Societal drivers for geologic mapping and the value of 3-D mapping

Most geologic mapping carried out by the geological surveys of this Nation and others, both state and federal, have historically been for resource evaluation and exploitation. In the early history of geological surveys, the resources under consideration were generally mineral and energy related. While it is clear that both of these societal needs are still immense, the commodities emphasized within the minerals and energy fields has changed dramatically. More dramatic still is the growing need for geologic mapping to characterize aquifer architecture and ground water flow through fractured bedrock. During the last five years the proposals for geologic mapping received by all three components of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program—federal, state, and university—show interesting trends. More and more geologic mapping is in direct response to regulatory concerns about protecting water supplies (e.g., well-head protection, karst delineation, agricultural runoff and stream health, and salt water intrusion). Clearly it is necessary to understand the extent and interconnectedness of our aquifer systems in order to protect them. Even in communities where geologic mapping is being conducted to address concerns about seismic or landslide hazards, ground water concerns usually takes precedence. Every land manager is facing decisions that pit one type of land-use against another. Ground water issues directly impact every other type of decision—housing development, permitting for sand and gravel operations, siting of critical facilities, grazing, forest health, surface water rights, and sustainable growth to name a few. The interconnectedness of the decision-making process for every land manager makes it vital that our geologic maps are created for multiple uses. The clever derivative products that I suspect many will talk about today can only be produced if the original geologic map database is a very robust one.