| Dedicated to the understanding and protection of the groundwater of the Virginia Coastal Plain. |
Groundwater Bulletin Board
- NEW! The State Water Control Board will hold public hearings on
the Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA) to consider
expanding the Eastern Virginia Ground Water Management Area
to cover the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. - click here for
more - - Surprise Hill observation well project. NEW! Drilling has been
completed and well development is underway at the site. - more - - Water well data base. - more -
| Overview The groundwater of the Virginia Coastal Plain is a unique and valuable natural resource. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than 150 million gallons of water are pumped every day from the permeable sedimentary layers and lenses called aquifers, supplying nearly one million persons. (For the amount of groundwater usage on the Virginia Coastal Plain, see Withdrawals 2000). The Virginia Coastal Plain (see: map of region) is a near level area of approximately 13,000 square miles, bounded on the west by the Fall Line (close by Route I-95), on the north by the Potomac River, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south by the border with North Carolina. Several large rivers, including the Rappahannock, James, and York, cross the plain from northwest to southeast, creating a geographic feature known as the Tidewater. The Chesapeake Bay, a long, north-south estuary, separates the peninsula of the Eastern Shore from mainland Virginia. Although the groundwater supply of the Virginia Coastal Plain is vast, it is not limitless. Whereas the groundwater of the shallow surficial aquifer is replenished by precipitation falling to the land surface, the deeper artesian aquifers are, for all practical purposes, a non-renewable resource. Since the beginning of the 20th century, artesian water levels have declined as much as 200 feet at some localities. Currently, water levels are falling at a rate of 1.2 to 3.0 feet per year (see: hydrograph example at left). At this rate serious disruptions in groundwater supply may be experienced within the next 50 years. Last updated: June 20, 2009 WebDesk@groundwatervirginia.org |
GroundwaterVirginia
| Have a groundwater problem? Contact a professional hydrogeologist. |
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| Click on image for a larger view. |
AT THE INTERSECTION OF SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY What's New! Note: The following files require Adobe Reader. They are rather large and may take a few minutes to download if your internet connection is dial-up. ** The Coming Crisis in Our Groundwater Supply ** (Revised June 2009) This presentation describes a model of the lifetime behavior of an artesian groundwater supply, from pre-development to exhaustion of the resource. It illustrates how withdrawal rates, supply (i.e., stock), and utilization costs interact dynamically over time and how knowledge of these interactions can shape water-supply policies. CLICK HERE ** How Can We Protect the Groundwater Supply? ** This presentation demonstrates the vulnerability of the groundwater supply of the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula of Virginia and describes the basic steps that must be taken in order to protect it. CLICK HERE |
