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The Green Bay area, which includes parts of Brown, Outagamie, an^ Shawano Counties, has an area of about 525 square miles in eastern Wisconsin at the south end of Green Bay. In 1960, it had a population estimated at 124,000; Green Bay, the largest city in the area, had a population of 62,888. The Green Bay area is underlain by a basement complex of crystalline rocks of Precambrian age. Sedimentary rocks of Cambrian, Ordovician, ard Silurian ages overlie the crystalline rocks. These rocks are divided, in ascending order, as follows: The Dresbach Group, Franconia Sandstone, and Trempealeau Formation of Cambrian age; the Prairie du Chien Group, St. Peter Sandstone, Platteville Formation, and Maquoketa Shale of Ordovician age; and the Niagara Dolomite of Silurian age. The Maquoketa Shale and Niagara Dolomite 'are present only in the eastern part of the area. Unconsolidated deposits, largely of Pleistocene age and glacial origin, overlie the older rocks in most of the area. The rocks of the Dresbach Group, Franconia Sandstone, Trempealeau Formation, Prairie du Ch'ien Group, and St. Peter Sandstone are connected hydraulically and can be considered to form one aquifer, called the sandstone aquifer. The sandstone aquifer is the principal source of ground-water supply in the Green Bay area and is one of the most productive water-bearing units 'in Wisconsin. All the public water supplies in the area, except the supply for the city of Green'Bay, and many of the industrial water supplies are obtained from wells tapping the sandstone aquifer. Rates of discharge of individual wells range from about 200 to 1,000 gallons per minute. The city of Green Bay also obtained its water supply from wells tapping the sandstone aquifer until August 1957, when it began using Lake Michigan as a source of water supply. Several industries also use large quantities of surface water. The Niagara Dolomite, although largely undeveloped, is potentially an important aquifer in the eastern part of the area. Small amounts of water are obtained from dolomite of the Platteville Formation and from sand and gravel deposits of Pleistocene age. Recharge to the sandstone aquifer in the Green Bay area is derived chiefly from precipitation that infiltrates at or near the outcrop area of the aquifer in northwestern Brown County, eastern Outagamie and Shawano Counties, and southern Oconto County. The amount of recharge is estimated to be at least 30 mgd (million gallons per day). Jl J2 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HYDROLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES Withdrawals of water from wells tapping the sandstone aquifer in the area began when the first well was drilled in 1886. The withdrawals gradually increased to an average of about 6 mgd in 1940, about 10 mgd in 1950, and about 13 mgd in January-July of 1957, after which time the city of Green Bay discontinued pumping from wells. From August 1957 through 1960, average annual withdrawals of water remained "relatively constant at about 5 mgd. Water levels in wells tapping the sandstone aquifer persistently declined until August 1957 as a result of the gradually increasing withdrawals of water. In the area of concentrated ground-water withdrawals in downtovn Green Bay, the piezometric surface, which had been about 100 feet above land surface in 1886, was about 340 feet below land surface in 1957. The cessrtion of pumping by the city of Green Bay in August 1957 resulted in a decrease in withdrawals of ground water from about 13.1 mgd in the first half of 1957 to about 5.3 mgd in the last half and a rapid recovery in water levels. In the area of concentrated withdrawals, the piezometric surface had recovered about 300 feet by September 1960. Rises in water levels were recorded throughout the Green Bay area, with the amount of the rise depending on the distance from the Green Bay city wells. In September 1960, water levels appeared to be affected more by local variations in the rates of pumping than by the recovery resulting from 1957 reduction in pumping. Much additional ground water could be obtained from the sandstone aquifer without exceeding its perennial yield, providing the aquifer is properly developed. Wells that will yield 500 to 1,000 gallons per minute car be developed in most of the area. The water from the sandstone aquifer is a hard calcium magnesium bicarbonate water, but it is satisfactory for most uses. Coefficients of transmissibility and storage of the sandstone aquifer were determined by relating the reduction in pumpage in 1957 to th* recovery of water levels in observation wells in 1957-60. The coefficients of transmissibility ranged from 12,300 to 14,000 gallons per day per foot and averaged 13,000 gallons per day per foot; the coefficients of storage ranged from 0 0001 to 0.0004 and averaged 0.0002. The values determined from this long-terr^ aquifer test are in close agreement with the average coefficients obtained from short-term tests of a few days in 1948-49. Differences in computed drawdowns, based on the coefficients obtained from the shortand long-term tests, are small. INTRODUCTION The sandstone aquifer, which includes the rocks of Cumbrian age and the Prairie du Chien Group and St. Peter Sandstone of Ordovician age, is one of the most productive water-bearing units in Wisconsin and is the principal source of ground-water supply in the Green Bay area. The Niagara Dolomite, although largely undeveloped, is potentially an important aquifer in the eastern part of the area. Small amounts of water are obtained from the Platteville Formation of Ordovician age and from sand and gravel deposits of Pleistocene age. All the public water supplies in the area, except the supply for the city of Green Bay, and many of the industrial water supplies are obtained from wells tapping the sandstone aquifer. The city of Green Bay formerly obtained its water supply from wells tapping the sandstone aquifer; however, in August 1957, the GROUND-WATER IN GREEN BAY AREA, WISCONSIN, 1950-60 J3 city began using Lake Michigan as a source of water supply and its wells were placed on a standby or emergency basis. The cassation of the pumping of ground water by the city of Green Bay resulted in a decrease in withdrawals from the sandstone aquifer from 13.1 mgd (million gallons per day) in the first part of 1957 to 5.3 mgd in the last part, a decrease of about 60 percent. The decrease ir the withdrawals caused a rapid recovery in water levels in wells tapping the sandstone aquifer the amount of the recovery decreasing with increasing distance from the Green Bay public supply wells. PURPOSE AND SCOPE This progress report presents information on ground-water conditions in the Green Bay area in 1950-60, with particular reference to the recovery of water levels during the period 1957-60 in wells tapping the sandstone aquifer. Special emphasis was placed on estimating the hydraulic characteristics of the sandstone aquifer by relating the reduction in pumpage in 1957 to the recovery of water levels in observation wells in 1957-60. It was anticipated that a comparison of the hydraulic characteristics obtained from this long-term anuifer test with those determined from several short-term aquifer tests in 1948-49 (Drescher, 1953, p. 28) might indicate the reliability of information obtained from short-term tests for use in predicting the long-term effects on water levels that are due to changes in pumpage in the area. This report was prepared as a part of the program of ground-water studies in Wisconsin by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, G. F. Hanson, State Geologist. The work was done under the general direction of C. L. R. Holt, Jr., district geologist in charge of the cooperative ground-water program in Wisconsin. LOCATION AND EXTENT OF AREA The Green Bay area includes the western three-fourths of Brown County, the eastern one-ninth of Outagamie County, and a small area in eastern Shawano County (fig. 1). It is in eastern Wisconsin at the south end of Green Bay and lies between lat 44° 15' and 44°40' N. and long 87°54' and 88°15' W. The area, which covers about 525 square miles, is about 29 miles from north to south and about 18 miles from east to west. The estimated population of the Green Bay area in 1960 was 124,000. The population of the principal cities and villages was as follows: Green Bay, 62,888; De Pere, 10,045; Howard, 3,485; Pukski, 1,540; and Wrightstown, 840. J4 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HYDROLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES 88° 15' 88°00' I OCONTO COUNTY_

Ground-water conditions in the Green Bay area, Wisconsin, 1950-60