T133 Large Watershed to National Scale Data and Science for Water Management

Monday, 5 November 2018
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Room 132

STANDARDIZATION AND ANALYSIS OF WATER-WELL RECORDS WITHIN THE GLACIATED PART OF THE UNITED STATES

Paper number: T133-4
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 2:15 PM – 2:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

As part of the National Water Availability and Use Program established by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2005, this study used about 14 million records from State-managed collections of water-well drillers’ records and created a database of hydrogeologic properties for the glaciated United States. The water-well drillers’ records were standardized to be relatively complete and error-free and to provide consistent variables and naming conventions that span all State boundaries.

Maps and geospatial grids were developed for (1) total thickness of glacial deposits, (2) total thickness of coarse-grained deposits, (3) specific-capacity based transmissivity and hydraulic conductivity, and (4) texture-based estimated equivalent horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity. The information included in these maps and grids is required for most assessments of groundwater availability, in addition to having applications to studies of groundwater flow and transport. The texture-based estimated equivalent horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity were based on an assumed range of hydraulic conductivity values for coarse- and fine-grained deposits and should only be used with complete awareness of the methods used to create them. However, the maps and grids of texture-based estimated equivalent hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity may be useful for application to areas where a range of measured values are available for re-scaling.

Maps of hydrogeologic information for some States are presented as examples in this report but maps and grids for States represented in this effort are available electronically at the project Web site (USGS Glacial Aquifer System Groundwater Availability Study, http://mi.water.usgs.gov/projects/WaterSmart/Map-SIR2015-5105.html) and the Science Base Web site, https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/58756c7ee4b0a829a3276352.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 50, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2018AM-320898

© Copyright 2018 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.