A COMPUTERIZED TECHNIQUE FOR ESTIMATING THE HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY OF AQUIFERS FROM SPECIFIC CAPACITY DATA

Abstract. Specific capacity data obtained from well construction reports can provide useful estimates of hydraulic conductivity (K). A simple computer program has been developed which can correct specific capacity data for partial penetration and well loss and, using an iterative technique, provide rapid estimates of K at hundreds of data points. The program allows easy data handling and is easily linked with existing statistical programs or contour mapping routines. The method was tested at two field sites in Wisconsin, one underlain by a sandy outwash aquifer, the other by fractured dolomite. In both areas, estimates of K from corrected specific capacity data agree reasonably well with data from pumping tests.     

A simple daily soil–water balance model for estimating the spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge in temperate humid areas

Quantifying the spatial and temporal distribution of natural groundwater recharge is usually a prerequisite for effective groundwater modeling and management. As flow models become increasingly utilized for management decisions, there is an increased need for simple, practical methods to delineate recharge zones and quantify recharge rates. Existing models for estimating recharge distributions are data intensive, require extensive parameterization, and take a significant investment of time in order to establish. The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) has developed a simple daily soil–water balance (SWB) model that uses readily available soil, land cover, topographic, and climatic data in conjunction with a geographic information system (GIS) to estimate the temporal and spatial distribution of groundwater recharge at the watershed scale for temperate humid areas. To demonstrate the methodology and the applicability and performance of the model, two case studies are presented: one for the forested Trout Lake watershed of north central Wisconsin, USA and the other for the urban-agricultural Pheasant Branch Creek watershed of south central Wisconsin, USA. Overall, the SWB model performs well and presents modelers and planners with a practical tool for providing recharge estimates for modeling and water resource planning purposes in humid areas.

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Resumen La cuantificación de la distribución espacial y temporal de la recarga natural de agua subterránea es un requisito previo para una modelación y una gestión efectivas de las aguas subterráneas. Dado que se está incrementando el uso de los modelos de flujo para la toma de decisiones de gestión, existe una necesidad creciente de métodos simples y prácticos para delimitar las zonas de recarga y cuantificar los rangos de la misma. Los modelos existentes para la estimación de la distribución de la recarga requieren datos intensivos, una parametrización extensiva y una inversión de tiempo significativa para ser establecidos. El Servicio Geológico y de Historioa Natural de Wisconsin (WGNHS) ha desarrollado un modelo simple de balance diario de agua en el suelo (SWB) que usa de forma sencilla datos disponibles de suelo, de cobertera, topográficos y climáticos conjuntamente con un Sistema de Información Geográfica (GIS) para estimar la distribución espacial y temporal de la recarga de aguas subterráneas a escala de cuenca para zonas templadas húmedas. Para demostrar la metodología, aplicabilidad y el comportamiento del modelo, se presentan dos casos: uno en la cuenca boscosa de Trout Lake, en la zona Norte-Central de Wisconsin, USA y el otro en la Cuenca urbano-agrícola de Pheasant Branch Creek, Sur-Centro de Winconsin, USA. En conjunto, el modelo SWB funciona bien y presenta a los modeladores y planificadores una herramienta práctica para llevar a cabo una estimación de la recarga para propósitos de modelación y planificación de los recursos de agua en zonas húmedas.

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Résumé Quantifier les distributions temporelle et spatiale de la réalimentation naturelle des eaux souterraines est en règle générale un préalable à une modélisation et une gestion efficaces des eaux souterraines. Etant donné que les modèles numériques sont utilisés de manière croissante dans les prises de décisions en matière de gestion, il existe un besoin accru pour des méthodes simples et pratiques, afin de délimiter les zones d’alimentation et de quantifier les recharges associées. Les modèles existants, destinés à l’estimation de la répartition des réalimentations, demandent énormément de données, un paramétrage long, et un investissement conséquent en temps de mise en œuvre. Le Wisconsin Geologic and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) a développé un modèle simple basé sur un bilan en eau quotidien dans les sols (SWB); il utilise les données directement disponibles sur les sols, l’occupation des sols, la topographie et le climat, en conjonction avec un Système d’Information Géographique, afin d’estimer les distributions temporelle et spatiale de la réalimentation des eaux souterraines à l’échelle du bassin versant, pour les zones humides tempérées. Afin de démontrer la méthodologie, l’applicabilité et les performances du modèle, deux applications sont présentées: la première sur le bassin versant boisé de Trout Lake au centre-nord du Wisconsin (Etats-Unis), et le second sur le bassin versant agricole et urbanisé de Pheasant Branch Creek au centre-sud du Wisconsin. Le modèle SWB se comporte globalement bien, et offre aux modélisateurs un outil fonctionnel pour estimer les réalimentations, dans le cadre de modélisations et de plans de gestion des ressources en eau souterraine dans les zones humides.

     

Depletion Mapping and Constrained Optimization to Support Managing Groundwater Extraction

Groundwater models often serve as management tools to evaluate competing water uses including ecosystems, irrigated agriculture, industry, municipal supply, and others. Depletion potential mapping—showing the model‐calculated potential impacts that wells have on stream baseflow—can form the basis for multiple potential management approaches in an oversubscribed basin. Specific management approaches can include scenarios proposed by stakeholders, systematic changes in well pumping based on depletion potential, and formal constrained optimization, which can be used to quantify the tradeoff between water use and stream baseflow. Variables such as the maximum amount of reduction allowed in each well and various groupings of wells using, for example, K‐means clustering considering spatial proximity and depletion potential are considered. These approaches provide a potential starting point and guidance for resource managers and stakeholders to make decisions about groundwater management in a basin, spreading responsibility in different ways. We illustrate these approaches in the Little Plover River basin in central Wisconsin, United States—home to a rich agricultural tradition, with farmland and urban areas both in close proximity to a groundwater‐dependent trout stream. Groundwater withdrawals have reduced baseflow supplying the Little Plover River below a legally established minimum. The techniques in this work were developed in response to engaged stakeholders with various interests and goals for the basin. They sought to develop a collaborative management plan at a watershed scale that restores the flow rate in the river in a manner that incorporates principles of shared governance and results in effective and minimally disruptive changes in groundwater extraction practices.     

The vertical hydraulic conductivity of an aquitard at two spatial scales

Aquitards protect underlying aquifers from contaminants and limit recharge to those aquifers. Understanding the mechanisms and quantity of ground water flow across aquitards to underlying aquifers is essential for ground water planning and assessment. We present results of laboratory testing for shale hydraulic conductivities, a methodology for determining the vertical hydraulic conductivity (K(v)) of aquitards at regional scales and demonstrate the importance of discrete flow pathways across aquitards. A regional shale aquitard in southeastern Wisconsin, the Maquoketa Formation, was studied to define the role that an aquitard plays in a regional ground water flow system. Calibration of a regional ground water flow model for southeastern Wisconsin using both predevelopment steady-state and transient targets suggested that the regional K(v) of the Maquoketa Formation is 1.8 x 10(-11) m/s. The core-scale measurements of the K(v) of the Maquoketa Formation range from 1.8 x 10(-14) to 4.1 x 10(-12) m/s. Flow through some additional pathways in the shale, potential fractures or open boreholes, can explain the apparent increase of the regional-scale K(v). Based on well logs, erosional windows or high-conductivity zones seem unlikely pathways. Fractures cutting through the entire thickness of the shale spaced 5 km apart with an aperture of 50 microns could provide enough flow across the aquitard to match that provided by an equivalent bulk K(v) of 1.8 x 10(-11) m/s. In a similar fashion, only 50 wells of 0.1 m radius open to aquifers above and below the shale and evenly spaced 10 km apart across southeastern Wisconsin can match the model K(v).     

Sorption modelling on illite. Part II: Actinide sorption and linear free energy relationships

Sorption edge data for Ni(II), Co(II), Eu(III) and Sn(IV) [Bradbury M. H. and Baeyens B. (2009) Sorption modelling on illite. Part I: titration measurements and sorption of Ni(II), Co(II), Eu(III) and Sn(IV), Part I] on purified Na-Illite du Puy are available from some previous work, and some new measurements for Am(III), Th(IV), Pa(V) and U(VI) are presented here. All of these sorption edge measurements have been modelled with a 2 site protolysis non-electrostatic surface complexation and cation exchange (2SPNE SC/CE) sorption model for which the site types, site capacities and protolysis constants were fixed [Bradbury M. H. and Baeyens B. (2009), Part I]. In addition, two further data sets for the sorption of Am(III) and Np(V) on Illite du Puy, obtained from the literature, were also modelled in this work. Thus, surface complexation constants for the strong sites in the 2SPNE SC/CE sorption model for nine metals with valence states from II to VI have been obtained. A linear relationship between the logarithm of strong site metal binding constants, ^SK_x−1, and the logarithm of the corresponding aqueous hydrolysis stability constant, ^OHK_x, extending over nearly 35 orders of magnitude is established here for illite for these nine metals. Such correlations are often termed linear free energy relationships (LFER), and although they are quite common in aqueous phase chemistry, they are much less so in surface chemistry, especially over this large range. The LFER for illite could be described by the equation: where, “x” is an integer. A similar relationship has been previously obtained for montmorillonite, thus LFERs relating to the sorption on two of the most important clay minerals present in natural systems have been established. Such an LFER approach is an extremely useful tool for estimating surface complexation constants for metals in a chemically consistent manner. It provides a means of obtaining sorption values for radionuclides for which there are no measured values and thus allows gaps in missing sorption data to be filled. An ultimate goal of this approach is to develop a thermodynamic sorption database. This could then be used in radioactive waste management performance assessment studies to calculate sorption in natural systems, and thereby replace the current usage of single solid liquid distribution coefficients (K_d values) to describe radionuclide uptake. Finally, with the data now available, the 2SPNE SC/CE sorption model can be ported into reactive transport models allowing radionuclide migration to be calculated under spatially and temporally changing conditions.     

Characterization of fracture connectivity in a siliciclastic bedrock aquifer near a public supply well (Wisconsin, USA)

In order to protect public supply wells from a wide range of contaminants, it is imperative to understand physical flow and transport mechanisms in the aquifer system. Although flow through fractures has typically been associated with either crystalline or carbonate rocks, there is growing evidence that it can be an important component of flow in relatively permeable sandstone formations. The objective of this work is to determine the role that fractures serve in the transport of near-surface contaminants such as wastewater from leaking sewers, to public supply wells in a deep bedrock aquifer. A part of the Cambrian aquifer system in Madison, Wisconsin (USA), was studied using a combination of geophysical, geochemical, and hydraulic testing in a borehole adjacent to a public supply well. Data suggest that bedrock fractures are important transport pathways from the surface to the deep aquifer. These fractured intervals have transmissivity values several orders of magnitude higher than non-fractured intervals. With respect to rapid transport of contaminants, high transmissivity values of individual fractures make them the most likely preferential flow pathways. Results suggest that in a siliciclastic aquifer near a public supply well, fractures may have an important role in the transport of sewer-derived wastewater contaminants.     

Correlating Bedrock Folds to Higher Rates of Arsenic Detection in Groundwater,Southeast Wisconsin,USA

Arsenic in private drinking water wells is a significant problem across much of eastern Wisconsin, USA. The release mechanism and stratigraphic distribution of sulfide and iron (hydr)oxide sources of arsenic in bedrock aquifers are well understood for northeastern Wisconsin. However, recent geologic mapping has identified numerous small bedrock folds to the south, and the impact of these geologic structures on local groundwater flow and well contamination has been little studied. This paper examines the hydrologic and structural effects of the Beaver Dam anticline, southeast Wisconsin, on arsenic in groundwater in the region. Multivariate logistic regression shows wells near the Beaver Dam anticline are statistically more likely to detect arsenic in groundwater compared to wells farther away. Structural and hydrologic changes related to folding are interpreted to be the cause. Core drilled near the fold axis is heavily fractured, and many fractures are filled with sulfides. Elevated hydraulic conductivity estimates are also recorded near the fold axis, which may reflect a higher concentration of vertical fractures. These structural and hydrologic changes may have led to systematic changes in the distribution and concentration of arsenic-bearing mineral hosts, resulting in the observed detection pattern. For areas with similar underlying geology, this approach may improve prediction of arsenic risk down to the local level.