Technical Memorandum
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Golder Associates Inc. 18300 NE Union Hill Road, Suite 200 Redmond, Washington 98052 Telephone: (425) 883 0777 Fax: (425) 882 5498 TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM TO: Joe Simmler and Larry Grimm., OTAK, Inc. DATE: December 5, 2008 FR: Michael Klisch, L.Hg. and Carl Einberger, L.Hg. OUR REF: 083-93430.001 HYDROGEOLOGIC CONDITIONS, GREATER HALL LAKE, HALL CREEK, RE: CHASE LAKE, ECHO LAKE, LAKE BALLINGER AND MCALEER CREEK WATERSHED This technical memorandum (TM) has been prepared by Golder Associates Inc. (Golder) to present an overview and interpretation of the geology and hydrogeology in the vicinity of Lake Ballinger, including Hall Lake, Hall Creek, Chase Lake, Echo Lake, and the McAleer Creek areas (‘the watershed’). Groundwater interaction with surface water and the potential for stormwater infiltration into local hydrogeologic units are also discussed. This information was summarized from existing information, including: • Booth, D.B., B.F. Cox, K.G. Troost, and S.A. Shimel, 2004, Draft Composite Geologic Map of the Sno-King Area, 1:24,000, http://geomapnw.ess.washington.edu/index.php?toc=maintoc&body=services/publications/m ap/SnoKingDisc.htm. • King County, 2003, Final Environmental Impact Statement, Brightwater Regional Wastewater Treatment System, Appendix 6-B, Geology and Groundwater. • Smith, M., 1975, Preliminary Surficial Geologic Map of the Edmonds East and Edmonds West Quadrangles, Snohomish and King Counties, Washington, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resources Geologic Map GM-14. • Thomas, B.E., J.M. Wilkinson, and S.S. Embry, 1997, The Ground-Water System and Ground-Water Quality in Western Snohomish County, Washington, U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 96-4312. • Washington State Department of Ecology, 1973, Lakes of Washington, Volume I, Water Supply Bulletin 14. The existing information is supplemented by water surface elevations from Lake Ballinger collected by the City of Mountlake Terrace and geological and groundwater level data collected by the Olympic View Water District from a well on SW 228th Street, in the upland west of Lake Ballinger. In addition, Golder recently installed and collected groundwater level data from a new monitoring well drilled on the east side of Lake Ballinger. OFFICES ACROSS AFRICA, AUSTRALIA, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA AND SOUTH AMERICA 120508_Hydrogeologic Conditions Technical Memo.docx December 5, 2008 -2- 083-93430.001 1.0 GEOLOGIC UNITS The geologic units in the Lake Ballinger area consist of unconsolidated glacial and alluvial deposits. A geologic map of the Lake Ballinger area based on the Sno-King geologic map is shown on Figure 1, and geologic cross sections are shown on Figures 2 through 4. The following geologic units are present in the area: Vashon Recessional Outwash and Alluvial deposits (Qyal, Qoal, Qf, Qvr) – deposits formed by retreating ice sheet and streams, includes both coarse-grained fluvial and fine-grained lacustrine deposits. Generally less than 40 feet thick. Occurs as isolated deposits in upland areas and along walls and bottoms of drainages. Exposed northwest and east of Lake Ballinger, near Echo Lake, and southeast of Lake Ballinger near McAleer Creek. Generally less than 40 feet thick. Alluvial materials are present around Lake Ballinger and in the channels of McAleer and Lyon Creeks. Vashon Till (Qvt) - deposits of variable grain size, from clay to boulders, poorly sorted to unsorted. Mostly consolidated lodgment till. Exposed in upland areas surrounding Lake Ballinger, including around Hall Lake, Echo Lake, and Chase Lake. The till is generally 30 to 40 feet thick. Vashon Advance Outwash (Qva) – glaciofluvial materials deposited by advancing glaciers, generally fine to medium sand with some gravel. The advance outwash is about 50 feet thick near Lake Ballinger, where till is absent and the outwash is exposed, but may be up to 200 feet thick in the upland areas west and northeast of Lake Ballinger. Lawton Clay (Qvlc) – fine-grained glaciolacustrine deposits with dropstones, 20 to over 100 feet thick (not exposed in the surface in this area). Pre-Vashon Units (Qpf, Qpff) – older glacial and non-glacial deposits underlying Vashon sequence. Not exposed at ground surface except in valleys and in cliffs along Puget Sound. Some fine-grained pre-Vashon materials are exposed in the McAleer Creek valley. 2.0 HYDROGEOLOGY 2.1 Hydrogeologic Units The hydrogeologic units in the area are consistent with the geologic units discussed above, and are summarized as follows: Recessional Outwash/Alluvial Aquifer – The recessional outwash and alluvial materials form an unconfined aquifer where they are saturated. The recessional outwash and alluvium are saturated in the low-lying area around Lake Ballinger, between Lake Ballinger and Hall Creek, and along McAleer Creek. The recessional outwash and alluvium form an unconfined aquifer that is in continuity with surface water. Till – The till forms an aquitard because of the low permeability associated with silt and clay-rich materials. The till caps much of the upland area around Lake Ballinger, and limits recharge to deeper aquifers in these areas. Advance Outwash – The advance outwash forms an extensive, typically unconfined aquifer at elevations above about 100 to 200 feet. In most of the area, advance outwash is generally overlain by the till, with the exception of low-lying areas such as the between Lake Ballinger and Hall Lake, and 120508_Hydrogeologic Conditions Technical Memo.docx Golder Associates December 5, 2008 -3- 083-93430.001 in stream valleys. As shown on the geologic cross sections (Figures 2 through 4, respectively), the advance outwash is partially saturated in the areas west and northeast of Lake Ballinger. Lawton Clay – The Lawton Clay forms an aquitard, separating the advance outwash from the older, pre-Vashon aquifers and aquitards. Pre-Vashon Deposits – The pre-Vashon deposits form a series of productive confined aquifers and aquitards below the Advance Outwash. 2.1.1 New Monitoring Well Golder supervised the drilling and construction of one monitoring well (LB MW-1) drilled in Ballinger Park on the east side of Lake Ballinger (Figure 1). This well was installed to evaluate the hydrostratigraphy and provide a location to monitor groundwater level response to precipitation and changes in lake level. The well was drilled on November 7, 2008 by Cascade Drilling Inc. using hollow-stem auger methods. The borehole was advanced to a depth of 80 feet below ground surface. The geologic units encountered in the borehole are: • 0 to 2 feet: Grey sand (Fill) • 2 to 5 feet: Brown peat • 5 to 20 feet: Grey saturated sand with trace silt (Outwash or Alluvium) • 20 to 80 feet: Greenish gray silty clay (Glaciolacustrine deposits – Lawton Clay) No significant higher permeability materials were identified below 20 feet of depth. Based on this information, the monitoring well was installed at the base of the shallow sand deposits. The well screen extended from 15 to 25 feet below ground, and the borehole was backfilled with bentonite chips from 25 to 80 feet below ground. A dedicated pressure transducer and datalogger were installed following well completion to monitor groundwater levels. The well is housed in a flush vault monument. The City of Mountlake Terrace surveyed the top of casing elevation at 289.91 feet msl. The well log is included in Attachment A. The new well indicated the thickness of the glacial outwash sediments on the east side of the lake at this location are thinner than expected based on well information from the Nile Temple County Club about 1,500 feet south of the new well, where about 30 feet of sand was present. A groundwater elevation hydrograph is shown on Figure 5. The depth to water following well completion was about 4.5 feet below ground. About 10 days later, the water level had risen to about 3.8 feet below ground (Figure 5) in response to precipitation recharge. The groundwater elevation at LB MW-1 is about 7 to 9 feet higher than the elevation of Lake Ballinger (Figure 5), indicating that at the time of measurement, groundwater was discharging to the lake in this area. 2.2 Aquifer Hydraulic Properties The USGS compiled information on the hydraulic conductivity of the principal aquifers in Snohomish County based on well test information presented on well logs. Hydraulic conductivity data are summarized in Table 1. 120508_Hydrogeologic Conditions Technical Memo.docx Golder Associates December 5, 2008 -4- 083-93430.001 The alluvium and recessional outwash aquifers have the highest hydraulic conductivity, while the hydraulic conductivity of the advance outwash is lower, as expected, because it has been overridden and compacted by glacial ice following deposition. 2.3 Groundwater Recharge and Discharge Groundwater is recharged by infiltration of precipitation. Recharge to the advance outwash aquifer is limited because it is capped by low-permeability till in many parts of the watershed. The USGS estimated groundwater recharge in the Lake Ballinger area using a regression equation for infiltration to till and outwash soils, and the distribution of precipitation. The regression equations were modified for urbanized areas to account for the increase in impervious surfaces. Based on this analysis, the USGS estimated groundwater recharge to range from about 20 to 24 inches in the areas were outwash or alluvium are exposed at the ground surface with little urban development, to less than 10 inches in the till-capped areas that are heavily urbanized. The Olympic View Water District has been monitoring the groundwater elevation in a well completed in the advance outwash aquifer since 2004. This well is shown on the geologic cross-section on Figure 4, which illustrates that the advance outwash is capped by about 40 feet of till at the well location. Groundwater elevation hydrographs for water years 2004 through 2008, inclusive are included in Attachment B. The groundwater elevation in the well shows short-term (on the order of one to several days) fluctuations of up to about one foot.