Technical Guide to Ground Water Resource Management
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United States Department of Agriculture Technical Guide to Forest Service Minerals and Geology Managing Ground Management Watershed, Fish, Wildlife, Air, and Rare Plants Water Resources Engineering FS-881 May 2007 Acknowledgments This technical guide was written by Steve Glasser, James Gauthier-Warinner, Joseph Gurrieri, and Joseph Keely of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service; Patrick Tucci of the U.S. Geological Survey; Paul Summers of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; and Michael Wireman and Kevin McCormack of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The document benefited greatly from our colleagues, too numerous to list, who reviewed the content and provided valuable comments. Editing was provided by Joe Gurrieri, Jim Gauthier-Warinner, and Christopher Carlson of the Forest Service. Special recognition is extended to Steve Glasser, without whose vision and perseverance this effort would never have come to fruition. Cover photograph: Spouting Rock, a spring that feeds Hanging Lake, White River National Forest, east of Glenwood Springs, CO. (Photo by Patrick Tucci.) 2 Contents List of Figures ...................................................................................................v List of Tables ................................................................................................. viii Part 1. Introduction ..........................................................................................1 Purpose and Objectives ...............................................................................2 Scope and Organization ..............................................................................2 Importance of Ground Water Resources on NFS Lands .........................2 Part 2. Managing Ground Water Resources ....................................................5 Federal Statutes ...........................................................................................5 Overview of the National Ground Water Policy .......................................5 Land Management Planning ......................................................................6 Water Development ...................................................................................6 Water Quality ............................................................................................7 Ground Water-dependent Ecosystems .......................................................7 Inventory and Monitoring .........................................................................8 Data Management .....................................................................................8 Partnerships ...............................................................................................8 Ground Water Uses .....................................................................................8 Management of Drinking-water Supplies .................................................9 Source-water Protection .....................................................................11 Coordination with Public Water-supply Purveyors ........................11 Protecting Public Water Supplies Through Forest Planning ..........11 Special-use Authorizations for Water Wells and Pipelines ................12 Initial Screening ..............................................................................17 Second-level Screening ..................................................................17 Environmental Analysis .................................................................18 Exploratory Drilling Procedures .....................................................19 Construction and Production Permitting ........................................19 Monitoring and Mitigation .............................................................19 Case Study: Ground Water Development, Tonto National Forest, AZ ..............................................................20 Carlota Copper Company Wellfield ...............................................20 Sunflower Well ...............................................................................23 Stock Watering on Public Land ...............................................................24 Managing Ground Water Quantity Problems ............................................25 Detection and Monitoring ..................................................................25 Limiting Withdrawals .........................................................................27 Increasing Recharge ...........................................................................27 Conjunctive Management of Surface Water and Ground Water ........27 Case Study: Conjunctive Use of Ground Water and Surface Water, Tonto National Forest, AZ ..............................................................27 Dowsing ..................................................................................................31 Ground Water Quality ..............................................................................33 Application of Water Quality Regulations to Ground Water ..................34 Ground Water Classification ..............................................................35 Ground Water Discharge Permits .......................................................36 Total Maximum Daily Loads .............................................................36 Water-quality Databases .....................................................................37 i Ground Water-dependent Ecosystems .....................................................37 Types of Ground Water-dependent Ecosystems ........................................39 Terrestrial Vegetation and Fauna ........................................................39 Ecosystems in Streams and Lakes Fed by Ground Water ..................39 Hyporheic and Hypolentic Zones .......................................................41 Springs ................................................................................................41 Aquifer, Karst, and Cave Ecosystems ................................................42 Wetlands .............................................................................................42 Management Considerations and Protection Strategies ..........................43 Case Study: Importance of Ground Water in Alpine-lake Ecosystems, Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, MT .........................45 Activities That Affect Ground Water ......................................................47 Mineral Development ..................................................................................47 Hardrock Mining ................................................................................47 Ore Processing ................................................................................47 Water Management .........................................................................48 Waste Management .........................................................................49 Mine Closure ..................................................................................50 Potential Impacts to Ground Water Resources ...............................50 Case Study: Depletion of Streamflow by Underground Mining, Stillwater Mine, Custer National Forest, MT ............................53 Coal Mining........................................................................................55 Potential Impacts to Ground Water Resources ...............................55 Oil and Gas Exploration and Development ............................................56 Potential Impacts to Ground Water Resources ...............................57 Coal-bed Methane ..............................................................................58 Disposal of Production Water .........................................................59 Ground Water Pumping ...........................................................................60 Declining Water Levels ......................................................................60 Land Subsidence ................................................................................63 Impacts of Subsidence ....................................................................67 Ground Water and Slope Stability ...........................................................67 Effects of Vegetation Management on Ground Water .............................73 Phreatophyte Management .................................................................73 Upland Forest Management ...............................................................74 Case Study: Effects of Acidic Precipitation on Ground Water, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, NH ......................................75 Impacts from Fires ..................................................................................76 Wildland/Urban Interface ........................................................................77 Monitoring ..................................................................................................77 Monitoring Program Objectives ..............................................................77 Background or Baseline Monitoring ..................................................79 Monitoring for Specific Land-use Impacts ........................................79 Case Study: Ground Water Monitoring in the Turkey Creek Watershed, Jefferson County, CO ..............................................79 Monitoring for Facility-based Compliance ...........................................81 Monitoring of Ground Water-dependent Ecosystems ........................81 Case Study: