Geology and Ground- Water Resources of the Lower Lodgepole Creek Drainage Basin, Nebraska By L. J. BJORKLUND With a section on CHEMICAL QUALITY OJF THE WATER By E. R. JOCHENS GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1410 Prepared as part of the program of the Department of the Interior for the development of the Missouri River basin UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1957 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fred A. Seaton, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. G. CONTENTS Page Abstract _____ ______________________________ 1 Introduction. _______________________________________________ 2 Purpose and scope of the investigation.____________________ 2 Location and extent of the area_________________________________ 3 Previous investigations. ________ _______________________________ 4 Methods of investigation______________________________________ 4 Well-numbering system________________________________________ 5 Acknowledgments.-__________________________________________ 5 Geography.. _ _____________________________ 6 Topography and drainage______________________________________ 6 Climate._____________________________________________________ 7 Population, agriculture, and industry________________________.___ 9 Geology_______________________________________ 9 Summary of stratigraphy_____________________________-_______ 9 Summary of geologic history____________________________________ 9 Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras__._____________________________ 9 Cenozoic era_____________________________________________ 11 Tertiary period______________________________________ 11 Quaternary period___________________________...______ 12 Geologic formations and their water-bearing properties.____________ 12 Brule formation___________________________________________ 12 Ogallala formation_________________________________________ 14 Alluvium.______________________________________________ 15 Ground water_________________________________________________ 16 The water table.___________________________ 16 Shape and slope_________________________________________ 16 Depth to water_______________________________________ 16 Fluctuations.____________________________ 18 Recharge_____________________________________________________ 19 Precipitation______________________________________________ 19 Irrigation systems_________________________________________ 19 Streams.___________________________________ 20 Subsurface inflow__________________________________________ 21 Discharge-.__________________________________________________ 21 Streams._________________________________________________ 21 Evapotranspiration_ _______________________________________ 22 Wells______________________________________ 22 Subsurface outflow_______________________________________ 23 Utilization_____ _____________________________________________ 24 Irrigation supplies_________________________________________ 24 Methods of development.-. ________________________ 25 Yields of wells____________________________ 26 Quantity of water pumped____________________________ 28 Acreage irrigated____________________________________ 28 Possible future development____________________________ 29 Public supplies____________________________________________ 30 Bushnell_____________________________ 31 Kimball________________________________ 31 in IV CONTENTS Ground water Continued Utilization Continued Public supplies Continued Page Dix_.____________.-___.________________________ 31 Potter__________________________________ 31 Sioux Ordnance Depot_-.-______-_..______--_____---__--_ 32 Sidney-________________________________ 32. Lodgepole__ ______________________________________ 33 ChappeU_________________________________ 33 Domestic and stock supplies._______-___-__-____________-_. 34 Chemical quality of the water, by E. R. Jochens______________________ 34 Ground water_________________________________________________ 36 Domestic and industrial use________________________________ 37 Irrigation _______________ ____ 40 Surface water. ______ ____________________________________ 40 Summary and conclusions__________________________________________ 41 literature cited___________________________________________________ 42 Logs of test holes and wells_____________________________________ 44 Index ___________________________________________________________ 75 ILLUSTRATIONS [Plates in pocket] PLATE 1. Map showing areal geology and topography of the rocks beneath the Quaternary deposits in the lower Lodgepole Creek valley. : 2. Geologic sections of the lower Lodgepole Creek valley. 3. Map showing the contour of the water table in the lower Lodgepole Creek valley. 4. Map showing location of wells, depth to water, and areas of high evapotranspiration in the lower Lodgepole Creek drainage basin. FIGURE 1. Map showing areas in which ground-water studies have been made under the program for the development of the Missouri Page River basin____________________________-__-_____----__ 3 2. Map of a part of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado showing the part of Lodgepole Creek drainage basin described by this report________________ ______________________________ 4 3. Sketch showing well-numbering system___________________ 6 4. Cumulative number of irrigation wells constructed in the lower Lodgepole Creek drainage basin, 1925-51_________________ 24 5. Location of quality-of-water sampling points in the lower Lodgepole Creek drainage basin_____-___-_____-_------- 35 CONTENTS V TABLES Page TABLE 1. Annual precipitation at Kimball and Lodgepole___________ 8 2. Normal monthly, seasonal, and annual temperature and pre­ cipitation at Kimball and Lodgepole____________________ 8 3. Monthly runoff of Lodgepole Creek during water year 1951-52 at Bushnell, Nebr., and at the Colorado State line___ __ __ 22 4. Number of irrigation wells tapping different geologic forma­ tions.. _______________________________________________ 25 5. Number of irrigation wells equipped with different types of engines__________________________________________ 26 6. Discharge and specific capacity of irrigation wells tapping dif­ ferent geologic formations--____________________________ 27 7. Computed quantity of water pumped from irrigation wells, and acreage irrigated----______________________ _ 28 8. Chemical analyses and othef related measurements of ground and surface waters in the lower Lodgepole Creek drainage basin_ _______________________________________ 38 9. Logs of test holes and wells_____________________________ 44 10. Water levels in observation wells__________________________ 62 11. Record of weUs__ _______________ _ __________ 66 GEOLOGY AND GROUND-WATER RESOURCES OF THE LOWER LODGEPOLE CREEK DRAINAGE BASIN, NEBRASKA By L. J. BJORKLUND ABSTRACT The area described is almost wholly in Nebraska and is the drainage basin of Lodgepole Creek from the Wyoming State line to the Colorado State line, a distance along the stream valley of about 95 miles. It covers about 1,950 square miles. The purposes of the study were to ascertain the characteristics, thickness, and extent of the water-bearing formations and to obtain and interpret data on the origin, quality, quantity, movement, availability, and use of ground water in the area. The rocks exposed in the drainage basin are the Brule formation of Oligocene (Tertiary) age, the Ogallala formation of Pliocene (Tertiary) age, and alluvium of Pleistocene and Recent (Quaternary) age. The Brule formation is mainly a siltstone, which yields an average of 950 gallons per minute (gpm) to irrigation wells tapping its fractured zones or reworked material; the maximum reported discharge is 2,200 gpm. The Ogallala formation underlies most of the area. It consists of lenticular beds of clayey, silty, sandy, and gravelly materials and supplies water to all wells on the upland, including a few large-discharge wells, and to many irrigation and public-supply wells in the valley of Lodgepole Creek. The yield of irrigation wells tapping the Ogallala formation ranges from 90 to 1,600 gpm and averages about 860 gpm. The alluvium is present in the valleys of Lodgepole Creek and its tributaries and consists mainly of heterogeneous . mixtures of silt, sand, and gravel, and lenticular bodies of these materials. Be­ tween the Colorado State line and Chappell, Nebr., irrigation wells derive most of their water from the alluvium. However, between Chappell and Sidney most of the irrigation wells tap both the alluvium and permeable zones in the underlying Brule formation, and in much of the valley west of Sidney, where the water table is beneath the bottom of the alluvium, irrigation wells derive water from the underlying Brule or Ogallala formations. Irrigation wells obtaining water chiefly from the alluvium have a yield ranging from 130 to 1,200 gpm, averaging about 770 gpm. In the Lodgepole Creek valley below Sidney the depth to water generally is less than 20 feet and, in many places, less than 10. In much of this part of the area the water table extends to the land surface or to the root zone of the vegeta­ tion, and discharge by evapotranspiration is high. In the valley of Lodgepole Creek between Sidney and the Wyoming State line, the depth to water generally ranges from less than 10 feet* near the stream to more than 100 along the edge of the valley. In the upland the depth to water ranges from about 80 to about 300 feet. Recharge to the ground-water reservoir is derived chiefly from precipitation; other