Recharge characteristics of a watercourse aquifer system at Springfield, Ohio

An investigation was made of infiltration conditions in the alluvial-filled Mad River valley in the vicinity of the Springfield municipal wells. The study shows that most recharge to the 100-foot thick sand and gravel aquifer is from induced infiltration from the Mad River. Local precipitation and natural, down-valley underflow also are important in sustaining the 14 mgd (million gallons per day) pumping rate.

The investigation was designed to learn more about rates of streambed infiltration. Gaging stations were established at points above and below the well field in the expectation that infiltration losses could be measured directly. The attempt was unsuccessful because infiltration losses proved too small to measure accurately by ordinary stream gaging methods. The investigation has, nevertheless, provided much new data about this important watercourse aquifer system.

Observation-well records covering the 4-year period 1965 through 1968 show that ground-water levels follow an annual cycle, typically rising in the period February through June, when recharge exceeds depletion, and falling during the remainder of the year. The rate of induced stream infiltration is not sufficient to prevent perennial dewatering of the aquifer beneath the streambed. The water table beneath the center of the losing reach ranges in depth from about 17 feet in January to about 6 feet in June in the average year. Bedrock highs beneath the stream, which result in local thinning of the aquifer upstream and downstream from the well field, essentially limit infiltration to a reach about 2½ miles long having an area of approximately 24 acres. During the 7-month depletion period average infiltration is estimated at 9 mgd and during the 5-month accretion period estimated infiltration is 12 mgd. On the basis of these estimates the infiltration rate for the respective periods is 0.37 and 0.50 mgd per acre, or about 0.35 mgd per acre per foot of depth.