What is the Michigan Groundwater
Inventory and Mapping Project?
The Michigan Groundwater Inventory and Mapping
Project is a project to aid in understanding and
evaluating the groundwater resources in Michigan
and fulfills the mandates of Michigan Public Act
148 of 2003. The act required the Department
of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to create a
“groundwater inventory and map” that includes eight
specific map components, a general requirement for a
groundwater inventory and a directive to make the map
and inventory available to the public. DEQ
established a collaborative
research team involving groundwater
and mapping experts from the U. S. Geological Survey
(USGS) and Michigan State University (MSU). The
project team designed an interactive web site to make
the mandated products available to the public.
The interactive website’s home page
(gwmap.rsgis.msu.edu) links to the following
components for the Groundwater
Mapping Project.
• Interactive Map Viewer—access the spatial map
layers as well as query databases. The mandated map
components are:
o Location and water yielding capabilities of
aquifers in the state—glacial yield, glacial
transmissivity, glacial drawdown, bedrock yield,
bedrock transmissivity and bedrock drawdown.
o Aquifer recharge rates in the state.
o Base flow of rivers and streams in the state.
o Water levels of groundwater in the state.
o Surface waters, including designated trout
lakes and streams, and groundwater dependent
natural resources that are identified on the
natural features inventory.
o Location and pumping capacity of specific
facilities.
o Aggregate agricultural water use and
consumptive use, by township.
o Conflict areas in the state.
o Supplemental maps: Glacial Landsystems,
Wells
Summary database, Wells-Complete database,
Wells-Hydrologic Properties database. |
Additional map layers,
including political boundaries,
roads, aerial photos, topography, satellite imagery,
land use, environmental sites and many more are
available.
• Groundwater Information Database—access
more than 220 articles digitally scanned and a
bibliography with more than 480 groundwater
relevant citations.
• Project reports—the Executive Summary contains
a synopsis of the statewide conditions for each of
the map components and inventory.
• Web resources—links to primers on
groundwater and water
resources.
• Documents—online documents concerning
water resources.
• Online tutorials—for the Interactive Map
Viewer and
Groundwater Information Database.
Who can use this site and why?
Anyone with internet access can make use of this
interactive website. The Michigan
Groundwater Mapping Project
website is targeted for a wide
audience, for example,
planners, watershed groups, policy makers,
scientists, educators and citizens. This site can
be used to investigate and
evaluate areas of interest
regarding the groundwater
resources of Michigan. |
