Report Title: Ground-water resources of the terrace deposits along the northeast side of the Cimarron River in Alfalfa, Garfield, Kingfisher, and Major Counties Oklahoma
The rocks at the surface range in age from Permian to Quaternary, terrace deposits of Tertiary or Quaternary age covering most of the area. The primary purpose of this investigation was to ascertain the water-bearing properties of these deposits.
The terrace deposits consist of interfingering lentils of clay, sandy clay, sand, and gravel. Test drilling showed that in some places they are as much as 120 feet thick. Sand and gravel comprise about 42 percent of the saturated sediments, and of these sands and gravels about 39 percent appear to be highly permeable. Wells tapping the terrace deposits supply most of the water for domestic use. The cities of Fairview, Okeene, and Hennessey get their municipal water supplies from these deposits, Enid gets part of its municipal water supply from them, and eight irrigation wells obtain water from them. All the cities and towns except Hennessey are outside the area covered in this investigation. The water, although hard, is mostly of good quality and is suitable for most uses.
Some wells obtain water from cracks and lenticular sandstones in the Permian bedrock. Locally the bedrock yields 200 to 300 gallons of water a minute; however, yields are erratic and in many places the water is highly mineralized.
The alluvium of the Cimarron River and its major tributaries (Eagle Chief Creek and Turkey Creek) yields water freely to some wells. Most of the water is highly mineralized, but some wells yield water of satisfactory quality.
Aquifer-performance tests were made on nine wells tapping the terrace deposits. Coefficients of transmissibility ranged from 6,200 to 75,800 gallons a day per foot and averaged 36,000 gallons a day per foot. Although the coefficients of storage ranged from 1.8 percent to 13.1 percent and averaged 6.5 percent, they are thought be be low because most of the pumping periods were short and complete drainage within the cones of depression was not possible. The sediments in the upper part of the terrace deposits are fine-grained; they are the sediments that were drained during the pumping tests--not the gravels and coarse sands which yield most of the water pumped from the wells.
It was estimated that 10 percent represents the coefficient of storage in the upper part of the terrace deposits and that 15 percent is a reasonable value from the entire thickness of water-bearing sediments.
The safe yield of the terrace deposits is estimated tentatively as about 137 gallons per minute per square mile. This is based on an estimated recharge of 14.45 percent of the normal rainfall in the area. The amount of water stored in the aquifer averages 3.7 acre-feet per acre. If half the water in storage can be recovered by pumping, withdrawals at the estimated rate of the safe annual yield may continue for a period of 5 years, even if no recharge occurs. (AVAILABLE AS PHOTOSTAT COPY ONLY)