Geohydrology of North Eastern Province, Kenya
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Water Supply Paper↗
Geology topics
Maurice John Mundorff
Publications and source records attributed to Maurice John Mundorff.
Hydrologic evaluation of salinity control and reclamation projects in the Indus Plain, Pakistan--A summary
This report summarizes the observations and findings of a team of four specialists from the U.S. Geological Survey assigned to Pakistan under the auspices of the U.S. Agency for International Development during May to August 1972 for a hydrologic evaluation of Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects in the Indus Plain Individual members of the team undertook comprehensive studies related to climatology, surface-water hydrology, and the canal system; streamflow and sediment yields of the rivers; computer applications to hydrologic data; aquifer characteristics; hydrologic evaluation of Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects (SCARPs); tubewell performance; hydrology of shallow versus deep tubewells; well and well-screen design in the Indus Plain; evaluation of observed and anticipated trends in both private and public tubewell development; evaluation of water-quality programs, data analysis, and records, and computer coding of special water-quality data; and evaluation of water-level data, well discharge and specific-capacity tests and aquifer tests. The reclamation program, by pumping from tubewells, has been notably successful in lowering the water table, in providing supplemental water for irrigation and for leaching of salinized soils, and in improving crop production. Some changes in water quality have been observed in SCARP-I and the Mona Scheme of SCARP-II, but these have not as yet (1972) significantly affected the utility of the water for irrigation. Problems associated with reclamation include control of deterioration in performance of tubewells and their rehabilitation, local brackish or saline-water encroachment, and maintenance of a favorable salt balance in the ground-water system. Rapid and as yet (1972) unregulated growth of shallow private tubewell development in the past decade has introduced complicating factors to the reclamation planning of the early 1960's which had emphasized public tubewell development through the SCARP program. In comparing shallow (0-200 feet) with deep (200-400 feet} tubewell development, it is concluded that long-term response of the water table is the same, whether many shallow wells of small capacity or fewer deeper wells of large capacity pump the same total volume of water in the same area. Moreover, it is concluded that there is no definite advantage for either type of pumping regime with respect to water quality. Utilization of the Punjab aquifer could be greatly enhanced by recharge of high-quality water diverted from the Chenab and Jhelum Rivers to the Ravi and Sutlej Rivers by way of the link and irrigation canals during periods of surplus flow. Recharge to the aquifer could also be improved by diversion of high-quality water from the Chenab and the Jhelum to natural nalas and other surface drainageways during periods of surplus flow. Such recharge would be of much better quality than water leaching downward from irrigated fields. Continued monitoring of the hydrologic system and research on problems engendered by reclamation are essential to the viability of the SCARP program and related water-resources development in the Indus River Basin.
Water Supply Paper↗
Electric analog studies of flow to wells in the Punjab aquifer of West Pakistan
A series of experiments was performed with a steady-state electric analog simulating a cylindrical segment of the aquifer underlying the plains of the Punjab region of West Pakistan. In most of the experiments recharge was assumed to be from the surface, within a specified radius of influence, and distributed uniformly over the area within this radius. Experiments were made with different anisotropies (ratios of lateral to vertical resistance) so that various possible combinations of aquifer thickness and effective radius or radius of influence and combinations .of lateral and vertical permeability could be included in the models. Flow nets were constructed to show distribution of potential in the vertical section and intersections of stream surfaces with the vertical plane. The series of experiments in which the screened interval is in the upper part of the aquifer shows that flow decreases and stream tubes shift progressively toward the upper part of the aquifer as anisotropy increases. Another series illustrates that total yield increases and yield per foot of screen decreases as screen length increases. The experiments indicate that, under conditions prevalent in the Punjab, the Distance-drawdown method for determining permeability gives results with an error of 10 percent or less provided that at least one piezometer or observation well is within a few feet of the pumped well and that no observation well or piezometer used is more than 100 feet from the pumped well. Relative traveltime for each of 10 stream tubes is given for three models. Relative traveltimes for one-fourth and one-half the effective radius are given for selected stream tubes. By substituting values for the aquifer parameters, actual traveltimes are computed from the relative-traveltime data.
Water Supply Paper↗
Ground-water aspects of the lower Henrys Fork region, eastern Idaho
The lower Henrys Fork region in eastern Idaho includes the plains and low benches between Ashton and the junction of Henrys Fork and Snake River. The northwestern and western parts of the area are part of the Snake River basalt plain. The central part of the area is occupied by alluvial plains of the Snake, Teton, and Falls Rivers and of Henrys Fork. The alluvial deposits are underlain by basalt. The southeastern part of the area is a bench (Rexburg Bench), chiefly on silicic and basaltic volcanic rocks, which rises gradually to mountain peaks (Big Hole Mountains) southeast of the area. Irrigation wells open to the basalt under the Snake River Plain and the basalt and sands and gravels under the alluvial plains yield large amounts of water with small drawdowns. Irrigation wells in the silicic volcanic rocks and the interbedded ash, pyroclastics, and sedimentary deposits beneath the Rexburg Bench generally yield much less water. The regional water table slopes southwestward beneath the basalt and alluvial plains. It is recharged by precipitation that infiltrates into the ground in the headwaters of Henrys Fork and Falls, and Teton Rivers and by water that moves downward from an extensive perched water body caused by seepage from stream channels and surface-water irrigation. The perched water in part moves vertically down to the regional water table and in part laterally to the streams. Ground water beneath the Rexburg Bench moves generally northwestward to join the regional ground-water body beneath the alluvia,1 and basalt plain, but this area contributes very little recharge to the main aquifer body. Recharge to the regional water table is estimated to average 725,000 acre-feet annually. The regional water table is below the level of the streams in the area, and ground water in the main aquifer, therefore, is not tributary to the streams. Pumping from the regional ground-water reservoir for irrigation or other uses would have no effect on streamflow or surface-water rights within the study area. However, depletion of the underflow would eventually reduce the inflow to American Falls Reservoir, unless the depletion was offset by additional recharge. Total withdrawals of ground water for irrigation in 1962, principally in the Rexburg Bench, were estimated to be 25,000 acre-feet. About 10,000 acre-feet was withdrawn for domestic, municipal, and stock supplies. These withdrawals caused no significant decline in the water table. In the Ashton area, surface-water irrigation has caused water to be perched in basalt above the silicic volcanic rocks, and much of' this perched water contributes to streamflow. Some ground water can be pumped from the basalt for irrigation and other uses. If ground water were pumped for irrigation, the flow of Henrys Fork would be decreased by the amount of pumped water consumed by crops. Water pumped for nonconsumptive use would have little effect on streamflow. Ground-water prospects for irrigation in the Falls River area are not encouraging.
Water Supply Paper↗
Ground water in the vicinity of American Falls Reservoir, Idaho
Analysis of ground- and surface-water relationships suggests that increasing the capacity of the American Falls Reservoir by raising the height of the dam 15 feet would increase leakage from the reservoir by less than 0.2 percent of the average inflow to the reservoir, or less than 10,000 acre feet per year. This amount is less than one-tenth of the evaporation rate from the reservoir. The American Falls Reservoir lies near the south margin of the Snake River Plain in southeastern Idaho. The Snake River Plain is about 200 miles long and averages nearly 60 miles in width. It is underlain by a thick sequence of basaltic lava flows, interbedded pyroclasties, and sedimentary deposits. The uppermost few thousand feet of this sequence is the Snake Plain aquifer, one of the great aquifers of the United States. Recharge to the aquifer is chiefly by water percolating from the Snake River, its tributaries, and irrigated tracts, and by underflow from surrounding areas. Ground water moves generally southwestward and discharges to the Snake River through springs in the American Falls Reservoir reach and in the Hagerman Valley reach (between Twin Falls and Bliss). Total discharge from the aquifer is about 9,000 cfs (cubic feet per second). The occurrence and movement of ground water in the viscinity of American Falls Reservoir are controlled by the local geology. Silt and tuff in the Neeley Formation and the Walcott Tuff and silt and fine sand in the FT ft Formation and American Falls Lake Beds have a low permeability. These rocks transmit little ground water compared with the basalt and intercalated pyroclasties and gravels of the Snake Plain aquifer. The less permeable deposits underlie the reservoir area and act as a barrier to the movement of ground water. Under present conditions the water table on the periphery of the reservoir slopes toward the reservoir, except within 3 or 4 miles of the dam, where the water table slopes away from the reservoir. Most of the springs discharge at altitudes above 4,370 feet, some 15 feet above the maximum reservoir stage. Thus, reservoir stage has little effect on ground-water inflow to the reservoir. A fairly close relationship exists between the annual amount of surface water diverted for irrigation of lands up the Snake River from the reservoir and the annual ground-water discharge through springs for the period 1911-60. After about 1952, greatly increased ground-water withdrawals from wells, which increased consumptive use, virtually balanced increased diversions from the surface- water system for irrigation, so that ground-water inflow to the reservoir remained about constant.
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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.
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Ground water for irrigation in the Snake River Basin in Idaho
The Snake River basin, in southern Idaho, upstream from the mouth of the Powder River in Oregon, includes more than 50 percent of the land area and 65 percent of the total population of the State. More than 2.5 million acres of land is irrigated ; irrigation agriculture and industry allied with agriculture are the basis of the economy of the basin. Most of the easily developed sources of surface water are fully utilized, and few storage sites remain where water could be made available to irrigate lands under present economic conditions. Because surface-water supplies have be come more difficult to obtain, use of ground water has increased greatly. At the present time (1959), about 600,000 acres of land is irrigated with ground water. Ground-water development has been concentrated in areas where large amounts of water are available beneath or adjacent to tracts of arable land and where the depth to water is not excessive under the current economy. Under these criteria, many of the most favorable areas already have been developed; however, tremendous volumes of water are still available for development. In some places, water occurs at depths considered near or beyond the limit for economic recovery, whereas in some other places, water is reasonably close to the surface but no arable land is available in the vicinity. In other parts of the basin large tracts of arable land are without available water supply. Thus the chief tasks in development of the ground-water resources include not only locating and evaluating ground-water supplies but also the planning necessary to bring the water to the land. Irrigation began in the 1860's ; at the present time more than 10 million acre feet of surface water, some of which is recirculated water, is diverted annually for irrigation of more than 2.5 million acres. Diversion of this large quantity of water has had a marked effect on the ground-water regimen. In some areas, the water table has risen more than 100 feet and the discharge of some springs has more than doubled. Large-scale development of ground water began after World War II, and it is estimated that in 1959 about 1,500,000 acre-feet of ground water was pumped for irrigation of the 600,000 acres irrigated wholly with ground water in addition to a substantial amount of ground water pumped to supplement surface-water supplies. Ground water is also the principal source of supply for municipal, industrial, and domestic use. The water regimen in the Snake River basin is greatly influenced by the geology. The rocks forming the mountains are largely consolidated rocks of low permeability; however, a fairly deep and porous subsoil has formed on them by decay and disintegration of the parent rock. Broad intermontane valleys and basins are partly filled with alluvial sand and gravel. The subsoil and alluvial materials are utilized very little as a source of water supply but are important as seasonal ground-water reservoirs because they store water during periods of high rainfall and snowmelt. Discharge from these reservoirs maintains stream flow during periods of surface runoff. Because these aquifers are fairly thin, they drain rapidly and are considerably depleted at the end of each dry cycle. The plain and plateau areas and tributary valleys, on the other hand, are underlain chiefly by rocks of high permeability and porosity. These rocks, mostly basaltic lava flows and alluvial materials, constitute a reservoir which fluctuates only slightly from season to season. Large amounts' of water are withdrawn from them for irrigation and other uses, and discharge from the Snake Plain aquifer is an important part of the total flow of the Snake River downstream from Hagerman Valley. The ultimate source of ground water in the basin is precipitation on the basin. In the mountainous areas, aquifers mostly are recharged directly by precipitation.
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Reconnaissance of the hydrology of the Little Lost River basin, Idaho
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Water Supply Paper↗
Ground water in the Raft River Basin, Idaho, with special reference to irrigation use, 1956-60
In the Raft River basin in south-central Idaho, ground-water withdrawals for irrigation have more than doubled since 1955, when data were compiled for a comprehensive report on the area. The present report summerizes data on the ground-water use and changes in the water regimen during the intervening 5 years. Water levels have declined 10 to 20 feet in the areas of heaviest pumping and 3 to 5 feet throughout the remainder of the area. These water-level declines are related to increased ground-water pumpage and below-normal precipitation in the basin. The total pumpage during the 1960 irrigation season is estimated to be about 127,000 acre-feet, of which about half was consumed by crops or evaporated. The remainder returned to the aquifer. Irrigation development is acting to reduce the amount of underflow out of the basin. The water table can be lowered considerably more before underflow from the basin would be reduced substantially.
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Ground water in the Yelm area, Thurston and Pierce counties, Washington
This report presents the results of an investigation of the ground-water resources of the Yelm area, Pierce and Thurston Counties, Wash. It was made at the request of the Division of Water Resources, Washington State Department of Conservation and Development, for the purpose of determining the availability of ground water for irrigation to replace surface water that is no longer available as a result of the abandonment of the Yelm Irrigation Ditch.
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