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Air Quality An Introduction Archeology BLM Castle Valley Climate Climate Change Colorado River Data Documents Dolores River Economy Education Emery County Energy EPA Events Floods Food Forests Fracking Geology GIS Grand County Graphics Ground-Water and Geology Health History: Human and Natural Housing Invasives Maps Mining and Milling Moab City Monticello NEPA News & Opinion Non-Profits NPS Oil & Gas (& Coal) Oil (Tar) Sands Oil Shale (Kerogen) Permaculture Photos Potash Presentations Public Notices San Juan County SITLA Soils Tourism Uranium USGS Utah Waste Water Water Planning Water Right Numbers Watershed Watershed Tools Wildlife Wildlife Conservation

Ground-Water and Geology

John Wesley Powell said that geology "is the noblest of the sciences," because he understood its connection with every other discipline. Many of America's finest geologists made significant contributions after completing comprehensive studies on the Colorado Plateau; it is a very famous place.

Grove K. Gilbert, probably America's most respected geologist, noted that the study of most landscapes are very difficult, because they are covered by water, soil, plants, or even ice and snow. But not so for the Colorado Plateau! Probably no other landscape on earth has this much exposed bedrock.

Physical geology is what these men taught and it is a fascinating natural history which requires no special tools; just keen observation. For their story is about a landscape created and then destroyed; destroyed by the erosive power of a vigorous river. Who would ever think that such destruction could be so beautiful?

PHYSICAL GEOLOGY

• 1875 - Exploration of the Colorado River & Its Tributaries. John Wesley Powel.
• 1876 - Expedition from Santa Fe to the Junction of the Grand and Green Rivers in 1859. John Macomb and John S. Newberry.
• 1956 - Cenozoic Geology of Colorado Plateau. Hunt.
• 1962 - Quaternary Stratigraphy of La Sal Mountains. Richmond.
• 1985 - Investigations of Paradox Formation for Nuclear Waste Repository. UGS.
• 1992 - Soil and Rock Causing Engineering Problems in Utah. UGS.
• 2000 - Geology of Dead Horse Point. Doelling.
• 2003 - Geologic Hazards of Moab-Spanish Valley. Plate 01; Plate 02; Plate 03; Plate 04. UGS.

GROUNDWATER

Helpful Websites

• Please see the following website for Moab area ground water geologic information.
• Managing aquifer recharge in order to minimize ground water decline.
• Website with considerable information on ground water conditions in Utah.
• An on-line copy of the publication Ground Water Conditions in Utah, Spring of 2009. This publication is re-published annually.
• Graphs of ground water movement over time in the Moab area. Maps showing the well locations are included.
• U.S. Geologic Survey in Utah: specific well monitoring data.
• Utah Geologic Survey groundwater monitoring.
• Ground-water source protection user's guide. Utah Disvision of Water Quality

GROUND-WATER PUBLICATIONS

Ground-water Studies at Matheson Wetland Preserve by University of Utah

• 2004 - Ecohydrology in Colorado River Riparian Forest. Pataki.
• 2004 - Environmental Tracer Investigation Matheson Preserve Moab. Gardner.
• 2004 - Evaporation Water Budget Matheson Preseve Moab. Crowley.
• 2004 - Hydrologic Evaluation Matheson Wetland Preserve. Solomon.
• 2004 - Hydrologic Investigation Scott Matheson Wetland Preserve Moab.
• 2004 - Summary Report. Gardner.

Ground-water Resources of Southeast Utah

• USGS groundwater monitoring in Grand County
• 1965 - Grand Junction Area Geology and Artesian Water. Lohman.
• 1971 - Geology and water resources of the Spanish Valley area, Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah. US Geological Survey. Sumsion.
• 1972 - Groundwater Hydraulics. Lohman.
• 1977 - A digital model of ground-water flow in Spanish Valley, Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah. US Geological Survey. Eychaner.
• 1983 - Reconnaissance of Geohydrology in Moab & Monticello, Western Paradox Basin in Grand & San Juan County Utah. Weir.
• 1990 - Ground-water conditions in the Grand County area, Utah, with emphasis on the Mill Creek-Spanish Valley area. US Geological Survey. Blanchard.
• 1991 - Geohydrology of Mesozoic rocks in the upper Colorado River basin in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, excluding the San Juan basin. US Geological Survey. Freethey et al.
• 1994 - Solution-collapse Breccia Pipes Moab & Spanish Valley. USGS.
• 1996 - Recharge area and water quality of the valley-fill aquifer Castle Valley, Grand County. UGS.
• 1997 - Map of recharge areas for the Glen Canyon and valley-fill aquifers, Spanish Valley area, Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah. US Geological Survey. Steiger et al.
• 1999 - A summary of the ground-water resources and geohydrology of Grand County, Utah. Utah Geological Survey. Eisinger et al.
• 2000 - Geohydrology and numerical simulation of ground-water flow in the central Virgin River basin of Iron and Washington Counties, Utah. (aquifers in Navajo Sandstone). US Geological Survey. Heilweil et al.
• 2001 - Groundwater Availibility in Spanish Valley. Kovacs and Downs.
• 2001 - Reconnaissance study of age and recharge temperature of groundwater near Moab, Utah. University of Utah. Kip Solomon.
• 2001 - Hydrogeology Report of Johnson's-Up-On-Top Mesa.
• 2003 Investigation of the Hydrologic Connection between the Moab Mill Tailings and the Matheson Wetland Preserve. Gardner and Solomon.
• 2004 - Analysis by Lance Christie of Soloman & Gardner Report
• 2004 - Ground-water quality classification and recommended septic tank soil-absorption-system density maps, Castle Valley, Grand County, Utah. Lowe, USG. (Plates)
• 2007 - The Hydrolgeology of Moab-Spanish Valley, Grand and San Juan Counties,Utah, with emphasis on maps for water-resource management and land-use planning. Utah Geological Survey. Lowe et al. Plates 1-12. Septic recommendation map.
• 2007 - Aquifer recharge map (USG) & alternative version (USGS).
• Septic tank recommendation map
• 2008 - Ground-water sensitivity and vulnerability to pesticides, Moab-Spanish Valley, Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah. Lowe, USG. (Plates included)
• 2009 - Simulation of Ground-Water Flow and Solute Transport in the Glen Canyon Aquifer, East-Central Utah. Freethey.
• 2012 - Review of the Hydrolgeology of the Spanish Valley Area, and Effects on Water Levels from Proposed Groundwater Withdrawals at BLM Water Right Sites. USGS
• 2013 - Geochemistry of springs in the vicinity of Main Canyon. Johnson et al.
• 2015 - Potential Impacts to Perennial Springs from Tar Sand Mining in the Tavaputs Plateau, Utah. Johnson et al.
• 2016 - Hydrologic Asessment of Surface and Water Resources in Castle Valley, UT; Analysis and Water Budget;Final Report Phase 1
• Map: Locations of Moab aquifers and oil & gas parcels
• Castle Valley Groundwater Modeling Draft. Downs.
• Castle Valley Groundwater Modeling Final. Downs.

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