Ground-water hydrology of the area bordering the Ohio River between Chester and Waverly, West Virginia

Abstract

Groundwater reserves in West Virginia are contained in the consolidated rock underlying the State and in the alluvium bordering the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. Groundwater use in the study area, which includes parts of Cabell, Jackson, Mason, Wayne, and Wood Counties in western West Virginia, was estimated to be 9 billion gallons in 1983. The consolidated rock (bedrock) that crops out in the study area is of Pennsylvanian or Permian age. Alluvial deposits in the study area are limited mostly to the flood plain of the Ohio River. The alluvium is not vertically homogeneous; the lower part of the deposits consists of sand and gravel of glacial outwash origin, and the upper deposits consist of clay and silt interspersed with sand stringers. In some areas, the tributary streams have deposited a gravel delta where they enter the valley of the Ohio River. Ground water flows from the adjacent hills toward the river. The alluvium is recharged by the following sources: (1) precipitation on the flood plain, (2) inflow from fractures in the bedrock beneath and adjacent to the alluvium, (3) inflow from tributary streams through gravel deltas and bedding-plane partings, and (4) induced inflow from the river. In some groundwater samples, concentrations of iron, manganese, sulfate, nitrate, barium, and phenols exceeded recommended limits for drinking water established by the West Virginia State Board of Health. Groundwater hardness exceeded 120 milligrams per liter in 78 percent of the samples.