GROUNDWATER-STREAM INTERACTION IN WESTERN WISCONSIN, A GROUP PROJECT WITH INQUIRY ASPECTS

The University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF) is fortunate to have a trout stream flowing through its campus. Unfortunately, the water quality of the South Fork of the Kinnickinnic River, is less than optimum due to city storm-water runoff. UWRF, working with an engineering company, is evaluating options for restoring wetlands adjacent to the stream for water-quality improvement, reduction of flood impacts, waterfowl habitat, and educational purposes.

In the spring of 2001, the senior-level, Hydrogeology Course began a baseline study of groundwater conditions and the interactions between groundwater and the South Fork. Information on shallow groundwater levels and their fluctuations in the study area was lacking, and the engineering company expressed significant interest in obtaining this information.

Two students served as co-project managers. All students participated in designing the project (especially placement of the wells and monitoring schedule), installing 12 shallow wells, and obtaining periodic water-level measurements. The student managers assigned and then tracked the completion of various tasks, including: 1) contacting campus and city officials to discuss well placement; 2) clearing utilities; 3) obtaining/preparing necessary equipment (the pvc wells were recycled from a previous project); 4) preparing detailed geologic/soil boring logs for each well; 5) acquiring GPS coordinates; 6) coordinating with the advanced surveying class at UWRF to obtain a detailed base map, distances between wells, and measuring point elevations; 7) compiling and processing data to prepare water-table contour maps for various dates, well hydrographs, and water-table profiles; 8) analyzing and preparing draft and final reports; and lastly 9) presenting results to the class, other faculty, and to the UWRF campus planner.

Reaction to this project was very positive, although students at times felt overworked (even though they were setting the standards). It definitely had the flavor of an actual consulting project, and the students were aware of this. Spring 2001 was characterized by two significant flood events in the South Fork valley, which resulted in additional interest/complexity in assessing groundwater fluctuations and groundwater-stream interactions.