Geology topics
Publications and source records attributed to Annette M. Tungate.
This report presents hydrographs of water levels in 578 observation wells in the statewide monitoring network during 1944-93. The monitoring network is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Water Resources, Bureau of Reclamation, and other Federal and State agencies.
A comparison of 1970 and 1992 water-table configuration maps for the Boise area shows that the water table has declined about 10 feet in about 90 percent of the area. Declines exceeded 10 feet in about 50 percent of the area, 20 feet in about 10 percent of the area, and 30 feet in about 5 percent of the area. The largest declines were south of the Boise River between the Ridenbaugh and New York Canals. These declines may be caused in part by the decrease in discharge through irrigation canals during the drought of 1987-92. Small water-level rises were mapped in about 10 percent of the area--in the southeastern part of the Boise area and along the Boise River. This comparative study is the first step in reassessing shallow ground-water conditions in the Boise area in more than 20 years. The 1992 water table was mapped using water-level measurements made in about 170 wells.
Well information, results of test drilling, water-level measurements in observation wells, and chemical and isotopic constituents in ground-water samples were among the data collected as part of a study of the availability of ground water from the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer system in the Mud Lake area of eastern Idaho. Data from about 1,200 wells were stored in the National Water Information System ground-water data base. Test holes were drilled at eight sites. Water levels were measured in 594 wells in April or May 1989 and in 470 wells in August or September 1989. Hydrographs of water levels were constructed for 99 observation wells. Water samples were collected from nine irrigation wells and were analyzed for nutrients, common dissolved ions, stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen, trace elements, herbicides, insecticides, and polychlorinated compounds.
Hydrographs of water levels in 515 observation wells in the statewide monitoring network for the period 1982-88 are compiled for convenient use. The monitoring network is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Water Resources, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and other Federal and State agencies.