groundwater in michigan - michigan state university / 37 michigan state university michigan state...

1 / 37Michigan State University

Michigan State UniversityDavid P. Lusch, Ph.D.

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Groundwater in MichiganGroundwater in Michigan•David P. Lusch, Ph.D.

Senior Research Specialist

•Michigan State University- Remote Sensing & GIS Research and

Outreach Services, Dept. of Geography

- Institute of Water Research

Available at: http://www.rsgis.msu.edu/datadocs.htm



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The Great Lakes are the largest source of unfrozen, fresh, surface water in the western hemisphere —about 5,440 mi3.

More than 1,000 mi3 of fresh groundwater are storedbeneath the Great Lakes basin — a volume of water that is approximately equal to that of Lake Michigan.

GroundwaterGroundwater



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Total groundwater withdrawal in the Great Lakes Region is estimated to be 1,510 Mgal per day (2,336 ft3/s) to supply commercial, industrial, domestic, and public-supply customers.

For comparison, the average discharge of the St. Clair River at Port Huron is about 120,850 Mgal per day(187,000 ft3/s). [80 times greater than above].

Basin wide, groundwater withdrawal is a small part of the overall hydrologic budget and only about 5 percent of this water is consumed. The remainder is returned mostly as surface water effluent.




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Lake Michigan Water BudgetLake Michigan Water Budget



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The Great Lakes are in topographically low settings that, causes them to function as discharge areas or "sinks" for the groundwater-flow system.

Of all the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan has the largest amount of direct groundwater discharge (2,700 ft3/s) because it has more sand and gravel aquifers near the shore than any of the other Great Lakes.

Although small in comparison to the amount of water in storage in the Great Lakes, groundwater directly and indirectly contributes about 80 percent of the water flowing from the watershed into Lake Michigan.




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Most groundwater discharges directly into the Great Lakes are believed to take place near the shore.




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Pumping of the groundwater resource removes water from storage and alters the paths of groundwater flow.

Groundwater that normally discharges to streams, lakes, and wetlands can be captured by pumping, which may deplete or reduce inflows to the Great Lakes.




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The major groundwater resource issues in the Great Lakes Region revolve around:

1) the quantity of ground water,

2) the interaction of groundwater and surface water,

3) changes in groundwater quality as development expands, and

4) ecosystem health in relation to quantity and quality of water.

Source: The Importance of Ground Water in the Great Lakes Region.N.G. Grannemann, R.J. Hunt, J.R. Nicholas, T.E. Reilly, and T.C. Winter.U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, Water-Resources Investigations Report 00–4008.Lansing, Michigan. 2000.




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Any geologic material, consolidated or unconsolidated, that transmits and stores groundwater sufficient to meet a user’s needs.

Two basic geologic media• Bedrock (primary porosity, fracture porosity

and/or solution porosity).• Glacial deposits (primary porosity)

Vital drinking water source for Michigan• About 43% of the people in Michigan rely on

groundwater for their drinking water supply.

• Except for SE Michigan, most places in the state rely solely on groundwater for their drinking water.

AquifersAquifers



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Bedrock AquifersBedrock Aquifers



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GLACIAL DEPOSITS

MaMiPBScSaRb

Freshwater / Saline-waterinterface

KILOMETERS

Ma

Mi

PBSc

Sa

Rb

3.6 X vertical exaggeration

? ?



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Average salt content of the

ocean is 35,000 mg/l



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Glacial Sediment ThicknessGlacial Sediment Thickness



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Bedrock WellsBedrock Wells

282,802 qualified Wellogic records (i.e. contain geolocation & good lithology data)

27% (75,395)of the qualified

Wellogic records

• Communities with public water supply wells in bedrock include (use / capacity) :

– Lansing (24.4 / 27 MGD)

– Jackson (6.4 / 18 MGD)

– Michigan State Univ. (4.3 / 5.9 MGD)

– Marshall (1.4 / 2.2. MGD)

– Vassar (0.8 / 1.87 MGD)

– Nahma Twp., Delta Co. (0.08 / 0.08 MGD)



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Yield from Bedrock AquifersYield from Bedrock Aquifers



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Glacial AquifersGlacial Aquifers



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Glacial AquifersGlacial Aquifers

73% (207,407) of the qualified

Wellogic records

282,802 qualified Wellogic records

(i.e. contain geolocation & good

lithology data)

• Communities with public water supply wells in glacial deposits include(use / capacity):

• Kalamazoo (19.3 / 37 MGD)• Adrian (3.6 / 6.5 MGD)• Cadillac (2.2 / 5.0 MGD)• Clare (0.6 / 2.5 MGD)• Petoskey (1.8 / 2.5 MGD)• Hillsdale (1.5 / 2.1 MGD)• Fenton (1.6 / 1.8 MGD)• Kinross (0.74 / 1.0 MGD)



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Drift Aquifer CharacterizationDrift Aquifer Characterization

Confining material dominatesMarginal aquifer material mixed with partially confining material dominatesMarginal aquifer material dominates

Aquifer material dominates

Map developed using lithologicinformation from ~280,000 water

well records in the Wellogic database.

Each lithology was classified as:Confining, partially confining,

marginal,or aquifer material.



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Yield from Glacial AquifersYield from Glacial Aquifers



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Groundwater Flow PathsGroundwater Flow Paths



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Groundwater RechargeGroundwater Recharge



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Agricultural Irrigation WithdrawalsAgricultural Irrigation Withdrawals



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Well InterferenceWell InterferenceCompetition for groundwater between large-capacity

commercial or municipal wells and nearby small-capacity residential wells is an increasingly common problem, particularly in areas where recharge to aquifer systems is limited.

One large-capacity well can potentially render some nearby residential wells inoperative due to water-level declines.



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Effects of Large PumpingEffects of Large Pumping



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Effects of Large PumpingEffects of Large Pumping

Note well conflict Note induced rechargeMore on surface water later



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Well Interference (Saginaw Co.)Well Interference (Saginaw Co.)

Many residential wells in the study area are 2” in diameter and equipped with shallow-well jet pumps that can only pump water from a depth of about 20 ft.

Given a pre-irrigation water level of approximately 6 to 7 feet below land surface, an irrigationan irrigation--induced waterinduced water--level decline of approximately 14 ft would cause well level decline of approximately 14 ft would cause well failure or reduction of flow.failure or reduction of flow.

On the basis of observed data and modeling results, a 14 a 14 ft or greater waterft or greater water--level decline can occur level decline can occur up to 1.1 up to 1.1 mimi from largefrom large--volume irrigation wellsvolume irrigation wells (depending on the aquifer), causing shallow-well jet pumps near such wells to fail to pump water.

Hoard and Westjohn. 2001. Simulated Effects of Pumping Irrigation Wells on Ground-Water Levels in Western Saginaw County, Michigan. USGS Water-Resources Investigation 01-4227.



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Seasonal fluctuations typically result in about 3 ft of water-level decline during the summer.

Combining a 3-ft seasonal decline with a pre-irrigation water level of 6.5 ft below land surface, irrigationirrigation--related waterrelated water--level level declines of as little as 11 ftdeclines of as little as 11 ft would would likely result in well failure of a shallowlikely result in well failure of a shallow--well jet pump well jet pump during the summer.during the summer.




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Assumed Impact Threshold




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Under the authority of sections 41103, 48701, and 48716 of Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994,

as amended, the Director of the Department of Natural Resources

established these stream and lake classifications on October 10, 2003 to be in

effect for five years.

Groundwater Dependent Natural ResourcesGroundwater Dependent Natural Resources



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Groundwater - Surface Water Groundwater - Surface Water Hon. Lawrence C. Root

Chief JudgeMecosta County Circuit Court

49th Judicial Circuit

On November 25, 2003, Judge Root issued his opinion in Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation v Nestle Waters North America, Inc.

This opinion is one of the most important cases ever in terms of influencing and defining water law in Michigan.

This opinion is one of the most important cases ever in terms of influencing and defining water law in Michigan.



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Groundwater - Surface Water Groundwater - Surface Water Key Findings

“... Riparian values are hereby held to be of a higher legal value that groundwater uses when there is conflict.” (p.45)

“I hereby hold that riparian interests are superior to conflicting groundwater interests, and that the latter must yield to the former in cases of conflict.” (p.47)



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“... if the groundwater use is off-tract and/or out of the relevant watershed, that use cannot reduce the that use cannot reduce the natural flow to the riparian bodynatural flow to the riparian body. This is not a pure per se rule in that it does require a showing that ... the surface water body has been affected...” “... a showing of effects in the range of three to five effects in the range of three to five percentpercent would be sufficient to exclude the natural “background” in the system such that effects in excess of that range satisfies the requisite showing.” (p.48)



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“... if there is insufficient data and/or observations to establish a base-line environment to measure the effects and impacts of activities ... and/or the environment under analysis is of sufficient complexity as to make predictive tools such as computer modeling unreliable indicators of future effects and impacts, the law will ... require those who want to utilize the resources [to] establish ... that their activities will not cross the thresholds established in this opinion. In other words, ... the burden of going forward shifts to the burden of going forward shifts to the... [defendant] to prove that their activities will not the... [defendant] to prove that their activities will not have affects and/or impactshave affects and/or impacts...” (p.49)



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The DEQ relied on their own administrative rule R 281.811(e) in deciding that the Nestle groundwater pumping operation was not subject to the Inland Lakes and Streams Act (Part 301,P.A. 451 of

1994). This rule essentially equates “enlarge or diminish an inland lake or stream” solely with dredging or filling operations (not groundwater withdrawals).

“I find that this rule does not reach all the activities statutorily included in and regulated by ISLA.” [i.e. the Inland Lakes and Streams Act] (p.57)



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Regarding the Wetland Protection Act (Part 303,P.A. 451 of 1994), the DEQ held that “Part 303 does not regulate the removal of ground water via a well before the ground water reaches a wetland.”

“It is my finding that the “It is my finding that the DEQ’sDEQ’s position ... that the position ... that the WPA [Wetland Protection Act] can only apply to WPA [Wetland Protection Act] can only apply to surface withdrawals from wetlands at the surface is surface withdrawals from wetlands at the surface is conceptually and factually wrong.”conceptually and factually wrong.” (p.59)



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Groundwater in MichiganGroundwater in Michigan

The EndThe EndActually, just the beginning of a

new era of enhanced water resource management in

Michigan

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