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C. B. Hutchinson

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

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
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↗
USGS1978

Appraisal of shallow ground-water resources and management alternatives in the Upper Peace and Eastern Alafia River Basins, Florida

In southwest Florida, the shallow aquifer system underlying the 1,250-square-mile upper Peace and eastern Alafia River basins is a relatively untapped source of supply. The aquifer system ranges between 50 and 300 feet thick and is composed of a surficial sand unit underlain by a limestone unit. Sand and clay confining beds separate the shallow aquifer system from the highly productive, extensively developed deep aquifer system. The hydrologic budget of the area indicates that annual leakage of water from the shallow to the deep aquifer system is 2.6 inches while annual pumpage from the deep aquifer system averages 5.5 inches. Management alternatives to be considered for efficient use of the shallow ground-water resources include development by withdrawal wells or connector wells for recharge. One solution for a gridded network of wells consists of 540 wells spaced 7,000 feet apart, each producing 453 gallons per minute. The network would derive water to meet demand by capturing water that would normally have run off evapotranspired. (Woodard-USGS)

Florida↗
USGS1978

Geohydrologic evaluation of a landfill in a coastal area, St Petersburg, Florida

The 250-acre Toytown landfill site is in a poorly-drained area in coastal Pinellas County, Florida. Average altitude of land surface at the landfill is less than 10 feet. About 1000 tons of solid waste and about 200,000 gallons of digested sewage sludge are disposed of daily at the landfill. The velocity of ground-water flow through the 23-foot thick surficial aquifer northeast from the landfill toward Old Tampa Bay probably ranges from 1 to 10 feet per year, and downward velocity through the confining bed is about 0.00074 foot per day. The horizontal and vertical flow velocities indicate that leachate moves slowly downgradient, and that leachate has not yet seeped through the confining bed after 12 years of landfill operation. Untreated surface run-off from the site averages about 15 inches per year, and ground-water outflow averages about 3.3 inches per year. The Floridan aquifer is used as a limited source of water for domestic supply in this area.

Florida↗
USGS1977

Water table in the surficial aquifer and potentiometric surface of the Floridan Aquifer in selected well fields, west-central Florida, May 1976

The water table in the surficial aquifer (sand) and the potentiometric surface of the Floridan aquifer (limestone) in a 1,200-square-mile area in west-central Florida are mapped semiannually by the U.S. Geological Survey. Maps are prepared each May and September to coincide with seasonal low and high ground-water levels. The mapped area contains nine producing well fields which supplied 92.8 million gallons on May 12, 1976 to municipalities along the Gulf Coast. This pumpage came from the Floridan aquifer, the major aquifer in the State of Florida. The effect of well-field withdrawals is shown on the maps as cones of depression in both the potentiometric and water-table surfaces. The May 1976 maps indicate that water levels have declined below sea level in some areas. The decline results from reduced recharge during the dry spring combined with an increase in pumpage for lawn irrigation.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1976

Reconnaissance water sampling for radium-226 in central and northern Florida, December 1974-March 1976

Analyses of 115 water samples collected from December 1974 through March 1976 in eight Florida Counties indicated that 22 samples (19 percent) had radium-226 activities equal to or in excess of 3 piC/liter (picocuries per liter), the concentration limit recommended for drinking water by the U.S. Public Health Service. The maximum radium-226 activity was 90 piC/liter in water from a shallow well in Polk County. The sampling reconnaissance was generally limited to areas of active phosphate mining and areas of undisturbed phosphate deposits. Most of the sampling was from water wells. Thirteen surface-water samples were collected in the Peace River drainage basin. The maximum radium-226 detected in surface-water samples was 3.6 piC/liter in Little Charlie Creek at State Road 664A in Hardee County. (Woodard-USGS)

Florida↗