Jamie M. Martin-HaydenAssociate Professor

(419) 530-2634Jhayden@UTnet.UToledo.edu

HydrogeologyEEES 4410/5410EEES 4410/5410

Earth materials• Rock• Sediment (Soil)• Fluids (Water)

Geologic processes• Form,• Transform and• Distribute (redistribute) Earth materials Water is a primary agent of many (all?)

geologic processes

Hydrogeology DefinedWater Earth

Hydrogeology Defined Water EarthInteractions go both ways Groundwater controls geologic processes. Geology controls flow and availability of groundwater.

Interactions

Hydrogeology Defined WaterEarth InteractionsGeology controls groundwater flow

Permeable pathways are controlled by distributions of geological materials. E.g., Artesian (confined) aquifer

Shale

ShaleSandstone

Hydrogeology Defined WaterEarth InteractionsGeology controls groundwater flow

Permeable pathways are controlled by distributions of geological materials.

Groundwater availability is controlled by geology.

Hydrogeology Defined WaterEarth InteractionsGeology controls groundwater flow

Permeable pathways are controlled by distributions of geological materials.

Groundwater availability is controlled by geology. Subsurface contaminant transport in is controlled by geology.

Hydrogeology Defined WaterEarth Interactions

Groundwater controls geologic processes Igneous Rocks:

Groundwater controls water content of magmas.

Metamorphic Rocks: Metasomatism (change in composition) is controlled by superheated pore fluids.

Volcanism: Geysers are an example of volcanic activity interacting with groundwater.

Hydrogeology Defined WaterEarth InteractionsGroundwater controls geologic processes Landforms: Valley development and karst topography are

examples of groundwater geomorphology. Landslides: Groundwater controls slope failure. Earthquakes: Fluids control fracturing, fault movement,

lubrication and pressures.

Hydrogeology Subdisciplines Water resource evaluation

What controls how much groundwater is stored and can be safely extracted?

What controls where groundwater comes from and where it flows?

What controls natural water quality: natural interactions with geological materials control the chemistry of groundwater?

How can we protect groundwater recharge areas and groundwater reservoirs from contamination and depletion?

Hydrogeology Subdisciplines Contaminant Hydrogeology

Anthropogenic effects: degradation of water quality due to human influences (contamination)

How fast are dissolved contaminants carried by groundwater?

Transport pathways of contaminants: Where are sources of contamination impacting the groundwater, where are the going and what are the destinations?

Remediation (clean-up) of contaminants dissolved in the groundwater.

Ohio Groundwater Law 1843: Acton v. Blundell

“English Rule”

The landowner can pump groundwater at any rate even if an adjoining property owner were harmed.

1861: Frazier v. Brown English Rule in Ohio

Groundwater is “…occult and concealed…” and legislation of its use is “…practically impossible.”

Wisconsin Groundwater Law1903: Huber v. Merkel

English Rule in Wisconsin

A property owner can pump unlimited amounts of groundwater,

even with malicious harm to a neighbor.

1974: Wisconsin v. Michels Pipeline Constructors Inc.English Rule Overturned

  Landowners no longer have

“an absolute right to use with impunity all water that can be pumped from the subsoil underneath.”

English Rule Overturned in Ohio

1984: Cline v. American Aggregates English Rule overturned in Ohio

  Justice Holmes: “Scientific

knowledge in the field of hydrology has advanced in the past decade…” so it

  “…can establish the cause and

effect relationship of the tapping of underground water to the existing water level.”

Today: Lingering effects of English Rule

It is very difficult to prove cause and effect to be defensible in court.