Current Abstract
April 9th, 2024 Meeting Abstract
“USGS Research Drilling and Multiple-Well Groundwater Monitoring
Sites near Oil Fields in the San Joaquin Valley, California“
Presented by: Rhett R. Everett and Matthew K. Landon
Abstract:
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the California State Water
Resources Control Boards Oil and Gas Regional Monitoring Program, is evaluating groundwater
resources near areas of oil and gas development in California, including (1) the location of
groundwater resources near oil fields; (2) the proximity of oil and gas operations to developed
aquifers, and the geologic materials between them; (3) evidence (or lack of evidence) of fluids
from oil and gas sources in groundwater; and (4) the pathways or processes responsible when
fluids from oil and gas sources are present in groundwater. As part of this evaluation, the USGS
installed multiple-well monitoring sites near the Lost Hills, North/South Belridge, and Elk Hills Oil
Fields and in the Poso Creek Oil Field in the San Joaquin Valley. Each site has 4 to 6 monitoring
wells installed at different depths ranging between 210 and 2,500 feet below land surface. Data
collected at these multiple-well monitoring sites provide information about the geology,
hydrology, geophysical properties, and water quality of the aquifer system, thus enhancing the
understanding of groundwater conditions in areas where groundwater data are limited,
particularly at different depths in the aquifers. Reports describing the initial geohydrologic data at
these sites have been published and will be described in this presentation. At each of the sites,
differences in water-level responses over time indicate restricted connections between aquifer
zones resulting from discontinuous or continuous clays, and varying responses to regional
groundwater withdrawals and recharge. These sites serve as long-term groundwater monitoring
sites in data-sparse areas, and data collected are publicly available from online USGS repositories.
Biography:
Rhett Everett has been a Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey California Water
Science Center since 1999. He received his Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of
Cincinnati in 1997. He has conducted studies of groundwater hydrology and geochemistry in
California and Colorado. Rhett has worked with federal, state, and local agencies to establish local
and regional groundwater monitoring networks, specializing in the installation of multiple-well
groundwater monitoring sites.
Matthew Landon has been a Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey since 1990. He received a
M.S. in Geology from the University of Minnesota in 1993 and a B.S. in Geology from the University
of Kansas in 1987. He has conducted studies of groundwater hydrology and geochemistry in
Minnesota, Nebraska, California, and Southeast Asia. He has been with the USGS California Water
Science Center in San Diego since 2005, serving as Program Chief for the USGS California Oil, Gas,
and Groundwater Program since 2014 in support of the California State Water Boards Oil and Gas
Regional Monitoring Program.