Wisconsin's Role in Great Lakes Restoration - American Water ...

19. How High Will The Water Rise? Flooding of the Duck Creek Quarry as an
Unintended Consequence of Deep Aquifer Recovery (Brown County, Wisconsin)
John A. Luczaj, Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Green
Bay, Green Bay, WI, luczajj@uwgb.edu
Barb Wavrunek, Time to Dive, Combined Locks, WI, bwavrunek@new.rr.com
Bill Roderick, 2519 Lavender Lane, Green Bay, WI, Lowrid5399@yahoo.com
Steven J. Meyer, Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin –
Green Bay, Green Bay, WI, meyers@uwgb.edu
The Cambro-Ordovician sandstone aquifer in the Northeast Groundwater Management Area
(GMA) experienced a dramatic water level recovery in central Brown County after 2007.
Between 2006 and 2007, eight communities stopped pumping groundwater for their municipal
supplies and began using surface water instead, reducing daily withdrawals from the deep
aquifer by ~12.25 million gallons. The potentiometric surface has increased as much as 150
feet in many parts of the GMA. The villages of Howard and Suamico have seen a large part of
the deep aquifer recovery. In places, the potentiometric surface has exceeded ground level
resulting in multiple flowing artesian wells, including the Village of Howard municipal Well #3,
about 7,000 feet north of the Duck Creek Quarry.
The Duck Creek Quarry produced dolostone from the Sinnipee Group between 1827 and
2001. It is the largest and deepest (170 feet) in the area and is known to have intercepted or
nearly intercepted the St. Peter Sandstone at its deepest point. Before the water supply
switch, the potentiometric surface in the aquifer was below the quarry floor. Presently it is
near, or possibly above ground level near the quarry.
We tracked quarry water levels directly during 2009-2010 and reconstructed water levels for
2002-2008 using historical photographs. Data suggest that the rate of increase in the quarry’s
water level has accelerated as the deep aquifer recovery has progressed. Climatic variability
in precipitation and temperature over the past decade does not appear to be a significant
factor in the water level recovery rate, although significant contribution from the shallow
dolostone aquifer is apparent from seeps observed on the quarry walls. If the water level rise
continues at its present rate of 4 inches/week, the quarry will flood out some time during the
fall of 2011. This could have significant implications for low-lying properties adjacent to the
quarry and for water quality in the Duck Creek.
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