U.S. Department of the Interior 

U.S. Geological Survey

Directions of Ground-Water Flow 

in the Lost River Watershed 

Near Orleans, Indiana

u

G

The Mysterious River

The Lost River is one of the most 

fascinating hydrologic systems in 

Indiana. Just as the imaginations of 

the Indians and early settlers were 

captured by this scenic and mysterious 

river, naturalists, scientists, and adventurers today are attracted to the same 

waters.

Above the Orangeville Rise, the 

Lost River drains 163 square miles of 

southern Indiana's hilly forests and 

farmlands. Appropriately named, the 

Lost River Basin is characterized by 

sinkholes and streambed swallow holes 

into which most of the headwaters 

"disappear" near the central part of 

the watershed. The water that leaves 

the surface by flowing into these 

natural openings travels underground 

through fractures and joints in the limestone. Most of the water returns to 

the surface at the Orangeville Rise; 

water also resurfaces at Twin Caves, 

Hamer Cave, Rise of Lost River, and 

other springs.

The people who live in and around 

the Orleans area enjoy the beauty of 

the Lost River landscape; however, 

they also must face the possibility of 

local flooding of the Lost River and its 

tributaries. An improved understanding 

of that hydrologic system is needed to 

make effective water-management 

choices.

Lost River Investigation

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

in cooperation with the U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers, conducted a 

scientific investigation on the Lost 

River in 1993 and 1994. The purpose 

of the study was to improve an understanding of the ground-water-drainage 

boundaries of the Lost River Watershed 

and the hydrogeology near the town 

of Orleans, a community subject to 

frequent flooding.

EXPLANATION

Cave

o Sinkhole 

f Spring

3842-30"

38°37'30"

Mitchell © 

Hamer Cave

Spring Mill State Park

Twin Caves

_ _ _ _ _ Layvrence^County__ _ _ _ _ _

A, Orange County

Orangeville Rise

10 _i MILES

10 KILOMETERS

Drainage boundaries were delineated 

and the direction of underground flows 

was determined in the Lost River Watershed by an analysis of water-level data 

and by observation of the emergence 

of fluorescent dyes that were injected 

at sinkholes and swallow holes. In 

addition, factors that contribute to 

flooding at Orleans were investigated. 

This information will be useful for 

future flood-control designs.

This fact sheet presents a brief 

description of this 1993-94 study and 

a summary of the results. A more 

detailed presentation can be found in 

USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4195, "Directions of 

ground-water flow and locations of 

ground-water divides in the Lost River 

Watershed near Orleans, Indiana," by 

E. Randall Bayless and others.

Acknowledgments

The authors express their gratitude 

to members of the Orleans Rural Volunteer Fire Department for their assistance

Location of study area

with the dye injections and to the people 

of Orleans for providing access to historical information and to their property.

Ground-Water Levels

A composite water-level map was 

used to identify subsurface drainage 

divides and directions of ground-water 

flow. A drainage divide is a boundary 

between adjacent drainage basins. 

Ground water flows from a subsurface 

drainage divide, usually a topographically high region, to its discharge area 

at a stream or spring, usually a topographically lower area.

A composite water-level map for 

bedrock wells was constructed from 

175 well-driller's records on file with 

the Indiana Department of Natural 

Resources, Division of Water. Field 

measurements were made at 11 of the 

175 wells to assure that the water-level 

records provided an accurate representation of actual ground-water levels.
Dye-Tracing Tests

Eight dye-tracing tests were done 

from November 15,1993, through 

March 3,1994. Dye was injected at 

seven swallow holes and one stormrunoff-infiltration well. Most of the tests 

were done during periods following substantial rainfall when the usually dry 

reaches of the Lost River were inundated.

For most dye injections, water was 

hauled to the injection site in a 2,000- 

gallon tanker truck. About 200 to 500 

gallons of water were poured into the 

swallow hole immediately before the 

planned dye injection. The water helped 

to start the flow of dye into the aquifer. 

After the dye was injected, an additional 

200 to 500 gallons of water were used 

to push the dye farther into the underground-flow system.

To determine where the dye resurfaced, dye detectors were placed 

at known or suspected ground-waterdischarge points. Dye detectors were 

constructed of either undyed cotton or 

activated coconut charcoal encased in 

a fiberglass screen. The dye detectors 

were suspended in the main current, 

above bottom sediments, and were 

anchored down by weights. After the 

dye was injected, the detectors were 

collected and replaced at intervals of 

2 to 4 days. Five dye clouds emerged 

at Orangeville Rise, approximately 

4.5 miles southwest of Orleans. Two 

dye clouds emerged at Hamer Cave 

Spring, at Spring Mill State Park, 

4.5 miles northeast of Orleans. One dye 

cloud emerged in seeps and springs 

that discharge to a tributary of the Lost 

River; the dye from this test was injected 

into a shallow storm-infiltration well and 

did not enter the fractures and joints of 

the underground limestone.

Drainage Divides

"Water flows downhill," is a statement one often hears. This truism applies

when surface-water-drainage boundaries 

for a river basin are delineated. For the 

Lost River Watershed, however, it was 

found that the paths of ground-water 

flow do not coincide everywhere with 

the "downhill" path of surface water. 

Similarly, the low-lying hills that serve 

as a surface-water divide between 

Orleans and Spring Mill State Park may 

not be the ground-water divide for the 

Orangeville Rise and Twin Caves. Based 

on the results of dye tests and groundwater-level analysis, it appears that some 

of the water that discharges from Twin 

Caves enters the ground-water system 

beyond this line of hills.

Flooding at Orleans

One of the goals of this study was 

to improve an understanding of the 

hydrology of the Orleans area, including 

gaining a better understanding of how 

surface water drains towards the 

community, and how the surface- and 

subsurface-flow systems allow water 

to drain from the community.

Flood Creek strongly affects the 

hydrology of Orleans. The Flood Creek 

Watershed is a small watershed within 

the Lost River Watershed and drains 

approximately 8.1 square miles. During 

heavy rains, Flood Creek flows into a 

sinkhole in Orleans that is choked with 

the same fine-grained sediments that 

blanket most of the Flood Creek Watershed. These sediments are relatively 

impermeable silt and clay and slow the 

storm runoff in entering the groundwater-drainage system.

This study indicated that two engineering alternatives might decrease 

the magnitude of flooding in Orleans: 

(1) construction of stormwater-detention 

structures and (2) improvements to 

stream drainage in the Flood Creek 

Watershed.

Previous Investigations

This 1993-94 study was designed to 

build upon work already done by other 

investigators. An extensive compilation 

of bibliographic references to previous 

investigations is included in the USGS 

Water-Resources Investigations Report 

94-4195 by Bay less and others. Earlier 

works particularly important to this study 

are cited in the reference section below.

E. Randall Bayless, Charles J. Taylor, 

MarkS. Hopkins, and Donald V:Arvin

References

Bassett, J.L., 1974, Hydrology and 

geochemistry ofkarst terrain, upper 

Lost River drainage basin, Indiana: 

Bloomington, Ind., Indiana University, 

A.M. thesis, 102 p.

Bassett, J.L. and Ruhe, R.V., 1974, 

Geomorphology, hydrology, and soils in 

karst, southern Indiana Field Conference, April 24-25, 1974: Bloomington, 

Ind., Indiana University, Water Resources 

Research Center, 54 p. 

Bayless, E.R.; Taylor, C.J.; and Hopkins, 

M.S., 1994, Directions of ground-water 

flow and locations of ground-water divides 

in the Lost River Watershed near Orleans, 

Indiana: U.S. Geological Survey WaterResources Investigations Report 94-4195, 

25 p.

Malott, C.A., 1952, The swallow-holes 

of Lost River, Orange County, Indiana: 

Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of 

Sciences, v. 61, p. 187-231.

Murdock, S.H., and Powell, R.L., 1968, 

Subterranean drainage of Lost River, 

Orange County, Indiana: Proceedings of 

the Indiana Academy of Sciences, v. 77, 

p. 250-255.

Ruhe, R.V., 1975, Geohydrology of 

karst terrain, Lost River Watershed 

southern Indiana: Bloomington, Ind., 

Indiana University Water Resources 

Research Center, Report of Investigation 

No. 7, 91 p.

For more information contact any of the following:

For water information

District Chief, Water Resources Division 

U.S. Geological Survey 

5957 Lakeside Boulevard 

Indianapolis, IN 46278 

(317) 290-3333

For map information

Chief, Mapping Applications Center 

567 National Center 

Reston, Virginia 22092 

(703) 648-6002

For geologic information

Assistant Chief Geologist 

953 National Center 

Reston, Virginia 22092 

(703) 648-6660

National Earthquake Information Center 

Denver Federal Center, Mail Stop 967 

Denver, Colorado 80225 

(303) 273-8494

Additional earth science information 

can be found by accessing the USGS 

"Home Page" on the World Wide Web at 

"http://www.usgs.gov".

For more information on all USGS reports 

and products (including maps, images, and 

computerized data), call 1-800-USA-MAPS.

October 1995 Fact Sheet FS-211-95