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<br /> <br />.. .. <br />. , <br />been put in the batik~ :\ tremendous ,~ound- <br />water r'-:-t'rvc has hN-n building up and could be <br />managed to g:reat advantage. <br />For <Ill example of good water management. <br />c{)n~idcr Louiwille. K.y. During World War II. <br />pumping- fmm c1o~t"!y placed indtNrial well~ in. <br />(rea~t"d ,i::rt'atly. From ~i million gallnn~ a day, <br />u:--e ro~ to is m~d. and Ihe water le\'el~ in <;orne <br />\\-e]]~ dedint'd nearh- 10 bc-drock. The city offi- <br />cial~ and the War Production Board called on <br />the V,S, Geological SurHY for advice. Surw)' <br />hydroloci~t~ in cooperalion with local and State <br />agencir~ mapped the' aquifer and ~tudied il~ rate <br />of natur.ll r('char.~e. It ot'came clear that Louis- <br />\.ille wa" li,'ing t>cy'ond il~ IUl"am. so far a~ wound <br />water wa." wncemed. The adjacent Ohio River <br />was available. but "u~titution of it~ water for <br />that from \H~lIs wOllld ha\'e been difficult or im- <br />po",-~ible. in ,'iew of shorta.~(<'; of critical materials. <br />~Ilch aj pump" and pipe. Con~n-ation meas- <br />ures were adopted as rapidIy as. poosible 10 re- <br />duce the ground-water draft. and filtered cilY <br />water from Ihe riveT was injened into wells al <br />two plants \.here conditions were m()<;t critical. <br />The water was injected durin.~ the winter, when <br />it was cold. and thu~ made Ihe wells nen more <br />dTrClin' for Iheir principal me, for cooling, when <br />the water wa~ repump('d the next ~umm('r. Thl:' <br />ground-water draft i~ now ~table and ,\ater le,'e1~ <br />hase reron'red to prn'iolls stages throu.g-hout <br />most of Ihe area, <br />GO<Xl management of ~ound,wat('f resources <br />depends upon knowledge of basic water facts, <br />We nced more detailed ~tudies of ground watcr <br />In local areas, and morc basic rt':'earch on rt"plen- <br />i_~hmenl and mo\"ement of ground water. \\'e <br />need to know more about gTound-waler chem- <br />istry aL"O. \\'e mll~1 continue to impro\"e our <br />method" of ~toring <.urplu" water in undl:'r,ground <br />r~er\"oif!l.. <br />The ground '\'ate'r that ~ep~ into slreams pro- <br />\-ides the base flow (If the stream.o.-tht" low f!m. <br />that is ~u~tained thrOlll::h Ihe dri~t part of the <br />year. If Woller !t'\"t.I~ dedint" bt-cau"e of hea':' <br />pumping, the ha~e flo...., of stre:um will be re- <br />duced. Ground and ~urfa.ce walers are inex- <br />tricabl\" cnnnt"cted and should hto ..ttldied to- <br />gether: 'n pla!l~ for ri\Tr-ba~in dewlopment <br />I:'rounu walt'r ha<. commonly l}('t"!l n<,det'ted. \t't <br />plans for rin'r ba~im may vitall,- aITe.t tht" <br />groulld-w:ucr re<cr\'oir, and ,ict" 'e~a. The <br />ratl:' of natural replcnishment need not limil the <br /> <br />U~ of ground water if floodwaters can be u.~d <br />to increase recharge artificially, River-basin de- <br />H:lopment might indude a coordinated program <br />of flood. control and artificial recharge. <br />Bowen'r, {"\'en Ihe hydrologic !acts on ground <br />water are not enough. \\'e mu,;,t know also what <br />the demand is for water in a given area, ....,hat the <br />economic trend~ arl', whal the future demand <br />may be. What win bt, Ihe effl'cl~ of withdrawal <br />and list' of water upon Ihe ~und-water reser- <br />,'oir? In our waler-resources bank the hook- <br />k(~epill(: "till i~ not adequate. <br />The Geological Sun-ey has collected a great <br />deal of information on ~ound-wat('r fl"SOUrces, <br />much of Ihis work havinr: bcen done in coopera- <br />tion with the Statt"", and some State.~ are making <br />~tudies on Ih<,ir own. .\1 ucll remain" to be done, <br />howe\"er, and there are few areas in which the <br />s.cale of the program is Y'et adequate to mect the <br />growing- needs. <br />Are there am' ways of sa,'ing ground water, <br />or makin,g it g'O furthrr in areas where il is des- <br />perately necded? Ground-watl'r probl('TllS are <br />mO<.t critical in thl' \\" eqem States. The popu- <br />lation of thC"'e State!' is expected to increa~ faster <br />than Ihe national awrage. :hailabiJity of ground <br />water for agri("\llture, public ~upplies, and in- <br />duslry is therefore e;;peci.l\ly important in the <br />West. There are M'n"ral mea<.ures which, if un- <br />dertaken on a large scak, would conser;e the <br />supply of ~roll!ld \\'ater. Some ("fOpS require a <br />good deal of \\'ater. Other crops t1Sing-les.s water <br />pnhap" could be sull"tituted in "Ol11C areas. Xat- <br />ural replenishment call be incr('a~d in many <br />plac("i by increas.ing the rate of infiltration into the <br /><'oil or <'ITeambt'ds, Certain nonuscful plants and <br />shrub<;. ~\lch as sahcedar, ("onsume great quan- <br />tities of waler. R~eaTch to di~O\'er f('asible <br />method~ of controlling their .I!Towth or eraditat- <br />ing- them completely i.s now acti"e. Reduction <br />of evaporation from re"t'r\'oir.<. and eH!l of tran. <br />spiration h\' certain methrx!s of soil treatment, <br />hold~ :'Orne promi<('. Gradual cOll\'eNion from <br />irri_gation to lI:<{,S that extract more dollars from <br />a ~iwn \'olume of watl'r is hound to be a prin- <br />cipal nWlhod. hut economic di~nlptions must be <br />minimized. <br /> <br />Where feasible. waler of inferior quality in- <br />'tead of fir!'t--quality \\ater could be used for cer- <br />tain induslrial prnce"'-,<"". For cooling and certain <br />other pUTJlO"'N. the S,lme water can be used SC"- <br /> <br />25 <br /> <br />