Analysis of pumping test data of a leaky and layered aquifer with partially penetrating wells

Technical Report · Thu Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6410361

Yates, C C

Between the years 1981 and 1986, agricultural drainage water containing high concentrations of selenium, boron, and other salts was transported to the storage and evaporation ponds of Kesterson Reservoir, located in Merced County, California. Due to selenium poisoning of fish and migratory birds at the Reservoir, intensive scientific investigations of the surface water, groundwater, soils, sediments, and ecology were initiated. The preliminary groundwater investigations revealed that due to the leakage of the agricultural drainage water from the storage ponds down to the underlying shallow aquifer, saline and boron-rich contaminant plume had been created in the aquifer and was slowly migrating to the northeast. The primary purpose of this report is to determine the hydrologic properties of this underlying aquifer system. The field work was carried out at the LBLI/HO Site at Kesterson Reservoir. Initial hydrological pump test data and data from geophysical and lithological logs show that the shallow aquifer system is approximately 61 m (200 ft) thick and consists of a complex sequence of interbedded sands, silts, and clays bounded on the top by a leaky acquitard. The hydrologic test wells only partially penetrate the aquifer. Because of the complexity of this leaky and layered aquifer system with partially penetrating wells, fluid flow towards a production well will deviate from that of an ideal system. Choosing a pump test that will reveal these deviations in fluid flow is important in obtaining a complete data set for analysis. The four types of pump tests conducted at the LBLO/HO Site: were single-well steady-state tests, single-well transient tests, multiple-well standard interference tests, and multiple-well pulse tests. 45 refs., 59 figs., 17 tabs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 6410361
• Report Number(s): LBL-26542; ON: DE89008301
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

520200* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AGRICULTURE
ANIMALS
AQUIFERS
BIRDS
BORON
CALIFORNIA
CONTAMINATION
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
EVALUATION
FEDERAL REGION IX
FORECASTING
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INDUSTRY
LIQUID WASTES
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POISONING
PUMPS
SELENIUM
SEMIMETALS
SURFACE WATERS
TESTING
TRANSPORT
USA
VERTEBRATES
VOLUME
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER
WATER WELLS
WELLS