Stormwater Recharge Effects on Groundwater Levels in Boston's Groundwater Conservation Overlay District

Thursday, September 26, 2013: 9:55 a.m.
John Kastrinos , Haley & Aldrich Inc., Boston, MA
Elliott Laffer , Boston Groundwater Trust, Boston, MA
Christian Simonelli , Boston Groundwater Trust, Boston, MA

Inflow of groundwater in Boston’s utilities has lowered groundwater levels over the last several decades, causing historical structures to settle as wood-pile foundations rot when they are exposed to air above the depressed water table. Responding to this city-wide issue, the Boston City Council established the Boston Groundwater Trust (BGWT) in 1986 to monitor groundwater levels in filled areas of the city. In 2005, the city established the Groundwater Conservation Overlay District (GCOD) to restore water levels by constructing stormwater recharge systems for new projects. 

To assess the effects of stormwater recharge through engineered structures (dry wells, infiltration trenches), probability-time curves were constructed for the BGWT database of more than 700 shallow observation wells for nine years of water level monitoring data (2004-2013). Over this time period, more than 180 recharge systems were installed in various areas of the city per the GCOD requirements. To assess changes in the data distribution over time, the percentage of data points falling below elevations 5, 4, and 3 BCB (Boston City Base) were plotted. These elevations were selected because El. 5 is a common pile cutoff elevation in some areas where wood-pile-supported structures and engineered recharge systems are common.   

Based on trend lines fitted to the probability plots for the three elevations, groundwater levels in the GCOD have generally increased over the period of 2004-2013 (over time, smaller percentages of the data are at El. 5 and below). Some of the declining probability may be due to higher annual rainfall that occurred in 2008, 2010, and 2011; however, the probability curves generally do not respond inversely to rainfall. Accordingly, the declining probability is likely due in part to stormwater recharge in engineered recharge systems within the GCOD.

John Kastrinos, Haley & Aldrich Inc., Boston, MA
John R. Kastrinos has more than 20 years of experience as a hydrogeologist with Haley & Aldrich. He graduated from Dickinson College in 1983 with a B.S. in geology and from Penn State University in 1985 with an M.S. in environmental pollution control. His work has been applied to diverse projects including groundwater supply development, contaminant fate and transport, seepage analysis for tunnels and deep excavations, construction dewatering design, and litigation support in all of these areas of the practice. Kastrinos is an American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) certified professional hydrogeologist (PHG) and a Pennsylvania Professional Geologist (PG).


Elliott Laffer, Boston Groundwater Trust, Boston, MA
Elliott Laffer has been the first executive director of the Boston Groundwater Trust. A longtime community activist, Laffer served for more than 25 years on advisory committees to the Boston Redevelopment Authority for major developments in the Back Bay section of Boston. His first involvement with the groundwater issue occurred more than 20 years ago when an advisory committee put measures in place to maintain groundwater levels at the historic Trinity Church during construction of an adjacent high rise building. A mechanical engineering graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Laffer spent more than 25 years in sales of engineered equipment.


Christian Simonelli, Boston Groundwater Trust, Boston, MA
Christian Simonelli obtained his B.S. in environmental engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2002 and currently serves as Boston Groundwater Trust Technical Coordinator. Duties include soliciting groundwater level data from private parties and public agencies, locating observation wells and determining their working condition, measuring groundwater elevations in functional observation wells and recording data. He has supervised the installation of hundreds of observation wells at various locations throughout Boston, and evaluates water level data collected on a monthly basis.