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Hydrogeology of the Croton-Ossining area, Westchester County, New York

January 1, 1988

The hydrogeology of a 29-sq-mi area surrounding the village of Croton-on-Hudson, New York, is summarized on 6 sheets at 1:12 ,000 scale that show locations of wells and test holes, surficial geology, geologic sections, bedrock geology, land use, and soil permeability. The primary stratified-drift aquifer in this area is the Croton River aquifer, which consists of outwash sand and gravel that partly fills the Croton River valley from the New Croton Dam to the Hudson River--a distance of approximately 3 miles. The valley is narrow and ranges in width from 100 to 1,900 ft, and its v-notch bedrock floor ranges from 30 to 50 ft below sea level. Detailed hydrogeologic studies during 1936-38 showed the stratigraphy to consist of an upper water-table aquifer with a saturated thickness of about 35 ft, underlain by a silt and clay confining unit 8 to o0 ft in thickness that in turn is underlain by a lower confined outwash aquifer up to 40 ft thick. Aquifer-test data and laboratory permeability tests show that the average hydraulic conductivity of the upper outwash aquifer is 475 ft/d, and that of the lower confined aquifer is about 300 ft/d. The aquifer is recharged through direct precipitation, runoff from adjacent hillsides, and leakage under the new Croton Dam. Previous studies estimate the average leakage under the dam to be 0.65 Mgal/d and the total average daily recharge to the aquifer between New Croton Dam and Quaker Bridge to be 1.73 Mgal/d.

Publication Year 1988
Title Hydrogeology of the Croton-Ossining area, Westchester County, New York
DOI 10.3133/wri874159
Authors Richard J. Reynolds
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series Number 87-4159
Index ID wri874159
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse