Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) for the Preservation
201
Water levels were measured during the first round of geophysical logging and
approximately monthly beginning in January 1997. Water samples were collected
in both old and new monitoring wells. Samples were also taken from monitoring
wells just east of Hutchinson, and from three sites on the Arkansas River, two sites
on Cow Creek, and one site on Salt Creek. The locations of the surface water data
collection sites (ARK1, ARK2, ARK3, COWl, COW2, and SALT!) are shown in
Fig. 3. Chemical analyses of the water samples were made. Measured parameters
are: silica (Si02), calcium (Ca) , magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), chloride (CI),
nitrate (N03), fluoride (F), carbonate (C03), bicarbonate (HC03), sulfate (S04),
potassium (K), strontium (Sr), bromide (Br) , iodide (I), total dissolved solids
(TDS), and specific conductance (SpC). However, sample tests have indicated that
chloride content was the limiting factor from the point of view of potable water
quality in the Hutchinson-Nickerson area.
The groundwater monitoring in the Hutchinson-Nickerson area has provided
quantitative information about the current migration of groundwater of
comparatively high salinity from south to north of the Arkansas River. It also
provided quantitative perspective on the intensity of processes (e.g., recharge,
flow, and pumping) involved with the deterioration of the quality of groundwater
resources in GMD2.
Rattlesnake Creek Corridor. Since the 1980s, Kansas Geological Survey
research projects, in cooperation with GMD5, have installed and monitored a
number of multilevel well sites in the region (Buddemeier et al. 1993; Young et al.
1996). The deepest monitoring wells penetrate into the Permian zone and have
provided data about the variation of the level of the transition zone between fresh
and saltwater. An intensive study site was established adjacent to Rattlesnake
Creek in cooperation with landowners Norman and Theodore Witt (Young et al.
1995b, 1996). The Witt site consists of three shallow observation wells, one well
screened in the Permian bedrock, and a stream gage. The shallow wells were used
to monitor water-level changes and water chemistry in the upper unconsolidated
sediments at increasing distances from Rattlesnake Creek. The Permian well was
used primarily to monitor the elevation of the freshwater-saltwater interface in the
Great Bend Prairie aquifer using focused EM induction logging. Rattlesnake
Creek is a gaining stream, receiving natural groundwater discharge over most of
its length. At the Witt site, water levels in all wells rose almost simultaneously,
indicating good connection between the Permian zone and the shallow aquifer.
Chloride concentrations in ground waters at the study site ranged from about
200 mg rl in one of the shallow wells to about 40000 mg rl in the Permian well.
A shallow well close to Rattlesnake Creek had chloride content of 800 mg rl at a
depth of about 12 m. The chemical data confirm that the good connection between
Rattlesnake Creek and the Permian zone allows salt-water flushing into the creek.
Quinodoz and Buddemeier (1997) have applied budget models to show that the
saline water flow from the Rattlesnake into the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge
and then to the Arkansas River removes a substantial fraction of the salt
discharged from the Permian bedrock into the alluvial aquifer, and is thus crucial
to the preservation of the quality of the groundwater resources of south-central
Kansas. The data from the Rattlesnake Creek corridor provide information about
201
Water levels were measured during the first round of geophysical logging and
approximately monthly beginning in January 1997. Water samples were collected
in both old and new monitoring wells. Samples were also taken from monitoring
wells just east of Hutchinson, and from three sites on the Arkansas River, two sites
on Cow Creek, and one site on Salt Creek. The locations of the surface water data
collection sites (ARK1, ARK2, ARK3, COWl, COW2, and SALT!) are shown in
Fig. 3. Chemical analyses of the water samples were made. Measured parameters
are: silica (Si02), calcium (Ca) , magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), chloride (CI),
nitrate (N03), fluoride (F), carbonate (C03), bicarbonate (HC03), sulfate (S04),
potassium (K), strontium (Sr), bromide (Br) , iodide (I), total dissolved solids
(TDS), and specific conductance (SpC). However, sample tests have indicated that
chloride content was the limiting factor from the point of view of potable water
quality in the Hutchinson-Nickerson area.
The groundwater monitoring in the Hutchinson-Nickerson area has provided
quantitative information about the current migration of groundwater of
comparatively high salinity from south to north of the Arkansas River. It also
provided quantitative perspective on the intensity of processes (e.g., recharge,
flow, and pumping) involved with the deterioration of the quality of groundwater
resources in GMD2.
Rattlesnake Creek Corridor. Since the 1980s, Kansas Geological Survey
research projects, in cooperation with GMD5, have installed and monitored a
number of multilevel well sites in the region (Buddemeier et al. 1993; Young et al.
1996). The deepest monitoring wells penetrate into the Permian zone and have
provided data about the variation of the level of the transition zone between fresh
and saltwater. An intensive study site was established adjacent to Rattlesnake
Creek in cooperation with landowners Norman and Theodore Witt (Young et al.
1995b, 1996). The Witt site consists of three shallow observation wells, one well
screened in the Permian bedrock, and a stream gage. The shallow wells were used
to monitor water-level changes and water chemistry in the upper unconsolidated
sediments at increasing distances from Rattlesnake Creek. The Permian well was
used primarily to monitor the elevation of the freshwater-saltwater interface in the
Great Bend Prairie aquifer using focused EM induction logging. Rattlesnake
Creek is a gaining stream, receiving natural groundwater discharge over most of
its length. At the Witt site, water levels in all wells rose almost simultaneously,
indicating good connection between the Permian zone and the shallow aquifer.
Chloride concentrations in ground waters at the study site ranged from about
200 mg rl in one of the shallow wells to about 40000 mg rl in the Permian well.
A shallow well close to Rattlesnake Creek had chloride content of 800 mg rl at a
depth of about 12 m. The chemical data confirm that the good connection between
Rattlesnake Creek and the Permian zone allows salt-water flushing into the creek.
Quinodoz and Buddemeier (1997) have applied budget models to show that the
saline water flow from the Rattlesnake into the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge
and then to the Arkansas River removes a substantial fraction of the salt
discharged from the Permian bedrock into the alluvial aquifer, and is thus crucial
to the preservation of the quality of the groundwater resources of south-central
Kansas. The data from the Rattlesnake Creek corridor provide information about