Three Dimensional Mapping of Eau Claire County Aquifers

Abstract

Groundwater is an important resource in west-central Wisconsin, and knowledge of the quantity of available groundwater is important for the environmental and economic well-being of the region. In recent years, greater demands have been placed on the land and natural resources in Wisconsin, with a 600% increase in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) since 2000 and a 300% increase in silica sand mines since 2011. This project entails using groundwater well records in conjunction with spatially accurate well positions to define the three-dimensional extent of the aquifers in Eau Claire County with the intent to better quantify available groundwater resources. In collaboration with the Eau Claire County Department of Planning and Development and the Eau Claire City County Health Department, wells in the northwest portion of the county with digitized records have had positions manually corrected by moving them to DNR structure points in ArcGIS. Following corrected geolocation of wells, the project will begin analyzing rock and sediment descriptions from the corrected wells logs. Supplemental data include topographic maps and existing geologic maps and reports. These data will be used to produce refined geologic maps and cross-sections in collaboration with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey.