Browsing by Author "He, C."
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Item Estimating Evapotranspiration for 2016 Growing Season Using Landsat 8 Data and Metric Model in Sussex County, Delaware(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2023-08) He, C.; Andres, A.S.; Brinson, K.R.; DeLiberty, T.L.Evapotranspiration (ET) is a major part of the water cycle. Reliable measurements or estimates of ET can greatly improve quantitative forecasts and hindcasts of water demand by crops, horticulture, and natural vegetation, and also help to manage and conserve water resources. Direct measurement of ET requires not only specific devices such as eddy covariance instruments, but also well-trained research personnel to collect accurate data. As a result, a variety of indirect methods for estimating ET have been developed in recent decades. Among them, remote sensing methods have proved cost-effective in providing accurate regional and global coverage of ET. In Sussex County, Delaware’s leading county in crop production, the ET distribution for the 2016 growing season was estimated using the Mapping Evapotranspiration at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration method, an energy-balance based ET mapping tool that utilizes satellite images and weather data. The estimated result was compared with field measurements using an eddy covariance instrument. The total estimated ET during Sussex County’s growing season (May-September) in 2016 accounts for 77 to 87 percent of historical-averaged annual ET in this region. The model-simulated seasonal ET for agricultural land is about 33 percent higher than urban/suburban areas and about 22 percent lower than forested areas. This study shows that when forestlands are converted to urban/suburban uses, significant amounts of water are diverted from ET and are then available to run off and/or infiltrate. Given that urban/suburban land has impervious surfaces in the forms of rooftops, roads, driveways, parking lots, sidewalks, etc., much of the water not lost to the atmosphere through ET presumably becomes part of the surface runoff portion of the water budget, thus underscoring the need for adequate storm-water management systems for urban/suburban lands. The results also imply that the practice of ET-based irrigation scheduling could be valuable in Sussex County and throughout the 20 percent of Delaware farmland that is irrigated.Item Evaluating Impacts of Sea-Level Rise on Groundwater Resources in The Delaware Coastal Plain(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2023-06) He, C.; McKenna, T.E.Due to low elevation and a shallow water table, the Delaware Bay coast is highly vulnerable to sea-level rise. Numerical simulations of rising sea levels, groundwater flow, and salt transport through year 2100 indicate significant impacts on land use due to a rising water table and localized impacts due to saltwater intrusion in the surficial aquifer. Impacts from changes in watertable depths were defined as the conditions where the water table rose above two critical depths: 0 meters (termed saturation, waterlogging, or inundation) and 0.5 meters (effective rooting depths of major local crops). Scenarios modeled were for 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 meters rise by year 2100. Simulations used SEAWAT4, a three-dimensional, variable-density groundwater flow model. We constructed synthetic conceptual and numerical models with a single rectangular-shaped watershed with an upland, one river, and bay-parallel and inland salt marshes. Parameters for the models were based on the characteristics of ten Delaware Bay watersheds. We transferred water-table depths from simulations to real-world watersheds by mapping model coordinates to a curvilinear grid system within each watershed, which allowed for comparison of areas adversely impacted by sea-level rise by comparing water-table depths to the critical depths. The simulation results predict that sea-level rise causes significant impacts from a rising water table by year 2100. Over 60 percent of the impacted area in all scenarios was cropland. The model results also indicate that the saltwater front under the riverbed migrates landward as far as 4.8 kilometers from its initial location, but is limited to a small area near and parallel to the river and marsh boundaries.Item Groundwater Monitoring Procedures Part 1: Equipment and Procedures for Manual and Automated Field Measurement of Groundwater Levels in Dedicated Monitoring Wells(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2018-08) Andres, A.S.; He, C.; McKenna, T.E.The Delaware Geological Survey (DGS) has measured, managed, and distributed groundwaterlevel data for several decades using widely accepted procedures and practices, many of which were derived from interactions with staff of the USGS, consulting firms, and other state agencies. Many of the individual methods and procedures have been described in DGS reports, however, written documentation for these tasks have not been assembled in a single published document. The need for such a document has become more apparent with the development of standards for participation in the National Ground-Water Monitoring Network (SOGW, 2009). This document describes methods used by the DGS for routine manual and automated measurement of groundwater levels in dedicated monitoring wells. Alternative methods used for manual measurement of water levels in other types of wells are noted in this document to provide reference for historical measurements but not described in detail. These methods are excerpted and modified from procedures described by federal agencies and national standards organizations (e.g., ASTM, D4750-2007; Drost, 2005; USEPA, 2007). In this document, the term water levels will be used interchangeably with groundwater levels. Please refer to these and other appropriate documents for additional guidance or contact DGS staff with specific questions. Practices pertaining to data processing and management, metadata, and quality assurance procedures for electronic data are rapidly evolving. Additional sections on these topics will be added to this document as time and resources permit.Item Hydrogeology of a Rapid Infiltration Basin System (RIBS) at Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2015-12) Andres, A.S.; Walther, E.F.; Türkmen, M.; He, C.The hydrogeologic framework of Cape Henlopen State Park (CHSP), Delaware was characterized to document the hydrologic effects of treated wastewater disposal on a rapid infiltration basin system (RIBS). Characterization efforts included installation of test borings and monitoring wells; collection of core samples, geophysical logs, hydraulic test data, groundwater levels and temperatures; testing of grain size distribution; and interpretation of stratigraphic lithofacies, hydraulic test data, groundwater levels, and temperature data. This work was part of a larger effort to assess the potential benefits and risks of using RIBS in Delaware. The infiltration basins at CHSP are constructed on the Great Dune, an aeolian dune feature composed of relatively uniform, medium-grained quartz sand. The age of the dune, determined by carbon-14 dating of woody material in swamp deposits under the dune, is less than 800 years. Underlying the dune deposits are relatively heterogeneous, areally continuous, coarse-grained spit deposits of the proto-Cape Henlopen spit with interbedded and relatively fine-grained, discontinuous swamp and marsh deposits, and beneath, relatively fine-grained, continuous, near-shore marine deposits. The dune deposits can be 45 ft thick under the crest of the dune and nonexistent at the surface. Spit deposits range from 5 to 15 ft thick. Test drilling determined that the near-shore marine deposits are at least 10 ft thick in the vicinity of the infiltration basins. The complete thickness of these deposits was not determined in this study. Hydraulic testing and grain-size data indicate that the dune and spit deposits are relatively permeable, with average hydraulic conductivities of 140 ft/day and that the swamp and marsh deposits are more than one order of magnitude less permeable, with average hydraulic conductivity of 25 to 10 ft/day. The water-table aquifer is present in the sandier dune and spit deposits. The swamp, marsh, and near-shore marine deposits form a leaky confining unit. The water-table aquifer is 15 to 20 ft thick under the thickest section of the Great Dune and nonexistent where the dune deposits are absent. The vadose zone is greater than 25 ft thick under the infiltration basins. High-frequency groundwater level and temperature monitoring during periods of maximum wastewater disposal rates indicates that wastewater disposal causes increases in water-table elevations on the order of 1 ft. Groundwater elevations indicate that the water-table elevation is greatest under the infiltration basins and that most flow is directed southward toward a swampy discharge area. Maximum disposal rates typically occur in summer months when the numbers of park users and water use are greatest. Coincident with greater disposal rates are higher wastewater temperatures. These higher wastewater temperatures are observed in groundwater and provide a means to track the flow of water from beneath the infiltration beds towards a nearby discharge area. Tracking of the warmer groundwater and modeling two-dimensional particle tracking both indicate that wastewater discharged to the infiltration basins reaches the nearby discharge area within 180 days.Item Investigation of Submarine Groundwater Discharge at Holts Landing State Park, Delaware: Hydrogeologic Framework, Groundwater Level and Salinity Observations(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2017-05) Andres, A.S.; Michael, H.A.; Russoniello, C.J.; Fernandez, C.; He, C.; Madsen, J.A.Monitoring wells and groundwater sensors were installed and monitored in and around Holts Landing State Park on the Indian River Bay, eastern Sussex County, Delaware, between October 2009 and August 2012. Data from test drilling, geophysical logging, geophysical surveys, and well testing characterized the hydrogeological framework and spatial and temporal patterns of water pressure, temperature, and salinity in the shallow, unconfined Columbia aquifer. The work revealed a plume of freshened groundwater extending more than 650 ft into the bay from the shoreline. Groundwater salinities intermediate between baywater and inland groundwater are present both offshore and on land adjacent to the bay and tidal tributaries. The fresh groundwater plume, as observed in wells and borehole geophysical logs, decreases in thickness from more than 40 ft nearest the shoreline to less than 20 ft farthest from the shoreline. Saline water is found above and below the plume and the freshwater-saltwater interface is spatially complex. Characterization of the hydrogeologic framework was critical to explaining the distribution of fresh groundwater. Fresh water is trapped near the bay bottom by an overlying confining bed composed of the low permeability sediments of a Holocene paleovalley fill sequence and the Beaverdam Formation. This complex, heterogeneous geological framework also causes multiple stacked interfaces in one location at the study site. Groundwater levels, temperatures, and specific conductivity respond to climatic, seasonal, and storm-related weather forcing patterns as well as to forces caused by astronomical tides. The relative importance of these forces to groundwater levels, the flux of fresh groundwater, and groundwater salinity varies with location. Ranges in groundwater levels are more than 6 ft at an inland location and are clearly controlled by seasonal recharge patterns. Extreme weather events have a secondary effect on groundwater levels. In comparison, ranges of groundwater levels are much smaller in near shore and offshore wells, and are more closely related to tidal forces. As a result of this difference in ranges of groundwater levels, seasonal variations in water levels at inland locations are the primary variable controlling bayward-directed groundwater gradients, fresh groundwater flux, and groundwater salinity distribution. Shorter duration weather and tidal events have a secondary role. The freshwater-saltwater interface and associated mixing zone moves upward and/or landward during extended periods of low freshwater flux into the bay, and downward and/or bayward during extended periods of higher freshwater flux.Item Kent County Groundwater Monitoring Project: Results of Subsurface Exploration(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2019-09) Andres, A.S.; McQuiggan, R.W.; He, C.This report documents the methods and results derived from subsurface exploration, monitoring well installation, and hydraulic testing conducted during the project "Groundwater and Saline Water Intrusion Monitoring Network Infrastructure Improvements: Kent County, Delaware". This project was focused on the aquifers in Kent County that supply water to wells for domestic, public, irrigation, and commercial uses as well as provide base flow to local streams. From shallowest to deepest, they are the Columbia, Milford, Frederica, Federalsburg, Cheswold, Piney Point, Rancocas, and Mt. Laurel aquifers.Item Kent County Groundwater-Monitoring Project: Results Of Hydrogeological Studies(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2023-02) Andres, A.S.; McQuiggan, R.W.; He, C.; McKenna, T.E.In 2019, the Delaware Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, completed a groundwater-monitoring, infrastructure-construction, and data-collection project in Kent County, Delaware. This work, recommended by the Governor’s Water Supply Coordinating Council and funded by a capital appropriation from the state, addressed data gaps for the shallower aquifers commonly pumped by water-supply wells that serve domestic, public, irrigation, and commercial users and provided additional data to characterize the relationships between the aquifers and streamflow. The aquifers investigated in this study are, from shallowest (closest to the surface) to deepest, the Columbia, Milford, Frederica, Federalsburg, Cheswold, Piney Point, Rancocas, and Mt. Laurel. The groundwater-monitoring infrastructure and data created during this project will facilitate follow-up projects targeted to specific issues for the water resources of Delaware. The Piney Point aquifer has a characteristic uncommon among other aquifers in the Coastal Plain of Delaware, in that it receives recharge only through slow, diffuse leakage through overlying and underlying confining beds. As a result, pumping of the Piney Point aquifer in the Dover area has reduced water levels more than 80 feet over the past 50 years in several wells in the Dover area. Given current rates of decline, static water levels in long-term observation well Id55-01 will reach the top of the aquifer within 30 years. Pumping water levels in two supply wells operated by Dover Water are projected to reach the top of the aquifer within 10 years if current rates of decline continue. Given that the Piney Point aquifer matrix contains glauconite, a compressible clay pellet, there is significant risk for aquifer compaction and reductions in well yield should water levels continue to decline. Water-level and water-quality data from nested wells (e.g., multiple wells at the same site finished at different depths) in the Milford, Frederica, Federalsburg, and Cheswold aquifers are recharged primarily in areas where they are in close hydraulic connection with the overlying water table aquifer. Similarities in hydrographs, potentiometric surface maps from these aquifers, and time series of head differentials between the Frederica, Federalsburg, and Cheswold aquifers indicate that they function as a single, leaky, layered aquifer. Pumping has reduced water levels in the Frederica, Federalsburg, and Cheswold aquifers below sea level over large areas of Kent County, and has caused flow directions to change from a general southeasterly direction in pre-development times to flow directed toward pumping centers. Water quality data that show no significant correlation between dissolved solids and well depth support the interpretation that flow directions have changed in response to pumping. Long-term declines in annual minimum total flow and baseflow at streamflow gaging stations in the Beaverdam Branch and Marshyhope Creek watersheds and associated long-term increases in annual precipitation, number of growing days, irrigated acres, and number of irrigation wells in those basins are consistent with the interpretation that the combined effects of irrigation pumping and climate change are reducing groundwater discharge to those streams. Results of testing major groundwater constituents in the water-table portion of Columbia aquifer are consistent with previous studies in Delaware, with calcium and sodium the major cations, and different mixtures of the anions chloride, nitrate, and bicarbonate depending on land use and composition of the aquifer near each well. Major constituents of groundwater in the Milford, Frederica, Federalsburg, and Cheswold aquifers over most of Kent County are dominated by calcium, bicarbonate and sulfate.Item Results of Groundwater Flow Simulations In the East Dover Area, Delaware(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2018-08) He, C.; Andres, A.S.In 2015, staff of the Water Supply Section of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) informed the DGS of their concerns about overpumping of the unconfined Columbia aquifer in an area east of Dover (Figure 1). In this area, the City of Dover’s Long Point Road Wellfield (LPRW) and numerous irrigation systems pump water from the shallow Columbia aquifer. Overpumping is a cause for concern because it may 1) increase the risk for saltwater intrusion into the aquifer from saline tidal creeks and marshes and, 2) induce extra drawdown that could reduce the transmissivity of the aquifer and decrease well yields. The potential for overpumping will become more significant when an electric generating station served by the LPRW is expected to increase capacity and requires more water. This report summarizes monitoring and modeling that were conducted to investigate the potential impacts of overpumping. Automated water level and salinity sensors were installed and operated in three monitoring wells, and a digital groundwater flow model was constructed. The model was run in both steady-state and transient modes. As is the case with most models, many assumptions and simplifications had to be made because of data limitations. The model was calibrated to a spatially limited set of data. Consequently, model outputs are meant to inform how the aquifers behave given the assumptions and simplifications and will not represent precise predictions of water pressures in the area represented by the model. Additional data are now being collected in the model domain to refine the accuracy and precision of model results.Item Simulation of Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport in Eastern Sussex County, Delaware With Emphasis on Impacts of Spray Irrigation of Treated Wastewater(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2015-08) He, C.; Andres, A.S.This report presents a conceptual model of groundwater flow and the effects of nitrate (NO3-) loading and transport on shallow groundwater quality in a portion of the Indian River watershed, eastern Sussex County, Delaware. Three-dimensional, numerical simulations of groundwater flow, particle tracking, and contaminant transport were constructed and tested against data collected in previous hydrogeological and water-quality studies. The simulations show a bimodal distribution of groundwater residence time in the study area, with the largest grouping at less than 10 years, the second largest grouping at more than 100 years, and a median of approximately 29 years. Historically, the principal source of nitrate to the shallow groundwater in the study area has been from the chemical- and manure-based fertilizers used in agriculture. A total mass of NO3- -nitrogen (N) of about 169 kg/day is currently simulated to discharge to surface water. As the result of improved N-management practices, after 45 years a 20 percent decrease in the mass of NO3- -N reaching the water table would result in an approximately 4 percent decrease in the mass of simulated N discharge to streams. The disproportionally smaller decrease in N discharge reflects the large mass of N in the aquifer coupled with long groundwater residence times. Currently, there are two large wastewater spray irrigation facilities located in the study domain: the Mountaire Wastewater Treatment Facility and Inland Bays Wastewater Facility. The effects of wastewater application through spray irrigation were simulated with a two-step process. First, under different operations and soil conditions, evaporation and water flux, NO3- -N uptake by plants, and NO3- -N leaching were simulated using an unsaturated flow model, Hydrus-1D. Next, the range of simulated NO3- -N loads were input into the flow and transport model to study the impacts on groundwater elevation and NO3- -N conditions. Over the long term, the spray irrigation of wastewater may increase water-table elevations up to 2.5m and impact large volumes of groundwater with NO3-. Reducing the concentration of NO3- in effluent and increasing the irrigation rate may reduce the volumes of water impacted by high concentrations of NO3-, but may facilitate the lateral and vertical migration of NO3-. Simulations indicate that NO3- will eventually impact deeper aquifers. An optimal practice of wastewater irrigation can be achieved by adjusting irrigation rate and effluent concentration. Further work is needed to determine these optimum application rates and concentrations.Item Simulation of Groundwater Flow in Southern New Castle County, Delaware(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2011) He, C.; Andres, A.S.To understand the effects of projected increased demands on groundwater for water supply, a finite-difference, steady-state, groundwater flow model was used to simulate groundwater flow in the Coastal Plain sediments of southern New Castle County, Delaware. The model simulated flow in the Columbia (water table), Rancocas, Mt. Laurel, combined Magothy/Potomac A, Potomac B, and Potomac C aquifers, and intervening confining beds. Although the model domain extended north of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, south into northern Kent County, east into New Jersey, and west into Maryland, the model focused on the area between the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, the Delaware River, and the Maryland- Delaware border. Boundary conditions for these areas were derived from modeling studies completed by others over the past 10 years.Item Southern New Castle – Northern Kent Counties Groundwater Monitoring Project: Results of Subsurface Exploration and Hydrogeological Studies(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2018-11) Andres, A.S.; Coppa, Z.J.; He, C.; McKenna, T.E.The Delaware Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, completed a groundwater-monitoring, infrastructure-construction, and data-collection project in southern New Castle and northern Kent Counties, Delaware. This work, recommended by the Water Supply Coordinating Council and funded by a capital appropriation from the state, addressed data gaps for the shallower aquifers commonly pumped by water-supply wells that serve domestic, public, irrigation, and commercial users and provided additional data to characterize the relationships between the aquifers and streamflow. The aquifers investigated in this study are, from top to bottom, the Columbia, Rancocas, Mt. Laurel, and Magothy. The groundwater-monitoring infrastructure and data created during this project will continue to serve the management and research needs for water resources of Delaware, and lead to additional follow-up projects and technical reports.Item Using Numerical Models to Assess a Rapid Infiltration Basin System (RIBS), Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2015-12) He, C.; Andres, A.S.This technical report evaluates several aspects of potential environmental risks, use, and regulation of rapid infiltration basin systems (RIBS) in Delaware. The report reviews and compares regulations regarding RIBS from Delaware, Florida,North Carolina, New Jersey, Maryland, and Massachusetts. Influent and effluent samples from ten advanced wastewater treatment systems that operate in conjunction with RIBS were collected and analyzed. Effluent data obtained from the Non-Hazardous Waste Sites database provided by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and other states were assessed. Performance evaluations of the treatment processes that discharge to RIBS were ascertained from the exceedance of concentrations of regulated pollutants in effluent samples. Although RIBS technology has the potential to be a beneficial alternative to surface discharge and a means for groundwater recharge, this technology is appropriate only if the adverse environmental impacts are minimized. Overall operation and maintenance practices play important roles in the performance of treatment plants. The most common and serious problems associated with treatment plants located in Delaware and neighboring states are high nutrient and pathogen concentrations in the effluent. In Delaware, the discharge of poorly treated effluent to RIBS creates a risk of nutrient and pathogen contamination in the receiving water body, the shallow Columbia aquifer. Years of application of treated effluent with high nutrient, pathogen, and organic content to RIBS will result in significant risks for the environment and public health.