Aquifers

What is Groundwater?

Groundwater is water, in it's liquid form, that is found underground. Water seeps into the ground after a rainfall event or snowmelt, and is stored in an aquifer.

An aquifer is the means of storing and transmitting groundwater. There are three types of aquifers:

Unconfined aquifer

Confined aquifer

Perched aquifer

The porosity and permeability of an aquifer determines it's ability to hold and transmit water. Porosity is the small amount of air that is left between sediment and rocks. Permeability is the ability of water to move through the material.

UNCONFINED AQUIFERS are aquifers that have no confining layers between the water level and ground level.
Unconfined Aquifer - Fetter, C. W. (1994). Applied Hydrogeology, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Unconfined Aquifer - Fetter, C. W. (1994). Applied Hydrogeology, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.

CONFINED AQUIFERS are aquifers that have a confining layer between the water level and ground level. A confining layer is a layer of material that has little or no porosity.
Confined Aquifer - Fetter, C. W. (1994). Applied Hydrogeology, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Confined Aquifer - Fetter, C. W. (1994). Applied Hydrogeology, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.

PERCHED AQUIFERS are aquifers that have a confining layer below the groundwater, and sits above the main water table.
Perched Aquifer - Fetter, C. W. (1994). Applied Hydrogeology, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Perched Aquifer - Fetter, C. W. (1994). Applied Hydrogeology, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.

What about Pepin County's Groundwater?

How does Groundwater Move?

Groundwater, just like any other water, flows downhill. Groundwater movement can be predicted by examining the topography of the land. Pepin County's groundwater flow can be seen on this map.