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C. B. Hutchinson

Publications and source records attributed to C. B. Hutchinson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2006

Model aids planners in predicting rising ground-water levels in San Bernardino, California

The city of San Bernardino is in a semiarid inland valley about 60 miles (100 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. The southern part of the city is traversed by the San Jacinto fault. Adjacent to the upgradient (northeast) side of the fault is a 10 square mile (26 square kilometers) area which contains a zone in the alluvial ground‐water basin that formerly was under artesian pressure and consisted of swampy lands with a history of flowing wells, springs, and ground‐water discharge to Warm Creek. Since about 1945, water levels have declined more than 100 feet (30 meters), and the swampy lands have dried up and are now highly urbanized. Basin replenishment by artificial recharge of imported northern California water at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains may cause ground‐water levels to rise again in the area that was formerly swampy land. If this should happen, building foundations and basements could be subjected to structural damage and flooding by renewed flowing of unplugged artesian wells. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, is developing a two‐layer digital model to aid in predicting the rate and extent of the rise in water levels. The solution to the mathematical equations used in the model was approximated numerically by the Galerkin finite‐element method. The water district desires to evaluate water management alternatives, such as varying location, distribution, amounts of recharge, and pumping centers, to avoid excessive water level rises that could indicate an overfilling of the basin and could cause damage.

California↗
USGS2003

Results of Test-Hole Drilling in Well-Field Areas North of Tampa, Florida

A total of 32 test holes were drilled in well-field areas of Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties in the early 1970's to collect information on the hydraulic and geologic properties of shallow formations overlying the Upper Floridan aquifer. Lithologic profiles were compiled and geohydrologic units identified for each test hole. At most test holes, natural-gamma logs were run to identify the confining unit that separates the surficial aquifer system from the Upper Floridan aquifer. Selected core samples were analyzed in the laboratory for vertical hydraulic conductivity, grain size, sorting, specific gravity, effective porosity, cation-exchange capacity, and mineralogy. Following drilling, casing was installed in each test hole and water levels were monitored. The data were used in the preparation of regional water-level maps and in the construction of a numerical model of ground-water flow in the well-field areas.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1995

Chemical and isotopic composition and potential for contamination of water in the upper Floridan Aquifer, west-central Florida, 1986-89

Major ions, unstable field constitutents, and the environmental isotopes tritium, deuterium, and oxygen-18 were measured in water from 112 wells that are open to the uppermost producing zones of the upper Floridan Aquifer. Tritium analyses indicate that the unconfined aquifer in northern areas contains relatively young water that has entered the aquifer since 1953, whereas the confined aquifer in southern areas contains older water. The potential for contamination of the upper Floridan Aquifer generally is greatest in those areas where the aquifer is unconfined and recharge has been shown to be high.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1993

Hydrogeology and chemical quality of water and bottom sediment at three stormwater detention ponds, Pinellas County, Florida

An investigation of three detention ponds in Pinellas County, Florida indicated little potential for chemical contamination of surficial-aquifer ground water; however, concentrations of contami- nants in some sediments are sufficient to indicate possible hazardous levels of bioconcentration in benthic organisms. The general direction of ground- water movement at three pond sites indicates that the ponds are ground-water discharge points. Shallow ground water tends to move laterally toward these ponds, which have surface outflow, instead of from the ponds into the aquifer. Surface-water and pond-sediment samples from a 1-year-old pond were collected and analyzed for inorganic constituents and organic compounds. The concentrations were either near or below analytical detection limits. Surface-water and pond-sediment samples from the other two ponds, 20- and 30-years old, respectively, also were analyzed for inorganic constituents and organic compounds. The water quality of these older ponds was not significantly different from that of the 1-year-old pond. However, bottom sediments in the 20- and 30-year-old ponds contained 16 and 23 organic compounds, respectively. None of the organic compounds were in sufficient concentrations to cause concern about their chronic effects on aquatic life. Concentrations of dichlordiphenyl-trichlorethane, dieldrin, and heptachlor were above the hazardous level with respect to bioconcentration in the food chain.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1992

Assessment of hydrogeologic conditions with emphasis on water quality and wastewater injection, southwest Sarasota and West Charlotte counties, Florida

The 250-square-mile area of southwest Sarasota and west Charlotte Counties is underlain by a complex hydrogeologic system having diverse ground-water quality. The surficial and intermediate aquifer systems and the Upper Floridan aquifer of the Floridan aquifer system contain six separate aquifers, or permeable zones, and have a total thickness of about 2,000 feet. Water in the clastic surficial aquifer system is potable and is tapped by hundreds of shallow, low-yielding supply wells. Water in the mixed clastic and carbonate intermediate aquifer system is potable in the upper part, but in the lower part, because of increasing salinity, it is used primarily for reverse-osmosis desalinization feed water and irrigation. Within the Upper Floridan aquifer, limestone and dolomite of the Suwannee permeable zone are tapped by irrigation and reverse-osmosis supply wells. The underlying, less permeable limestone of the Suwannee-Ocala semiconfining unit generally encompasses the transition zone between freshwater and very saline water. Interbedded limestone and dolomite of the Ocala-Avon Park moderately permeable zone and Avon Park highly permeable zone compose the deep, very saline injection zone. Potential ground-water contamination problems include flooding by storm tides, upward movement of saline water toward pumping centers by natural and induced leakage or through improperly constructed and abandoned wells, and lateral and vertical movement of treated sewage and reverse-osmosis wastewater injected into deep zones. Effects of flooding are evident in coastal areas where vertical layering of fresh and saline waters is observed. Approximately 100 uncontrolled flowing artesian wells that have interaquifer flow rates as high as 350 gallons per minute have been located and scheduled for plugging by the Southwest Florida Water Management District--in an attempt to improve ground-water quality of the shallow aquifers. Because each aquifer or permeable zone has unique head and water-quality characteristics, construction of single-zone wells would eliminate cross-contamination and borehole interflow. Such a program, when combined with the plugging of shallow-cased wells having long open-hole intervals connecting multiple zones, would safeguard ground-water resources in the study area. The study area encompasses seven wastewater injection sites that have a projected capacity for injecting 29 million gallons per day into the zone 1,100 to 2,050 feet below land surface. There are six additional sites within 20 miles. The first well began injecting reverse-osmosis wastewater in 1984, and since then, other wells have been drilled and permitted for injection of treated sewage. A numerical model was used to evaluate injection-well design and potential for movement of injected wastewater within the hydrogeologic framework. The numerical model was used to simulate injection through a representative well at a rate of 1 million gallons per day for 10 years. In this simulation, a convection cell developed around the injection well with the buoyant fresh injectant rising to form a lens within the injection zone below the lower Suwannee-Ocala semiconfining unit. Around an ideal, fully penetrating well cased 50 feet into the injection zone and open from a depth of 1,150 feet to 2,050 feet, simulations show that the injectant moves upward to a depth of 940 feet, forms a lens about 600 feet thick, and spreads radially outward to a distance of about 2,300 feet after 10 years. Comparison simulations of injection through wells having open depth intervals of 1,150 to 1,400 feet and 1,450 to 2,050 feet demonstrate that such changes in well construction have little effect on the areal spread of the injectant lens or the rate of upward movement.

Florida↗
USGS1985

Hydrogeology of the Cross Bar Ranch well-field area and projected impact of pumping, Pasco County, Florida

The hydrogeology and development of a groundwater flow model are described for a 121-square-mile area in Pasco County, Florida. The hydrogeologic framework consists of the surficial aquifer--a thin blanket of sand--and the underlying carbonates of the upper Floridian aquifer. The aquifers are separated by a leaky sand and clay confining unit. The Cross Bar Ranch well field occupies 13 square miles and contains 17 production wells averaging about 700 feet deep and tapping the upper Florida aquifer. Procedures to calibrate, test sensitivity to input parameters, and validate the model 's accuracy are described. Pumping at 30 million gallons per day should result in 5 feet of decline in the water table of the surficial aquifer over an 8-square-mile area and in the potentiometric surface of the Upper Florida aquifer over a 15-square-mile area. Under the 45-million-per-day maximum permitted rate, drawdown should be 5 feet or more in the water table and potentiometric surface over areas of 16 and 28 square miles, respectively. At the center of pumping, water levels could decline 15 to 25 feet. The surficial aquifer could possibly be completely dewatered in a small area of the well field when pumping is at the maximum rate.

Florida↗
USGS1984

Hydrogeology of well-field areas near Tampa, Florida, phase 2 — Development and documentation of a quasi-three-dimensional finite-difference model for simulation of steady-state ground-water flow

This report describes a quasi-three-dimensional finite-difference model for simulation of steady-state ground-water flow in the Floridan aquifer over a 932-square-mile area that contains 10 municipal well fields. The over-lying surficial aquifer contains a water table and is coupled to the Floridan aquifer by leakage term that represents flow through a confining layer separating the two aquifers. Under the steady-state condition, all storage terms are set to zero. Use of the head-controlled flux condition allows simulated head and flow changes to occur in the Floridan aquifer at the model boundaries. Procedures used to calibrate the model, test its sensitivity to input-parameter errors, and validate its accuracy for predictive purposes are described. Also included are attachments that describe setting up and running the model. Example model-interrogation runs show anticipated drawdowns under high, average, and low recharge conditions with 10 well fields pumping simultaneously at the maximum annual permitted rates totaling 186.9 million gallons per day.

Florida↗
USGS1984

Hydrogeology of the Verna well-field area and management alternatives for improving yield and quality of water, Sarasota County, Florida

About 8 million gallons of water are pumped daily from the 3-square-mile Verna well field to supply the city of Sarasota. Pumping has resulted in water-level declines and changes in water quality. Drawdowns of at least 30 feet have occurred in the producing zone at the well-field boundaries. Sulfate concentrations in the pumped water have increased from about 200 milligrams per liter in 1966 to about 400 milligrams per liter in 1982 in the western part of the well field. In the eastern part, sulfate concentrations have increased from about 300 to 350 milligrams per liter during this period. The increases roughly coincide with increases in pumping rates. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1984

Ground-water models as a management tool in Florida

Highly sophisticated computer models provide powerful tools for analyzing historic data and for simulating future water levels, water movement, and water chemistry under stressed conditions throughout the ground-water system in Florida. Models that simulate the movement of heat and subsidence of land in response to aquifer pumping also have potential for application to hydrologic problems in the State. Florida, with 20 ground-water modeling studies reported since 1972, has applied computer modeling techniques to a variety of water-resources problems. Models in Florida generally have been used to provide insight to problems of water supply, contamination, and impact on the environment. The model applications range from site-specific studies, such as estimating contamination by wastewater injection at St. Petersburg, to a regional model of the entire State that may be used to assess broad-scale environmental impact of water-resources development. Recently, groundwater models have been used as management tools by the State regulatory authority to permit or deny development of water resources. As modeling precision, knowledge, and confidence increase, the use of ground-water models will shift more and more toward regulation of development and enforcement of environmental laws. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1983

Assessment of the interconnection between Tampa Bay and the Floridan aquifer, Florida

Factors that control interflow between Tampa Bay and the Floridan aquifer are assessed, both qualitatively and quantitatively, with emphasis on the impact of harbor improvement. Hydrogeologic units underlying the 350-square-mile bay include the surficial-sand aquifer, upper sand and clay confining bed, and limestone of the Floridan aquifer. The surficial aquifer and upper confining bed have been eroded away in several areas along the northern coast of the bay to directly expose the Floridan aquifer to saltwater. There also, the top of the aquifer is, has been, or will be exposed to saltwater in numerous channels dredged in the bay. Saltwater-freshwater relations indicate that the degree of bay-aquifer interconnection decreases from north to south. Saltwater intrusion is occurring along the coast of Tampa Bay, as indicated by reduction or reversal of potentiometric-surface gradients and increasing chloride concentrations in coastal monitoring wells. A computer model of ground-water flow developed for a 97-square-mile area was interrogated under five options of channelization and pumping. Model results indicate that the total impact of channelization upon bay-aquifer interconnection are expected to be small and may be imperceptible when considered over the long term with other unknown changes in climate and development. (USGS)

Florida↗
USGS1980

Development and use of a mathematical model of the San Bernardino Valley ground-water basin, California

Part of the San Bernardino urbanized area in California overlies formerly swampy lands with a history of flowing wells. This area , upgradient from and adjacent to the San Jacinto fault, contains a zone in an alluvial ground-water basin that is under artesian pressure. Since 1945, withdrawals have exceeded recharge and caused head declines of more than 100 feet. Artificial recharge of imported water in the upgradient areas may cause ground-water levels to rise, which could cause abandoned but unplugged wells to resume flowing. If so, structures could be damaged. A two-layer Galerkin finite-element digital model was used for predicting the rate and extent of the rise in water levels from 1975 to 2000. Six hydrologic conditions were modeled for the basin. Artificial recharge of one-half entitlement and full entitlement from the California Aqueduct were each coupled with low, average, and high natural recharge to the basin. According to model predictions, the greatest water level rises will be along the San Bernardino front. This area encompasses the artificial recharge sites and also has a thick section of unsaturated sediments for storing ground water. The formerly swampy lands between Warm Creek and the Santa Ana River adjacent to the San Jacinto fault have little additional storage capacity, and water levels could rise to the land surface as early as 1983 under maximum recharge conditions and 1970-74 average pumping conditions. If pumping rates are reduced in the Warm Creek area, water levels may rise to land surface prior to the dates predicted by the model, regardless of the artificial-recharge program. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1980

Appraisal of ground-water resources in the San Antonio Creek Valley, Santa Barbara County, California

A nearly threefold increase in demand for water in the 154-square-mile San Antonio Creek valley in California during the period 1958-77 has increased the potential for overdraft on the ground-water basin. The hydrologic budget for this period showed a perennial yield of about 9,800 acre-feet per year and an annual ground-water discharge of about 11,400 acre-feet per year, comprising net pumpage of 7,100 acre-feet, phreatophyte evapotranspiration of 3,000 acre-feet, and base streamflow of 1 ,300 acre-feet. The base flow in San Antonio Creek could diminish to zero when net pumpage reaches 13,500 acre-feet per year. The environmentally sensitive marshland area of Barka Slough may then become stressed as water normally lost through evapotranspiration is captured by pumpage. The aquifer consists of alluvial valley fill that ranges in thickness from 0 to 3,500 feet. Ground water moves seaward from recharge areas along mountain fronts to a consolidated rock barrier about 5 miles east of the Pacific coast. Upwelling of ground water just east of the barrier has resulted in the 550-acre Barka Slough. Transmissivity of the aquifer ranges from 2,600 to 34,000 feet squared per day, with the lowest values occurring in the central part of the valley where the aquifer is thickest but probably finer grained. The salinity problems are increasing in the agricultural parts of the valley, which is east of the barrier. West of the barrier, stream and ground-water quality is poor, owing to seepage of saline water from the marine shale that underlies the area at shallow depths. A proposed basinwide monitoring program includes 17 water-level sites, 12 water-quality sampling sites, 3 streamflow measuring sites, and periodic infrared aerial photography of Barka Slough. A computer model of the ground-water flow system could be developed to assess the impact of various water-management alternatives.

California↗
USGS1979

Ground-water monitoring at Santa Barbara, California: Phase 1— Coastal monitor-well installation and initial measurements

Plans to reduce natural ground-water storage in the 7-square-mile Santa Barbara groundwater basin have caused concern about possible saltwater intrusion into the coastal freshwater aquifer. To give advance warning of such intrusion, two multipiezometer wells were installed along the coast, about half a mile and 1 mile from the pumping center. Each site contains four small-diameter wells, completed at depths between 95 and 800 feet, which monitor water levels and water quality in (1) the shallow zone above the producing zones, (2) the upper producing zone, (3) the lower producing zone, and (4) the deep zone below the producing zones. The wells were measured and sampled initially in September 1978 during a 2-million gallons per day pumping phase of the municipal supply wells. In the eight samples collected, dissolved-solids concentrations ranged from 450 to 6,290 mg/L and chloride concentrations ranged from 35 to 2,800 mg/L. At the site farther from the center of pumping , the well monitoring the upper producing zone was the only one with a water level below sea level, and it produced the water of poorest quality. At the site nearer the center of pumping, water levels in both producing zones and the deep zone were between 2 and 18 feet below sea level, with the water of poorest quality occurring in the lower producing zone. Although the dissolved-solids concentrations are high in several zones, the potential for saltwater intrusion can be reliably evaluated only after analysis of long-term records. (Woodard-USGS)

California↗