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<br />FIGURE 12 <br /> <br />SEDIMENT YIELD <br /> <br /> <br />~.~I <br /> <br />LEGEND <br /> <br />ESTIMATED SEDIMENT YIELD 1M TONS <br />PER SQU'REIi4ILE PER YEU. ~ <br />(DRAINAGES IN EXCESS OF 100 SQUARE MilES) <br /> <br />D 0-500 <br /> <br />D 500. 1000 <br /> <br />D 1000-3000 <br /> <br />COLORADO <br /> <br />D 3000 - 6000 <br /> <br />.. 6000+ <br /> <br />producing precipitation. In some cases, the stream beds <br />lie above the water table and the streams lose water to <br />the underlying aquifer. The relationship between stream- <br />flow and ground water is extremely complex in many <br />areas of the basin. <br />Of the water beneath the land surface, only that in <br />permanent or virtually permanent zones of saturation is <br />called ground water. Any saturated material through <br />which water can move fast enough so that it can be <br />produced from wells is termed an aquifer. <br />Unconsolidated coarse-grained sediments, such as <br />well-sorted sand and sandy gravel, have the greatest <br />capacity for both storing and transmitting water; accord- <br />ingly, they are the most productive aquifers. All water in <br />the zone of saturation is moving towards points of <br />discharge at the land surface. The rate of movement is <br />very slow, generally ranging from a small fraction of an <br /> <br />20 <br /> <br />~\ <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />N <br /> <br />t <br /> <br />SCALE I/II.~OO.OOO <br />o 100 <br />APPRO)(,MATE ~C..LE ~~l MILE S <br /> <br />MINNESOTA <br /> <br />KANSAS <br /> <br />-----L__: M~~~-- <br /> <br />---~- <br /> <br />inch to no more than a few feet. per day. Natural <br />discharge of ground water to streams or through <br />evapotranspiration occurs continuously. Basin-wide, the <br />principal source of ground-water recharge is precipita- <br />tion that infiltrates the ground and percolates downward <br />to the water table. In a few areas, the ground water is <br />recharged, in part, artificially by the residual 'from <br />irrigation of surface soils. <br />Ground-water availability has been estimated from <br />the best geologic and hydrologic data available. While <br />extensive studies have been made by the States and the <br />Federal Government over many parts of the basin, many <br />areas lack sufficient data for other than judgment <br />estimates of ground-water availability. Basically, the <br />quantity of ground-water resource has been evaluated as <br />that available to properly constructed wells for areas in <br />the Missouri Basin that also show a chemical quality <br />