New Ways of Using Well Construction Reports for Hydrostratigraphic Analyses

Area of Science:

• Geology
• Hydrogeology
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Hydrostratigraphic models are essential for understanding groundwater systems.
• Subsurface data is crucial for developing accurate hydrostratigraphic models.
• Well Construction Reports (WCRs) represent a significant, often underutilized, source of subsurface data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate novel applications of Well Construction Reports (WCRs) for hydrogeological investigations.
• To showcase how WCR data can enhance the creation of subsurface and hydrostratigraphic models.
• To illustrate the utility of WCRs in diverse geological settings.

Main Methods:

• Review and processing of approximately 2000 Well Construction Reports (WCRs) from Wisconsin.
• Utilizing WCR data to infer depositional environments.
• Integrating WCR information for site selection for geophysical surveys.
• Developing three-dimensional hydrostratigraphic models for groundwater flow simulations.

Main Results:

• WCRs, despite variable quality, offer substantial subsurface geological information.
• Analysis of WCRs facilitated the identification of depositional environments.
• WCR data aided in strategic placement of surface geophysical measurements.
• Successful creation of 3D hydrostratigraphic models for groundwater modeling was achieved.

Conclusions:

• Well Construction Reports (WCRs) are a powerful, cost-effective data source for hydrogeological studies.
• Systematic processing of WCRs can significantly improve the accuracy and detail of hydrostratigraphic models.
• The methodologies presented offer a scalable approach for leveraging WCR data in groundwater resource management.