Introduction to New England Hydrogeology

Continuing Education Credits:

The CT State Board of Examiners of Environmental Professionals (LEP Board) has approved this course for 8.0 hours of continuing education credits  (CTLEP-450).  The MA LSP Board has approved this course for 8.0 hours of Technical credits (LSP Course Number: 1607).

Time and Location:

This seminar will be held on Wed, November 14, 2018 and runs from 8 AM - 5 PM at the CTCPA Education Center, 716 Brook St., Ste. 100, Rocky Hill, CT. For directions, see: http://www.ctcpas.org/Content/About/Driving-Directions.aspx

Instructor (see bio below):

• Brian Yellen, PhD, GeoPractical

Course Fees:

EPOC Members: $300, Non-members: $350, Gov't Employee/Students : $150
Continental breakfast, lunch, and PM snack included.

Course Overview:

A full-day course on the general principles of hydrogeology, with a specific focus on hydrogeologic settings typical of New England. The course will include:

• describing physical characteristics of aquifers - hydraulic conductivity; storativity; stratigraphy
• calculating groundwater flow direction and velocity
• designing and interpreting well tests - slug tests and pumping tests
• unsaturated processes and watershed hydrology

Course Outline

1. Annual Water Cycle and Water Budgets (8 – 10:00, 2 hrs)
   1. Partitioning precipitation into streamflow, recharge, and evapotranspiration.
   2. How to calculate groundwater recharge
   3. How do matric potential and gravitational potential operate to govern flow in the vadose zone.
      1. Participants will practice accessing hydrologic data for a chosen site and complete a water balance for a watershed.
2. Physical Properties of Aquifers (10:10 – 12:40, 2.5 hrs)
   1. Types of aquifers found in different geologic contexts: confined, unconfined, alluvial, artesian, karstic.
   2. Drawing and interpreting water table contours.
   3. Grainsize and hydraulic conductivity.
      1. Characterizing media with grainsize statistics
      2. Estimating hydraulic conductivity from grain size distributions.
      3. Relating hydraulic conductivity to well/aquifer transmissivity.
      4. Specific retention and specific yield.
   4. Understanding aquifer transmissivity and storativity
      1. Relating transmissivity to well yield.
      2. What does storativity mean and when should we report it?
      3. Computing storativity from drawdown observations.

 
Participants will work directly with several sediment samples and make conclusions about their hydraulic properties based on pre-measured grainsize distributions.
 
< Lunch 12:40 – 1:10 >

1. Darcy’s Law and Groundwater Flow (1:10-3:10, 2 hrs)
   1. Introduction to Darcy’s Law in one dimension
      1. Practice computing flow and hydraulic conductivity with Darcy column problems.
      2. Hands on practicum with a Darcy column.

 
Participants will compare a Darcy column-derived estimate of K with that derived from grain size characteristics.

1. Well Hydraulics (3:30-4:45)
   1. How to conduct a slug test and analyze the data
   2. Steady state flow to wells
      1. Use Thiem equation to estimate drawdown due to steady state pumping.
   3. Transient flow to wells
      1. How to conduct a pumping test
      2. Transient flow in confined versus unconfined aquifers
      3. Transient flow in highly anisotropic/bedrock aquifers

 
Participants will use Excel to analyze slug test and pumping test data.

1. Evaluations and paperwork (4:45-5 pm)

Instructor Bio:

Brian Yellen, PhD, GeoPractical

Brian is a seasoned educator and geologist with published research spanning the fields of hydrogeology, hydrology, sediment transport, and geomorphology. He received his PhD from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2015 and a bachelors in geology from Brown. In addition to science training, Brian is a skilled teacher. He taught for many years at the high school level and was awarded UMass's Distinguished Teaching Award. As a research professor at UMass, Brian continues active projects spanning the fields of water resources and sediment transport.