Groundwater level data from 2013 to 2015 in Central Sands area, Wisconsin

38 groundwater wells' water level data in Central Sands area, Wisconsin. The Central Sands is an area of the state with a high density of high-capacity wells for irrigation. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), UW Extension, and the counties began monitoring shallow groundwater wells near lakes in 2013. The five counties include: Portage, Waupaca, Adams, Waushara, and Marquette. Volunteers were enlisted to monitor lake levels on 38 lakes in the region. Instead of using staff gauges, the team opted to install shallow groundwater wells near the lake shore. This eliminated the need to reinstall and survey staff gauges each season. It was assumed that shallow groundwater wells would be a good approximation of lake levels because the soils are made up of porous, sand material. On a subset of lakes, WDNR collected water level data from the shallow groundwater wells and from staff gauges at the same time. One season of monitoring showed that changes in water levels over time are similar, but the actual elevation of water in the well might be different than the surface of the lake. This data set can be downloaded from WDNR's SWIMS database: https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/surfacewater/swims/