them, this is the
third month of negative departures. Groundwater levels fell in May and June due to a below-average
amount of precipitation (see precipitation figures here). Precipitation has been especially low in the
watersheds upstream of the overburden wells in Newport and Lancaster, which have had below normal
water levels for over a year.
The New Hampshire Geological Survey’s groundwater monitoring network (Figures 2 and 3) currently
includes 11 bedrock and 20 overburden observation wells, all of which are measured monthly by hand.
Using the monthly hand readings, monthly averages and percentile statistics were calculated and are
summarized in Figures 2 and 3, the following hydrographs*, and in Table 1.
*The hydrographs show the following data over a period of 12 months: (1) monthly groundwater depths in red, (2)
the monthly average over the period of record (POR) of the well in black, and (3) color-coded statistical ranges over
the POR of the well. Note the POR is listed below each month’s column on the chart and reported as the number of
measurements for that respective month. This might include multiple readings in the same month and does not
include any gaps in data so therefore may not represent a continuous period.
Figure 1. Northern (1) and Southern (2) portions of NH, courtesy of NRCC.
Figure 2. Groundwater Monitoring Network showing groundwater levels relative to statistical envelopes calculated over each well’s period of record (POR) and percent normal precipitation map for July 2020 (Northeast Regional Climate Center).
Figure 3. Groundwater Monitoring Network showing groundwater levels relative to statistical envelopes calculated over each well’s period of record (POR) and drought areas according to the U.S. Drought Monitor on July 30th, 2020.
OVERBURDEN WELL HYDROGRAPHS (Showing statistics for wells with ≥ 10 years of data)
27 25 24 25 24 27 24 24 28 26 25 251
3
5
7
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
De
pth
bel
ow
su
rfac
e (
ft)
ADW-14: Albany
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
28 25 24 25 24 27 24 24 28 26 25 251
3
5
7
9
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
ADW-15: Albany
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
2 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 30
2
4
6
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
De
pth
be
low
su
rfac
e (
ft)
BBW-53: Barrington
Prior Year2019-2018
Current
28 26 25 26 24 27 24 27 26 27 28 269
10
11
12
13
14
15
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
CBW-34: Campton
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
24 20 23 23 27 25 23 25 23 22 24 202
4
6
8
10
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun JulD
ep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)CTW-73: Colebrook
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
2 2 2 2 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 338
39
40
41
42
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
De
pth
be
low
su
rfac
e (
ft)
CVW-2.1: Concord Airport
Prior Year2019-2018
Current
56 52 54 58 53 58 54 58 57 56 58 5512
14
16
18
20
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
CVW-04: Concord
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
24 27 25 27 26 29 25 24 31 27 25 2936
37
38
39
40
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
DDW-46: Deerfield
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
10 14 12 13 13 16 13 12 15 13 13 1421
26
31
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun JulD
ep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)EPW-90: Epping
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
53 51 52 52 50 54 48 54 55 53 54 544
9
14
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
FKW-01: Franklin
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
23 23 25 23 24 25 19 29 22 21 24 2755
57
59
61
63
65
67
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
GSW-75: Greenfield
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
49 49 47 54 45 44 41 37 54 52 51 50-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
LCW-01: Lancaster
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_Avg
27 26 26 25 25 27 25 27 30 27 27 278
10
12
14
16
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun JulD
ep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)LLW-19: Lisbon
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_Avg
58 56 55 57 56 53 56 60 50 59 57 5524
26
28
30
32
34
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
NAW-218: Nashua
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
27 25 26 25 26 26 25 28 28 27 26 2517
18
19
20
21
22
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
NFW-53: New Durham
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
101 96 102 100 93 100 90 98 103 101 101 101-1
4
9
14
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
NLW-01: New London
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
BEDROCK WELL HYDROGRAPHS (Showing statistics for wells with ≥ 10 years of data)
26 25 25 25 24 26 23 25 29 26 25 261
3
5
7
9
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun JulD
ep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)NPW-03: Newport
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_Avg
26 25 25 25 24 26 23 25 29 26 25 261
3
5
7
9
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
NPW-06: Newport
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_Avg
27 26 25 25 24 25 24 23 28 26 25 2532
33
34
35
36
37
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
OXW-38: Ossipee
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_Avg
57 56 53 53 56 53 51 57 58 60 56 5439
44
49
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
HTW-05: Hooksett
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
12 11 11 11 11 11 10 12 11 11 12 1114
19
24
29
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun JulD
ep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)CVWB-01: Concord
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
12 11 11 11 11 11 10 12 11 11 12 118
13
18
23
28
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
CVWB-02: Concord
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
13 11 11 10 12 11 10 12 11 11 12 1020
22
24
26
28
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
EAWB-01: East Kingston
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
13 11 11 10 12 11 10 12 11 11 12 1018
20
22
24
26
28
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
EAWB-02: East Kingston
LowBelow normNormalAbove normHigh
Mon_AvgCurrent
9 9 9 10 10 11 10 10 11 10 9 910
15
20
25
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun JulD
ep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)DDWB-01: Deerfield
Prior Year2019-2018
Current
7 7 7 8 9 9 10 8 10 9 7 80
2
4
6
8
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
NWWB-1: Northwood
Prior Year2019-2018Current
10 10 11 10 10 10 7 14 9 11 11 1110
11
12
13
14
15
16
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
RGWB-1: Rindge
Prior Year2019-2018Current
10 10 11 10 10 10 7 14 9 11 11 1112
13
14
15
16
17
18
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
RGWB-2: Rindge
Prior Year2019-2018Current
10 10 7 10 12 10 10 9 10 9 11 115
10
15
20
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun JulD
ep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)SOWB-01: Stewartstown
Prior Year2019-2018Current
10 10 8 10 12 10 11 10 10 9 11 110
5
10
15
20
25
30
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Dep
th b
elo
w s
urf
ace
(ft
)
SOWB-02: Stewartstown
Prior Year2019-2018Current
Table 1. Summary of groundwater levels sorted by region (dark blue – high, blue – above normal, light blue – normal, pink – below normal, red – low.
Well Town Well type Screen/
open Interval (ft)
Depth to
Water (ft)
Monthly Average
(ft)
Current Status
Departure from Avg.
(ft)
No. of
meas.
ADW-14 Albany Overburden 77.5-79.5 6.56 6.46 Normal -0.1 25
ADW-15 Albany Overburden 16-18 8.48 8.35 Normal -0.13 25
BAW-10 Barnstead Overburden 23-25 3.08 2.9 Normal -0.18 23
BBW-53 Barrington Overburden 21-23 5.13 - Not Analyzed - 3
CBW-34 Campton Overburden 21-23 13.63 12.94 Below norm -0.69 26
CTW-73 Colebrook Overburden 105-107 8.6 7.8 Low -0.8 20
CVW-02.1 Concord Overburden 59.8-61.8 40.46 - Not Analyzed - 3
CVW-04 Concord Overburden 25-27 18.3 17.43 Below norm -0.87 55
DDW-46 Deerfield Overburden 59.8-61.8 39.09 38.6 Below norm -0.49 29
EPW-90 Epping Overburden 39.45-40.7 28.33 27.84 Below norm -0.49 14
FKW-01 Franklin Overburden 45.5-47.5 12.58 11.23 Below norm -1.35 54
GSW-75 Greenfield Overburden 35.8-37.8 61.08 60.29 Normal -0.79 27
LCW-01 Lancaster Overburden 28-30 3.26 2.2 Low -1.06 50
LLW-19 Lisbon Overburden 49.8-52.3 14.79 14.22 Low -0.57 27
NAW-218 Nashua Overburden 66-68 28.6 28 Below norm -0.6 55
NFW-53 New Durham Overburden 28-30 19.78 19.35 Below norm -0.43 25
NLW-01 New London Overburden 40-42 10.73 10.18 Normal -0.55 101
NPW-03 Newport Overburden 40.5-42.5 8.04 6.51 Low -1.53 26
NPW-06 Newport Overburden 58-60 8.25 6.59 Low -1.66 26
OXW-38 Ossipee Overburden 0-22.55 35.43 34.96 Normal -0.47 25
CVWB-01 Concord Bedrock 470-480 26.13 26.17 Normal 0.04 11
CVWB-02 Concord Bedrock 0-315 21.3 20.86 Normal -0.44 11
DDWB-01 Deerfield Bedrock 0-300 17.6 - Not Analyzed - 9
EAWB-01 East Kingston Bedrock 463-473 23.78 23.41 Below norm -0.37 10
EAWB-02 East Kingston Bedrock 0-323 23.62 22.77 Below norm -0.85 10
HTW-05 Hooksett Bedrock 0-102.7 49.44 48.15 Below norm -1.29 54
NWWB-01 Northwood Bedrock 0-130 6.02 - Not Analyzed - 8
RGWB-01 Rindge Bedrock 391-401 14.59 - Not Analyzed - 11
RGWB-02 Rindge Bedrock 0-285 17.31 - Not Analyzed - 11
SOWB-01 Stewartstown Bedrock 443-453 15.55 - Not Analyzed - 11
SOWB-02 Stewartstown Bedrock 0-303 24.9 - Not Analyzed - 11
