| 
Scott Meyer (right) measures the water level in
a public water-supply well while the water operator observes.
Randy Locke measures the water level in
a domestic well during the fall 2003 synoptic measurement.
Walt Kelly collects a groundwater sample
from a domestic well. |
|
Projections of population
growth, possibilities of climate change, and impaired water
quality, natural limits, and legal constraints on the availability
of water in Northeastern Illinois create a challenging future
for water resources management in Kane County. This challenge
was articulated clearly in Kane County’s 2030 Land
Resource Management Plan (Kane County, Illinois, 2004),
which recognized the vulnerability of the county’s water resources
and the need to provide a scientific basis for their management.
This scientific basis must be developed from the observed characteristics
of the water resources systems, interpreted using appropriate
techniques, and disseminated and archived using current information
technologies. The Illinois State Water Survey and Illinois State
Geological Survey jointly are involved in a series of hydrological
and geological investigations that will provide technical support
for the policies for management and protection of water resources
listed in the 2030 Land Resource Management Plan. The
specific objectives of the joint investigation are to assist
the County in:
• protecting
groundwater quality;
• preserving
groundwater availability;
• providing
a basis for the formulation of policy and management strategy
for its water resources; and
• providing
baseline data and a framework for future studies.
Investigators are addressing these objectives through hydrological and geological field studies; records searches; database construction; and computer-assisted
mapping and modeling of the geology, groundwater, and surface water systems.
These
studies already have produced several interim reports and interpretive
maps. One map, the interim potentiometric surface for the shallow
bedrock aquifer (below left), shows water-level elevations observed
in 256 wells in Kane County during the fall 2003. Field information
such as this is being used to guide development of regional-
and local-scale groundwater-flow models. By combining field
observation with the most up-to-date modeling techniques, a
much better understanding of the county's groundwater resources
can be developed.
|
|
These studies will produce final reports,
interpretive maps, database files, GIS files, a three-dimensional
geological model, a set of groundwater-flow models, and an interactive
flow accounting model of the Fox River watershed. The study
began in May 2002 and will be completed at the end of April
2007.
For additional information,
please contact Scott
Meyer. |
