Project Title: Understanding Groundwater Sustainability in the I-94 Growth Corridor
Project Number: EGR00
Project Chief: Erik Smith
Project Start Date: July 1, 2012
Project End Date: September 30, 2015
Cooperator: US Geological Survey Cooperative Water Program (CWP), Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The area in dark brown shows the area of study for the I-94 growth corridor project.
Assessing groundwater resources in the I-94 growth corridor between the Twin Cities and St. Cloud is a priority because of the corridor's significant expected growth, natural limits of groundwater, and the vulnerability of groundwater to contamination. More than other areas of the state, this region is expecting significant population growth, and industrial and agricultural expansion. Furthermore, some areas in the corridor will need to invest in costly regional water supply treatment and distribution systems that use a combination of surface water and groundwater supplies, so informed planning for these systems can maximize investment in the construction of these systems. Given these factors, local governments must carefully consider their plans for the corridor, and water managers must incorporate a new understanding of the system and its limits into their management framework.
Objectives:
- Estimate groundwater discharge to the Mississippi River at base flow along a representative 6-mile reach of the river.
- Compute a groundwater mass-balance for the surficial aquifer including groundwater recharge in the corridor using groundwater hydrograph analyses from wells in an existing network.
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
