Geohydrology of the Oklahoma Panhandle, Beaver, Cimarron, and Texas Counties
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GEOHYDROLOGY OF THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE, BEAVER, CIMARRON, AND TEXAS COUNTIES U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATION 25 - 75 Prepared in cooperation with OKLAHOMA WATER RESOURCES BOARD •ENTRADA. SANDSTONE BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA 1. Report No. 2. 3. Recipient's Accession No. SHEET 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date GEOHYDROLOGY OF THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE, BEAVER, CIMARRON, Feb. 1976 AND TEXAS COUNTIES 6. 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Rept. D. L. Hart, Jr., G. L. Hoffman, and R. L. Goemaat No•USGS/WRI 25-75 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Project/Task/Work Unit No. U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Division 11, Contract/Grant No. Rm. 621, 201 N.W. 3rd Street Oklahoma City, OK 73102 12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address 13. Type of Report & Period U.S. Geological Survey Covered Water Resources Division Final report Rm. 621, 201 N.W. 3ed Street 14. Oklahoma City, OK 73102 15. Supplementary Notes Cooperative investigation with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board 16. Abstracts The Qgallala aquifer is the principal source of ground water in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Based on an estimated average storage coefficient of 0.1, the quantity of water storTA in the Ogallala aquifer was computed at approximately 50 million acre-feet (6.17 x 10 ' metres cubed). Local overdevelopment of this water resource has resulted in water-level declines of more than 40 feet (12 metres) from 1966 to 1972. The amount of ground water in storage has been reduced about 2 percent. Aquifer tests indicate that transmissivity ranges from 500 to 11,800 feet squared per day (46 to 1,100 metres per day), the storage coefficient ranges from 0.002 to 0.11, and hydraulic conductivity ranges from 2.1 to 55 feet per day (0.6 to 16.8 metres per day). Other aquifers that locally yield sufficient water for irrigation are the Dakota and Cheyenne Sandstone. Water levels in these aquifers have not shown the pronounced declines that have occurred in the Ogallala aquifer. 17. Key Words and Document Analysis. 17a. Descriptors *Aquifers, *aquifer characteristics, ground water, fluctuations, geology, permeability, storage coefficient, transmissivity, specific capacity, wells. 17b. Identifiers/Open-Ended Terms Oklahoma Panhandle, irrigation, aquifers, wells. 17c. COSATI Field/Group 18. Availability Statement 19.. Security Class (This 21. Ng, of Pages No restrictions on distribution Report) UNCLASSIFIED 62 20. Security Class (This 22. Price Page UNCLASSIFIED FORM NTis-38 (REV. 10-73) ENDORSED BY ANSI AND UNESCO. THIS FORM MAY BE REPRODUCED USCOMM-DC 8265-F74 GEOHYDROLOGY OF THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE, BEAVER, CIMARRON, AND TEXAS COUNTIES By D. L. Hart Jr., G. L. Hoffman, and R. L. Goemaat U• S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water Resources Investigation 25-75 Prepared in cooperation with OKLAHOMA WATER RESOURCES BOARD April 1976 1 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Thomas Kleppe, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY V. E. McKelvey, Director For additional information write to: U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Division 201 N. W. 3rd Street, Room 621 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102 CONTENTS Page No. Factors to convert English units to metric units Abstract 7 Introduction 8 Purpose and scope of investigation 8 Location and general features of the area 8 Previous investigations 10 Well-numbering system 10 Acknowledgments 13 Geology 13 Regional geology 13 Geologic units and their water-bearing properties 16 Permian System 16 Permian red beds undifferentiated 16 Triassic System 16 Dockum Group 16 Jurassic System 17 Exeter Sandstone 17 Morrison Formation 18 Cretaceous System 18 Purgatoire Formation 18 Dakota Sandstone 19 Colorado Group 20 Tertiary and Quaternary Systems 21 Ogallala Formation 21 Basalt 22 Alluvium and terrace deposits 22 Dune sand 23 Hydrology 23 The ground-water system 23 Hydrologic properties of water-bearing materials 23 Aquifer tests and analyses 24 Specific capacity tests 25 Water levels 29 History of water levels 29 Ground-water withdrawals 32 Ground-water recharge 35 Availability of ground water 36 Reservoir storage and storage change 36 Quantities available 39 Declining well yields 42 Chemical quality of ground water 41 Outlook for the future 50 Selected references 51 Aquifer-test data and analyses 54 2N-14E-23CBB2 54 2N-7E-26ACC1 54 2N-15E-15BAA1 57 2N-23E-21CBD1 57 3N-15E-21BBC1 57 111 ILLUSTRATIONS Plates in pocket Page No. 1. Geologic section of the Oklahoma Panhandle 2. Subcrop map of rocks underlying the Ogallala Formation in the Oklahoma Panhandle 3. Geologic map of the Oklahoma Panhandle 4. Thickness of Ogallala aquifer in the Oklahoma Panhandle 5. Map showing depth to water below land surface, January 1972, Oklahoma Panhandle 6. Water-level contour map, January 1972, Oklahoma Panhandle 7. Map showing location of selected wells in the Oklahoma Panhandle 8. Map showing saturated thickness of the Ogallala aquifer, January 1972, Oklahoma Panhandle 9. Map showing water-level change in the Oklahoma Panhandle 10. Map showing potential well yield, January 1972, Oklahoma Panhandle Figure 1. Index map showing location of the Oklahoma Panhandle 9 2. Diagram showing well-numbering system 11 3. Regional map showing relative positions of some of the principal tectonic features 12 4. Graph showing drawdown of water level and specific capacity of the pumping well 2N-14E-23CBB1 plotted against time since pumping started 28 5. Hydrograph showing water levels in wells, Beaver and Texas Counties 30 6. Hydrograph showing water levels in wells, Ciumoron County 31 7-15 graphs showing 7. Number of wells in Panhandle Counties 33 8. Estimated pumpage for odd-numbered years, 1965-71 34 9. Relation of percent reduction in maximum well yield and percent reduction in head 42 10. Drawdown of water level in observation well 2N-14E-23CBB2 plotted against time since pumping started 55 11. Drawdown of water level in observation well 2N-7E-26AAC1 plotted against time since pumping started 56 12. Drawdown of water level in observation well 2N-15E-15BAA1 plotted agains time since pumping started 58 13. Residual drawdown in well 2N-23E-21CBD1 plotted against time since pumping started divided by time since pumping stopped 59 14. Residual drawdown in well 3N-15E-21BBC1 plotted against time since pumping started divided by time since pumping Stopped 60 15. Residual drawdown in well 2N-15E-6CCC1 plotted against time since pumping strated divided by time since pumping stopped 62 iv TABLES Page No. 1. Generalized section of geologic formations and their water-bearing characteristics 14 2. Summary of aquifer tests of the Ogallala aquifer facing page 24 3. Summary of specific capacity tests 26 4. Summary of storage characteristics in the Ogallala aquifer 37 5. Analyses of water from selected wells in the Oklahoma Panhandle 44 6. Source and significance of dissolved-mineral constituents and properties of water 48 FACTORS TO CONVERT ENGLISH UNITS TO METRIC UNITS English units used in this report may be converted to metric units by the following conversion factors: English Multiply by Metric inches (in) 25.4 millimetres (mm) feet (ft) .3048 metres (m) miles (mi) 1.609 kilometres (km) 2 2 square feet (ft ) .0929 square metres (n ) acres .004047 square kilometres (km2) square miles (mi2) 2.590 square kilometres (km2) acre-feet (acre-ft) 1,233 cubic metres (m3) gallons per minute (gal/min) .06309 litres per second (1/s) gallons per minute per foot .207 litres per second per metre [(gal/min)/ffl [(1/s)/n] feet per mile (ft/mi) .1894 metres per kilometre (m/km) GEOHYDROLOGY OF THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE, BEAVER, CIMARRON, AND TEXAS COUNTIES by D. L. Hart, Jr., G. L. Hoffman, and R. L. Goemaat ABSTRACT The Ogallala aquifer, which consists of semiconsolidated clay, sand, and gravel, is the principal source of ground water in the Oklahoma Panhandle. This aquifer commonly yields 500 to 1,000 gallons per minute (32 to 63 litres per second) and may yield as much as 2,500 gallons per minute (158 litres per second). Based on an estimated average storage coefficient of 0.1, the quantity of water stored in the Ogallala aquifer was computed at approximately 50 million acre-feet (6.17 x 101° cubic metres). Local overdevelopment of this water resource has resulted in water-level declines of more than 40 feet (12 metres) from 1966 to 1972 in some areas of concen- trated well development. The amount of ground water in storage has been reduced about 2 percent during this period. Aquifer tests indicate that transmissivity ranges from 500 to 11,800 feet squared per day (46 to 1,100 metres squared per day), the storage coefficient ranges from 0.002 to 0.11, and hydraulic conductivity ranges from 2.1 to 55 feet per day (0.6 to 16.8 metres per day). In addition to these tests, 802 specific-capacity tests were used to extend transmissivity data. Recharge to the Ogallala aquifer is primarily from precipitation and may be as much as 1 inch (25 millimetres) per year in areas where catchment and percolation are most favorable. Discharge is primarily from pumping and a small amount of natural discharge. Aquifers of limited importance are the Dakota Sandstone and the Cheyenne Sandstone Member of the Purgatoire Formation which provide water to irriga- tion wells in the southwestern part of Cimarron County. Irrigation wells generally are completed jointly in these aquifers and yields of 300 to 500 gallons per minute (19 to 32 litres per second) are common. Water levels in these aquifers have not shown the pronounced declines that have occurred in the Ogallala aquifer. Permian red beds provide only small quantities of water to domestic and stock wells. Water in the Ogallala aquifer, Dakota Sandstone, and Cheyenne Sandstone Member generally has a dissolved-solids concentration of less than 500 milli- grams per litre.