County Ground Water Studies

The County Ground Water Studies program provides a general inventory of the state's ground water resources.

The primary purposes of these studies are: (1) to provide a geologic map of the area; (2) to identify the location and extent of major aquifers, hydraulic properties, water chemistry, estimated well yields, the occurrence and movement of ground water including sources of recharge and discharge; (3) to determine the location and extent of other mineral resources associated with the surface and subsurface rocks in these counties; and (4) to interpret the geologic history of the area. 

The county studies were prepared in three parts. Part I describes the geology (which includes a full-color geologic map (1:125,000) and cross sections); Part II provides ground-water basic data (which includes lithologic logs of test holes and wells, water levels in observation wells, and water chemistry analyses); and Part III describes the general hydrogeology (which includes a hydrogeologic map (1:125,000) and cross sections).

Studies of the groundwater of North Dakota counties are published jointly by the North Dakota Geological Survey as Bulletins and by the North Dakota State Water Commission (currently known as the Department of Water Resources (DWR)) as County Ground Water Studies.

The table that follows indicates equivalent volumes for each county.

View County Ground Water Studies PI-PIII