Geology topics

Research about Clinton County, Eaton County, Ingham County, Michigan

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Clinton County, Eaton County, Ingham County, Michigan.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS1996

Simulation of ground-water flow in the Saginaw Aquifer, Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham counties, Michigan

A numerical model was developed to simulate ground-water flow in the Tri-County region, which consists of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties, Michigan. This region includes a nine-township area surrounding Lansing, Michigan. The model simulates the regional response of the Saginaw aquifer to major groundwater withdrawals associated with public-supply wells. The Saginaw aquifer, which is in the Grand River and Saginaw Formations of Pennsylvanian age, is the primary source of ground water for Tri-County residents. The Saginaw aquifer is overlain by glacial deposits, which also are important ground-water sources in some locations. Flow in the Saginaw aquifer and the glacial deposits is simulated by discretizing the flow system into model cells arranged in two layers. Each cell, which corresponds to a land area of 0.0625 square mile, represents the locally averaged properties of the system. The spatial variation of hydraulic properties controlling ground-water flow was estimated by geostatistical analysis of 4,947 well logs. Parameter estimation, a form of nonlinear regression, was used to calibrate the flow model. Results of steady-state ground-water-flow simulations show close agreement between water flowing into and out of the model area for 1992 pumping conditions; standard error of the difference between simulated and measured heads is 14.7 feet. Simulation results for three alternative pumping scenarios for the year 2020 show that the glacial aquifer could be dewatered in places if hypothetical increases in pumping are not distributed throughout the Tri-County region. Contributing areas to public-supply wells in the nine-township area were delineated by a particle-tracking analysis. These areas cover about 121 square miles. Contributing areas for particles having travel times of 40 years or less cover about 42 square miles. Results of tritium sampling support results of model simulations to delineate contributing areas.

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USGS1995

Ground-water withdrawals in Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham counties, Michigan

The Tri-County region includes Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties in the south-central Lower Peninsula of Michigan (fig. 1). People in the Lansing Metropolitan area, which is located near the center of this region, generally enjoy high-quality drinking water. In fact, taste testers ranked Lansing's water as second in the Nation at the 1988 American Water Resources Association Water-Use Symposium in Tucson, Arizona. However, a drought in 1988 and subsequent water rationing within the Tri-County region prompted local communities to assess the adequacy of water resources for future needs. As part of that effort, this fact sheet provides a brief overview of the development of ground-water resources within the region.

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USGS1973

Water-supply development and management alternatives for Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties, Michigan

The Tri-County region, consisting of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties, is an area of 1,697 square miles in Michigan's Lower Peninsula and has as its hub the Lansing metropolitan area. The land surface ranges in altitude from about 700 to about 1,000 feet. The region receives an average of about 31 inches of precipitation each year. The population is nearing 400,000 and by 1990 will be near 600,000. Average daily water use is slightly more than 30 million gallons today; by 1980 it will be about 50 million gallons, and by 1990 it will probably be about 70 million gallons. The Tri-County region is drained by seven river systems. The median annual 7 -day mean low flows of the principal streams in these systems were measured at the point farthest downstream within the region. These values, in cubic feet per second, are as follows: Grand River, 180; Maple River, 34; Looking Glass River, 28; Red Cedar River, 30; Portage Creek, 15; Battle Creek, 20; and Thornapple River, 24-a total of 331 cubic feet per second or about 220 million gallons per day. The areal variance in 7-day low-flow runoff ranges from 0 to 0.15 cubic foot per second per square mile. The principal source of ground water in the Tri-County region is a complex aquifer system composed of the Saginaw and Grand River Formations and some of the overlying glacial sediments. This aquifer yields between 300 and 700 gallons per minute to individual wells in much of the western half of Ingham County, in the eastern half of Clinton County, in a small area in southeastern Clinton County, and in northeastern Eaton County. In some parts of the region, the glacial sediments are favorable for development of moderate to large supplies of water. Minor aquifers in the region are the Bayport, Michigan, and Marshall Formations. Providing water supplies in the future requires complete and comprehensive water-management programs. Such management programs involve determining which of several alternative water-development systems is the best. Some of the chief factors and methods that must be considered when planning these systems are combined use of ground and surface water, artificial recharge, treatment of wastes, use of storage reservoirs, and importation of water from the Great Lakes.

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