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Glacial Aquifer System Groundwater Availability Study

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Contact

Howard W. Reeves
Michigan Water Science Center
6520 Mercantile Way, Suite 5
Lansing, Michigan 48911

 

Water Census

 

Groundwater Resources Program Regional Groundwater Study

USGS IN YOUR STATE

USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.

There is a USGS Water Science Center office in each State. Washington Oregon California Idaho Nevada Montana Wyoming Utah Colorado Arizona New Mexico North Dakota South Dakota Nebraska Kansas Oklahoma Texas Minnesota Iowa Missouri Arkansas Louisiana Wisconsin Illinois Mississippi Michigan Indiana Ohio Kentucky Tennessee Alabama Pennsylvania West Virginia Georgia Florida Caribbean Alaska Hawaii New York Vermont New Hampshire Maine Massachusettes South Carolina North Carolina Rhode Island Virginia Connecticut New Jersey Maryland-Delaware-D.C.

Picture of USGS scientists examining a core from a bore hole of a well. Approximately one-sixth of the United States population, or 41 million people, relied on the glacial aquifer system for drinking water in 2005. Photographer: Kelly Warner, USGS

The glacial aquifer system groundwater availability study is a regional study of the USGS Groundwater Resources Program. These regional studies form the basis for the groundwater assessments within a national Water Census. Groundwater is one of the most important natural resources of the nation. It provides half our drinking water and is essential to the vitality of agriculture and industry, and to the health of rivers, wetlands, and estuaries. Large-scale development of groundwater resources with accompanying declines in groundwater levels and other effects of pumping such as streamflow depletion has led to concerns about the future availability of groundwater to meet domestic and public supply, agricultural, industrial, and environmental needs.

The benefits of the glacial aquifer study include:

  • Development of methods to quantify local features of the groundwater flow system with regional studies,
  • Development of methods to effectively quantify and communicate regional groundwater availability to stakeholders and decisionmakers in the context of local questions,
  • Assessment of the status and trends of groundwater resources in the glacial aquifer system, and
  • Development and application of methods to predict the response of the glacial aquifer system to future changes in pumping, land-use, and climate.

Each of these features contribute to answering the question, “How much freshwater is available to the nation for human and environmental needs?”