Effects Of Groundwater Pumping On The Hydrogeology Of The Primrose Creek Watershed, New Hope, Pennsylvania

Abstract

Pumping of 3.01 x 108 gallons per square mile (gal/mi2) of groundwater from a carbonate aquifer near New Hope, Pa. changed the hydrogeologic system of a small watershed by inducing groundwater inflow and accelerating ground subsidence. A deficit in the annual water budget indicated that 1. 7 x 108 gal/mi2 of groundwater flowed into the Primrose Creek Watershed as inflow from adjacent drainage basins to supply the demand of the pumps in the New Hope Crushed Stone Company's (NHCS) quarry operation. Pumping accelerated sinkhole collapse by the following mechanisms: the loss of buoyant support as a result of a lowering of the water table, increased groundwater velocities caused by the steepening of hydraulic gradients, induced recharge in areas which previously rejected recharge.