ESTABLISHING LONG-TERM CONTINUOUS DISCHARGE GAGING STATIONS AT TENNESSEE’S LARGEST KARST SPRINGS

This project aims to study some of the most significant karst aquifers in the state of Tennessee by building on the knowledge established by the pioneers of karst research in the region such as Nicholas Crawford, Al Ogden, Sid Jones and others. Through a search of the existing literature, a data gap was found to exist in the state regarding springs, their magnitude, and which springs might be the largest in terms of discharge. This new project, the Karst Springs Initiative (KSI), focuses on the largest springs of Tennessee, studying relationships between spring discharge and the contributing recharge areas while attempting to quantify these resources for continued and future research.

The discussion will provide an overview of research to date, a summary of existing data gaps, and explain how the project has established a database of spring measurements and gaging sites to better understand and thus protect these valuable groundwater resources. Work thus far has focused on establishing continuous discharge monitoring sites at five major springs/spring groups and conducting regular discharge measurements to create a rating curve for each site. In addition to the continuous monitoring sites, discharge has been measured multiple times at 10-15 large springs to determine what the range of flow is at comparable karst springs in the state. Dye tracing work has also been initiated for two of the larger springs which have no delineated recharge area and this work has complimented the flow studies in terms of understanding the rapid rate of recharge to springs along the Cumberland Plateau Escarpment. The project has already collected a significant amount of data, documented flow regimes at these large karst springs, and has documented that Tennessee has several first magnitude springs. The project is currently in progress and has set an ambitious path to continue examining these resources in a significant karst region.