Investigations of the fluctuations of water‐levels in observation‐wells in Virginia

Abstract

An automatic water ‐stage recorder has been maintained on an observation ‐ well in Arlington County, Virginia , about 1‐½ miles from the United States Weather Bureau, in Washington, D.C., since June, 1928, but there are a few interruptions in the record. This is a dug well , about 28 feet deep and extends through terrace deposits of gravelly silt or loam. It has not been used for water ‐supply during the period of record. The recorder was installed by the United States Geological Survey and the record has been given considerable study by O. E. Meinzer, W. N. White, and L. K. Wensel, all of the Geological Survey. In July, 1931, the study of this well was made a part of a more comprehensive investigation of the ground‐ water resources of Virginia in cooperation with the State Geological Survey, which was assigned to the writer. The well is essentially of the water ‐table type, and its hydrograph shows approximately the periods of rainfall‐penetration and the relative amounts of recharge in each of these periods. The record is especially instructive because of certain unusual climatic conditions that have existed in the last four years.