Minnesota PROJECTS

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USGS IN YOUR STATE

USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.

Ground Water Projects in Minnesota

Current Projects

MN241--Ground-water flow, Dakota County

MN250--Synoptic Measurements of Ground-Water levels in major aquifers in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area

MN256--Assessing Groundwater Change in the Vicinity of Devils Lake, North Dakota

Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP): A collaborative effort between scientists from multiple regional offices of the USGS along with students and professors from various universities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and California. Their multidisciplinary research is meant to advance the level of understanding of how hydrological, chemical, and biological processes interact on a small watershed scale, and to develop new tools, methods and procedures that will assist managers of lakes, wetlands and streams to make scientifically sound management decisions.
SHAEP website

Completed Projects

MN211—Ground-water recharge in Minnesota: The USGS Ground Water Resources Program in partnership with the  Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is quantifying recharge to unconfined aquifers in Minnesota using several methods at a variety of scales. Spatial variability of recharge throughout the state was estimated based on a regression of the following data: (1) recharge at the basin scale based on stream baseflow, (2) precipitation, (3) aquifer specific yield based on STATSGO data, and (4) evapotranspiration. Recharge was also estimated based on existing ground-water level data from several USGS research sites, plus data from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources observation well network. Soil-moisture and ground-water age data were also used to estimate recharge at selected sites. Journal articles and a fact sheet documenting results of this study are completed.
Abstract