C.F. Avery | Geology Reports

USGS1995

Estimated water withdrawals and use in Illinois, 1988

The total amount of water withdrawn in Illinois during 1988 was about 18,756 million gallons per day (Mgal/d). About 1,170 Mgal/d, or 37 percent, of the total water withdrawn in Illinois, excluding withdrawals for thermoelectric-power generation, was ground water; about 1,998 Mgal/d of surface water was withdrawn and used, excluding withdrawals for thermoelectric-power generation. About 25 Mgal/d of the total ground water withdrawn was saline. Seventy-five percent of the total surface water, excluding withdrawals for thermoelectric-power generation, was withdrawn by public-supply facilities. Self-supplied industrial withdrawals were the next largest use of surface water. Thirty-nine percent of the total ground water was withdrawn by public-supply facilities. Irrigation was the next largest use of ground water. Sixty-two percent of the total water withdrawn, excluding thermoelectric withdrawals, in Illinois during 1988 was for public-supply facilities. Self-supplied withdrawals by industries and for irrigation were the next largest uses of water in Illinois during 1988. The total water withdrawn for thermoelectric-power generation was about 15,589 Mgal/d. Water withdrawn and delivered from public-supply facilities in Illinois during 1988 totaled about 1,956 Mgal/d. Surface water and ground water were the sources for about 1,495 and 462 Mgal/d, respectively, of the withdrawals for public supply. The total water obtained from Lake Michigan for public-water supply was about 1,214 Mgal/d. About 122 Mgal/d was withdrawn for self-supplied domestic purposes. Total self-supplied withdrawals and deliveries from public-water facilities for commercial use were about 654 Mgal/d. About 159 Mgal/d was self-supplied by the commercial establishments. Total irrigation water withdrawals were about 302 Mgal/d. Although irrigated acreage in Illinois has increased from 265,036 acres in 1986 to 281,370 acres in 1988, the most significant factor for the increased irrigation water use was the drought conditions throughout the entire State. Total estimated livestock withdrawals were about 56 Mgal/d. Total self-supplied withdrawals and deliveries from public-supply facilities for industrial purposes were about 743 Mgal/d. About 480 Mgal/d was self-supplied withdrawals by industrial facilities. A total of about 94 Mgal/d was withdrawn during mining activities. A total of about 34 Mgal/d was withdrawn during mining from ground-water sources; about 25 Mgal/d of the ground water withdrawn was saline.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1994

Interaction of ground water with the Rock River near Byron, Illinois

Ground-water discharge to the Rock River in the study area, estimated by three independent methods, ranged from 16,300 to 30,900 cubic feet per day; the low value, determined by the use of the modified Darcy equation, is an estimate only of ground-water discharge from the southern side of the Rock River. The vertical distribution of trichloroethene (TCE) in ground water was determined at a test hole along the estimated centerline of the contaminant plume and as close to the river as property access would allow. The maximum concentrations of TCE of 3 micro- grams per liter were found at depths of 59 and 64 feet. The contaminant was dispersed across a verti- cal interval of about 75 feet at depths of 19 and 94 feet. All of the TCE in ground water discharges to the Rock River because no TCE was detected below a depth of 109 feet, and increasing vertical head gradients with depth indicate ground-water flow from a depth of 119 feet is to the river. The maximum possible discharge of TCE is estimated to be about 1.7 grams per day. A finite-difference numerical model was used to simulate ground-water flow along a vertical section through the ground-water system from the Byron Superfund site to the Rock River. Results of the ground-water flow simulation indicate that, if underflow in the St. Peter aquifer occurs beneath the Rock River, it would be water that was present at depth in the flow system at the Byron Superfund site rather than contaminated water that had recharged the system in the vicinity of the Byron Superfund site. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗