In addition to being presented the 2025 National Ground Water Association (NGWA) M. King Hubbert Award during National Ground Water Association (NGWA) Groundwater Week, Clear Creek Principal Hydrogeologist and Co-Founder Marvin Glotfelty, RG, will be participating on a panel discussion on “Finding and Mentoring Your Replacement,” and presenting “Well Development Concepts and Considerations.” Groundwater Week will take place from December 9 through 11, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Clear Creek Associates’ Scottsdale Office Manager, Geno Mammini, RG, will also be attending the conference.
Well Development Concepts and Considerations
Well development is typically one of the final steps during a well installation program, and proper development of the well is crucial for the well’s performance and longevity. Too often, groundwater professionals take the approach of undertaking well development operations with a “we’ve always done it this way” attitude. Accordingly, this presentation will incorporate considerations of the physical, chemical, and biological attributes at play within a water well environment, and specifically how proper well development should address those subsurface attributes. Important relationships such as fluid velocity versus kinetic energy, and pH versus chlorine effectiveness will be addressed. Examples of various well development myths and methods will be discussed, to provide attendees with an improved foundation from which a variety of site-specific well development programs may be developed, based on the local conditions that should be considered (hydrogeology, well design, drilling equipment type, etc.).
Finding and Mentoring Your Replacement
Finding, hiring and retaining employees can be challenging whether you are a water well contractor, engineer, or regulator. For many of us, the real challenge is identifying our own replacement. Whether you are the owner, manager, department head or hard-working employee, when you decide to move on to greener pastures, how do you prepare for your exit? How do you pick and train your replacement? How do you mentor your replacement with the skills needed to fulfil the position you once held while providing transparency within the organization and customer base. This panel will consist of: Fred Rothauge representing the Contractor, Art Robinson representing the Regulator (Past Director for Montana), Kevin McGillicuddy representing the Material Supplier, and Marvin Glotfelty representing the Scientist-Engineers (Specifiers) role. The format will be a 10-minute introductory presentation by each presenter followed by questions and comments prepared by the moderator and from the audience.