Preseneted at EPAN 2012 meeting in August 2012

1. County-wide
Groundwater Assessment
Jefferson County,
West Virginia

2. Objective
 Assess availability and quality of groundwater and
provide useful information toward promoting long-
term management of the County’s Groundwater
Resources

3. Groundwater Budget Study
Focused on identifying the extent of the County’s
groundwater resources
 Groundwater recharge
 Groundwater usage
 Maintenance of baseflow in streams

4. Recharge
Groundwater originates as precipitation
 The portion of precipitation that percolates downward through
the soil and infiltrates into the bedrock aquifer is called
Recharge:

5. Recharge Calculation
 Recharge Area (green)
 Discharge Area (red)
Previously published recharge
rates were applied to County’s
total recharge area to determine
Annual Recharge Volume

6. Recharge Rates
Hydrogeologic Unit Recharge Rate Recharge Area
(inches/year) (acres)
Western 5.9 36,734
Central 5.6 70,684
Eastern 5.5 12,331
*recharge rates are representative of drought conditions

7. Maintenance of Baseflow
 Utilized published data from similar hydrogeologic setting to estimate
percentage of annual recharge contributing to baseflow
 An estimated 50% of annual recharge is required to maintain baseflow
in streams and is unavailable for use

8. Annual Recharge Estimate
Recharge from precipitation: 18,475,000,000 gallons/year
Vol. needed to maintain baseflow: - 9,237,500,000 gallons
Vol. of groundwater
available for use: 9,237,500,000 gallons

9. Groundwater Usage
Considered the following use categories:
 Public Supply  Irrigation
 Domestic Supply  Commercial
 Industrial  Mining

10. Groundwater Use Estimate
1,465,250,000 gallons per year
Sources of water use information:
 Data Management Unit of the Engineering Division,  2010 U.S. Census Data
Jefferson County Office of Environmental Health
 West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and
 WV Dept. of Environmental Protection, Division of Training
Water and Waste Management
 Water-Use Estimates for West Virginia, Atkins, 2004 –
 WVU Agricultural Extension Service – Jefferson USGS publication
County Office

11. Groundwater Use Estimate
Percentage of available groundwater used annually:
1.47 bgy
Groundwater use estimate:
Groundwater deemed available: 9.24 bgy 16%

12. Groundwater Well Database
 Assistance provided by the
Jefferson County GIS
Department
 Utilized available well
completion reports from Health
Department
 Database consists of over 1100
wells with georeferenced
locations

13. Internship
• Worked for Jefferson
County GIS/Addressing
Office
• Water budget study
• Analytical Services Inc.

14. The Effect of Bedrock Geology on
Well Yield in Jefferson County, West
Virginia
Jeremiah Sanders
Shepherd University

15. My Study
• Focus on geology
• How geology affect well yield
• Null Hypothesis: There is no difference in the
distribution of well yield between the bedrock
formations

16. Methods
• Well database
• Clean up
database
• Create parcel ID

17. Methods
• Importing to ArcGIS
• 1276 parcel match
• Quality assessment

18. Methods
• Create new database
• New field entries
• Examined well
completion reports
• Inconsistent entries
in well completion
reports

19. Methods
• Join new database
to parcels/address
Points
• 911 well points

20. Methods
• State well records and
USGS study (McCoy et al. 2005)
wells added
• Total 1124 well points
• Joined bedrock data to
well points
• Used SPSS 19(IBM, USA)
to check for normality
and K-W test

21. Results
(Єa)-Antietam Formation
300
(Єe)- Elbrook Formation
(Єh)-Harpers Formation
250
(Єt)-Tomstown Formation
(Єw)-Waynesboro Formation
200
(Єwl)-Weverton and
# of Wells
Loudoun Formations
undivided
150
(OЄc)- Conococheague
Limestone
100 (Om)-Martinsburg
Formation
50 (Omu)-Middle Ordivician
limestone
(Opr)-Pinesburg Station
0 Dolomite and Rockdale Run
Formation
Єa Єe Єh Єt Єw Єwl OЄc Om Omu Opr Os Zc
(Os)- Stonehenge Limestone
Bedrock Formation (Zc)-Catoctin Formation

22. Results
(Єa)-Antietam Formation
180
(Єe)- Elbrook Formation
160 (Єh)-Harpers Formation
140 (Єt)-Tomstown Formation
Average Yield (lpm)
(Єw)-Waynesboro Formation
120
(Єwl)-Weverton and
100 Loudoun Formations
undivided
80 (OЄc)- Conococheague
Limestone
60
(Om)-Martinsburg
Formation
40
(Omu)-Middle Ordivician
20 limestone
(Opr)-Pinesburg Station
0 Dolomite and Rockdale Run
Єa Єe Єh Єt Єw Єwl OЄc Om Omu Opr Os Zc Formation
(Os)- Stonehenge Limestone
Bedrock Formation
(Zc)-Catoctin Formation

23. Hydrogeologic Units
Areas possessing unique characteristics
Western Fault Dominated
Central Folded Carbonates
Eastern Metamorphics

24. Table of Mean Values
Review of well database illustrates uniqueness of each
Hydrogeologic Unit:
Hydrogeologic Well Depth Yield Depth to Water Casing Length
Unit (feet) (gpm) (feet) (feet)
Western 281 19 46 57
Central 278 32 66 74
Eastern 355 14 94 83

25. Groundwater Development
Potential
The Central Unit has the
greatest number of high
yielding wells
Yield (gpm)

26. Hydrogeologic Conditions Vary
Across County
 Site-specific assessment is
recommended to understand
compatibility of groundwater
development with planned use

27. Water Quality Review
Common Groundwater Contaminants:
Hydrogeologic Unit Common Contaminants
Western Sulfate, Nitrate, Bacteria, Hardness
Central Nitrate, Bacteria, Hardness
Eastern Iron, Manganese, Radionuclides

28. Contaminant Migration
Influenced by geologic conditions and land use
 Conduits in Karst areas can facilitate direct groundwater
contamination and rapid contaminant transport

29. Recommendations
To promote sustainability and long-term protection of
the County’s groundwater resources, ASI recommends:
 Assessment of High-Yield withdrawals
 Incorporating Groundwater Protection into
long-term planning