U.S.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5067
By Barry S. Smith
ABSTRACT
A steady-state ground-water flow model of the southern watersheds of Virginia Beach, Virginia, was refined and used to simulate changes in aquifer water levels caused by potential changes in pumping in the Transition Area of Virginia Beach, Va., a 20-square mile planning zone that runs through the middle of the city. Cessation of dewatering at borrow pits, pumping to irrigate a golf course, pumping to irrigate lawns of a hypothetical neighborhood, and pumping to irrigate both the golf course and lawns of the hypothetical neighborhood were simulated. Simulated recoveries from cessation of dewatering of borrow pits were generally restricted to the immediate area of the pits. The simulated recoveries averaged about 20 feet (ft) near the center of the cells representing the active areas of the pits and 2 ft at the cells representing the extent of the pits. At a golf course, 4 hypothetical wells pumping 300,000 gallons per day (gal/d) from the Yorktown sand aquifer resulted in drawdowns averaging 10 ft in the pumping cells and 1 ft at a distance of 1.2 miles (mi) from the center of the pumping cells. The extent of the 1-ft drawdown was virtually the same as that simulated previously and reported in a permit application for the golf course. Simulated pumping of 150,000 gal/d from 4 cells in the confined sand aquifer representing a 40-acre neighborhood resulted in drawdowns averaging 7 ft in the pumping cells and 1 ft at a distance of 0.8 mi from the center of the cells. Simulated pumping of 300,000 gal/d from the same 4 cells resulted in drawdowns averaging 15 ft in the pumping cells and 1 ft at a distance of 1.4 mi from the center of the cells. Simulated pumping of 150,000 gal/d at the golf course and another 150,000 gal/d in the hypothetical neighborhood resulted in drawdowns that averaged 5 ft around the cells representing the golf course wells spaced 1,300 ft apart and 7 ft around the contiguous cells representing the 40-acre neighborhood. A drawdown of 1 ft encompassed most of the eastern half of the Transition Area. |
Download the report (PDF, 3.5 MB)
CONTENTS
Abstract
Introduction
Purpose and Scope
Study Area
Previous Studies
Shallow Aquifer System
Conceptual Hydrogeologic Framework
Changes in Ground-Water Levels
Simulation of Ground-Water Flow
Model Layers
Refined Grid
Ground-Water Flow
Simulated Changes in Water Levels
Cessation of Dewatering at Borrow Pits
Pumping to Irrigate a Golf Course
Pumping to Irrigate Lawns of a Hypothetical
Neighborhood
Pumping to Irrigate the Golf Course and the
Hypothetical Neighborhood
during a Summer Drought
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.
Document Accessibility: Adobe Systems Incorporated has information about PDFs and the visually impaired. This information provides tools to help make PDF files accessible. These tools convert Adobe PDF documents into HTML or ASCII text, which then can be read by a number of common screen-reading programs that synthesize text as audible speech. In addition, an accessible version of Acrobat Reader 5.0 for Windows (English only), which contains support for screen readers, is available. These tools and the accessible reader may be obtained free from Adobe at Adobe Access.
Send questions or comments about this report to the Virginia District Office (804) 261-2600.
For more information about USGS activities in Virginia, visit the USGS Virginia District home page.
Contact: GS-W-VArmd_webmaster@usgs.gov
AccessibilityFOIAPrivacyPolicies and Notices | |