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Publications— Scientific Investigations Reports

In cooperation with the ClearWater Conservancy

Hydrogeologic Setting and Conceptual Hydrologic Model of the Spring Creek Basin, Centre County, Pennsylvania, June 2005

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5091

By John W. Fulton, Edward H. Koerkle, Steven D. McAuley, Scott A. Hoffman, and Linda F. Zarr


This report is available online in Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader, it is available for free download from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

View the full report in PDF 5,878 KB

ABSTRACT

The Spring Creek Basin, Centre County, Pa., is experiencing some of the most rapid growth and development within the Commonwealth. This trend has resulted in land-use changes and increased water use, which will affect the quantity and quality of stormwater runoff, surface water, ground water, and aquatic resources within the basin. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the ClearWater Conservancy (CWC), Spring Creek Watershed Community (SCWC), and Spring Creek Watershed Commission (SCWCm), has developed a Watershed Plan (Plan) to assist decision makers in water-resources planning. One element of the Plan is to provide a summary of the basin characteristics and a conceptual model that incorporates the hydrogeologic characteristics of the basin. The report presents hydrogeologic data for the basin and presents a conceptual model that can be used as the basis for simulating surface-water and ground-water flow within the basin. Basin characteristics; sources of data referenced in this text; physical characteristics such as climate, physiography, topography, and land use; hydrogeologic characteristics; and water-quality characteristics are discussed. A conceptual model is a simplified description of the physical components and interaction of the surface- and ground-water systems. The purpose for constructing a conceptual model is to simplify the problem and to organize the available data so that the system can be analyzed accurately. Simplification is necessary, because a complete accounting of a system, such as Spring Creek, is not possible. The data and the conceptual model could be used in development of a fully coupled numerical model that dynamically links surface water, ground water, and land-use changes. The model could be used by decision makers to manage water resources within the basin and as a prototype that is transferable to other watersheds.

Table of Contents

Abstract
Introduction
     Purpose and Scope
     Description of Study Area
Physical Characteristics of Spring Creek Basin
     Climate     
          Precipitation
          Air Temperature
          Humidity
          Solar Radiation
          Evaporation
     Physiography
     Topography
     Land Use
Hydrogeologic Setting of Spring Creek Basin
     Soils
     Geology
     Surface Water
     Ground Water
          Aquifer Properties
               Water Levels
               Wells and Springs
          Water Quality
               Surface Water
               Ground Water
Conceptual Hydrologic Model of Spring Creek Basin
     Precipitation, Runoff, Infiltration, and Streamflow
     Siliciclastic-Bedrock Uplands
          Hydrologic Boundaries
          Surface Water
          Ground Water
     Carbonate-Bedrock Valleys
          Hydrologic Boundaries
          Surface Water
          Ground Water
Suggestions for Future Work
Summary and Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References Cited

This report is available online in Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader, it is available for free download from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

View the full report in PDF 5,878 KB

Download the Appendix to this report (zip file 158MB)

For more information about USGS activities in Pennsylvania contact:
Director
USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center
215 Limekiln Road
New Cumberland, Pennsylvania 17070
Telephone: (717) 730-6960
Fax: (717) 730-6997
or access the USGS Water Resources of Pennsylvania home page at:
http://pa.water.usgs.gov/.

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