Water-level Declines from 1980-90 in Major Aquifers in the Twin Cities Area
By Andrews, W.J., Trotta, L.C., and Schoenberg, M.E.
Abstract
From 1980 to 1990, ground-water withdrawals in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area in Minnesota increased from about 200 to 324 million gallons per day. The Prairie du Chien-Jordan and the Mt. Simon-Hinckley aquifers supplied approximately 75 and 7 percent, respectively, of ground-water withdrawals in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area in 1990. Median measured water levels in the Prairie du Chien-Jordan and Mt. Simon-Hinckley aquifers declined by an average of 2.0 and 43 feet (0.61 and 12 meters), respectively, from 1980 to 1990, primarily as a result of increased pumping in the area. With continued population growth and development of suburban communities in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, ground-water withdrawals from the Prairie du Chien-Jordan and Mt. Simon-Hinckley aquifers will probably increase. Increases in pumpage from these aquifers will cause additional declines in water levels in these aquifers.
| 
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
