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11/2/2007 2007 Eastern South Dakota Water Conference & 52nd Annual Midwest Groundwater Conference Slide 1

US Army Corpsof Engineers ® Development of a

Groundwater Monitoring Network for the Gateway Lake Rehabilitation Study

Development of a Groundwater Monitoring Network for the Gateway Lake Rehabilitation Study

Travis D. YontsHydraulic Engineer

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District

Travis D. YontsHydraulic Engineer

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District

Sheraton Hotel October 31, 2007Sheraton Hotel

October 31, 2007


US Army Corpsof Engineers ® Project Investigators

• Travis D. Yonts– Hydraulic Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers, Omaha District• Doug Clemetson

– Hydrology Section Chief, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

• Greg Johnson– Project Manager, U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers, Omaha District


US Army Corpsof Engineers ®

Background• Gateway Lake Rehabilitation Study

– South Sioux City, Nebraska– Project objectives is to improve wildlife

habitat and water quality– Part of former oxbow Crystal Lake



South Dakota

Nebraska Iowa



Background• Groundwater monitoring network

– Objective: Determine the hydrologic connection between surface and groundwater in the area

– Onset HOBO Level Loggers installed at 13 locations

• Based on locations from previous work by USACE• 9 groundwater, 4 surface water• Data collected during fall and spring Missouri

River stage changes for navigation support• Data collection commenced fall of 2006



NNMRNW

MRSE

South Sioux City, NE

Missouri River

Hwy 77

I-129/Hwy 20

PZ 1

PZ 3

PZ 4

PZ 6

PZ 8PZ 7

PZ 5PZ 9

GL

CC

PZ 2

Hwy 110



HOBO Level Logger• General specifications

– 15.0 cm x 2.5 cm (5.91 in x 0.97 in)– Weight of 7.0 g– Memory stores 21,000 events

• Temperature specifications– Range of -20 to 50 oC– Accuracy

• +/- 0.37 oC at 20 oC• +/- 0.50 oC over -5 oC to 40 oC

– Resolution of 0.10 oC at 20 oC



HOBO Level Logger• Water Level specifications

– Range of 0.0 to 9.0 m– Accuracy of +/- 0.5 cm (+/- 0.05% FS)– Resolution of 0.21 cm



y = 0.9134x + 95.652R2 = 0.9984

1069.00

1069.50

1070.00

1070.50

1071.00

1071.50

1072.00

1072.50

1073.00

1073.50

1074.00

1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072

USGS South Sioux City gage (ft msl)

MR

NW

sta

ge (f

t msl

)

Mo. River Rating Curves

y = 0.9485x + 48.927R2 = 0.9994

1060.00

1060.50

1061.00

1061.50

1062.00

1062.50

1063.00

1063.50

1064.00

1064.50

1065.00

1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072

USGS South Sioux City gage (ft msl)

MR

SE

sta

ge (f

t msl

)

Missouri River northwest location (MRNW)

Missouri River southeast location MRSE



Results• Data analysis

– Determine groundwater response times and magnitude of groundwater change at piezometer locations due to changes in Missouri River flow.

– Compare current groundwater levels to those measured in 1959-1960.

• Determine the impact of Missouri River degradation.– Develop and calibrate a model to predict

groundwater response times and stage changes due to different river levels.

• Can be used to assess different design alternatives at Gateway Lake.



Results

Sample of collected data from HOBO data loggers. Data has been normalized.

-0.15

-0.10

-0.05

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

10/5/06 10/7/06 10/9/06 10/11/06 10/13/06 10/15/06 10/17/06 10/19/06

Date

Cha

nge

in w

ater

leve

l (ft)

PZ-1 PZ-2 PZ-3 PZ-4 PZ-5PZ-6 PZ-7 PZ-8 PZ-9 CC

Rising and falling trend

Rising and falling trend

Data series of next slide

Data series of next slide



Results

Example plot used to examine response times and groundwater fluctuations.

0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

0.14

10/5/06 10/7/06 10/9/06 10/11/06 10/13/06 10/15/06 10/17/06 10/19/06

Date

Cha

nge

in g

roun

dwat

er s

tage

(ft)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

Mea

sure

d M

isso

uri R

iver

sta

ge (f

t)

Piezometer 5

Missouri River northwestlocation

Response TimeResponse Time

Groundwater fluctuation

Groundwater fluctuation



1060

1062

1064

1066

1068

1070

1072

1074

1076

1078

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000

Distance (ft)E

leva

tion

(ft m

sl)

Oct 6, 2006

Feb 22, 2007

July 10, 2007

Results

Water surface profile MRNW, PZ-1, PZ-6, PZ-8, and MRSE.

1060

1062

1064

1066

1068

1070

1072

1074

1076

1078

1080

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000

Distance (f t)

Elev

atio

n (ft

msl

)

Oct 6, 2006

Feb 22, 2007July 10, 2007

Water surface profile MRNW, PZ-3, PZ-4, PZ-5, PZ-7, and MRSE.



NNMRNW

MRSE

South Sioux City, NE

Missouri River

Hwy 77

I-129/Hwy 20

PZ 1

PZ 3

PZ 4

PZ 6

PZ 8PZ 7

PZ 5PZ 9

GL

CC

PZ 2

Hwy 110



Results

Comparison of 1959-1960 and 2006-2007 water surface profiles MRNW, PZ-3, PZ-4, PZ-5, PZ-7, and MRSE. For reference, the bed of the Missouri River has degraded

approximately 8 ft from 1960-present at South Sioux City, NE.

1060

1065

1070

1075

1080

1085

1090

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000

Distance (ft)

Ele

vatio

n (ft

)

Oct 6, 2006Feb 22, 2007Winter 1959-60Summer 1959Spring 1960



Results

This is the next step!!!This is the next step!!!



Conclusions• A groundwater monitoring network was

successfully established in and around South Sioux City, NE.– Results illustrate the connection between

surface and groundwater in the area.• Next – develop/calibrate a model to predict

groundwater response times and stage changes due to different river levels.– Seasonal groundwater fluctuations– Missouri River degradation

• Use field and modeling data when evaluating design alternatives for Gateway Lake.



Happy Halloween

…any questions

???

Happy Halloween

…any questions

???

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