Permanent Groundwater Dewatering at Santa Clara University

Beginning in the Spring of 1998, the basement of Orradre Library on the Santa Clara University campus was flooded by groundwater seeping in through cracks in the floors and lower walls. The shallow water table in Santa Clara came up 30 feet between 1990 and 1998; from 40 feet below ground surface in 1990 to less than 10 feet in 1998. Shallow groundwater levels fluctuate seasonally with the peak elevation occurring in May or June, about two to four monhths after the peak rainfall.