Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

1985

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Civil Engineering

First Advisor

James N. Dornbush

Abstract

The resource ground water is used by nearly one-half the nation's population for drinking purposes, and 70% of all ground water used is for irrigation. Yet, surprisingly protection of the ground water resource is not covered by a single federal act. Consequently, ground water is a subject of widespread misconceptions. These misconceptions have adversely affected the development, conservation and quality of the ground water. In the mining areas detailed information on the hydrologic environment is needed due to recent mining regulations. In Brookings county of South Dakota, large scale gravel excavations have occurred during the last twenty years. These excavations have created large ponds in the area. The mining regulations require that natural ground must be returned to its approximate original contour. The South Dakota codified laws chapter 45-6-67 states "any disturbance to the prevailing hydrologic balance of the affected land and of the surrounding areas and to the quality and quantity in surface and ground water systems both during the pit operation and during reclamation shall be minimized". At present, enough information is not available to accurately determine the effect of gravel excavation on ground water movement in these shallow aquifers. The Civil Engineering Department of South Dakota State University in June 1984, with support from the City of Brookings and the Water Resources Institute at South Dakota State University, undertook a research project to determine the influence of large-scale gravel excavation on ground water movement and quality. The research presented herein has the following specific objectives: (a) To evaluate the effect of large scale gravel excavation on the ground water movement, (b) To compare long term variation of ground water levels of wells at selected ground water observations, and (c) To evaluate the raw and treated water quality data from the Brookings water treatment plant with the comparable water quality data from Everist Inc. pond formed due to gravel excavations.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Groundwater -- Quality
Brookings (S.D.) -- Water-supply

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

78

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Rights

No Copyright - United State
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

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