Revisiting one of the largest aquifer tests in history: Implications for fault zone hydrogeology and the declining groundwater supply in Northeastern Illinois Daniel R. Hadley, PG and Daniel B. Abrams, PhD Well 2- April, 1941 Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois GSA North-Central Meeting 2018
Hydrostratigraphy St. Peter Sandstone Ironton-Galesville Sandstone Ogle DeKalb Kane DuPage Sandwich Fault Zone High Angle Normal Fault 85 miles long, 1-2 miles wide Lee Kendall Will Variable displacement, as much as 800 feet of offset Grundy RECHARGE AREAS
McHenry Lake Kane DuPage DeKalb Cook Kendall Will Grundy Fault zone modeled as a flow barrier with low hydraulic conductivity (K) zone (A HUGE UNKNOWN)
Arsenal Aquifer Test WWII ammunition plant needed large water supply 10 Deep Sandstone Wells (evenly spaced) Open to both St. Peter and Ironton- Galesville Sandstones Conducted 37 day aquifer test in 1942 9 wells pumping over 9 MGD on average 1 St. Peter only observation well (5) Observations at adjacent plants and towns Daily withdrawal rates and water levels recorded 25 days of recovery observations Perhaps the largest aquifer test in North American history? Questions What can this aquifer test tell us about the fault? What can this aquifer test tell us about model parameters?
Need for transient model Head (ft AMSL) Withdrawals (ft3/day) 475 425 375 325 275 225 175 125 75 250000 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Days KOW #1 KOW #2 KOW #3 KOW #4 KOW #5 KOW #6 KOW #7 KOW #8 KOW #9 KOW #10 200000 150000 100000 50000 0 KOW #1 KOW #2 KOW #3 KOW #4 KOW #5 KOW #6 KOW #7 KOW #8 KOW #9 KOW #10 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Days
Model Setup Illinois Groundwater Model 21 layers (10 quaternary and 11 bedrock) 2500 ft 2 Grid 1863 to present (and future scenarios) Arsenal wells and observation wells simulated as CLN wells MODFLOW-USG Fault Zone Conceptualization Inner Fault Core/Outer Damage Zone Varied sandstone hydraulic conductivity (K h ) Ranged from no change in comparison to host rock to 3 orders of magnitude decreases in K h 23 different model runs so far
Initial Calibration Initial analytic analysis using Theis curve K h = 5 ft/day for sandstones Specific Storage (Ss) = 5.5e -7 ft -1 SP Calibration Targets 9 Pumping Wells 7 Observation Wells (3 St. Peter only wells and 4 multiaquifer wells) Overall Drawdown Slope of drawdown curves Regional historic calibration to heads, needs updated locally Confined conditions throughout the test SP SP
Drawdown (ft) Calibration- K of Fault Zone 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 KOW #10 350 393767 393777 393787 393797 393807 393817 393827 Model Time Calculated (K=5.0) Calculated (K=0.5) Calculated (K=0.05) Observed Well 10 and 9 have low specific capacities and slowest recovery (closest to fault) Slope of drawdown curve affected by fault hydraulic conductivity Order of magnitude decrease (K h =0.5 ft/day) seems just right Arsenal wells (and especially far observation wells) insensitive to fault flow resistance Fault Zone has large impact locally (within 1-3 miles), much less influence beyond that
Drawdown (ft) Calibration-Skin Factor 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 KOW #4 350 393767 393777 393787 393797 393807 393817 393827 Model Time Calculated (SF=0) Calculated (SF=5) Observed Skin Factors simulate well inefficiency Needed to match observed drawdowns Particular to each well Halford and Hanson, 2002, USGS MNW User Guide, Open File Report 02-293 Positive skin factor- K aquifer > K skin Does not affect slope of drawdown
Drawdown (ft) Pumping Wells (Run #23) Drawdown (ft) Observation Wells (Run #23) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 KOW #7 Calculated Observed 393767 393787 393807 393827 Model Time 0 10 20 30 40 Calculated 1 Observed 50 393767 393787 393807 393827 Model Time Calculated Observed Residual KOW 1 259 244 15 KOW 2 249 273-24 KOW 3 271 265 6 KOW 4 269 292-23 KOW 6 268 223 45 KOW 7 259 252 7 KOW 8 249 250-1 KOW 9 275 311-36 KOW 10 252 270-18 Mean 261 264-3 Calculated Observed Residual KOW 5 119 101 18.0 Calculated Observed Residual 1 16.5 22-5.5 2 17.5 20-2.5 2 8.6 4 4.6 1 3.3 2.5 0.8 Mean -2.6
Days On: 0
Days On: 1
Days On: 2
Days On: 3
Days On: 4
Days On: 5
Days On: 6
Days On: 7
Days On: 8
Days On: 9
Days On: 10
Days On: 11
Days On: 12
Days On: 13
Days On: 14
Days On: 15
Days On: 16
Days On: 17
Days On: 18
Days On: 19
Days On: 20
Days On: 21
Days On: 22
Days On: 23
Days On: 24
Days On: 25
Days On: 26
Days On: 27
Days On: 28
Days On: 29
Days On: 30
Days On: 31
Days On: 32
Days On: 33
Days On: 34
Days On: 35
Days On: 36
Days On: 37
Days Off: 1
Days Off: 2
Days Off: 3
Days Off: 4
Days Off: 5
Days Off: 6
Days Off: 7
Days Off: 8
Days Off: 9
Days Off: 10
Days Off: 11
Days Off: 12
Days Off: 13
Days Off: 14
Days Off: 15
Days Off: 16
Days Off: 17
Days Off: 18
Days Off: 19
Days Off: 20
Days Off: 21
Days Off: 22
Days Off: 23
Days Off: 24
Days Off: 25
Implications for groundwater supply withdraws ~ 17 MGD from their 21 deep sandstone wells (as of 2015) Most population growth projected on western side of municipal boundary, likely place of new wells Extreme drawdown (1100-1200 feet of depth to water), pumps in danger of breaking suction!! Crisis prompting communities to switch to alternative supplies Projected Growth 2016 1964
Conclusions/Future Work Unprecedented size and duration of the Arsenal Test allows regional insight into hydrogeology of vertical fault zone Used slope of drawdown curves as calibration targets for wells near fault Skin factors needed at CLN wells to match observed data, but do not change slope of drawdown curves Order of magnitude decrease in K h of sandstones within core of fault zone (K h around 0.5 ft/day) Far targets insensitive to influence of fault zone center of pumping moving closer to fault zone, decreasing specific capacities and less recharge to wells Quadtree refinement around fault zone, updating model geology Questions? drhadley@illinois.edu 217-300-0402