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At least 523 records · Page 29Linked to original sources
USGS1970

Summary of ground-water hydrological data in Michigan in 1968

The purpose of this report is to make available the records of groundwater levels in the principal aquifers of the State through 1968 and to compile other related data, such as records of ground-water pumpage, data on municipal, public and industrial water-supply facilities, and the effects of precipitation on ground-water levels. Records of water levels in areas of heavy pumpage and in areas where changes are principally from natural influences are illustrated or tabulated to allow comparison between these types of water-level fluctuations. The water-levels and related data provide a day-to-day record for the evaluation of available ground-water supplies. The long-term records serve as a framework to which short-term records may be related. This report is written for those persons, municipalities, industries, institutions, consultants, drillers and hydrologists interested in the groundwater resources of the State.

Michigan↗
USGS1977

Reconnaissance of ground-water resources in a part of the Yampa River basin between Craig and Steamboat Springs, Moffat and Routt counties, Colorado

This report presents the results of an investigation of ground-water resources in that part of the Yampa River basin between the towns of Craig and Steamboat Springs. The location of the study area is shown on the index map. The investigation was begun in 1975 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources, Office of the State Engineer.

Colorado↗
USGS1994

Documentation of Model Input and Output Values Used for Analyses of Simulated Development in Stagecoac Valley, Lyon and Storey Counties, Western Nevada

A previously published Geological Survey report (Professional Paper 1409-H) describes ground-water flow and simulated development scenarios in Stagecoach Valley, Lyon and Storey Counties, Nevada. This study was done as part of the Survey's Great Basin Regional Aquifer-Systems Analysis program. Documentation of model input and output values used for analysis of ground-water flow and simulated development scenarios in Stagecoach Valley, Lyon and Storey Counties, in western Nevada, has not been published previously. In this report, the documen- tation, consisting of a listing of input values and sample output, is contained on a 5-1/4-inch diskette in files presented according to the American International Standard Code for Information Inter- change (ASCII) format. These files require approxi- mately 760,000 bytes of disk space on an IBM- compatible microcomputer using the MS-DOS operating system.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1987

An evaluation of the bedrock aquifer system in northeastern Wisconsin

Ground water is a major source of water in northeastern Wisconsin. The lower Fox River valley, located between Lake Winnebago and Green Bay in northeastern Wisconsin, is the second largest population center in Wisconsin. By 1957, ground-water withdrawals had lowered the potentiometric surface of the aquifer system as much as 440 feet below prepumping levels. With the exception of the city of Green Bay, which converted from ground water to surface water (Lake Michigan) for their municipal water supply in 1957, ground-water withdrawals have continually increased. The report evaluates the bedrock aquifer system in northeastern Wisconsin and describes how the flow regimes in the system have been altered due to ground-water withdrawals. A three-dimensional finite-difference groundwater flow model was used to aid in evaluation of the regional flow system. In order to simplify the study of the aquifer system, the geologic units were grouped into eight geohydrologic units consisting of four aquifers and four confining beds. The aquifers are the more permeable sand and gravel layers in the surficial deposits (aquifer 4), Devonian dolomite-Silurian dolomite (aquifer 3), St. Peter Sandstone- Prairie du Chien Group-Jordan Sandstone Member of the Trempealeau Formation (aquifer 2), and the Galesville Sandstone-Eau Claire Sandstone-Mount Simon Sandstone (aquifer 1). The confining beds are the less permeable silts and clays in the surficial deposits (confining bed 4), Maquoketa Shale-Galena Dolomite-Decorah Shale-Platteville Formation (confining bed 3), St. Lawrence Member of the Trempealeau Formation-Franconia Sandstone (confining bed 2), and the Precambrian crystalline rock (confining bed 1). The following aquifer and confining-bed characteristics were determined to represent the aquifer system of northeastern Wisconsin and were used in the development of the model. Aquifer 4 acts as an upper boundary of the bedrock aquifer system. The hydraulic conductivity of aquifer 3 was 7.9 feet per day and the storage coefficient was estimated to be 0.01. Transmissivity input values to the model for aquifer 2 are based on hydraulic conductivities ranging from 3 to 8 feet per day. The storage coefficient for aquifer 2 was 0.0002. The transmissivity input values to the model for aquifer 1 are based on hydraulic conductivities ranging from 2.5 to 8 feet per day and the storage coefficient was 0.0002. Confining bed 4 acts as an upper confining unit for the underlying bedrock aquifers. A vertical hydraulic conductivity of 0.007 foot per day was assigned to represent confining bed 4. The vertical hydraulic conductivity of confining bed 3 was assigned values of 0.0001 to 0.000004 foot per day. A value of 0.00001 foot per day was used as the vertical hydraulic conductivity for confining bed 2. Confining bed 1 is a lower boundary of the system and was not modeled. Model simulations indicate that, by 1914, ground-water withdrawals from the aquifer system had already impacted the study area. Pumping in the Green Bay metropolitan area had lowered the potentiometric heads in aquifer 1 by 69 feet and in aquifer 2 by 55 feet. Model simulations indicate that, by 1981, ground-water withdrawals have caused a cone of depression centered in the city of De Pere area. The influence of the cone affects almost the entire study area and has significantly altered the horizontal and vertical flow regimes in the aquifer system. In 1981, computed drawdowns below the prepumping potentiometric surface of aquifer 1 range from 0 feet on the western side of the study area to 330 feet in the center of the cone of depression. In aquifer 2, the computed drawdown ranges from 0 feet on the western side of the study area to 253 feet in the center of the cone.

Wisconsin↗
USGS1964

Geology and ground-water conditions of Clark County, Washington, with a description of a major alluvial aquifer along the Columbia River

This report presents the results of an investigation of the ground-water resources of the populated parts of Clark County. Yields adequate for irrigation can be obtained from wells inmost farmed areas in Clark County, Wash. The total available supply is sufficient for all foreseeable irrigation developments. In a few local areas aquifers are fine-grained, and yields of individual wells are low. An enormous ground-water supply is available from a major alluvial aquifer underlying the flood plain of the Columbia River in the vicinity of Vancouver, Camas, and Washougal, where the aquifer is recharged, in part, by infiltration from the river. Yields of individual wells are large, ranging to as much as 4,000 gpm (gallons per minute). Clark County lies along the western flank of the Cascade Range. in the structural lowland (Willamette-Puget trough) between those mountains and the Coast Ranges to the west. The area covered by the report includes the urban, the suburban, and most of the agricultural lands in the county. These lands lie on a Series of nearly fiat plains and benches which rise steplike from the level of the Columbia River (a few feet above sea level) to about 800 feet above sea level. Clark County is-drained by the Columbia River (the trunk stream of the Pacific Northwest) and its tributaries. The Columbia River forms the southern and western boundaries of the county. Although the climate of the county is considered to be humid, the precipitation ranging from about 37 to more than 110 inches annually in various parts of the county, the unequal seasonal distribution (about 1.5 inches total for ;July and August in the agricultural area) makes irrigation highly desirable for most .crops and essential for some specialized crops. Consolidated rocks of Eocene to Miocene age, chiefly volcanic lava flows and pyroclastics but including some sedimentary strata, crop out in the foothills of the Cascades in the eastern part of the county and underlie the younger, unconsolidated rocks in the lowlands to the west At most places small to moderate quantities of water can be obtained from fractures in the older consolidated rocks. However, in the populated parts of the county, these rocks generally are overlain by considerable thicknesses of more permeable materials, and few wells have been drilled in them. Springs and dug wells yield an ample domestic supply at a number of outlying farms in the foothills. The younger (Pliocene to Recent) unconsolidated materials were deposited chiefly by streams in the basin formed by downwarping of the older rocks. However, some lake deposits and glacial drift also are included. The oldest unit of this group, the lower member of the Troutdale formation of Pliocene age, consists chiefly of clay, silt, and fine sand but includes lenses of coarser sand and, rarely, gravel. The maximum known thickness of the lower member of the Troutdale formation is about 660 feet. This unit is not a good aquifer because most of the strata are fine grained. However, at a few places drilled wells have penetrated lenses of coarser grained materials in these deposits and have obtained small to moderate amounts of water from them. The upper member of the Troutdale formation consists almost entirely of lightly to moderately cemented gravel, of which the most striking feature is the presence of a considerable percentage of quartzite pebbles. The average thickness of the upper member of the Troutdale may originally have been 300 to 400 feet. The member crops out over considerable areas in the county and, where conditions of topography and exposure are optimum, has beer very deeply weathered. It is suggested that the upper member of the Troutdale formation may prove to be of early Pleistocene age.

Washington↗
USGS1997

Digital data sets that describe aquifer characteristics of the Central Oklahoma Aquifer in central Oklahoma

ARC/INFO export files The data sets in this report include digitized aquifer boundaries and maps of hydraulic conductivity, recharge, and ground-water level elevation contours for the Central Oklahoma aquifer in central Oklahoma. This area encompasses all or part of Cleveland, Lincoln, Logan, Oklahoma, Payne, and Pottawatomie Counties. The Central Oklahoma aquifer includes the alluvial and terrace deposits along major streams, the Garber Sandstone and Wellington Formations, and the Chase, Council Grove, and Admire Groups. The Quaternary-age alluvial and terrace deposits consist of unconsolidated clay, silt, sand, and gravel. The Permian-age Garber Sandstone and Wellington Formations consist of sandstone with interbedded siltstone and mudstone. The Permian-age Chase, Council Grove, and Admire Groups consist of sandstone, shale, and thin limestone. The Central Oklahoma aquifer underlies about 3,000 square miles of central Oklahoma where the aquifer is used extensively for municipal, industrial, commercial, and domestic water supplies. Most of the usable ground water within the aquifer is from the Garber Sandstone and Wellington Formations. Substantial quantities of usable ground water also are present in the Chase, Council Grove, and Admire Groups, and in alluvial and terrace deposits associated with the major streams. The aquifer boundaries, hydraulic conductivity and recharge values, and ground-water level elevation contours are from previously published reports.

Oklahoma↗
USGS1997

Hydrogeologic data for the Blaine aquifer and associated units in southwestern Oklahoma and northwestern Texas

This report is a compilation of hydrogeologic data collected for an areal ground-water investigation of the Blaine aquifer and associated units in southwestern Oklahoma and northwestern Texas. The study area includes parts of Greer, Harmon, and Jackson counties in Oklahoma and parts of Childress, Collingsworth, Hall, Hardeman, and Wilbarger counties in Texas. The Blaine aquifer consists of cavernous gypsum and dolomite beds. Water from the Blaine aquifer supports a local agriculture based mainly on irrigated cotton and wheat. The purpose of the study was to determine the availability, quantity, and quality of ground water from the Blaine aquifer and associated units. This report provides a reference for some of the data that was used as input into a computer ground-water flow model that simulates ground-water flow in the Blaine aquifer. The data in this report consists of: (1) Monthly or periodic water-level measurements in 134 wells; (2) daily mean water-level measurements for 11 wells equipped with water-level recorders; (3) daily total precipitation measurements from five precipitation gages; (4) low-flow stream-discharge measurements for 89 stream sites; (5) miscellaneous stream-discharge measurements at seven stream sites; (6) chemical analyses of surface water from 78 stream sites during low-flow periods; (7) chemical analyses of ground water from 41 wells; and (8) chemical analyses of runoff water collected at five sites.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1998

Computer programs for describing the recession of ground-water discharge and for estimating mean ground-water recharge and discharge from streamflow records-update

The computer programs included in this report can be used to develop a mathematical expression for recession of ground-water discharge and estimate mean ground-water recharge and discharge. The programs are intended for analysis of the daily streamflow record of a basin where one can reasonably assume that all, or nearly all, ground water discharges to the stream except for that which is lost to riparian evapotranspiration, and where regulation and diversion of flow can be considered to be negligible. The program RECESS determines the master reces-sion curve of streamflow recession during times when all flow can be considered to be ground-water discharge and when the profile of the ground-water-head distribution is nearly stable. The method uses a repetitive interactive procedure for selecting several periods of continuous recession, and it allows for nonlinearity in the relation between time and the logarithm of flow. The program RORA uses the recession-curve displacement method to estimate the recharge for each peak in the streamflow record. The method is based on the change in the total potential ground-water discharge that is caused by an event. Program RORA is applied to a long period of record to obtain an estimate of the mean rate of ground-water recharge. The program PART uses streamflow partitioning to estimate a daily record of base flow under the streamflow record. The method designates base flow to be equal to streamflow on days that fit a requirement of antecedent recession, linearly interpolates base flow for other days, and is applied to a long period of record to obtain an estimate of the mean rate of ground-water discharge. The results of programs RORA and PART correlate well with each other and compare reasonably with results of the corresponding manual method.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1978

Ground-water levels and quality data for Georgia, 1977

This report begins a publication format that will present annually both water-level and water-quality data. In this format the information is presented in two-page units: the left page includes text which summarizes the information for an area or subject and the right page consists of one or more illustrations. Daily mean water-level fluctuations and trends are shown in hydrographs for the previous year and fluctuations for the monthly mean water level the previous 10 years for selected observation wells in Georgia. The selected wells best illustrate the effects of changes in recharge and discharge in the various ground-water reservoirs in the State. A short narrative explains fluctuations and trends in each hydrograph.

Georgia↗
USGS1986

Summary of available ground-water data for the island of Oahu, Hawaii

This report presents, in tabular form, descriptive information and information on the availability of chloride concentration, water level, pumpage, log, pump test and flow data for all wells , shafts and tunnels on Oahu, Hawaii. Descriptive data for each groundwater source include: identification number, map number, depth, diameter, year completed, owner, usage and status. The report is based on data currently available in the files of the U.S. Geological Survey and is a compilation of observations made by Survey personnel, and information gathered by other agencies and the private sector. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1936

Geology and ground-water resources of Uvalde and Medina Counties, Texas

This report is based on an investigation by the United States Geological Survey, the Texas State Board of Water Engineers, and the Texas State Board of Health to determine the ground-water resources of Uvalde and Medina Counties, especially in relation to irrigation, both in these counties and in the counties to the south where water is obtained for irrigation from the Carrizo sand and younger formations. This investigation was carried on between September 12, 1928, and May 25, 1930. Observations of the water levels in selected wells were made at intervals up to August 1935.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1970

Saline ground-water resources of the Tularosa Basin, New Mexico

This report describes the location, extent, and quality of saline ground water in the Tularosa Basin, a north-trending elongated, intermontane, desert basin in south-central New Mexico. There are no through-flowing streams; runoff from the bordering mountains flows to ephemeral lakes in the center of the basin. Fresh-water supplies in the Tularosa Basin are limited; however, large volumes of saline ground-water underlie most of the basin. Consolidated rocks ranging from Precambrian through Cretaceous in age form "bedrock" aquifers in the basin. Where these rocks are exposed in the mountains bordering the basin, and in the north part of the basin, they may yield up to 150 gallons per minute, although yields are usually less than 20 gpm. Water at shallow depths in these rocks usually contain 1-3 g/l. Water quality deteriorates with depth, and more than 35 g/l water is present in some rock units. Few wells have penetrated these rocks beneath the alluvial deposits in the central part of the basin, where well yields and water quality are generally unknown. The most widely developed aquifer in the basin is the alluvial fill of Tertiary to Holocene age which exceeds 6,000 feet in thickness in the southern part of the basin. Well yields of as much as 1,400 gallons per minute have been measured. Fresh water lenses occur in the alluvial fill adjacent to the mountains on the east and west sides of the southern part of the basin. The water below the fresh-water lenses in the alluvial fill increases in salinity with depth. Salinity also increases toward the center of the basin. The altitude of isosaline surfaces and thickness of the saline-water zones are shown on maps of the entire basin and of the following detailed areas within the basin: Alamogordo, Tularosa, Carrizozo, and the western margin of the basin.

New Mexico↗
USGS1971

Ground-water resources of Cache Valley, Utah and Idaho

This report is based on a study that was designed to provide information to enable the water managers and users in Cache Valley to develop, conserve, and administer their water resources. The report is primarily about the ground water in the valley, but it also includes a discussion of the relation of ground water to surface water and presents a general water-budget analysis for the valley. The report discusses the effects of climate, geology, and development on the source, occurrence, availability, quantity, movement, and chemical quality of the ground water. Most of the discussion pertains to ground water in the Quaternary valley fill, the principal water-bearing unit in the area, but it also includes some information about ground water in other rocks within the Cache Valley drainage basin.

Idaho, Utah↗
USGS2009

Evaluation of the effects of precipitation on ground-water levels from wells in selected alluvial aquifers in Utah and Arizona, 1936-2005

Increased withdrawals from alluvial aquifers of the southwestern United States during the last half-century have intensified the effects of drought on ground-water levels in valleys where withdrawal for irrigation is greatest. Furthermore, during wet periods, reduced withdrawals coupled with increased natural recharge cause rising ground-water levels. In order to manage water resources more effectively, analysis of ground-water levels under the influence of natural and anthropogenic stresses is useful. This report evaluates the effects of precipitation patterns on ground-water levels in areas of Utah and Arizona that have experienced different amounts of ground-water withdrawal. This includes a comparison of water-level records from basins that are hydrogeologically and climatologically similar but have contrasting levels of ground-water development. Hydrologic data, including records of ground-water levels, basin-wide annual ground-water withdrawals, and precipitation were examined from two basins in Utah (Milford and central Sevier) and three in Arizona (Aravaipa Canyon, Willcox, and Douglas). Most water-level records examined in this study from basins experiencing substantial ground-water development (Milford, Douglas, and Willcox) showed strong trends of declining water levels. Other water-level records, generally from the less-developed basins (central Sevier and Aravaipa Canyon) exhibited trends of increasing water levels. These trends are likely the result of accumulating infiltration of unconsumed irrigation water. Water-level records that had significant trends were detrended by subtraction of a low-order polynomial in an attempt to eliminate the variation in the water-level records that resulted from ground-water withdrawal or the application of water for irrigation. After detrending, water-level residuals were correlated with 2- to 10-year moving averages of annual precipitation from representative stations for the individual basins. The water-level residual time series for each well was matched with the 2- to 10-year moving average of annual precipitation with which it was best correlated and the results were compared across basins and hydrologic settings. Analysis of water-level residuals and moving averages of annual precipitation indicate that ground-water levels in the Utah basins respond more slowly to precipitation patterns than those from the Arizona basins. This is attributed to the dominant mechanism of recharge that most directly influences the respective valley aquifers. Substantial recharge in the Utah basins likely originates as infiltrating snowmelt in the mountain block far from the valley aquifer, whereas mountain-front recharge and streambed infiltration of runoff are the dominant recharge mechanisms operating in the Arizona basins. It was determined that the fraction of water-level variation caused by local precipitation patterns becomes more difficult to resolve with increasing effects of ground-water pumping, especially from incomplete records. As the demand for ground water increases in the southwestern United States, long-term records of ground-water levels have the potential to provide valuable information about the precipitation-driven variation in water levels, which has implications to water management related to water availability.

Arizona, Utah↗
USGS1966

Ground water in the Cimarron River basin: New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma

This report on ground water in the Cimarron River basin was prepared by the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey at the request of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, for inclusion in the Corps' overall report on the water resources of the basin. The report is an updating of the Cimarron Basin part of the report on the Arkansas, White, and Red River basins (Lohman and Burtis, 1953a) and includes more recently published data, as well as unpublished data in the files of the Geological Survey. These data are compiled by district offices of the Geological Survey in each State in cooperation with State and local agencies and with other Federal agencies. No new data were collected as a part of this investigation. The report is primarily a map presentation, and the text is intended mainly to clarify and supplement the maps and to make them more understandable and usable. The report also presents some of the ground-water problems--both present and potential--and suggests some partial solutions. As the maps and text are of necessity highly generalized, the reader is referred to the more detailed reports for more precise information.

Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma↗
USGS2007

Strontium Isotopic Composition of Paleozoic Carbonate Rocks in the Nevada Test Site Vicinity, Clark, Lincoln, and Nye Counties, Nevada, and Inyo County, California

Ground water moving through permeable Paleozoic carbonate rocks represents the most likely pathway for migration of radioactive contaminants from nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada. The strontium isotopic composition (87Sr/86Sr) of ground water offers a useful means of testing hydrochemical models of regional flow involving advection and reaction. However, reaction models require knowledge of 87Sr/86Sr data for carbonate rock in the Nevada Test Site vicinity, which is scarce. To fill this data gap, samples of core or cuttings were selected from 22 boreholes at depth intervals from which water samples had been obtained previously around the Nevada Test Site at Yucca Flat, Frenchman Flat, Rainier Mesa, and Mercury Valley. Dilute acid leachates of these samples were analyzed for a suite of major- and trace-element concentrations (MgO, CaO, SiO2, Al2O3, MnO, Rb, Sr, Th, and U) as well as for 87Sr/86Sr. Also presented are unpublished analyses of 114 Paleozoic carbonate samples from outcrops, road cuts, or underground sites in the Funeral Mountains, Bare Mountain, Striped Hills, Specter Range, Spring Mountains, and ranges east of the Nevada Test Site measured in the early 1990's. These data originally were collected to evaluate the potential for economic mineral deposition at the potential high-level radioactive waste repository site at Yucca Mountain and adjacent areas (Peterman and others, 1994). Samples were analyzed for a suite of trace elements (Rb, Sr, Zr, Ba, La, and Ce) in bulk-rock powders, and 87Sr/86Sr in partial digestions of carbonate rock using dilute acid or total digestions of silicate-rich rocks. Pre-Tertiary core samples from two boreholes in the central or western part of the Nevada Test Site also were analyzed. Data are presented in tables and summarized in graphs; however, no attempt is made to interpret results with respect to ground-water flow paths in this report. Present-day 87Sr/86Sr values are compared to values for Paleozoic seawater present at the time of deposition. Many of the samples have 87Sr/86Sr compositions that remain relatively unmodified from expected seawater values. However, rocks underlying the northern Nevada Test Site as well as rocks exposed at Bare Mountain commonly have elevated 87Sr/86Sr values derived from post-depositional addition of radiogenic Sr most likely from fluids circulating through rubidium-rich Paleozoic strata or Precambrian basement rocks.

Data Series↗
USGS2006

Georgia's Ground-Water Resources and Monitoring Network, 2006

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) ground-water network for Georgia currently consists of 170 wells in which ground-water levels are continuously monitored. Most of the wells are locatedin the Coastal Plain in the southern part of the State where ground-water pumping stress is high. In particular, there are large concentrations of wells in coastal and southwestern Georgia areas, where there are issues related to ground-water pumping, saltwater intrusion along the coast, and diminished streamflow in southwestern Georgia due to irrigation pumping. The map at right shows the USGS ground-water monitoring network for Georgia. Ground-water levels are monitored in 170 wells statewide, of which 19 transmit data in real time via satellite and posted on the World Wide Web at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nwis/current/?type=gw . A greater concentration of wells occurs in the Coastal Plain where there are several layers of aquifers and in coastal and southwestern Georgia areas, which are areas with specific ground-water issues.

Fact Sheet↗