Groundwater Opportunities and Conflicts in the 21st Century: Economy to Ecology
October 1-2, 2012, 8am – 4:30pm
October 3, 2012 Field Trip
Earle Brown Conference Center, Brooklyn Center, MN
Field Trip
Groundwater in an Urban Setting: A Hydrogeologic and Historical Tour of the Twin Cities
- St. Anthony Falls, Downtown Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota’s world-renowned hydraulic research facility situated on the only natural waterfall on the Mississippi River and located at the center of the area’s earliest industrial development; introduction to the bedrock geology and hydrogeology of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area;
- University of Minnesota Underground Library Archives, constructed by excavation of the soft St. Peter Sandstone underneath a Platteville Limestone cap, design of the site was impacted by groundwater contamination within the Platteville. A horizontal containment well within the Platteville has been added upgradient of the site.
- White Bear Lake, a major Twin Cities Area recreational lake which recently has been intensely studied for the effects of climate and increased municipal pumping on lake levels Lunch will accompany a lakeside presentation and discussion;
- Afton multiport well installation near Afton investigating the conduit and confining characteristics of the St. Lawrence Formation the world’s first designated aquitardifer;
- Breccia pipes of Woodbury, a city with no natural regional surface drainage, showing the effects of hypogenic karst on the large-scale management of stormwater;
- Camp Coldwater Spring, near Minnehaha Falls and historic Fort Snelling, to discuss changes in groundwater flow in an urban setting from pre-development times until the present.
- Drive-by discussions about regional-scale contaminant plumes — the largest areas of groundwater contamination in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, originating from the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills, and perfluorochemical (PFC) disposal sites in Washington County.
University of Minnesota Underground Library Archives
- White Bear Lake groundwater study
Minnesota DNR groundwater level monitoring well at White Bear Lake
Well construction cuttings showing aquifer materials
Dancing Waters stormwater retention pond
Camp Coldwater Spring