Hydrologic data for the Usquepaug-Queen River basin, Rhode Island

Abstract

Figure 2. Water-level recovery in selected wells during slug tests in the Usquepaug-Queen River Basin,

Hydrogeology, water quality, and simulation of ground-water-development alternatives in the Usquepaug-Queen ground-water reservoir, southern Rhode Island

“…Water-bearing fractures in crystalline bedrock generally decrease in size and frequency with depth and become sparse at depths greater than 300 ft below sea level in Rhode Island (Alien and Kinnison, 1953, p. 27). Reported yields of wells with depths of 25 to 500 ft in the bedrock aquifers that underlie the Usquepaug-Queen River Basin range from 0.5 to 50 gal/min (Kliever, 1995, Kliever (1995) show that the median yield of bedrock wells in the basin was 5 gal/min, and the median well depth was 200 ft.…”

“…During this study, four wells were equipped with digital recorders to provide continuous data on seasonal fluctuations of the water table in stratified deposits (three wells) and till (one well) from January 1989 through May 1991. Water-level data from the recorder wells and monthly water-level data from the 32 observation wells were published in a hydrologic data report by Kliever (1995). The range in fluctuations of the water table is affected by the rate of recharge to and discharge from the aquifer.…”

“…A comprehensive quantitative study on the availability of ground water in the upper Pawcatuck River Basin, which includes the Usquepaug-Queen ground-water reservoir, was completed by Alien and others (1966). The hydrogeologic interpretations in this report were based on data collected during 1988-92 for this study (Kliever, 1995), and supplemented with data collected during 1957-60 in the upper Pawcatuck River Basin (Alien and others, 1963).…”

“…These coarse-grained units are the most productive waterbearing materials in the stratified-drift aquifer. Some wells and test holes were drilled for the UsquepaugQueen Basin study (data published in Kliever, 1995), and others were drilled as part of the data collection effort in the Upper Pawcatuck River Basin study (Alien and others, 1966). Hydraulic properties of the stratified-drift aquifer were determined using data from six aquifer tests conducted from 1946 to 1966 (Alien and others, 1966), and one aquifer test conducted by the RIWRB in 1970.…”

“…Data from 275 ground-water sites, lithologic logs from 64 test holes, seismic-refraction data from 9 seismic refraction lines, aquifer tests at 4 sites (Alien and others, 1963;Kliever, 1995), 4 geologic sections, and a geologic materials map were used to characterize the hydrogeology of the Usquepaug-Queen groundwater reservoir. Monthly water-level data from 32 observation wells were used to determine average water-table conditions throughout the UsquepaugQueen River Basin for 1975-90.…”