Print this page Groundwater Engineering for Water Supplies - The California Central Valley Aquifer System
Conrad G. Leszkiewicz, PhD, PE, PG
Course Outline
The dominant application of groundwater engineering is the provision of water supplies for municipalities, agriculture, and industries. Sufficient groundwater supplies are essential for the health and economic well-being of the United States. With increasing demands for water from growing world populations, agriculture, and industry, as well as growing intermittent, if not long-term, shortages of surface water due to droughts, groundwater is becoming an even more important source of fresh water for society.
This 7-hour course will provide an introduction to the California Central Valley Aquifer. This aquifer is the second largest principal water supply aquifer in the United States. The Valley is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. It grows 25 percent of the food produced in the United States. This important resource is being impacted by droughts, declining water levels, and expected future declines due to forecasted diminishment of snowpack runoff from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Additionally, the population in the Valley is expected to increase by over 50 percent by 2020, thereby placing additional demands on water resources.
This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to
enhance the understanding of the course materials.
Learning Objective
At the conclusion of this course, the student would have achieved an understanding of:
- The importance of the California Central Valley aquifer;
- The areal extent and physiological setting of the aquifer;
- The major hydrologic basins of the aquifer;
- The geohydrology of the aquifer;
- History of groundwater development and usage;
- Historic changes in groundwater levels in different areas of the aquifer;
- The interactions of groundwater, precipitation, snowpack runoff, and evapotranspiration;
- Land subsidence problems in areas of the valley;
- The changes in groundwater quality in the valley; and
- Concerns for future uses and availability of groundwater.
This course is intended for civil-environmental engineers, geohydrologists, municipal planners, manufacturers and other professionals concerned with groundwater resources.
Benefit to Attendees
The subject matter of this course will be of benefit to professionals involved in water resource development and management including civil-environmental engineers, geohydrologists, municipal planners, agricultural entities, manufacturers and others concerned with groundwater resources. It will also be beneficial to others concerned with protecting these valuable water resources. The course also provides a broad understanding of the importance of groundwater resources to society.
Course Introduction
In this course you will learn about the second largest principal aquifer in the United States, the California Central Valley Aquifer. You will also learn of the importance of that aquifer to the United States and the future challenges facing users of that aquifer.
Course Content
In this lesson, you are required to download and study the following document: Pages 1-120 of USGS Professional Paper 1766, Groundwater Availability of the Central Valley, California, C.C. Faunt, R.T. Hansen, and K. Belitz.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1766/PP_1766.pdf
Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.
Course Summary
The information provided in this course will details the special importance of the second highest producing principal water supply aquifer in the United States, and concerns for its future.
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
