Aquifer Parameter Estimation from Aquifer Tests and Specific-caoacity Data in Cedar Valley and the Cedar Pass Area, Utah County, Utah

Book excerpt: This 53-page report details aquifer parameter estimation in and near Cedar Valley, west of Utah Lake and the Lake Mountains, in Utah County, Utah. The UGS conducted five aquifer tests on the two most important aquifers in the study area-the principal basin-fill aquifer and the fractured-bedrock aquifer. The aquifer tests on bedrock wells are of particular interest because of the importance of the bedrock groundwater resource in the Cedar Pass area, where surface water and groundwater are scarce. The tests reveal valuable information about the interface between the basin-fill and bedrock aquifers, a key path for groundwater discharge from the Cedar Valley groundwater basin. Aquifer test analysis was combined with re-analysis of existing aquifer-test data and specific-capacity data from well logs to determine a range of hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity, and storativity for the aquifers. Anisotropy was identified in both the basin-fill and bedrock aquifers, and the bedrock aquifer was found to be bounded by semi-permeable aquifer boundaries; a wedge of Tertiary volcanic rock and buried faults are the likely barriers to groundwater flow near Cedar Pass.