Big Spring Question

[Chaz]

I was just looking at the gauge at Big Spring; can someone that is involved in the restoration tell me if there are large amounts of water being drawn from the drainage? It seems odd to me that on a limestone stream with such a small drainage area that the level would drop from nearly 40 CFS last year to about 25 this year during this time of the year given the amount of rain we've had.

 

[Maurice]

Chaz, I am not involved int he restoration but I have a theory...the guage has only been in operation for two years. Maybe the flows last year which created the mean and max flows (the same) were during a high water period?

Big Spring Flow

Or it could be the quarry sink hole everyone is fearing...God forbid.

Maurice

Keith...are you out there?

 

[Padraic]

Big Spring has very little drainage. It would be more affected by what the water table was doing, rather than precipitation.

That said, I have no idea if our water table is higher or lower than it was. And the quarry has got to have some kind of effect, despite what the quarry engineer says.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Chaz,

I think Maurice is right. The gauge hasn't been in operation very long so there is very little historical information to compare. It seems to have the same amount of water as it usual judging by my eyes.

The gauge is also about 200 yards from the source of the stream so there is very little surface water draining into it. If the gauge were further downstream near Newville you would probably see more fluctuation.

Regards,
Tim Murphy

 

[Wulff-Man]

For what it's worth, the groundwater at the Cumberland County test site is higher than normal this year, and last year it was at a five-year high (data has only been recorded for 5 years).

Cumberland Groundwater

 

[Chaz]

That pretty well sums it up.