NORTH DAKOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WILSON M. LAIRD, State Geologist BULLETIN 47 NORTH DAKOTA STAT E WATER COMMISSION MILO W. HOISVEEN, State Engineer COUNTY GROUND WATER STUDIES 8 GEOLOGY and GROUND WATER RESOURCES o f CASS COUNTY, NORTH DAKOTA PART II I HYDROLOG Y B y ROBERT L . KLAUSING Geological Survey United States Department of the Interio r Prepared by the United States Geological Survey in co- operation with the North Dakota State Water Commission , North Dakota Geological Survey, and Cass Count y Board of Commissioners . GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 1968 This is one of a series of county reports published cooperatively by the North Dakota Geological Survey and the North Dakota State Water Commission . The re- ports are in three parts ; Part I describes the geology, Part II represents ground water basic data, and Part III describes the ground water resources . CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT iv INTRODUCTION 1 Purpose and scope 1 Location and physiography 1 Climate 3 Well-numbering system 6 Previous investigations 6 Acknowledgments 6 GEOLOGIC SETTING 7 Glacial deposits 7 Bedrock units 8 GROUND-WATER RESOURCES 8 Principles of ground-water occurrence 8 Quality of water 1 1 Dissolved solids and specific conductance 1 3 Irrigation indices 1 3 Hardness 1 5 Aquifers in the glacial drift 1 5 Fargo aquifer 1 7 West Fargo aquifer 23 Page aquifer 36 Bantel aquifer 43 Sheyenne Delta aquifer 44 Tower City aquifer 47 Undifferentiated sand and gravel deposits 50 Bedrock aquifers 5 1 Dakota Sandstone 5 1 SUMMARY 56 SELECTED REFERENCES 58 APPENDIX 60 ILLISTRATION S Plate 1 . Ground-water availability map (in pocket) 2. Hydrographs of water-level fluctuations in Fargo an d West Fargo aquifers (in pocket) Page Figure 1 . Map showing physiographic divisions in North Dakota 2 and location of report area 3 2. Map showing major geomorphic units and drainage o 3. Bargraphs showing monthly precipitation recorded at Farg 4 and Amenia, 1955-64 d 4. Diagram showing system of numbering wells, springs, an 5 test holes 5. Diagram showing classification of water samples for irrigatio n 1 4 purposes 6. Map showing location and thickness of Fargo .aquifer, easter n 1 6 Cass County 1 7 7. Geologic sections in Fargo aquifer 8. Map showing location of key wells in the Fargo and Wes t 1 9 Fargo aquifers, eastern Cass County 9. Map showing location and thickness of West Fargo aquifer , 24 eastern Cass County 25 10. Geologic sections in West Fargo aquifer 11. Hydrograph showing decline in water level in South West 30 Fargo municipal well 139-49-8bbal, 1962-65 12. Map showing regional water-level decline in the West Farg o aquifer from November 1964 to November 1965, eastern 3 1 Cass County 13. Map showing distribution of ground-water types in eastern 3 3 Cass County Page 14. Map showing thickness of zone B in Page aquifer, north- 37 western Cass County 3 8 15. Geologic Section in Page aquifer e 16. Hydrographs showing water-level fluctuations in the Pag 39 aquifer 17. Trilinear diagram showing major constituents in water from 4 1 the Page aquifer 18. Map showing location and thickness of Bantel aquifer, south - 42 western Cass County 4 5 19. Geologic section in the Sheyenne delta 20. Hydrographs showing water-level fluctuations in the Sheyen- 46 ne Delta aquifer 21. Map showing location and thickness of Tower City aquifer, 48 west-central Cass County 22. Hydrograph showing water-level fluctuations in the Tower 49 City aquifer 23. Map showing location of wells and test holes tapping un- differentiated glacial drift aquifers in the vicinity of Maple- 52 ton, east-central Cass County 24. Bargraphs showing major constituents in and hardness of 5 5 water from Dakota Sandstone TABLES Table 1 . Major chemical constituents in water—their sources, concen• 1 2 trations, and effects upon usability 2. Physical data and results from pumping, development, anc 2 7 acceptance tests in the West Fargo aquifer GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATER RESOURCES of Cass County, North Dakot a Part III - Ground Water Resource s By Robert L . Klausing ABSTRACT Ground water in Cass County is obtainable from sand and grave l deposits associated with the glacial drift and from sand and (or) sandston e beds in the Dakota Sandstone . Six major drift aquifers are identified and described . These are, the Fargo, West Fargo, Page, Tower City, Bantel, and Sheyenne Delta aquifers . The West Fargo aquifer is the most permeable and productive and will yield as much as 1,300 gallons per minute to individual wells . Heavy pump- ing from the West Fargo aquifer has caused the water levels to decline a s much as 85 feet since 1938 . During 1965, water levels declined more tha n 2 .5 feet at West Fargo and more than 0 .5 foot in areas 20 miles away . The declines will continue as long as withdrawals exceed recharge. Potentially important sources of water are the Sheyenne Delta aquife r in the southern part of the county and the Page aquifer in the north - western part. Neither of these is extensively developed . Water from the glacial drift aquifers generally contains less than 1,50 0 parts per million dissolved solids, whereas water from the Dakota Sand - stone contains more than 2,500 parts per million dissolved solids . iv INTRODUCTION Purpose and Scope This is the third in a series of three reports describing the results of a study of the geology and ground-water resources of Cass County . The stud y was requested and supported by the Cass County Board of Commissioners and was made under the cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey , the North Dakota State Water Commission, and the North Dakota Geologica l Survey. The primary purpose of the study was to determine the occurrence , availability, and quality of ground water in Cass County . This report de- scribes the location and extent of the various sources of ground water i n the county, discusses the chemical quality of the water available fro m each source, and evaluates the potential of each ground-water source fo r future dvelopment: Much of the basic data on which this interpretive report is based ha s been tabulated in an earlier report entitled "Geology and Ground Wate r Resources of Cass County, North Dakota, Part II, Ground Water Basic Data ." However, 43 well logs that were collected since publication of the basi c data report are included as an appendix to this report . Another report— "Geology and Ground Water Resources of Cass County, North Dakota, Par t I, Geology"—describes the geology of the county and provides a framewor k for evaluating the ground-water resources . The three reports are meant to complement each other, and the usefulness of any of them will be greatl y enchanted by having all three available for reference . Location and Physiograph y Cass County (fig . 1) is in southeastern North Dakota and encompasse s an area of 1,749 square miles. The county is in the Central Lowland physio- graphic: province of Fenneman (1938, p . 559), and occupies parts of th e Drift Prairie and Red River Valley areas as defined by Simpson (1929, p . 4-7). The entire county is in the drainage basin of the Red River of th e North (fig . 2). 1 98 0 100° BOTTINEAU- ROL CITE 170WNER 1 CAVALIER \ ~- 9I N A AivR LAK E I PEMBINA_ _ -pi ERCE , RAMSEY rWALS H ' I ~aENSO ~~CENTRAl L j LN ELSON GRAND FORK S DRIF'- PRAIRIE 'l J I, I 1.i 1 Ga~MO oars S LTC. HENRYL r__ _ Er-'rNE _ _ _ — ~ ~ - - \ AGASSI Z IEELE\ tfRAIL L 1 A ND ) H l e 'OLIVER ,l DUNN _____ — \ l STARK - N---NORTO, N SIsMARC ~ HE^HT 1 ~ _ _ GRANT I _ STUTSMA N SLOPE ~H ETTING ER -~,~ eiveR MMONS /s BALL ' Soe, ILOGA'N 41_- A LA MORU E r INTOSH DICKE Y I 1 04 . 100° 98 ° 0 20 40 MILES FIGURE 1 . Physiographic divisions in North Dakota and location of report area. 0 5 10 MILE S FIGURE 2 . Major geomorphic units and drainage . Climate The climate of the area is variable . The winters are generally long and cold with temperatures occasionally falling to as much as 40° below zero. The summers usually are hot with midday temperatures occasionall y rising to 100 The average annual temperature is 39 .9° . Most of the annual precipitation is in the form of rain, which fall s during the spring and summer . Precipitation in the Fargo area during th e period 1930 to 1965 ranged from about 9 to 30 inches per year an d averaged 18 .65 inches. Precipitation in the vicinity of Amenia during th e period 1934 to 1965 ranged from about 9 to 27 inches and average d 19.46 inches. Precipitation data for the stations at Fargo and Amenia ar e shown graphically on figure 3 . 3 8 1111111111 1 111111111 1 III11111111 1111111 x11 1 IIIIIIIIIII - IIIIIIIIIII 11111111111 11111111111 IIIIIIIIIII 111111111 1111111111 1 Ww x 7 FARGO ? 6 0 4 1- a 3 a 2 CU , 0 0 T- h- T rn 8 w •U 7 6 A MENI A 5 z • 4 a 3 ▪ 2 ww• ~ a 0 -n- fr y _ l~ I -IL _ T-1-r -rf -IT J D J DJ DJ DJ DJ J DJ DJ D J 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 NORMA L _ FIGURE 3 . Monthly precipitation recorded at Fargo and Amenia, 1955-64 . FIGURE 4 . System of numbering wells, springs, and test holes .