Hydrogeology of the Jocko Valley West-Central Montana
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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1988 Hydrogeology of the Jocko Valley west-central Montana William R. Thompson The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Thompson, William R., "Hydrogeology of the Jocko Valley west-central Montana" (1988). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 7729. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/7729 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1975 This is an unpublished m a n u s c r i p t in whi c h c o p y r i g h t SUBSISTS. Any f u r t h e r r e p r i n t i n g of its c o n t e n t s mus t be APPROVED BY THE AUTHOR, Ma n s f i e l d Library Un i v e r s i t y of Mo n t a n a Date : 1 9 8 8 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. HYDROGEOLOGY OF THE JOCKO VALLEY, WEST-CENTRAL MONTANA By William R. Thompson B.A, University of California Santa Cruz, 1983 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science University of Montana 1988 Approved by / { J é Û j _______________--- Chairman, Board of Examiners De^n, Graduaté^cnool I / Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: EP38530 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMT Ot*s8rtation Publistung UMI EP38530 Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Thompson, William R., M.S., 1988 Geology Hydrogeology of the Jocko Valley, west-central Montana (82 7 - ^ - SU Increasing conflicts over the allocation of surface water and a progressive decline in the water table have underscored the need for a comprehensive study of the hydrogeology of the Jocko Valley. The purpose of this study is to describe the geology and ground water hydrology of the Jocko Valley, with particular emphasis on surface-ground water interactions. Data collection included, a compilation of well logs, investigation of field exposures, monitoring of water table fluctuations, aquifer tests and water quality sampling. The study results were compared to surface water data for the same period to establish ground water-surface water interactions. The surface morphology of the valley is dominated by Agency Fan and Jocko Fan. Agency Fan is a composite fan, formed by glacial and proglacial processes. It consists of a complex stratigraphie sequence of laterally discontinuous silt and gravel extending to a depth of over 500 ft. The aquifers form confined, discontinuous systems of relatively low permeability. Shallow wells (<150ft) are sensitive to fluctuations in surface flow and appear to receive recharge from irrigation seepage. Deeper wells have less annual fluctuation and may receive recharge from mountain valleys at the head of the fan. The Jocko Fan stratigraphy is more consistent, forming three distinct units: a thick lower unit of fluvial gravel, sand, and silt; a middle unit of mixed silt, and silty gravel; and a thin upper unit dominated by coarse cobbles and gravel. The lower fluvial unit forms a highly permeable and laterally continuous aquifer. Ground water recharge is mainly through river and irrigation seepage during periods of high spring runoff. The Jocko River provides very little recharge to the ground water system south of the Jocko River; this area therefore, is particularly responsive to changes in the management of irrigation flows. A widespread decline in ground water levels across Jocko Fan has resulted from several consecutive years of exceptionally low snowpack. These results indicate that highly transmissive aquifers, such as Jocko Fan, are most susceptible to short term fluctuations in the amount and distribution of recharge. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks to the many individuals in the Jocko Valley who cooperated in this study and to the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribes for providing me access to their surface water data. I would also like to thank Jack Donahue and Dave Alt for their assistance and critiques, and I am especially grateful to my committee chairman. Bill Woessner, for his ideas, much-needed criticism and sustained support. Ray Lazuk, Chip Strayer, Ray Rogers and Scott Payne helped me in the field and Karen Wogsland provided invaluble assistance in working through the many obstacles that surfaced during the course of this study. This research was funded in part by a Grant-in-Aid of Research from Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................ .. i i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................ i i i LIST OF T A B L E S ................................................... vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ..........................................vi i CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION........................................ 1 STUDY SETTING .............................................. 2 Location ............ 2 Cl im a t e .......................... 2 Geomorphology ........ 4 Geologic Setting .... 6 Hydro logic Setting . 7 Report Format ..................................... 8 CHAPTER I I - M E T H O D S ............. 9 CHAPTER III - GEOLOGY ........................................... 12 Regional Glacial Geology ............. 12 Geology of the Jocko Va 1 l e y ........................... 14 Agency F a n ........................ 16 Jocko F a n ..................... 21 Conclusions ................................................ 29 CHAPTER IV - HYDROGEOLOGY..................................... 31 PreCambrian Bedrock Aquifers ........... 31 Tertiary Aquifers ....... 32 Quaternary Aquifers ..... 33 Aquifer Geometry ............................... 34 Agency F a n ................................ 34 Jocko F a n ............. 35 Aquifer Properties ............. 35 Agency F a n ............................. 39 Jocko Fan ..................... 39 Groundwater Flow ......... 40 Agency F a n ..................................... 43 Jocko Fan ............. 48 Water Chemistry ........................... 64 Long Term Trends . 68 CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSIONS ........................................ 75 Recommendations for Further Study ................... 78 1 V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPENDICES Page A. Well inventory results .......................... 85 B. Aquifer properties calculated from well log data... 90 C. Aquifer test data................................ 95 D. Ground water level data......................... 98 E. Surface water data............................... 103 F. Synoptic gaging results.......................... IIO G. Water chemistry results.......................... 116 H. Precipitation and snowpack records................ 118 V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1. Alpine glacial chronologies used in western M o n t a n a ...................................................... 13 TABLE 2. Aquifer hydrologie properties ................ - 37 TABLE 3 - Jocko River synoptic gaging results .......... 59 TABLE 4. Stiff diagrams of water chemistry ............ 66 V 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Location of study area .............................. 3 2. Map of study area ........................ 5 3. Longitudinal cross —section of the Jocko Valley ........ 15 4. Map showing alpine glacial moraines on Agency Fan ...,17 5. Stratigraphic section of outcrop A 1 20 6 . Cross-sect ion of Jocko Fan ..................................22 7. Map showing cross-section locations ...................... 23 8 . Stratigraphie section of outcrop J 1 25 9. St rat i gr aph i c section of outcrop JE ...................... 27 10. Cross-section of Jocko Fan estimating aquifer th i ckness..............................................................36 11. Map showing specific capacity trends ............. 38 12. Potentiometric surface map of Jocko Valley .........41 13. Map showing location of monitoring wells on Agency Fan ............................................................