Ground Water: Orientation

In the United States, millions of households depend upon ground water. Many of these households have a well in their yard that produces water from subsurface rock units or sediments. Other households are connected to public water supplies that produce water from large collector wells and deliver that water via pipelines throughout their service areas.

The dependence of households and industries on ground water is steadily increasing because more and more surface streams are being tapped to their limit. Because of this, ground water has become the water source of the future.

However, just as many streams have been exploited to their limits, ground water is a finite resource. A given area of land can yield water at a certain rate, and if that rate is exceeded, sustained pumping can result in a permanent drop in the water table, damage to aquifers, and subsidence of the land surface.

To assure that future generations have an adequate supply of fresh, clean water, we must take special precautions to properly manage and protect our important ground water resource. The first step in this endeavor is education.

Your goal for this lesson is to learn about ground water - where it occurs, how it moves, where it comes from, and how it can be utilized.

The photo at the top of this page is from a homepage prepared Amy Allen while she was completing Environmental Geology Laboratory (GEL 302) during the Spring '98 semester.