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USGS1965

Geology and ground-water resources of Waushara County, Wisconsin

Abundant ground water for irrigation is available in the outwash deposits in western Waushara County, and many more large-capacity wells can be developed in these deposits without seriously lowering the water level. Pumping for irrigation temporarily lowers water levels in the vicinity of the wells but has not lowered regional water levels. Pumpage has probably intercepted and utilized some of the recharge that would have been rapidly discharged from the aquifer. Ground water is continuously being discharged to streams and to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration, but intermittent recharge from precipitation replaces the discharged water. Recharge and discharge are in approximate balance, maintaining about the same amount of ground water in storage. Further recharge to the aquifer is rapidly discharged to streams. The sandstones, till, and glaciolacustrine deposits in Waushara County generally yield small to moderate amounts of water to wells but do not produce enough water for irrigation ; recent alluvium may yield large quantities of water to wells. In general, the ground water is of good quality, except for hardness and local high-iron concentrations.

Wisconsin↗
USGS1965

Ground-water in the upper Star Valley, Wyoming

The upper Star Valley covers about 55 square miles of lowland in the westernmost part of Wyoming. The altitude of the floor of the valley is 6,000-6,700 feet. The climate is cool; the growing season, short. Annual precipitation averages about 18 inches, and total precipitation in July and August averages 2.2 inches. Additional supplies of water are needed for irrigation of pasture and hay. The principal water-bearing formation is a thick body of gravel of Pleistocene age. Consolidated to semiconsolidated sedimentary formations of Paleozoic to Tertiary age form the surrounding mountains and underlie the gravel. These bedrock formations yield small amounts of water to wells on the margins of the valley. Most of the recharge to the gravel aquifer is received at the heads of alluvial fans by infiltration from tributaries that drain the surrounding mountains. Snow upon the valley floor provides a significant amount of recharge. Water moves toward the Salt River, which flows northward through the valley and which has large gains due to ground-water inflow. On the east side of the valley, the water table is 100-200 feet below land surface at a distance of half a mile from the mountain front. On the west side of the valley, the depth to water is rarely more than 30 feet. Depth to water decreases toward the center of the valley. The gravel aquifer can provide sufficient water for supplemental irrigation. Irrigation supplies of several hundreds of gallons per minute have been developed at two localities on the west side of the valley. Two pumping tests showed values for transmissibility of 82,500 and 370,000 gallons per day per foot in the vicinity of a well on the east side of the valley and a well on the west side, respectively. The ground water is of good quality for irrigation usage through most of the valley. Hardness of the water exceeds 200 parts per million, however, and this characteristic makes the water somewhat undesirable for domestic and industrial use. Water beneath the northwestern part of the valley has relatively high content of sodium and chloride.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1965

An evaluation of aquifer and well characteristics of municipal well fields in Los Alamos and Guaje Canyons, near Los Alamos, New Mexico

The Jenkins-Whitesburg area includes approximately 250 square miles In Letcher and Pike Counties in the southeastern part of the Eastern Coal Field. In this area ground water is the principal source of water for nearly all rural families, most public supplies, several coal mines and coal processing plants, and one bottling plant. The major aquifers in the Jenkins-Whitesburg area are the Breathitt and Lee Formations of Pennsylvanian age. Other aquifers range in age from Devonian to Quaternary but are not important in this area because they occur at great depth or yield little or no water. The Breathitt Formation occurs throughout the area except along the crest and slopes of Pine Mountain and where it is covered by unconsolidated material of Quaternary age. The Breathitt Formation consists of shale, sandstone, and lesser amounts of coal and associated underclay. The yield of wells penetrating the Breathitt Formation ranges from less than 1 to 330 gallons per minute. Well yield is controlled by the type and depth of well, character of the aquifer, and topography of the well site. Generally, deep wells drilled in valleys of perennial streams offer the best potential for high yields. Although enough water for a minimum domestic supply (more than 100 gallons per day) may be obtained from shale, all high-yielding wells probably obtain water from vertical joints and from bedding planes which are best developed in sandstone. About 13 percent of the wells inventoried in the Breathitt Formation failed to supply enough water for a minimum domestic supply. Most of these are shallow dug wells or drilled wells on hillsides or hilltops. Abandoned coal dunes are utilized as large infiltration galleries and furnish part of the water for several public supplies. The chemical quality of water from the Breathitt Formation varies considerably from place to place, but the water generally is acceptable for most domestic and industrial uses. Most water is a calcium magnesium bicarbonate or sodium bicarbonate type, and nearly all sampled water contained enough iron to stain cooking and laundry utensils. The water ranged from soft to very hard, and only one well in the Breathitt Formation produced salty water. The absence of salty water may be due to abundant fractures which are associated with the Pine Mountain fault and which have allowed fresh water to enter the formation. The Lee Formation underlies the Cumberland Mountain section and is exposed along the crest and southeast slope of Pine Mountain. The Lee Formation consists of massive sandstone and conglomerate with thin beds of shale and a few thin coal seams. Although the Lee Formation is tapped by only a few wells in this area, it is potentially an important aquifer. Wells penetrating the Lee Formation in the Cumberland Mountain section would probably yield water under artesian pressure. Unlike most water from the Lee Formation in other part.3 of eastern Kentucky, all water from the Lee Formation in the Jenkins-Whitesburg area is fresh. All water from the Lee Formation contained more than 0.3 parts per million of iron and ranged from soft to moderately hard.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1965

Geology and hydrology of the Claiborne Group in western Tennessee

The area of western Tennessee underlain by the Claiborne Group is about 7,200 square miles and lies on the east flank of the syncline that forms the Mississippi embayment. It includes the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and part of a dissected upland plateau. The Claiborne Group dips to the northwest at 10-25 feet per mile and ranges in altitude from 600 feet above mean sea level in the outcrop area to 900 feet below mean sea level near the embayment axis. The Claiborne Group is tentatively subdivided into five units including, in ascending order, the Meridian Sand Member of the Tallahatta Formation, the Basic City Shale Member of the Tallahatta Formation, the Sparta Sand, an unnamed clay unit, and an unnamed sand unit. The two major aquifers in the Claiborne Group are the '500-foot' sand and the unnamed sand unit. The top of the '500-foot' sand is correlated with the top of the Sparta Sand; and the base, with the base of the Claiborne Group. The '500-foot' sand ranges in thickness from 200 to 750 feet and consists mainly of very fine to coarse sand or gravel. It also contains layers of white to blue, pink, gray, or brown clay, which constitute only a small percentage of the total thickness. The unnamed sand unit ranges from 0 to 210 feet in thickness and consists mostly of white, gray, or brown fine-grained lignitic sand. An estimated 75 percent of the ground water withdrawn in western Tennessee (west of the northward-flowing segment of the Tennessee River) is taken from the '500-foot' sand and the unnamed sand unit. The quantities of water available to wells from the '500-foot' sand are currently adequate for all municipal and industrial needs. The permeability of this aquifer is about 570 gallons per day per square foot. An estimated 155 mgd (million gallons per day) is pumped from the '500-foot' sand, about 140 mgd is discharged from the aquifer as the base flow of surface streams, and about 40 mgd is discharged from the report area as underflow. Water from the '500-foot' sand contains objectionable quantities of iron in the western half of the report area. Otherwise the quality of the water is suitable for most needs. Quantities of water adequate for domestic use and for small municipal systems can be obtained from the unnamed sand unit in most of the report area. The field permeability of this aquifer is probably about 270 gallons per day per square foot. About 8 mgd is discharged into adjacent formations, and about 2 mgd is withdrawn by pumping. Water from the unnamed sand unit contains objectionable quantities of iron in the western half of the report area. Otherwise the water from this aquifer is of good quality. Ground-water supplies in both the '500-foot' sand and the unnamed sand unit will be adequate for the predicted rate of municipal growth and economic development for many years to come. If the hydraulic gradient in the '500-foot' sand were increased to 19 feet per mile, the average dip of the top of the aquifer, about 578 mgd would be transmitted downdip. Similarly, the unnamed sand unit would transmit about 34 mgd downdip under a hydraulic gradient of 10 feet per mile. Furthermore, additional amounts of water could be induced into the report area as underflow from adjacent States. The anticipated effects of additional large scale development are (1) a drop in local and regional water levels in proportion to the increase in pumpage, (2) an increase in the net inflow of ground water from adjacent States, and (3) an increase of recharge to the aquifers at the expense of streamflow.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1965

Reconnaissance of the chemical quality of surface waters of the Sabine River Basin, Texas and Louisiana

The Sabine River basin has an abundant supply .of surface water of excellent quality. The basin area of 9,700 square miles receives an average of about 48 inches of rainfall per year, of which about 13 inches flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Variations in the chemical quality of the surface waters in the Sabine River basin are caused principally by areal differences in geology and runoff; but industrial influences, particularly the disposal of oil-field brines, affect the quality in limited areas. Water having the least dissolved solids is found in the lower part of the basin, where rainfall is greatest. Water having higher values of hardness are found in the area of Cretaceous limestone, chalk, and marl in the northwestern part of the basin. Chloride concentrations are generally low except where streams are polluted by oil-field brines and localized natural saline inflow. Existing reservoirs in the basin contain water of excellent quality, and water to be stored in proposed reservoirs should be excellent.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1965

Ground-water pumpage and water-level changes in the Milwaukee-Waukesha area, Wisconsin, 1950-61

Artesian water pressure in the deep sandstone aquifer continued to decline throughout most of the Milwaukee-Waukesha area, Wisconsin between 1950 and 1961. Areas of greatest water-level decline were in northeast Waukesha County and in northwest Milwaukee County. The chief cause of the decline was continued heavy pumpage. The major aquifers of southeastern Wisconsin are the Niagara aquifer, which is primarily Niagara Dolomite of Silurian age, and the sandstone aquifer, which consists of sandstones of Cambrian and Ordovician ages. Locally, the glacial sands and gravels ,of Pleistocene age also are important aquifers. In the Milwaukee-Waukesha area, the sandstone aquifer is completely artesian, confined above by the Maquoketa Shale. The Niagara aquifer is generally unconfined. Pumpage from the sandstone aquifer in the Milwaukee-Waukesha area de- creased from about 23.3 million gallons per day in 1950 to about 20.9 million gallons per day in 1961. The principal reason for decreased pumpage was sub- stitution of surface-water supply from Lake Michigan. Between 1950 and 1961, the water-level changes in wells in the sandstone aquifer ranged from plus 10 feet at Town of Lake to minus 98 feet in northwest Milwaukee. Except for a small area near Town of Lake, water levels in wells in the Milwaukee-Waukesha area were lower in 1961 than in 1950. Water-level changes were directly related to the pumpage pattern and pump- age changes. Increased pumpage at Waukesha and in northwest Milwaukee and continued heavy pumpage at Wauwatosa caused widespread water-level declines in northeast Waukesha County and in northwest Milwaukee County. Locally, decreased pumpage at West Milwaukee allowed limited recovery of water levels since 1957. Estimates of pumpage through the year 1975 indicate a pumpage decrease in the middle 1960's, followed by an increase in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Additional conversion to surface-water supply in Milwaukee County will account for most pumpage decreases. Increased pumpage is most likely in Waukesha County where the population is expanding rapidly and an adequate surface-water supply is not readily accessible. The westward shift of the pumpage pattern may cause an additional water-level decline of about 50 feet at Waukesha but will permit water levels to recover about 100 feet at West Allis by 1975. Partial or complete conversion to surface-water supplies by municipalities that depend entirely on water from the sandstone aquifer would allow greater use of the sandstone aquifer by isolated suburban developments and industries.

Wisconsin↗
USGS1965

Hydrology of melt-water channels in southwestern Minnesota

Melt-water channel deposits are among the most important aquifers in southwestern Minnesota, but permeable zones within the deposits are difficult to locate. Interpretation of the depositional history of proglacial channel deposits from aerial photographs and test-hole samples indicates the position of the permeable zones. Generally, the coarse-grained deposits are in headwater areas, near the confluence of two channels, in bends, or at the junction of sluiceways. Locally, these deposits yield as much as 1,000 gallons per minute to wells.

Minnesota↗
USGS1965

Delaware River water quality Bristol to Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, August 1949 to December 1963

During the 14-year period from August 1949 to July 1963, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the city of Philadelphia, collected samples of river water once each month in the 43-mile reach of the Delaware River from Bristol to Marcus Hook, Pa., and daily at Trenton, 10 miles upstream from Bristol. This part of the Delaware is an estuary into which salt water is brought by tides; fresh water flows into the estuary at Trenton, NJ, and farther downstream from the Schuylkill River and other tributaries of the Delaware. In March, April, and May, when fresh-water flow is high, the average concentration of dissolved solids in the water at Bristol was 76 ppm (parts per million), and at Marcus Hook 112 PPM In August and September, streamflow is lower, and the average concentration of dissolved solids increased to 117 PPM at Bristol and 804 PPM at Marcus Hook. Major salinity invasions of the Delaware River occurred in 1949, 1953, 1954, 1957, and 1963. In each of these years the fresh-water flow into the tidal river at Trenton was low during the period from July to October. The greatest dissolved-solids concentrations in these monthly samples were 160 PPM at Bristol and 4,000 PPM at Marcus Hook. At times the dissolved-oxygen concentration of the river water has become dangerously low, especially in that reach of the river between Wharton Street and League Island. At the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, one-third of the samples of river water were less than 30 percent saturated with oxygen; however, no trend, either for better or for worse, was apparent during the 14-year period. It is useful now to summarize these monthly analyses for the period 1949-63 even though a much more detailed description of water quality in this reach of the estuary will soon become available through the use of recording instrumental conditions. This compendium of water-quality data is useful as an explicit statement of water quality during the 14-year study period and is valuable for directing attention to water-quality problems for selecting instrument sites, and for making comparative studies with the more detailed information which is already being obtained with the aid of recording instruments.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1965

Water-supply potential from an asphalt-lined catchment near Holualoa Kona, Hawaii

The Jenkins-Whitesburg area includes approximately 250 square miles In Letcher and Pike Counties in the southeastern part of the Eastern Coal Field. In this area ground water is the principal source of water for nearly all rural families, most public supplies, several coal mines and coal processing plants, and one bottling plant. The major aquifers in the Jenkins-Whitesburg area are the Breathitt and Lee Formations of Pennsylvanian age. Other aquifers range in age from Devonian to Quaternary but are not important in this area because they occur at great depth or yield little or no water. The Breathitt Formation occurs throughout the area except along the crest and slopes of Pine Mountain and where it is covered by unconsolidated material of Quaternary age. The Breathitt Formation consists of shale, sandstone, and lesser amounts of coal and associated underclay. The yield of wells penetrating the Breathitt Formation ranges from less than 1 to 330 gallons per minute. Well yield is controlled by the type and depth of well, character of the aquifer, and topography of the well site. Generally, deep wells drilled in valleys of perennial streams offer the best potential for high yields. Although enough water for a minimum domestic supply (more than 100 gallons per day) may be obtained from shale, all high-yielding wells probably obtain water from vertical joints and from bedding planes which are best developed in sandstone. About 13 percent of the wells inventoried in the Breathitt Formation failed to supply enough water for a minimum domestic supply. Most of these are shallow dug wells or drilled wells on hillsides or hilltops. Abandoned coal mines are utilized as large infiltration galleries and furnish part of the water for several public supplies. The chemical quality of water from the Breathitt Formation varies considerably from place to place, but the water generally is acceptable for most domestic and industrial uses. Most water is a calcium magnesium bicarbonate or sodium bicarbonate type, and nearly all sampled water contained enough iron to stain cooking and laundry utensils. The water ranged from soft to very hard, and only one well in the Breathitt Formation produced salty water. The absence of salty water may be due to abundant fractures which are associated with the Pine Mountain fault and which have allowed fresh water to enter the formation. The Lee Formation underlies the Cumberland Mountain section and is exposed along the crest and southeast slope of Pine Mountain. The Lee Formation consists of massive sandstone and conglomerate with thin beds of shale and a few thin coal seams. Although the Lee Formation is tapped by only a few wells in this area, it is potentially an important aquifer. Wells penetrating the Lee Formation in the Cumberland Mountain section would probably yield water under artesian pressure. Unlike most water from the Lee Formation in other part.3 of eastern Kentucky, all water from the Lee Formation in the Jenkins-Whitesburg area is fresh. All water from the Lee Formation contained more than 0.3 parts per million of iron and ranged from soft to moderately hard.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1965

Suitability of irrigation water and changes in ground-water quality in the Lompoc subarea of the Santa Ynez River Basin, Santa Barbara County, California

Analyses of water samples collected since 1934 from some of the irrigation wells in the Lompoc subarea of the Santa Ynes River valley have shown a gradual deterioration in the chemical quality of the water. Most of the ground water pumped in the subarea has a dissolved-solids contents ranging from about 700 to about 2,000 parts per million, of which sulfate and chloride are the predominant constituents. Suitability of the water for irrigation is variable and is dependent principally on "potential salinity" of the water, soil permeability, and type of crop. Changes in water quality are not consistent throughout the subarea. No doubt the chloride concentration increases as a result of both the recycling irrigation water and inflow of high-chloride low-sulfate connate water from the consolidated Tertiary rocks. The influence of recycled irrigation water is indicated by increase concentrations of chloride and sulfate in a ratio of 1:2. Inflow of high-chloride low-sulfate connate water is indicated by increased chloride concentration correlated with little or no change in sulfate concentration. Peak chloride concentrations in three local areas are probably the result of the inflow of connate water. Furthermore, ground-water gradients in each of the local areas are favorable for inflow from the consolidated rocks.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1966

Reconnaissance of the geology and ground-water resources in the Aurora area, St. Louis county, Minnesota

The Aurora area is a glaciated upland of drift-mantled slopes, channels, swamps, and glacial-lake plains. It covers about 24 square miles of the eastern part of the Mesabi Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota. A deep narrow channel along the Embarrass River, the principal outlet of a former large glacial lake north of the Embarrass Mountains, lies partly within the area. The deposits in the report area consist of bedrock and unconsolidated glacial drift. The 'bedrock belongs to the Animikie Group of late Preeambrian age and consists of taconite (an iron-rich silicate rock) in the northern part and slightly metamorphosed argillite in the middle and southern parts. Bedrock is exposed only in the open-pit iron mines. Large quantities of ground water are pumped from porous and permeable ore zones in the St. James Mine. Small quantities of ground water are obtainable from openings along bedding planes and fractures in the argillite. Unconsolidated deposits consisting of till and water-laid glacial and alluvial materials mantle the bedrock to depths ranging from about 20 feet in the north-central part of the Aurora area to more than 300 feet near the Embarrass River. Thick deposits of sand and gravel in the Embarrass channel are capable of yielding large quantites of water. At places along the Partridge River glaeiofluvial deposits (glacial sediments deposited in running water) could yield moderate to large quantities of water. Sandy to bouldery till yields small quantities of water to domestic wells. Well yields in the Aurora area range from less than 5 gpm (gallons per minute) to about 250 gpm from a well tapping an ore body. The specific capacity of wells penetrating ore zones ranges from about 7 gpm per foot of drawdown to 25 gpm per foot of drawdown. Although no attempt has been made to develop a high-yield well in the sand and gravel deposits of the Embarrass channel, more than 5,000 gpm is pumped from sumps which collect water from these deposits in the Embarrass mine. Most domestic wells yield about 5 gpm and are drilled and finished in sand or gravel in either the bouldery till or glaciofluvial deposits. Ground water from the unconsolidated deposits is hard and commonly contains large, undesirable amounts of iron and manganese. Water from the 'bedrock aquifers contains less iron and manganese than does water from the unconsolidated deposits.

Minnesota↗