Research about Elizabethtown, Kentucky

USGS1984

Ground water hydrology of the Elizabethtown area, Kentucky

The principal aquifer in a 52 square mile karst area in north central Kentucky is the St. Louis Limestone of Mississippian age. Unconsolidated residuum and surficial deposits of slumped material may store water and recharge the underlying limestone aquifer. Precipitation averages 49 inches annually; 6 inches recharges ground-water reservoirs. The shallow ground-water velocity ranged from 0.30 to 1.40 feet per second. Flow net analysis indicates that about 2 million gallons of water per day flows through a 1.8 mile wide section of the aquifer. A water-level contour map indicates that the hydraulic gradient averages 40 feet per mile and that the water levels near the city supply wells have not lowered in 10 years. The effects of three faults on the ground-water flow system is shown as ponding on the upthrown side of the faults. Caliper logs suggest that shallow ground-water flow occurs in sheet-like openings within 100 feet of land surface. The openings range in height from 1 inch or less to 6 feet. A test well penetrated 5 zones of horizontal openings. The specific capacity ranged from 11.5 to 12.1 gallons per minute per foot of drawdown after 12 and 72 hours of pumping at 280 to 510 gallons per minute. Water in 28 wells and springs meets most drinking water standards and generally is a very hard calcium bicarbonate type. Heavily pumped industrial and public-supply wells tend to yield water with high values of specific conductance and sulfate. Coliform bacteria varied widely in rural wells and the city springs. Seven wells had no coliform bacteria. (USGS)

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USGS1979

Water in the Elizabethtown area: A study of a limestone terrane in north-central Kentucky

The Elizabethtown area of north-central Kentucky contains aquifers and streams that yield adequate quantities of water of suitable quality for most individual domestic needs as well as for industrial, public supply, and irrigation uses. The area consists of typical karst with numerous sinkholes and subsurface drainage. The bedrock structure controls, in part, the availability of ground water. Potentiometric and structure contours suggest that wells, springs, and streams on anticlines are more likely to have smaller yields or flows and possibly be more affected by droughts, than those on synclines. Water wells, tapping the St. Louis Limestone of Late Mississippian age, yield from less than 1 to about 540 gallons per minute. The average well is 93 feet deep and has a static water level of 40 feet. Well depths range from 43 to 335 feet. The low average discharges of springs during 7 consecutive days for a 10-year period range from 0.4 to 13.4 cubic feet per second. Stream discharges average from less than 0.002 cubic feet per second in the headlands, to 458 cubic feet per second for Nolin River at White Mills, just beyond the area of study. Low average discharges of streams during 7 consecutive days for a 10-year interval range from zero to 34 cubic feet per second. Along many intervals of Middle Creek and North Fork Nolin River, during periods of low flow, there may be no surface flow. Such losing streams are common in karstland which lacks surface drainage. The quality of water from wells and springs is typical of a limestone terrane. It is chiefly a calcium bicarbonate or calcium sulfate type of water. The water is moderately hard to very hard. The water quality of streams at baseflow is similar to that of the ground water. During periods of precipitation, water in streams is diluted by the overland runoff and contains fewer dissolved solids. Water in the basal gypsum-hearing part of the St. Louis Limestone is likely to have sulfate content in excess of 250 milligrams per liter. The water from this zone may also contain excessive dissolved solids. Water from rocks that have shale beds below the St. Louis Limestone is likely to be saline.

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