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Welcome to the Spokane Valley – Rathdrum Prairie (SVRP) Aquifer Atlas website. The original SVRP Aquifer Atlas was published in 2000 and updates were issued in 2004 and 2009. A new edition came out in 2015.

The purpose of all the SVRP aquifer atlases is to present a comprehensive summary of the region’s most precious groundwater resource. The intent is to provide a basic reference of the geographic, geologic, and hydrologic characteristics of this aquifer. It is intended for regional use in education, in planning, and as a source for general technical information.

The SVRP aquifer spans two states, Washington and Idaho. Natural resources that cross political boundaries are often subject to different and sometimes conflicting standards, protections, and uses.

All SVRP Aquifer Atlas editions are a joint effort by agencies in both states to create a holistic representation of the SVRP aquifer as both a geologic feature and a natural resource used daily by more than half a million people.

Political boundaries and objects made by people are absent from this map to show the aquifer as a natural feature. The SVRP aquifer area is not blue to differentiate the aquifer area from surface water bodies.

The goals of each SVRP Aquifer Atlas edition is to include issues that are currently facing our region. Our hope is to educate the public, and through greater understanding of this precious resource, to become good stewards who will protect and preserve this finite aquifer.