Unconsolidated Aquifers in Tompkins County, New York

Unconsolidated aquifers consisting of saturated sand and gravel are capable of supplying large quantities of good-quality water to wells in Tompkins County, but little published geohydrologic inform ation on such aquifers is available. In 1986, the U.S.Geological Survey (USGS) began collecting geohydrologic information and well data to construct an aquifer map showing the extent of unconsolidated aquifers in Tompkins county. Data sources included (1) water-well drillers. logs; (2) highway and other construction test-boring logs; (3) well data gathered by the Tompkins County Department of Health, (4) test-well logs from geohydrologic consultants that conducted projects for site-specific studies, and (5) well data that had been collected during past investigations by the USGS and entered into the National Water Information System (NWIS) database. In 1999, the USGS, in cooperation with the Tompkins County Department of Planning, compiled these data to construct this map.

More than 600 well records were entered into the NWIS database in 1999 to supplement the 350 well records already in the database; this provided a total of 950 well records. The data were digitized and imported into a geographic information system (GIS) coverage so that well locations could be plotted on a map, and well data could be tabulated in a digital data base through ARC/INFO software. Data on the surficial geology were used with geohydrologic data from well records and previous studies to delineate the extent of aquifers on this map.

This map depicts (1) the extent of unconsolidated aquifers in Tompkins County, and (2) locations of wells whose records were entered into the USGS NWIS database and made into a GIS digital coverage. The hydrologic information presented here is generalized and is not intended for detailed site evaluations. Precise locations of geohydrologic-unit boundaries, and a description of the hydrologic conditions within the units, would require additional detailed, site-specific information.