Ground-water resources of the St. James area, South-central Minnesota

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the quality and quantity of the ground-water resources in the area of St. James, Minnesota. St. James is located in the center of Watonwan County in south-central Minnesota. The area is covered by a thick layer of glacial drift which is underlain by Cretaceous, Cambrian, and Precambrian rocks. St. James presently obtains its water supply from two aquifers. One is a Cretaceous sandstone 160 feet below the surface, in which two wells are completed. This aquifer yields abundant water but it is of poor quality and is expensive to treat. The second source, tapped by three municipal wells, is a surficial sand and gravel deposit less than 40 feet thick at the well field. This aquifer produces water of better quality, but its extent and capacity are not known. There are other wells in the area completed at depths ranging from 15 to 500 feet.