Sector: County Government / Strategic Planning / Environmental Policy
🔥 The Challenge
Despite its proximity to the Great Lakes, Ottawa County faced an emerging coupled crisis of water quantity and water quality. Rising salinity levels were initially suspected to stem from oil and gas wells or highway deicing. But MAGNET revealed a deeper truth: natural discharge dynamics exacerbated by human activity, including rapid population growth and increased groundwater pumping.
What made this crisis especially urgent was its regional scale. It spanned multiple townships across central Ottawa County. Groundwater levels were declining by tens of feet, and salinity concentrations were rising dramatically in areas where water movement slowed — all in a region adjacent to one of the world’s largest freshwater systems.
💡 MAGNET Solution
MAGNET fused:
- Decades of historical water level data
- Massive statewide water quality datasets
- High-resolution global terrain, climate, and hydrology frameworks
- Live-linked databases covering lithology, water use, and aquifer structure
This fusion revealed a systematic regional decline in groundwater levels and a clear correlation between salinity hotspots and natural discharge zones — especially in the center of the regional cone of depression.
MAGNET’s hybrid intelligence combined:
- Statistical modeling to detect patterns and correlations
- Process-based simulation calibrated to decades of decline
- Real-time visualization to make the invisible visible — geology, flow, and water quality rendered in 3D
MAGNET then guided a county-wide water quality sampling campaign, which confirmed the model’s predictions. A statewide sampling campaign validated the same patterns, proving the issue was systemic.
🧠 System Dynamics Made Visible
- Michigan’s Geologic Reality: Fresh groundwater sits atop deep formations of brine and hypersaline water. Declining levels allow saline layers to upwell.
- Regional Scale: Declines of tens of feet across central Ottawa — not isolated clusters.
- Big Data Trends: Water levels down, salinity up, hotspots aligned with discharge zones, highest salinity in cone of depression.
- Salinity Impact: 50–100× background levels, exceeding drinking standards and damaging crops.
- Hybrid Intelligence: Big data guided small data collection; small data refined the big picture.
- Global Portability: MAGNET’s fusion engine works across jurisdictions and geologies.
🛠️ Governance Transformation
Ottawa County leadership responded with proactive, science-based management:
- Deployed a real-time monitoring network
- Conducted core sampling to improve geologic accuracy
- Launched the Groundwater Sustainability Initiative
- Used MAGNET’s calibrated model to guide development planning, long-term monitoring, and infrastructure investment
💬 Quote
“The study validated the experienced decline in the County’s bedrock aquifer system… With that initial validation, local decision-makers were in a much better position to deploy a more robust real-time monitoring network… County leadership and a diverse group of scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders launched the Groundwater Sustainability Initiative to ensure our residents and businesses have permanent and sustainable access to fresh water now and into the future.”
— Paul Sachs, Director of Strategic Impact, Ottawa County, Michigan