Saving Groundwater One Community at a Time

Everyone in the United States seems to take safe drinking water for granted. Everyone, that is, except Susan Seacrest ’78W (Mas), founder of the Groundwater Foundation.

“Groundwater provides half of our nation’s drinking water,” she says, “and groundwater is a huge part of the irrigation water that grows our food. Safe water should be a basic necessity that anyone, regardless of economic status, can have.”

Seacrest, who has devoted more than 20 years of her life to protecting groundwater and educating local communities about its importance, received a 2007 Heinz Award for the Environment in recognition of her efforts.

She is one of six Americans to receive the awards, administered by the Heinz Family Philanthropies and named in honor of the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz, a Republican who represented Pennsylvania until his death in 1991. The $250,000 individual awards are presented in five categories: arts and humanities; the environment; the human condition; public policy; and technology, the economy, and employment.

Based in Lincoln, Neb., Seacrest began the Groundwater Foundation in 1985, a few years after her son was afflicted with a mysterious illness. For a time, contaminated groundwater was suspected as a cause, and Seacrest set out to learn all she could. Although it turned out that her son’s illness apparently had nothing to do with groundwater contamination, Seacrest’s interest in the subject grew.

She learned that groundwater is under almost continual threat from pollutants such as road salt, pesticides, fertilizers, and run-off from landfills and that contaminated groundwater has been suspected in a number of health problems and cancers. And although pollution is a serious problem, she came to see water scarcity as a major threat.

“There’s competition for groundwater supply,” she says. “The biggest problem is really water scarcity as more people compete for the same amount of water.”

Climate change is also altering levels of groundwater around the world. “With science and technology, we have the ability to restore groundwater,” she says. “But you can’t make more water.”

Education is a main focus of the Groundwater Foundation, not surprising since Seacrest’s background is in education. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from St. Olaf’s College in Minnesota and her master’s from the Warner School at Rochester in 1978.

“The great things the University of Rochester gave me were the tools needed to be a lifetime learner as well as an educator,” she says. “I understood how to get information, the importance of research, and how to bring information to the public.”

Seacrest tries to get people to look at water problems in their own communities.

“Groundwater is a uniquely local issue,” she says. “We’ve seen on a local level that it can be protected if the will is there.”

Seacrest will share the $250,000 environment award with Bernard Amadei, founder of Engineers Without Borders. She didn’t hesitate when asked what she’ll do with her share. “I’m donating every cent to the foundation.”

Although still excited about the foundation’s work, Seacrest will retire at the end of the year.

She’ll return to the classroom and teach earth science, continuing her career as a lifetime learner and educator.

—Joseph Sorrentino