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Table of Contents

Rock Formations

Stratigraphy

Mineral Resources

Economic Geology

Subsurface Rocks

Ground-water Resources

Ground-water Recharge

Ground-water Discharge

Availability

Chemical Character

Ground-water Regions

Records of Wells

References

Availability of Large Ground-water Supplies

Twenty-five test holes were drilled on five lines across the three principal stream valleys in the county in June 1948 with the hydraulic-rotary drilling machine owned by the State Geological Survey of Kansas. The location of the test holes is shown on Plate 3 and graphic cross sections along the five lines are shown in Figure 3.

Individual wells properly located so as to penetrate the maximum thickness of saturated alluvial material in the Cottonwood River valley should be capable of supplying 75 to 200 gallons a minute. The area of alluvium above the dam on Cottonwood River at Cottonwood Falls is probably the best area for wells of maximum yield. The dam creates a considerable body of water extending 2 to 3 miles upstream, thus maintaining a high water table and contributing effectively to the recharge of the ground-water reservoir in the area. Smaller quantities of water can be obtained from the other stream valleys in which the alluvium is not as extensive or thick.

The southwest part of the county is the only area in which wells penetrating stratified Permian rocks are capable of supplying moderately large quantities of water. Wells near the western edge of the county below the long dip slopes of the Barneston and Wreford limestones generally yield 5 to 10 gallons a minute and in some places yield 50 to 100 gallons a minute. Much ground water, which now is allowed to discharge through springs and seeps along the low areas where the formations crop out, could be utilized in this area.

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