Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brian Snelten spent a longer time than usual as National Groundwater Association (NGWA) president-elect, but he was finally sworn in for his one-year term as the association’s president at Groundwater Week last Dec. 14-16 in Nashville, Tennessee.
This event was the 73rd annual Groundwater Week and, according to NGWA, the event had more than 4,000 attendees take in 30-plus learning sessions and visit with more than 200 exhibitors. It was the largest Groundwater Week held outside of Las Vegas— every four years the show rotates to Nashville—and 21st largest show. Groundwater Week 2022 will take place Dec. 6-8 in Las Vegas as the association co-locates with the Irrigation Association for educational opportunities and a trade show.
Snelten—an area manager for Layne Christensen, A Granite Company, in Aurora, Illinois—spoke with Pumps & Systems while at Groundwater Week about the industry and his plans during his term as NGWA president.
What is your background in the industry?
I’m a contractor from Illinois—Northern Illinois. I grew up in the industry. My family has a small business that is 125 years old. I’m fourth generation in the industry and started out as an environmental scientist.
I’m a geologist by degree. So, I worked for about 13 years in the consulting world and then came back into the contracting world working for Layne Christensen doing large municipal wells. So, I’ve been around the industry my whole life.
What are you hoping to accomplish during your term as NGWA president?
A little bit of return to normalcy is kind of what everyone is looking forward to, you know, getting back to seeing each other in person. And we’re dealing with some supply chain issues that everyone else is. So, as an association, how can we help our members navigate these new waters?
That was one of the great things about the association. During the pandemic, we were able to provide information to our members on Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and how to work safely and keep their businesses running. So, trying to continue that same type of stuff and helping our members navigate this new world that we’re kind of living in.
With supply chain and workforce concerns top of mind in the pumps industry, what are the biggest issues you are seeing as this pertains to groundwater?
We’re seeing some areas are affected by extreme weather conditions. Some areas are going through major droughts. Some areas are going through intense flooding. So, we’re seeing some of those as they relate to groundwater. We’re also seeing labor shortages and supply chain shortages. Those are some of the big things that we’re looking at right now.
The infrastructure bill was recently signed into law by President Joe Biden—will that be a help to the groundwater industry?
It will. It was a good first step. Of course, we’d like to see more out of that. But as it relates to PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and managing for storage and recovery as we’re talking about those extreme droughts, that’s an avenue where some funding is that will be going in there. So, that’s a great thing, but we’re looking forward to seeing what other ways that we can help Congress appropriate funds, correctly, to the things that we value
the most.
With the next step, what do NGWA and its members value the most?
More work toward private wells. We see a lot of money being allocated toward more municipal systems, pipeline systems and things like that. And we want to get more toward residential help for a lot of small homeowners.
What are some other big issues facing the groundwater industry?
Good question. As mentioned, the supply chain issues are the big thing right now. Labor, and we’re seeing a big boom of work across the country, which is a good problem to have. But how we get to those customers and serve their needs is important because everyone needs groundwater. Trying to get our customers back in service right away is important to us.
Are there any other groundwater advancements you’d like to speak on or anything in particular that NGWA is doing over the next year?
We’re excited about a new program. We’ve got a driller basics program. It’s an online class, and it’ll help contractors get their employees trained up where they can do it virtually and allow them to keep working and not have to worry about traveling to go to some conference or something like that. We’re really excited about that, and that’s coming out early (2022). We think it’ll be a big success.
What do we need to be watching for over the next year?
We’re looking forward to seeing the $10 billion that were earmarked in the infrastructure bill for PFAS remediation and monitoring and things like that. So, we’re pretty excited about that and look forward to seeing where that goes.
