Surface water vs aquifer

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Submitted by Velda Smith on Wed, 2015-06-10 00:00

Dr. Sarah Godsey, Geosciences at ISU, spoke with us about the differences in surface water and the aquifer.  She discussed how the city is trying to design ways to hold water to seep back into the aquifer instead of flowing into the Portneuf River.

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Stephanie Nickell's picture

Submitted by Stephanie Nickell on Fri, 2015-06-12 00:45

Something that intrigues (and concerns me), is that since our aquifer is so productive, it would not take long for a pollutant to invade and make a mess of things.  In an environmental history class I took years ago, a geologist came and spoke with us about the rock formations that make the Lower Portneuf River Aquifer so special.  I found it crazy that one of the biggest problems for this aquifer are septic tanks!  I wonder if that is still the case...?
 

Eric Rude's picture

Submitted by Eric Rude on Thu, 2015-06-11 07:46

You can find some good info about our aquifer (the Lower Portneuf River Valley--LPRV--aquifer) at http://www.idahogeology.org/services/hydrogeology/PortneufGroundWaterGua... .

It says there that the "natural flowthrough" is more than 0.7 billion cubic feet/year (more than 5 billion gallons/year), but the pumping withdrawal is 0.75 billion cubic feet/year (5.5 billion gallons/year), which means we are taking out a little more than is flowing through. However, there is about 30 billion cubic feet of stored water there. 

So, I guess that means that, considering population growth, we are taking out more water than is going in, so, eventually, we'll be using it up unless we change our water usage.

Stephanie Nickell's picture

Submitted by Stephanie Nickell on Fri, 2015-06-12 00:48

The Geology Department at ISU is fantastic!   Over the years there have been a few different professors who have come to talk to my students about our underground lake -aka- the aquifer.  If you ever want an expert to come talk, they are fantastic!

Barbara Smith's picture

Submitted by Barbara Smith on Thu, 2015-06-11 10:26

Thanks for explaining  more about the aquifer and surface water.  I appreciate you taking the time to explain it to us who have less of a scientific mind than others.  And thanks for explaining where you are and where I can go to check out these areas for myself.