This is a digital document from the collections of the Wyoming Water Resources Data System (WRDS) Library. For additional information about this document and the document conversion process, please contact WRDS at [email protected] and include the phrase “Digital Documents” in your subject heading. To view other documents please visit the WRDS Library online at: http://library.wrds.uwyo.edu Mailing Address: Water Resources Data System University of Wyoming, Dept 3943 1000 E University Avenue Laramie, WY 82071 Physical Address: Wyoming Hall, Room 249 University of Wyoming Laramie, WY 82071 Phone: (307) 766-6651 Fax: (307) 766-3785 Funding for WRDS and the creation of this electronic document was provided by the Wyoming Water Development Commission (http://wwdc.state.wy.us) NORTHEAST WYOMING LEVEL I FINAL REPORT PRO ERTYOF Wat Resources Data Syst ~~-- Libr Wyo a1l230 307- 66-6661 Wyoming Water Development Commission NORTHEAST WYOMING LEVEL I COMPREHENSIVE WATER DEVELOPMENT PLAN Prepared by the Staff of the Wyoming Water Development Commission September 1985 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I INTRODUCTION THE PROBLEM 1 LEVEL I AUTHORIZATION 3 II DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA LOCATION AND SIZE 4 POPULATION 4 LAND OWNERSHIP 4 P-HYSIOGRAPHY 4 GEOLOGY 6 CLIMATE 6 TEMPERATURE 7 PRECIPITATION 7 III SURFACE WATER RESOURCES INTRODUCTION 14 DRAINAGE BASINS 16 Little Powder River Basin 16 Little Missouri River Basin 16 Belle Fourche River Basin 16 Cheyenne River Basin 19 DATA SOURCES 19 STREAMFLOW CHARACTERISTICS 26 LONG-TERM STREAMFLOW VARIABILITY 26 ANNUAL STREAMFLOW CHARACTERISTICS 28 Gaged Basins 30 Ungaged Basins 34 Small Drainage Basins 41 Summary 42 MONTHLY STREAMFLOW CHARACTERISTICS 42 FLOODS AND FLOODING 43 CAUSES OF FLOODING 47 HISTORICAL FLOODS 48 FLOOD FREQUENCY 48 Flood Frequen~y in Northea'st Wyoming. 53 Flood Frequency for Ungaged Basins 53 WATER QUALITY 58 OVERV!EW 58 TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS 60 MAJOR CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS 64 WATER QUALITY AND USE 69 Stock Water 69 Irrigation 69 INTERSTATE COMPACTS 71 LITTLE POWDER RIVER 71 BELLE FOURCHE RIVER 73 REFERENCES 74 i TABLE OF CONTENTS, continued Chapter IV GROUNDWATER RESOURCES HYDROSTRATIGRAPHY 75 HYDROGEOLOGY 79 HYDROLOGIC PROPERTIES 87 Yield and Specific Capacity 87 Permeability 91 Transmissivity 95 GROUNDWATER MOVEMENT 95 Effects of Structure 98 Vertical Leakage 98 Recharge 98 PERMO-TRIASSIC AQUIFERS 99 SUNDANCE AQUIFER 99 DAKOTA AQUIFER SYSTEM 99 Hydrologic Properties 101 Yield and Specific Capacity 101 Permeability 105 Transmissivity 105 GROUNDWATER MOVEMENT 105 ISOLATED UPPER CRETACEOUS SANDSTONE AQUIFERS 111 FOX HILLS/LANCE AQUIFER SYSTEM 111 Yield and Spec.ific Capacity 114 Permeability 118 Transmissivity 118 Groundwater Movement 118 Recharge 118 Discharge 118 WASATCH/FORT UNION AQUIFER SYSTEM 118 Hydrologic Properties 121 Yield and Specific Capacity 121 Permeability 122 Transmissivity 122 Groundwater Movement 127 MIDDLE TERITARY AQUIFERS 129 QUATERNARY AQUIFERS 129 WATER QUALITY 133 GENERAL WATER QUALITY 133 Madison Aquifer System 133 PERMO-TRIASSIC AQUIFERS 140 SUNDANCE AQUIFER 140 DAKOTA AQUIFER SYSTEM 140 UPPER CRETACEOUS AQUIFERS 143 Frontier Aquifer 143 Shannon Aquifer 143 Mesaverde Aquifer 144 Fox Hills/Lance Aquifer System 144 WASA~CH/FORT UNION AQUIFER SYSTEM 144 MIDDLE TERITIARY AQUIFERS 149 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS, continued Chapter Page QUATERNARY AQUIFERS 149 DRINKING WATER STANDARDS 149 PRIMARY STANDARDS 149 Selenium 153 Fluoride 153 SECONDARY STANDARDS 155 Major Aquifer Systems 155 Minor and Local Aquifers 155 RADIONUCLEAR SPECIES 155 Pre-Tertiary Strata 158 Wasatch/Fort Union Aquifer System 158 GROUNDWATER USE 159 DOMESTIC GROUNDWATER USE 159 Community Systems 159 Municipal Systems 161 Non-municipal Community Systems 161 Non-Community Systems and Private Domestic Wells 161 INDUSTRIAL WATER USE 161 Petroleum Industry 161 Crude Oil Production 161 Secondary Petroleum Recovery 162 Refining 162 Mining 162 Power Generation 162 Synthetic Fuels Industry 163 Slurry Transport of Coal 163 Uranium Industry 163 AGRICULTURAL WATER USE 164 Irrigation 164 Livestock 164 v DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES SURFACE WATER PROJECTS 165 BELLE FOURCHE BASIN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT 166 Location 166 Benefits 170 Constraints 170 Proposed Action 171 PRECIPITATION ENHANCEMENT 171 Background 171 Potential for Precipitation Enhancement 173 Constraints 174 Proposed Action 174 SNOWPACK MANAGEMENT 175 Background 175 Implementation 176 Proposed Action 176 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS, continued Chapter BEAVER CREEK REHABILITATION 176 Location 177 Proposed Action 177 GROUNDWATER PROJECTS 179 GROUNDWATER DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES 179 Methodology 179 Multi-use Pipeline Systems 179 Madison Aquifer System Recharge 180 REFERENCES 181 VI CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS CONCLUSIONS 183 RECOMMENDATIONS 184 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 11-1. Mean monthly temperatures at long-term climate stations in the study area. 9 11-2. Mean monthly precipitation at long-term climate stations in the study area. 10 11-3. Mean monthly snow fall at long-term climate stations in the study area. 13 111-1. Drainage basin areas in northeast Wyoming. 18 111-2. Continuous recording stream gaging stations in northeast Wyoming. 22-24 111-3. Crest-stage gaging stations in northeast Wyoming. 25 111-4. Characteristics of streamflow in.northeast Wyoming. 32 111-5. Estimated average annual streamflow from northeast Wyoming drainage basins. 33 111-6. General infiltration rates for soils derived from geo­ logic formations. 35 111-7. Discharged estimation equations. 40 111-8. Historical floods in northeast Wyoming. 49 111-9. Greatest recorded flood discharges in northeast Wyoming. 50 111-10. Flood flow frequencies at selected gaging stations in northeast Wyoming. 52 111-11. Craig and Rankl method for estimating flood discharges. 54 111-12. Lowham method for estimating flood discharges. 55 111-13. Northeast Wyoming flood estimating equations. 56 111-14. Mean water quality at gaging stations in northeast Wyoming. 65 v Table III-IS. Characteristics of water quality types in northeast Wyoming. 68 IV-I. Lithologic and hydrologic characteristics of bedrock units exposed on the east flank of the Powder River basin, Wyoming. 80-83 IV-2. Lithologic and hydrologic characteristics of "shallow" geologic units (including Quaternary, Tertiary and Latest Cretaceous deposits) of the central Powder River basin, Wyoming. 84-85 IV-3. Calculated specific capacities (yield per unit drawdown) of Madison aquifer wells, Powder River basin, Wyoming. 88-90 IV-4. Hydrologic properties of Permo-Pennsylvania rocks of the Madison aquifer system, Powder River basin, Wyoming, determined from oil field data. 92-94 IV-5. Reported transmissivities and storage coefficients for the Madison aquifer in the Powder River basin, Wyoming. 96 IV-6. Hydrologic properties of the Sundance aquifer in the Powder River basin, Wyoming, determined from oil field data. 100 IV-7. Reported specific capacities (yield per unit drawdown) of wells in the Dakota aquifer system, Powder River basin, Wyoming. 103-104 IV-8. Hydrologic properites of Lower Cretaceous rocks of the Dakota aquifer system, Powder River basin, Wyoming, determined from oil field data. 106-109 IV-9. Hydrologic properties of sandstone aquifers within the Upper Cretaceous shale sequence, Powder River basin, Wyoming, determined from oil field data. 112-113 IV-10. Reported specific capacities (yield per unit drawdown) of wells in the Fox Hills/Lance aquifer system, Powder River basin, Wyoming. 115-117 IV-II. Reported transmissivities and permeabilities for wells in the Fox Hills/Lance aquifer system, Powder River basin, Wyoming. 119 IV-12. Transmissivities of the Wasatch/Fort Union aquifer system, Powder River basin, Wyoming. 123-126 vi Table IV-l3. Specific capacities of wells completed in Middle Tertiary aquifers of the Powder River basin, Wyoming. 130-132 IV-l4. Ranges of total dissolved solids, sulfate, chloride, and iron concentrations in waters from minor aquifers, Powder River basin, Wyoming (concentrations expressed as milligrams per liter). 134 IV-lS. Drinking water quality standards. 150-151 IV-l6. Concentration ranges of sulfate, chloride, and iron in waters of major aquifer systems. Powder River basin, Wyoming, by county (concentrations expressed as milligrams per liter). 154 IV-l7. Radionuclear analyses of ground waters, Powder River basin, Wyoming. 156-157 IV-lB. Principal sources for each economic sector. 160 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure I-I. Location map of the northeast Wyoming study area. 2 II-I. Northeast Wyoming study area. 5 11-2. Long-term climate stations in northeast Wyoming. 8 11-3. Mean monthly temperatures of the study area. 11 11-4. Mean annual precipitation in northeast Wyoming. 12 III-I. Streamflow hydrographs of typical streams in northeast Wyoming. 15 111-2. Major drainage basins in northeast Wyoming. 17 111-3. Gaging stations in northeast Wyoming. 20-21 111-4. Annual discharge of the Little Missouri River near Alzada(top). Five-year moving averages of discharge at Alzada and precipitation at Colony. 27 111-5. Five-year centered moving averages of precipitation at long-term climate stations in northeast Wyoming. 29 111-6. Regions of hydrologic similarity. 37 111-7. Variations of average annual discharge with drainage area(top). Variation of average annual unit discharge with drainage area(bottom). 38 111-8. Average monthly streamflow hydrographs for several stations. 44 111-9. Mean monthly precipitation at Dull Center(top). Mean monthly discharge on the Cheyenne River near Spencer (bottom). 45 111-10. Envelope curves of the