Groundwater Engineering for Water Supplies - The High Plains (Ogallala) Aquifer

Groundwater Engineering for Water Supplies - The High Plains (Ogallala) Aquifer

Course Outline

The dominant application of groundwater engineering is the provision of water supplies for municipalities, agriculture, and industries. Sufficient groundwater supplies are essential for the health and economic well-being of the United States. With increasing demands for water from growing world populations, agriculture, and industry, as well as growing intermittent, if not long-term, shortages of surface water due to droughts, groundwater is becoming an even more important source of fresh water for society.

The High Plains Aquifer is the most intensively pumped aquifer in the United States. Almost 25 percent of all groundwater withdrawn in the United States comes from this aquifer. It sustains over 25 percent of the agricultural yield produced in the United States. This 6-hour course will provide an overview of and familiarization with this vitally important aquifer. The course will illustrate the importance of groundwater contribution to water supplies for an eight-state area. It will also document concerns for this important diminishing resource as a result of sustained, declining water storage in this aquifer as well as concerns in regard to water quality issues.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student would have achieved an understanding of the following:

The importance of the High Plains (Ogallala) Aquifer;
The areal extent and physiological setting of the aquifer;
The geohydrology of the aquifer;
History of groundwater development and usage in the High Plains;
Changes in groundwater storage from approximately 1950 to 1980;
Changes in groundwater storage from the approximately 1980 to 2000;
Changes in groundwater storage from 2000 to present;
Water quality of the aquifer; and
Factors affecting groundwater quality.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for civil-environmental engineers, geohydrologists, municipal planners, manufacturers and other professionals concerned with groundwater resources.

Benefit to Attendees

The subject matter of this course will be of benefit to professionals involved in water resource development and management including civil-environmental engineers, geohydrologists, municipal planners, and others concerned with groundwater resources. It will also be of benefit to others concerned with protecting these valuable water resources. The course provides a broad understanding of the importance of groundwater resources to society.

Course Introduction

In this course you will learn about the largest and highest producing principal aquifer in the United States, the High Plains or Ogallala aquifer. You will also learn of the challenges facing users of that aquifer.

Course Content

In this lesson, you are required to download and study the following documents: (1) USGS Paper 1400-A, 1988: Summary of the High Plains Regional Aquifer-System Analysis in Parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming; (2) Pages 1-35 of USGS Circular 1243, 2003: Water in Storage and Approaches to Ground-Water Management, High Plains Aquifer, 2000, V.L. McGuire, M.R. Johnson, R.L. Schieffer, J.S. Stanton, S.K. Sebree, and I.M. Verstraeten; (3) USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5291, 2013: Water-Level and Storage Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 2011 and 2009–11, V.L. McGuire.; and (4) Pages 1-46 of USGS Circular 1337, 2009: Water Quality in the High Plains Aquifer, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming, 1999-2004, J.J. Gurdak, P.B. McMahon, K. Dennehy, and S.L. Qi.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1400a/report.pdf

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2003/circ1243/pdf/C1243.pdf

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2012/5291/sir2012-5291.pdf

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1337/pdf/C1337.pdf

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

Course Summary

The information provided in this course will detail the special importance of the highest producing principal water supply aquifer in the United States and concerns for its future.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.