Maps and map series that portray ground and surface water resources exist for most areas of Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) has been involved in the production of most of these, principally in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Reports and maps covering Wisconsin's water resources are important sources of information for the management and preservation of this often taken-for-granted but extremely valuable natural resource.
- Water Resources of Wisconsin: Hydrologic Investigations Atlas
- Water Supply Papers
- Additional Information
Water Resources of Wisconsin: Hydrologic Investigations Atlas
The WGNHS and USGS produced a series of groundwater maps for the state of Wisconsin during the 1960's and 1970's entitled Water Resources of Wisconsin. The series divides the state into 12 major watersheds and provides detailed information for each region on issues including the physical setting and general water system, groundwater resources and movement, groundwater-surface water relationships, and surface water characteristics. Here is today's online version: http://wi.water.usgs.gov/
The twelve watershed regions in this series are:
- Upper Wisconsin River Basin
- Central Wisconsin River Basin
- Lower Wisconsin River Basin
- Pecatonica-Sugar River Basin
- Fox-Wolf River Basin
- Rock-Fox River Basin
- Trempealeau-Black River Basin
- St. Croix River Basin
- Chippewa River Basin
- Menominee-Oconto-Peshtigo River Basin
- Lake Michigan Basin
- Lake Superior Basin
Water resources maps are valuable for agricultural, residential, and urban or town planning; they contain a wealth of information about annual precipitation and evaporation rates, well yields and water usage, location of the groundwater table and the nature of the materials through which groundwater flows. Perhaps most importantly, these maps define problems concerning contaminant hydrology and the susceptibility of groundwater to surface pollution from various sources.
Each publication contains a set of three to four map sheets, which present regional water resources data in an atlas format. The map sets are referred to by number in the Hydrologic Investigation Atlas series (HA-###). Map sheets contain diagrams, profiles, well data, and watershed plan maps produced at a scale of 1:1,000,000 (1"= 1.6 mi).
Water Supply Papers
Water-Supply Papers are a series of reports that describe the hydrology and ground water attributes of specific areas in the state, commonly at county or sub-county scales (1:250,000 or 1"=approx. 4 mi; 1:100,000 or 1"=approx. 1.6 miles; 1:62,500 or 1"=approx. 1 mi). These reports typically include maps of local geology and hydrology, and often address problems associated with potential groundwater contamination.
Several miscellaneous maps are also available that deal with groundwater issues in Wisconsin. Included here are Groundwater Quality Investigation maps compiled for various counties, and Potential Yields of Wells in aquifers or bedrock for several counties. Both of these map series are produced at a scale of 1:100,000. A page-sized map entitled Groundwater Contamination Susceptibility in Wisconsin is also available.
Additional Information
All of the groundwater resources maps referred to in this article are available for review or purchase at WGNHS.
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