Waterworks Archive

Kentucky's Groundwater Data Repository Centralizes Resources

by Bart Davidson
Kentucky Geological Survey
University of Kentucky

The goal of the Kentucky Ground-Water Repository is to archive and disseminate groundwater data collected by state agencies and other organizations. Prior to the initiation of the repository, groundwater data were housed at many different locations throughout the state. The repository provides public service at a centralized location to anyone requiring groundwater information.

The repository was initiated in 1990 by the Kentucky Geological Survey under a mandate from the Kentucky State Legislature (KRS 151:035). Funding to staff the repository was provided by the 1992 legislature.

Numerous individuals and organizations are already using the repository. Potential users who can benefit from the data include the public, industry personnel, environmental geologists and engineers, regulatory agencies, state and local governmental agencies, land-use planners, agriculturalists and soil scientists, construction engineers, architectural designers, geologists and hydrogeologists, drillers, research organizations, academic institutions, and students.

Types of computerized data in the repository include: general water-well information such as location, usage, total depth, and static water level; well-construction information; water-quality data such as major and minor ionic constituents, physical properties, isotopic analyses, trace-organic analyses, and bacterial analyses; spring data; discharge measurements; and groundwater dye tracing.

Figure 1 shows the locations of large-yield wells and springs in the Kentucky River Basin. Figure 2 shows the locations of domestic water wells reported to the Kentucky Division of Water since 1985 in conjunction with the certified well-drillers program. Note the clustering of wells in the Eastern Coal Field, the Purchase Region of western Kentucky, and in the northern part of the Mississippian Plateau.

Maps have been produced from the database using a geographic information system (GIS) that show depth to bedrock and depth to static water level for the entire state. The possibility now exists to map other important ground-water parameters using GIS.

The repository provides an opportunity for many resource and policy questions to be addressed in the future. The database is growing at a rapid rate, with many new domestic and mon-toring wells reported each year. For more information about the database, call Bart Davidson of the Kentucky Geological Survey at 606-257-5500.

Last modified: November 28, 1995

Copyright © 1995 University of Kentucky - Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute