U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Scientific Investigations Report 2008–5087

Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland 

Hamlet in Eastern New York—An Estimate Based on 

Pumpage within a Defined Cone of Depression
1. Shale bedrock, exposed in excavation near Well 270. Shovel handle is 1.6 feet long.

2. Shale bedrock, exposed in drainage ditch along New York Route 43 near Well 137. Salt-laden winter highway runoff can readily 

infiltrate into bedrock here.

3. Dug well, excavated in shale bedrock in basement of house near Well 177. Arch is part of laid-stone basement wall. Water was 

seeping from fractures above the water surface in the well July 16, 2008.

1.

3.

2.

Cover.
Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, 

an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York—

An Estimate Based on Pumpage within 

a Defined Cone of Depression

By Allan D. Randall and Anne J. Finch

Scientific Investigations Report 2008–5087

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

Mark D. Myers, Acting Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2008

For more information on the USGS--the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, 

natural hazards, and the environment:

World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov

Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the 

U.S. Government.

Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to 

reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report.

Suggested citation:

Randall, A.D., and Finch, A.J., 2008, Recharge to shale bedrock at Averill Park, an upland hamlet in eastern 

New York—An estimate based on pumpage within a defined cone of depression: U.S. Geological Survey 

Scientific Investigations Report 2008–5087, 78 p., 3 pls., scale 1:24,000, online only.
iii

Contents

Abstract...........................................................................................................................................................1

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1

Geohydrologic Setting...................................................................................................................................3

Bedrock ..................................................................................................................................................3

Unconsolidated Deposits ...................................................................................................................3

Data Collection...............................................................................................................................................5

Well Inventory .......................................................................................................................................5

Water-Level Measurements ..............................................................................................................5

Measurements in 1988 ...............................................................................................................5

Measurements in 2002 ...............................................................................................................6

 Adjustments of Water-Level Measurements ...............................................................6

Measurements in 2005................................................................................................................7

Water-Quality Data ..............................................................................................................................7

Field Measurements....................................................................................................................7

Chemical Analyses ......................................................................................................................7

Reported Experience of Residents ...........................................................................................8

Ground-Water Levels and Flow Directions ..............................................................................................8

Patterns of Ground-Water Flow in 2002 ...........................................................................................8

History of Ground-Water Development at Averill Park Since 1930 ...........................................10

Changes in Water Levels, 1988–2002 and 2002–2005....................................................................10

Effect of Fluctuations in Precipitation and Recharge..........................................................14

Water-Level Changes as a Function of Resident Population or Business Activity .......17

Water-Level Declines as a Function of Withdrawals and Natural Discharge ................18

Water-Level Declines as Cause and Result of Well Deepening .......................................19

Quality of Water in Bedrock.......................................................................................................................21

Patterns of Chemical-Quality Distribution .....................................................................................21

Moderately Hard Water in Shallow Bedrock Beneath Thick Till.......................................23

Soft Water in Deep Bedrock ....................................................................................................23

Very Hard, Mineralized Water near Highways Where Depth to Bedrock is Slight ........26

Localized Nuisance Conditions ........................................................................................................30

Hydrogen Sulfide (“Sulfur Water”).........................................................................................30

Suspended Clay or Silt..............................................................................................................32

Iron and Manganese.................................................................................................................32

Quantity of Water Obtainable from Bedrock...........................................................................................32

Well Yields ...........................................................................................................................................34

Possible Effect of Bedrock Lithology on Well Yield .............................................................34

Possible Effect of Water-Level Declines on Well Yield .......................................................34

Potential for Augmenting Well Yield by Deepening the Well .............................................35

Recharge Rate as a Limit on Ground-Water Withdrawals from Bedrock.................................38

Delineation of Capture Area ....................................................................................................39

Estimation of Ground-Water Withdrawals ............................................................................39
iv

Figures

1–2. Maps showing—

1. Topography and street names at Averill Park, Rensselaer County, New York..........2

2. Thickness of till overlying bedrock at Averill Park.........................................................4

3. Cross section showing hypothesized distribution of head in August 2002 in a 

vertical plane along section X–X` through Averill Park .........................................................9

4–5. Maps showing—

4. Net change in static water levels in wells at Averill Park, from 1988 to 2002 .........12

5. Net change in static water levels in wells at Averill Park, from 2002 to 2005 ........13

6–7. Graphs showing—

6. Amount of water available for recharge at Averill Park, during 12-month 

periods ending in each month 1987–1991 and 1999–2005, as calculated from 

estimated evapotranspiration rate and recorded precipitation ................................16

7. Daily mean streamflow in the Manor Kill at West Conesville, N.Y., 1987–88 

and 2001–02 ........................................................................................................................17

Plates

(In pocket)

1. Bedrock-surface topography

2. Locations of wells

3. Water levels in bedrock on August 15, 2002

Computations of Recharge to Bedrock and Population Density Supported by that 

Recharge ......................................................................................................................40

Uncertainty in Estimate of Recharge.............................................................................40

Recharge Rate as a Function of Till Thickness............................................................41

Contrast with Recharge in Other Upland Areas as Estimated from Streamflow 

Records .........................................................................................................................41

Probable Effect of Increased Withdrawals at Averill Park.................................................42

The Wynants Kill as a Possible Source of Recharge...........................................................42

Need for Additional Studies of Rates of Recharge to Bedrock .........................................43

Summary and Conclusions ........................................................................................................................45

Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................................45

References Cited..........................................................................................................................................46

Appendix A. Records of Wells at Averill Park .....................................................................................48

Appendix B. Measured Water Levels in Wells, 1987–2005 ...............................................................66

Appendix C. Procedures by which Measured Water Levels in Wells Were Converted to a 

Common Datum...............................................................................................................................74

Appendix D. Calibration of conductivity meter....................................................................................75

Appendix E. Estimation of Annual Average Per-Capita Water Use ...............................................76

Appendix F. Effect of a Decline in Water Levels Below the Bedrock Surface on Well Yield .....78
v

8. Vertical section through an idealized homogeneous aquifer showing typical 

ground-water flow paths in uplands and valleys ..................................................................20

9. Diagram showing distribution of major chemical constituents in water samples 

from 15 wells at Averill Park......................................................................................................22

10-15. Maps showing—

10. Specific conductance of water from wells at Averill Park, N.Y.................................28

11. Chloride concentrations in water from wells at Averill Park, N.Y..............................29

12. Distribution of wells at Averill Park whose water contains high 

concentrations of hydrogen sulfide or is turbid ...........................................................31

13. Distribution of wells at Averill Park that yield water containing abundant 

suspended or dissolved manganese and (or) iron.......................................................33

14. Relation of water levels in 2002 to the bedrock surface at Averill Park...................36

15. Boundaries of localities at Averill Park that were selected for analysis 

of well yield as a function of well depth ........................................................................37

E–1. Graph showing frequency distribution of average daily per-capita water use 

among residences surveyed in East Greenbush and North Greenbush, N.Y. .................77

Tables

 1. Changes in depth to water, resident population, and well depth since 1970 and 

1988 in several localities at Averill Park, N.Y.........................................................................11

2. Depth to water in three wells and calculated amount of water available for 

recharge during antecedent time periods..............................................................................15

3. Net change in water level from May 1999 to August 2002 in wells along Prospect 

Avenue at Averill Park................................................................................................................21

4. Chemical analyses of ground-water samples collected from 21 wells at 

Averill Park...................................................................................................................................24

5. Evidence of decrease in water hardness at several properties at Averill Park ..............27

6. Well yield at Averill Park, as a function of location, well depth, and depth at 

which water enters the well .....................................................................................................38

7. Estimated domestic use of ground water within the part of Averill Park that is 

encompassed by a ground-water divide ................................................................................39

8. Net change in flow of the Wynants Kill in a 3,500-foot reach at Averill Park, 

August–September 2001............................................................................................................44
vi

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms

CaCO3 Calcium carbonate

H2S Hydrogen sulfide

N Nitrogen

USGS U.S. Geological Survey

Multiply By To obtain

Length

inch 2.54 centimeter 

inch 25.4 millimeter

foot 0.3048 meter 

mile 1.609 kilometer 

Area

acre 4,047 square meter 

acre 0.4047 hectare 

acre 0.4047 square hectometer 

acre 0.004047 square kilometer 

square foot 929.0 square centimeter 

square foot 0.09290 square meter 

square mile 259.0 hectare

square mile 2.590 square kilometer 

Volume

gallon 3.785 liter 

gallon 0.003785 cubic meter 

Flow rate

foot per second 0.3048 meter per second

cubic foot per second 0.02832 cubic meter per second 

gallon per minute 0.06309 liter per second 

gallon per day 0.003785 cubic meter per day 

gallon per day per acre 935 liter per day per square kilometer

gallon per day per square mile 1.46 liter per day per square kilometer

Conversion Factors, Datum and Acronyms

Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as follows:

°F=(1.8 X °C) +32

Vertical coordinate information is referenced to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 

(NGVD29).

Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83).

Altitude, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum.

Specific conductance is given in microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius 

(μS/cm at 25°C).

Concentrations of chemical constituents in water are given in milligrams per liter (mg/L).
Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet 

in Eastern New York—An Estimate Based on Pumpage 

within a Defined Cone of Depression

 By Allan D. Randall and Anne J. Finch

Wells less than 180 feet deep and distant from highways 

typically yield water of moderate hardness (50–170 milligrams 

per liter as calcium carbonate) that is caused by dissolution of 

limestone fragments in the till. Some wells that are more than 

180 feet deep yield very soft water (0–50 milligrams per liter) 

with high pH and high sodium concentrations resulting from 

ion exchange within the bedrock. Nearly all wells in some 

areas of thick till yield very soft water.

Most wells near the center of Averill Park yield less than 

3 gallons per minute. The likelihood of obtaining an additional 

2 gallons per minute or more by drilling deeper than 200 feet 

is calculated to be about 25 percent. Most wells west and 

southwest of the center yield at least 3 gallons per minute, and 

the liklihood of obtaining an additional 2 gallons per minute or 

more by drilling deeper than 200 feet is about 50 percent.

Introduction

Averill Park is one of several hamlets within the town 

of Sand Lake in south-central Rensselaer County, N.Y. 

(fig. 1). Averill Park is primarily residential but has a small 

commercial district near its center along New York Route 43. 

The Wynants Kill1

, one of the principal streams in Rensselaer 

County, drains 9.5 square miles where it flows through 

the hamlet.

During the 1970s and 1980s, many well owners at 

Averill Park occasionally experienced a loss of water 

pressure that required pump shutdowns lasting from a few 

minutes to several hours until the water level in the wells 

recovered. Some chose to deepen their wells or to drill new, 

deeper wells. These experiences, along with the export of 

wastewater from the hamlet through sewers after 1983, which 

was expected to reduce recharge, led to widespread public 

concern about the ability of the bedrock aquifer to meet the 

current demand for water or to supply new development. In 

1987, the town government authorized an investigation of 

ground-water availability at Averill Park. That investigation 

entailed an inventory of the dimensions and history of wells 

1

 “Kill”, a Dutch word that means “creek,” was applied to many streams in 

this region by 17th-century immigrants.

Abstract

Water levels beneath parts of Averill Park, a residential 

hamlet in an upland area of till-mantled shale bedrock in 

east-central New York, have declined in response to increased 

withdrawals from new wells. Similar experiences in many 

upland localities in the northeastern United States have 

resulted in awareness that the rate of recharge to bedrock can 

be an important constraint on the density of new development 

in uplands. Recharge at Averill Park was calculated on the 

basis of careful estimation of pumpage within a defined cone 

of depression. The data-collection and recharge-estimation 

procedures documented herein could be applied in a variety of 

upland localities in support of community-planning studies.

Static water levels measured in 145 wells at Averill Park 

during the late summer of 2002 defined a 0.54-square-mile 

cone of depression within which ground-water discharge 

took place entirely as withdrawals from wells. Rates of 

withdrawal were estimated largely from surveys in similar 

neighborhoods a few miles away served by public water 

supply. Comparison of the water-level measurements in 

2002 with measurements on other dates revealed localized 

declines that could be attributed to new housing developments 

or commercial demands, but also demonstrated that water 

levels in 2002 within the cone of depression had stabilized 

and were not declining persistently over time. Therefore, the 

current withdrawals were equated to recharge from infiltrating 

precipitation. Recharge within this area was estimated to 

average 104 gallons per day per acre, equivalent to 1.4 inches 

annually, and was sufficient to sustain a residential population 

of 1.9 persons per acre. This recharge rate is much lower 

than rates estimated from streamflow records for upland 

watersheds elsewhere in the northeastern United States. This 

rate is an average of an unknown larger rate in the 30 percent 

of the study area where bedrock is discontinuously overlain 

by less than 30 feet of till and an unknown smaller rate in the 

remainder of the area where bedrock is overlain by thick till in 

the form of drumlins. The spatial variation in rate of recharge 

is inferred from the fact that high heads and strong downward 

gradients in bedrock, and very hard water with high chloride 

concentrations caused by winter highway runoff, are largely 

restricted to the area of discontinuous, thin till.
2 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Figure 1. Topography and street names at Averill Park, Rensselaer County, New York.

Prospect Avenue

Marcy Avenue

Terrace Drive

Lake Avenue

Allen Avenue

Pine Avenue

Orient Avenue

Burden Lake Road

Johnnycake Lane

Breezedale Drive

Eastern Union Turnpike

Tin Can 

Alley

Barzen Road

Bullis Drive

Victors Lane

Grand Way

Beach Lane

Old Route 66

Gettle Road

Crystal Lake Road

Houston Way

NY Route 43

NY Route 43

Mtn View Drive

Miller Hill Road

Crowley Way

Buy Way

Morning Circle

Olmstead Lane

Wynants Kill

Firemans Wynants Kill

Pond

Faith Mills

Hickory

Lane

73°34' 73°33'30" 73°33'

42°

37'

30"

42°

38'

42°

38'

30"

House Road

Area

Shown

Averill Park

NEW YORK

Rensselaer

County

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, various dates,

1:24,000, Universal Transverse Mercator projection, NAD 83,

Zone 18

0 500 1,000 FEET

0 125 250 METERS

1:12,000
Geohydrologic Setting 3

at most homes, and resulted in a report (LaFleur, 1989) that 

included a map of water-level altitudes in 1988 and several 

graphs that linked water levels measured in 1988 with water 

levels in prior years as recalled or recorded by well owners or 

drillers. The graphs suggested steep declines in several places 

(LaFleur, 1989, pl. 7–14). The dates of the pre-1988 water 

levels differed from well to well, however, and the reliability 

of this information was uncertain; therefore, LaFleur (1989) 

recommended that additional water-level measurements be 

made in subsequent years to better define trends in water 

levels. The 1988 water-level map (LaFleur, 1989) depicted 

three coalesced cones of depression (localities in which water 

levels were depressed by pumping). If water levels in these 

localities were stable, the average rate of recharge to bedrock 

could be inferred to approximately equal the average rate of 

withdrawal from wells. 

The rate of recharge to bedrock in the uplands can 

be a major constraint on density of development supplied 

by on-site wells, but few studies to date have documented 

recharge to bedrock in upland localities. To expand our 

knowledge of rates of recharge to upland bedrock, the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS) began an investigation in 1999 

to delineate the coalesced cones of depression at Averill 

Park in detail and to ascertain whether water levels therein 

were persistently declining, or had stablilized in dynamic 

equilibrium with current withdrawals. If stability were evident, 

and if the rate of withdrawal could be accurately estimated 

by evaluating current demand, then the rate of recharge to 

bedrock in this locality could be computed. Similar studies 

of clusters of wells in a variety of other upland localities 

could eventually allow identification and quantification of the 

environmental factors that control rates of recharge to bedrock 

and development of regionalized estimates of those rates for 

planning purposes.

The purpose of this report is to summarize the methods 

and results of the investigation of recharge to bedrock at 

Averill Park. The report (1) describes the methods of data 

collection, (2) discusses recent water-level trends in relation 

to their probable causes, (3) describes the spatial variation 

in ground-water quality and its significance with respect to 

recharge, (4) documents other features of the hydrogeologic 

setting that affect pumpage and recharge, and (5) presents a 

computation of the rate of recharge to bedrock and discusses 

factors that constrain the significance of that rate. Well records 

and other pertinent data are included in appendices. 

Geohydrologic Setting

The study area at Averill Park (fig. 1) encompasses 

1.5 square miles. The Wynants Kill, which flows through 

the hamlet, powered several cotton, wool, paper, and grist 

mills less than a mile downstream from the center of the 

hamlet during most of the 19th century (Lilly, 1999, 2005). 

Two small dams remain; the more recent was built in 1923 

and was used until 1956 to generate electrical power for 

Faith Mills, the last mill on the Wynants Kill to close. The 

gateworks for these dams no longer function; the upper dam 

now impounds water only seasonally, and the lower, smaller 

dam spills continuously. Crystal Lake (fig. 1), a recreational 

highlight of the hamlet, was once a source of water storage for 

mills as far downstream as Troy (fig. 1, inset map). Nearly all 

buildings within the hamlet obtain water from private wells 

that penetrate bedrock. Sanitary sewers were installed in 1983 

to eliminate the many persistent overflows from private septic 

systems on small lots with clayey soils. 

Bedrock

The bedrock beneath Averill Park is the Nassau 

Formation (Fisher and others, 1970) of Cambrian age, which 

is more than 500 million years old and one of the oldest 

bedrock units in New York. The Nassau Formation consists 

largely of red and green shale, interbedded with thin layers of 

quartzite or hard sandstone that are mostly less than 2 inches 

thick (Ruedemann, 1930; LaFleur, 1989). Two massive, 

40-to-50-foot-thick beds of hard sandstone lie within the 

Nassau Formation (Ruedemann, 1930, p. 83). The hard 

sandstone is similar to the Rensselaer Graywacke (or grit) 

that forms Taborton Mountain, a few miles east of Averill 

Park. Shale layers trend slightly east of north where exposed 

along the Wynants Kill near Burden Lake Road and along 

the southwest shore of Crystal Lake (pl. 1), and generally dip 

eastward at more than 70 degrees, although dips vary within 

some exposures. Geologic sections (Ruedemann, 1930) depict 

the Nassau Formation as tightly folded, with fold axes dipping 

steeply eastward. A fault, also dipping steeply eastward, has 

been mapped 4 miles south of Averill Park in the town of 

Nassau and was inferred by Isachsen and McKendree (1977) 

to extend northward near Eastern Union Turnpike and along 

the east shore of Crystal Lake.

Unconsolidated Deposits 

The bedrock throughout most of the study area is overlain 

by lodgment till, a poorly permeable mixture of clay, silt, sand, 

and stones deposited by glacial ice and commonly referred to 

as “hardpan.” The till cover in a 0.15-square-mile area near 

the center of Averill Park, and in smaller areas along Eastern 

Union Turnpike and on the west slope of Smauder Hill (fig. 2), 

is less than 30 feet thick and is interrupted in many places by 

unobtrusive shale-bedrock outcrops. Greater thicknesses of 

till accumulated elsewhere around Averill Park as smooth, 

oval hills called drumlins, which were shaped by the glacier. 

Till beneath the crests of most of these drumlins is at least 

90 feet thick. Locations of bedrock outcrops are indicated on 

plate 1; till thickness at any location can be estimated from 

plate 1 by subtracting the bedrock-surface contours from the 

land-surface contours.
4 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Figure 2. Thickness of till overlying bedrock at Averill Park, Rensselaer County, N.Y. (General location is shown in inset map in 

fig. 1.)

90

90

90

90

90

90

30

30

30

30 Area within which till thickness is 0 to 30 feet.

Bedrock crops out discontinuously within these areas

90 Line along which till thickness is 90 feet

73°34' 73°33'30" 73°33'

42°

37'

30"

42°

38'

42°

38'

30"

0 500 1,000 FEET

0 125 250 METERS

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, 1:24,000,

Universal Transverse Mercator projection, NAD 83, Zone 18 EXPLANATION

1:12,000
Data Collection 5

Sand and gravel was deposited by meltwater from the 

retreating glacier in the lowland that surrounds Sand Lake 

School, immediately east of the study area (pl. 1); in some 

places the sand and gravel is overlain by silt and clay. Sand 

and gravel of glacial origin may also underlie the alluvial 

sediment deposited by the modern Wynants Kill in a wide 

reach of the flood plain immediately upstream from Eastern 

Union Turnpike (LaFleur, 1965; LaFleur and others, 1995). 

A few feet of alluvial gravel, sand, and silt directly overlie 

bedrock downstream from Eastern Union Turnpike in a gorge 

where the Wynants Kill has incised through till into bedrock 

since the last glaciation (fig. 2).

The sand and gravel that underlies parts of the lowland 

around Sand Lake School is capable of yielding a few 

hundred gallons per minute to properly constructed wells 

and is a potential source of municipal or large commercial 

water supplies (LaFleur and others, 1995). The till that 

overlies bedrock elsewhere around Averill Park can yield 

small amounts of water to large-diameter dug wells. Dug 

wells 15 to 20 feet deep supplied water to nearly every 

house at Averill Park before 1940. A few dug wells were 

still in use in 2002, but nearly all residential and commercial 

buildings at Averill Park now obtain all or most of their water 

from drilled wells that penetrate the shale bedrock of the 

Nassau Formation.

Data Collection

The major components of data collection in this study 

were (1) a well inventory; (2) precise measurements of 

water levels in 2002 and 2005, supplemented by compilation 

of similar measurements in 1987–91 and 1997–2003; and 

(3) field measurements of specific conductance and hardness 

of ground water, and compilation of other available chemical 

data. The following sections describe the procedures used 

to collect and process these data. Minor components of data 

collection, including streamflow measurements at Averill Park 

and per-capita water consumption in nearby towns, are briefly 

described in conjunction with the results. The scope and 

procedures of data collection described herein were selected to 

accommodate local conditions; the same procedures could be 

replicated in studies of recharge to clusters of bedrock wells 

elsewhere if deemed appropriate for the specific setting. 

Well Inventory

Copies of the well records compiled during the 1988 

study (LaFleur, 1989) were made available. Some of these 

records incorporated reports on newly completed wells 

submitted by well drillers to the Rensselaer County Health 

Department. All of this information was updated during 

1999–2001 by an interview with the owner and (or) occupants 

of each building regarding their experience with water 

availability and quality since 1988, number of residents, wateruse practices, dimensions of any new or deepened wells, and 

why any new drilling was undertaken. Specific conductance 

and hardness of the water from each well were measured. 

Records of wells at 318 properties at or near Averill Park were 

compiled and are tabulated in appendix A; well locations 

are shown on plate 2 and are labeled with identification (ID) 

numbers that appear in the first column of appendix A. Well 

numbers 1 through 320 were assigned during the investigation 

by LaFleur (1989); numbers 2060 through 2117 were assigned 

during the present investigation.

The well records in appendix A and the recorded depths 

to static water level in appendix B were entered into the 

National Water Information System (a U.S. Geological Survey 

electronic database). Records of many other wells in the 

town of Sand Lake that were compiled by LaFleur and others 

(1995) are unpublished but available on a compact disk that 

accompanies copies of that report in two libraries, as explained 

in the “References cited” section herein.

Water-Level Measurements 

A principal objective of this study was to measure the 

depth to water in many wells in the summer of 2002, and to 

adjust the measurements to a common date and datum for 

use in preparation of a map of water-level altitudes, from 

which directions of ground-water flow could be inferred and 

a cone of depression delineated to facilitate computation of 

recharge. A second objective was to remeasure the depth to 

water in 2002 in several wells that had been measured in 

1988 in connection with an earlier study (LaFleur, 1989) 

to ascertain whether the cone of depression was stable or 

persistently becoming deeper over the years. Supplementary 

measurements in many wells were made in 2005 to document 

the water-level response to much wetter conditions than those 

experienced in 1988 and 2002. 

Measurements in 1988 

Depth to water was measured in 56 wells as part of 

the study described by LaFleur (1989), mostly between late 

June and early August 1988. Water levels were measured 

on other dates from 1987 through 1991 in some wells and 

more than once in some wells. Generally, each measurement 

was repeated several times over a 10- to 20-minute period. 

Measurements deemed to be static (fully recovered) were 

so noted, but many measurements were made when water 

levels were rising rapidly, an indication of recent pumping. 

The intent of the present study was to compare water-level 

measurements made in the summer of 1988 with those 

made in 2002, but nonstatic measurements in the summer 

of 1988 were ignored if a reliable static water level from 

another date was available. The most reliable static waterlevel measurements from 1987 through 1991 are compiled in 

appendix B; a few water levels recorded by drillers or well 

owners are included in appendix A.
6 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Measurements in 2002 

Depth to water was measured in 127 wells at or near 

Averill Park by the USGS between July 20 and September 

10, 2002, and in 5 additional wells between September 17 

and October 3, 2002. Measurements made in 13 other wells 

between July 19 and July 27, 2002, were made and furnished 

by Smith and Mahoney Engineers (written commun., 2002). 

Accordingly, the complete set of measurements in 2002 

represented 145 wells. Most of these wells were domestic 

wells that were in regular use; therefore, arrangements were 

made with the residents to measure on dates when no one 

would be at home, at least during the day, and (or) when the 

residents could arrange to turn off power to the pump early in 

the day, at least 3 hours before the scheduled time of waterlevel measurement. Depth to water in each well was measured 

at 5- or 10-minute intervals for at least 20 minutes to verify 

whether or not the water level was static. Measurements in 

several wells of relatively low yield, and in a few wells in 

which water levels were rising rapidly, were continued for 1 to 

6 hours to define the trajectory of recovery. Measurements in 

two wells were continued intermittently for 2 or 3 days, during 

which time the well remained idle, until a static water level 

was achieved. A water level in each well is listed in appendix 

B, accompanied by a code that represents the status of that 

water level and (or) conditions at the time of measurement. 

 Adjustments of Water-Level Measurements 

Measurements were made with a chalked steel tape and 

two different electric tapes, all marked and read at 0.01-foot 

intervals. Measurements made with the electric tapes were 

adjusted to the values that would have been read with the steel 

tape, as calibrated from duplicate measurements in two wells.

The water level in each well at Averill Park, as in any 

locality in New York where numerous closely spaced domestic 

wells tap bedrock, is perpetually depressed below the level that 

would be observed under natural (nonpumping) conditions; 

the water level fluctuates slowly as pumps in nearby wells 

go on or off, in addition to the much larger fluctuations 

caused by pump operation in the well itself. Water-level 

measurements were scheduled and evaluated with the intent 

of identifying for each well a “static” water level that reflected 

the generalized effect of pumping in the neighborhood but that 

was not depressed by residual drawdown resulting from recent 

operation of the pump in the well being measured. Therefore, 

water levels that fell, or that rose and fell, during the interval 

of measurement were considered to be in dynamic equilibrium 

with other wells in the neighborhood and were accepted as 

effective static levels. Water levels that rose 0.01 foot or 

less over 10 minutes were also accepted as essentially static, 

and those that rose at greater rates were extrapolated to an 

estimated static level, if feasible, from the measurements 

available. Generally, the rate of rise decreased appreciably 

over time and could be extrapolated graphically or by means 

of the following equation, which assumes that the specific 

capacity (yield per foot of drawdown below the static level) 

does not change as the water level recovers.

(1)

where

Re = rise (in feet) over 5 (or 10) minutes early in 

the data observations,

Rl = rise (in feet) over 5 (or 10) minutes late in 

the data observations,

d = distance (in feet) between mean water levels 

in the two intervals selected, and

x = distance (in feet) from the mean water level 

in the later interval to the static water level 

(to be solved for).

All static water levels that were estimated by 

extrapolation are coded as such in appendix B. Neither method 

of extrapolation (graph or the above equation) produced 

plausible results where the rate of recovery was nearly 

constant with time or where measurements were made over 

periods of only 20 minutes, in which case appendix B merely 

gives the rate of recovery at the measured depth to water. The 

daily average water level in many wells and neighborhoods 

was probably a few feet lower than the static levels reported in 

appendix B because (1) the static levels in appendix B exclude 

intermittent drawdown caused by operation of the pump in the 

well measured, and (2) most measurements were made during 

afternoons, when many residents in the neighborhood were 

away from home, so the pumps in their wells were idle. 

Next, the water-level measurements were adjusted as 

follows to a common date (August 15, 2002) so that the data 

used to construct a map of water-level altitudes would be as 

mutually consistent as feasible. Five wells were measured 

twice—once between July 24 and 28, and again between 

September 7 and October 5. Water levels declined seasonally 

during this time in all five wells by amounts that ranged from 

0.22 to 2.33 feet. The median decline of about 0.01 foot per 

day for these five wells was used to adjust measurements 

in all wells to August 15, 2002. The use of a single median 

rate of decline was considered the best available method for 

adjustment in the absence of continuous records of waterlevel fluctuation at or near Averill Park. This method may 

have introduced some error, however, if the magnitude 

or timing of seasonal decline differed from one geologic 

terrane to another2

.

Finally, the altitude of the top of the casing (above the 

National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929) at each well in 

which depth to water had been measured was determined 

by differential leveling, within ± 0.05 foot. The basis and 

2

 The timing of seasonal water-level fluctuations in bedrock may be a 

function of depth to the potentiometric surface, as evidenced by water-level 

measurements made in 12 wells on March 12–13 and July 19–26, 2002 

(appendix B). Over these 4 months, water levels declined in 7 wells in which 

depth to water was 19 to 96 feet, and rose in 5 wells in which depth to water 

was 109 to 145 feet. 

R

x d

R

x

e l

+ =
Data Collection 7

procedures for leveling are described in Appendix C. 

The depth to water in each well on August 15, 2002, was 

subtracted from the surveyed altitude of the measuring point to 

give the altitude of the water level, which is listed in appendix 

B along with the altitude of the top of the casing.

Measurements in 2005

Depth to water in 66 of the 145 wells that had been 

measured in 2002 was measured again from late July through 

mid-August 2005, using the same procedures that were used 

in 2002. These measurements were made to ascertain the 

extent to which water levels and recharge at Averill Park 

might be sensitive to changes in the magnitude of precipitation 

(inasmuch as years 2003–05 were substantially wetter than 

1988 and 2001–02).

Water-Quality Data 

The water-quality data collected for this investigation 

consist of (1) field measurements made during the 

investigation, (2) chemical analyses obtained from the files 

of the Rensselaer County Health Department and from well 

owners, and (3) experience with water quality as recalled by 

well owners or residents. Some of these data proved useful in 

interpreting paths of ground-water flow, the relation of well 

yield to depth, and the areal distribution of recharge.

Field Measurements

Specific conductance and hardness of water from nearly 

every well at Averill Park were measured at the time the owner 

and (or) occupants of each property were interviewed to obtain 

information on well construction and water usage; results are 

given in appendix A. The water was generally obtained from 

any convenient faucet, but where a water softener or other 

type of chemical water treatment was used, the water was 

obtained from an outside faucet or at the pressure tank. 

Specific conductance was measured with a portable 

conductivity meter. Calibration of the meter was verified 

occasionally against several laboratory standard solutions and 

against water from a well whose specific conductance had 

been measured frequently in the past. (See appendix D.) Meter 

readings were temperature-compensated to yield specific 

conductance at 25°C. Water was placed for measurement 

in two cups that differed in sensitivity range; occasional 

disagreement usually indicated a need to clean corrosion from 

the wire terminals on one of the cups. 

Hardness was measured with a Hach model 5B 

test kit and entailed titration with a solution of EDTA 

(ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) of 0.035 normality. Each 

drop of titrant added before the sample changed color was 

equivalent to 1 grain per gallon (17.1 milligrams per liter) 

of hardness as calcium carbonate (CaCO3

). (When a partial 

color change was observed after some number of drops, and a 

complete change after one more drop, hardness was estimated 

as the intermediate 0.5 grain per gallon.) The hardness titration 

was repeated with a fresh sample at several wells; results 

invariably agreed within ± 1 grain per gallon. Whenever 

a fresh bottle of EDTA solution was first used, replicate 

titrations with the new and old solutions also agreed. Two 

qualifications may be pertinent to the accuracy of results from 

this method.

1. The test kit is designed for a hardness range of 0 to 

30 grains per gallon (0 to 513 milligrams per liter). Most 

analyses at Averill Park were within that range, but a few 

ranged as high as 88 grains per gallon (1,500 milligrams 

per liter). The instructions do not indicate whether 

any systematic bias may be present above the 

recommended range. 

2. Most samples had a strong, clear pink color after mixing 

with the initial reagent and eventually changed to a 

strong blue color after enough titrant was added. Some 

samples, however, started with a faint, cloudy pink 

color that eventually changed to nearly clear as titrant 

was added. The American Public Health Association 

(1995) states that indistinct end points in EDTA titrations 

can result from low pH (unlikely at Averill Park), 

absence of magnesium ion in the sample, or appreciable 

concentrations of various metals, but does not mention 

faint colors as a matter of concern. 

No water samples were collected for laboratory 

verification of field measurements, but the field measurements 

of hardness were generally consistent with concurrent 

measurements of specific conductance and with laboratory 

analyses of samples collected from a few wells in 

previous years.

Chemical Analyses

The Rensselaer County Health Department collected 

water samples from many private wells for analysis by the 

New York State Health Department, or by a private laboratory, 

for many years, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. 

Sampling frequency was greatly decreased after about 1990. 

Most samples were analyzed only for chloride, nitrate (as N), 

and bacteria, although a few samples were analyzed for 

several other constituents. The most recent chloride analysis 

available for each well is given in appendix A. These chloride 

analyses were used to appraise the areal distribution of 

chloride and the changes in concentration since the 1960s. 

Several property owners whose water had been 

previously analyzed by private laboratories or water-treatment 

companies provided copies of the results for this study. These 

data, along with the few relatively complete analyses from the 

County Health Department, are compiled and evaluated in the 

section “Water quality in bedrock.” 
8 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Reported Experience of Residents

Each property owner or occupant was asked to describe 

water quality, particularly as to taste, odor, water treatment, 

sediment, and any changes in quality over time. Many of these 

opinions and experiences were helpful in appraising water 

quality and are noted in appendix A.

Ground-Water Levels and 

Flow Directions 

The following section describes the water levels and 

the directions of ground-water flow at Averill Park in 2002. 

This section is followed by a brief summary of the history 

of ground-water development at Averill Park, a description 

of the patterns of change in water levels since the first 

comprehensive set of water-level measurements were made in 

1988–89, and an analysis of the environmental factors that are 

inferred to have caused the observed declines in water level 

since 1988, which range from negligible to substantial. 

Patterns of Ground-Water Flow in 2002 

The altitudes of static water levels on August 15, 2002, in 

the 145 wells measured at Averill Park are depicted on plate 3. 

In theory, the horizontal component of ground-water flow 

should be perpendicular to the contours on plate 3, toward 

areas of lower water level (head). Within this area, ground 

water also has a vertical (downward) flow component because 

head generally decreases with increasing depth, as in most 

upland localities. 

The contours on plate 3 depict two different sets of 

water levels. The first is represented by the green contours 

south and west of the center of Averill Park, which generally 

decline westward from an altitude of 700 feet to 610 feet, 

above NGVD29. This set of water levels includes a small, 

closed depression at an altitude of about 660 feet near Orient 

Avenue and seems to be nearly flat at an altitude of about 

620 feet in a large area north of Route 43. Water levels in 

deep and shallow wells south and west of the center of Averill 

Park all closely match the water-level contours on plate 3. 

Downward gradients were detected at two locations but were 

small; water levels in deep wells 52A on Lake Avenue and 

69A on Crowley Way were no more than 0.75 foot lower than 

those in shallower wells a few feet away. The absence of steep 

downward gradients within this area may be attributed to 

small recharge through thick overlying till or to relatively high 

bedrock permeability, in that most wells here were reported 

to yield more than 3 gallons per minute, whereas the yields 

obtained elsewhere are generally less.

The second set of water levels is represented by the 

black contours near the center of Averill Park and to the 

north and east, which range from 770 to 700 feet in altitude 

(nearly 100 feet higher than contours to the south and west) 

and generally decline westward and southward from a crest 

between Crystal Lake and Old Route 66. Strong downward 

gradients in bedrock generally prevail here; heads are 

commonly much deeper in deep wells than in shallow wells. 

For example, near the south end of Old Route 66, the static 

water level was 787.1 feet in altitude in a large-diameter well 

(56) that had been dug by hand to a depth of 20 feet entirely 

in bedrock, whereas the static water level was 767.5 feet in 

an adjacent drilled well (56A) that is 207 feet deep, and was 

753.1 feet in a nearby drilled well (136A) that is 400 feet deep. 

Water-level contours on a map cannot readily depict such 

downward gradients. The contours near and northeast of the 

center of Averill Park approximate the average static heads in 

the upper 200 to 300 feet of bedrock; water levels in dug wells 

and in the shallowest drilled wells are even higher (closer 

to land surface). Water levels in some wells deeper than 

300 feet are comparable to those in wells of lesser depth—an 

indication that water enters these deep wells largely through 

fractures in the upper part of the bedrock. In contrast, water 

levels in several deep wells near the center of Averill Park are 

comparable in altitude to water levels in wells to the south 

and west of the center, which suggests that head at depths of 

300 to 500 feet near the center of Averill Park is in equilibrium 

with head in bedrock to the south and west. Therefore, water 

at depths less than 200 feet in bedrock near the center of 

Averill Park is inferred to flow southward and westward until 

it is depleted by the simultaneous downward flow, forming an 

umbrella-shaped mound of saturated shallow bedrock from 

which water is leaking downward at all points. This contrast 

in head with depth is illustrated by the two distinct sets of 

water-level contours on plate 3; in several localities, the green 

contours west and south of the center of Averill Park are 

extended beneath the black contours that represent head in the 

upper part of the bedrock to the east and north. The inferred 

distribution of head with depth also is shown in a vertical 

section through Averill Park (fig. 3). 

The altitude of land surface near the center of Averill 

Park is similar to that in other parts of Averill Park; however, 

the bedrock surface (pl. 1) near the center is relatively high 

and is discontinuously mantled by less than 30 feet of till, 

whereas the bedrock surface in the region to the south and 

west is lower and mantled by 30 to 190 feet of till (fig. 2) in 

the form of drumlins. The high heads in many wells near the 

center of Averill Park are the result of water entering these 

wells from shallow bedrock, which apparently is saturated 

nearly to land surface. The heads near land surface in till to the 

south and west may be equally high (fig. 3), but the wells are 

cased through the till, so water can enter these wells only from 

bedrock below the bottom of the casing, commonly at depths 

of 100 feet or more where head is lower than at shallow depth. 

The persistence of high heads in shallow bedrock near the 

hamlet center, despite withdrawals from numerous wells, can 

be attributed to some combination of two factors.

1. Recharge to bedrock may be greater where the till 

overlying bedrock is discontinuous and thin, near the 
Data Collection 

9

Figure 3. Hypothesized distribution of head in August 2002 in a vertical plane along section X–X` through Averill Park, N.Y. (Location of section is shown on pl. 3.) The equipotential contours are drawn such that head along part or all of each well bore below the top of bedrock is equal to the measured head in that well. For well 178a, the measured head is matched by contoured head about 45 feet below top of bedrock because the hardness of water and the construction history in this deep well indicate that the water enters from fractures in the upper 132 feet of bedrock. Well 2099 is a commercial well that is pumped much of the time.

Land surface

630

650 670 690

710

730 750

790

770

750

Till Bedrock Stratified drift 730 710 690

670

650

600

610

Till Bedrock

Unsaturated?

Land surface

800700600500400

X

West

0

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X5

1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000

EastX ́

620

617 274A

619 69

622 275

626 213A

BEND 701 186A

749 178a

787 56

753 136A

769 136

Old Route 66

Route 43

Route 43

Route 43

704 292 (projected)

—–2099

Crystal Lake Outlet

725 223

741 233

759 241

Route 43

Wynants Kill

(284) (324) (180)

770

Unsaturated?

810

790

770

617 274A

900

FEET

Identification numberAltitude of head measured, in feet

EXPLANATION

Contour of equal head potential, in feet aboveNational Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929—Dashed in till becauseno measurements are available

750

Well

Bottom—altitude of bottom is given in parentheses ifit is less than 390 feet above NGVD 29
10 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

hamlet center, than where the recharge must penetrate 

30 to 190 feet of till.

2. The water-transmitting capacity of bedrock in the area 

of high heads may be low enough that water simply 

cannot drain readily to greater depth. This condition 

cannot be attributed to subhorizontal layers of low watertransmitting capacity because the rock layers strike about 

north 15 degrees east and generally dip steeply to the east. 

Perhaps the steeply dipping shale layers at shallow depth 

may constitute a tightly folded syncline(s) underlain by 

more permeable strata that continue into the region of 

lower heads to the southeast, south, and west. Records 

of wells in the region of high heads do not support this 

hypothesis, however, in that the wells are reported neither 

to penetrate a different type of rock below some depth nor 

to obtain greater yield below some depth.

History of Ground-Water Development at 

Averill Park Since 1930 

Most houses at Averill Park in the 1930s obtained water 

from a nearby dug well 10 to 20 feet deep and from a cistern 

in the basement that was fed by gutters on the roof. Some 

wells near the center of Averill Park, where the bedrock 

surface is generally close to land surface, were dug into 

bedrock. Because many of the dug wells failed to provide 

enough water in dry summers, fire-department tank trucks 

would go from house to house, filling wells upon request. 

This practice was successful because the poorly permeable 

till allowed little of the introduced water to seep out of these 

wells, just as it had allowed little native ground water to 

seep in.

Beginning in the 1930s and continuing through the 

1960s, dug wells at Averill Park were gradually replaced by 

drilled wells, most of which were 80 to 200 feet deep. As of 

1970, about 210 drilled wells served the residences within 

the study area, and about 10 more wells served businesses. 

At least 69 additional wells were drilled at new dwellings 

during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and at least 97 wells were 

either deepened or were replaced by deeper wells during these 

30 years. Most well deepening was in response to frequent, 

brief losses of water pressure, but some well owners reported 

being suddenly and permanently out of water, and a few 

attributed water shortages to the recent drilling of another 

well(s) nearby. The numbers of wells finished in different 

depth intervals at Averill Park in 2002 are given in table 1.

Public sewers were laid along nearly all Averill Park 

streets in 1983 in response to many instances of surface 

discharge of effluent from inadequate septic systems. The 

sewer pipes were laid in trenches excavated in till or bedrock 

but were commonly backfilled in part with permeable sand, 

which in some localities may cause the trenches to function 

as French drains that lower the head at shallow depth in till or 

bedrock near the trenches. 

Changes in Water Levels, 1988–2002 

and 2002–2005

One of the generalizations on which the computation 

of recharge to bedrock in this report is based is that water 

levels in bedrock wells were not persistently rising or falling 

during the period of study; if so, recharge to bedrock would 

approximately equal discharge from bedrock. Water-level 

fluctuations at Averill Park have not been monitored over the 

years, but any net changes in water level since 1988 could 

be detected by repeated measurements of static water levels 

in many of the wells that had been measured in 1988. The 

14-year period from 1988 through 2002 was expected to be 

long enough to reveal water-level responses to any changes 

in the rates of withdrawal or any imbalance between recharge 

and withdrawal, if antecedent precipitation and recharge for 

at least several months before mid-1988 and mid-1989 were 

reasonably similar to those before mid-2002. Net changes in 

static water levels at 45 sites from about 1988 through 2002 

are plotted in figure 4. Measurements in 2002 were compared 

with 34 measurements in the same wells, 4 measurements in 

wells at adjacent houses, and 7 measurements made by owners 

or drillers, all in about 1988. Eight localities (A–H) were 

delineated; a generalized estimate of the average net change 

in each locality is given in figure 4. Boundaries between 

localities are approximate, and intermediate water-level 

declines near the boundaries are likely. The range in measured 

water-level changes, and the number of wells measured in 

each locality, are summarized in table 1.

Little or no net change in water level took place during 

the 14 years from 1988 to 2002 in locality A (fig. 4), in the 

center of Averill Park, where till is thin and discontinuous 

(fig. 2); a net rise averaging about 2 feet was recorded in 

six wells from June or July 1988 to August 2002, and a net 

decline averaging about 3 feet was recorded in four wells from 

late 1989 to August 2002. Estimated average net declines in 

localities B, C, and D (fig. 4) are less precise than elsewhere 

because only a few repeated measurements in these localities 

were available, and because some of the 1988 measurements 

were not made in the same season as the 2002 measurements, 

or were made by well owners who did not document the 

measurement conditions. Water-level changes in seven wells 

in area E varied widely. Net declines in all of these localities 

(A–E) are estimated to average from 0 to 5 feet, whereas net 

declines in localities F, G, and H averaged from 10 to 15 feet.

Net changes in water level in each of 65 wells from 

August 2002 to August 2005 are plotted in figure 5. Water 

levels generally rose in the central and eastern parts of Averill 

Park (localities A, B, C, F, and G), declined slightly to the 

north of Crystal Lake (locality D), and declined substantially 

to the west and southwest (localities E, H). 

The observed water-level changes from about 1988 to 

2002, and from 2002 to 2005, may be attributable to several 

factors, as explained in the following sections.
Data Collection 11

Table 1. Changes in depth to water, resident population, and well depth since 1970 and 1988 in several localities at Averill Park, N.Y. [Locality boundaries are shown in fig 4. A dash (--) denotes data not available]

 Locality

Estimated 

average decline

 in water level 

1988–2002 (feet)

Range in

 water-level 

changes 

(feet)

Number of wells 

measured

 in 1987–91 

and in 2002a

Resident population served 

by wells in these years

Number of 

dwellings in 

which population 

was counted

Additional 

dwellings in which 

population change 

is unknown 1988 2002b

A) Center of Averill Park (Lake Avenue to Eastern Union Tpk) 0 (+6.4 to -3.2) 8 200 180 52 11B) East of Crystal Lake -2 (-0.7 to -3.6) 3 19 22 7 1

C) Route 43 east of Bullis Drive -2 (-1.0 to -6.3) 4 53 54 15 7D) North side of Crystal Lake -5 (-3.6 to -7.4) 5 13 18 10 1E) Southern Burden Lake Road, Orient Avenue, Prospect Avenue -4 (+2.9 to -8.6) 7 c 108 108 28 7

F) Barzen Road and Route 43 nearby -10 (-9 to -10.9) 4 58 59 18 1

G) Johnnycake Lane, Breezedale Drive -13 (-9 to -17.2) 5 80 73 25 1

 Morning Circle, south of Breezedale Drive -- -- 0 0 27 8 0

H) West side of Averill Park (Terrace Drive, Pine and 

 Allen Avenues, Old Route 66)

-15 (-9 to -17.3) 9 154 151 57 5

 Eastern Union Turnpike (south of Wynants Kill) -- -- 0 31 32 12 1

Total for Averill Park 45 716 724 232 35

Number of domestic wells in bedrock Number of domestic wells in 2002 within given depth interval (all values are in feet) 

Existing in 

1970

Deepened 

1970–87 d

New 

1970–87

Deepened 

1988–2002

New 

1988–2002 e

Less than 

200 200–299 300–499 500 or greater

A) Center of Averill Park (Lake Avenue to Eastern Union Tpk) 62 17 4 15 3 25 15 20 8

B) East of Crystal Lake 3 1 4 0 1 1 2 4 1

C) Route 43 east of Bullis Drive 19 0 4 0 0 19 2 0 2

D) North side of Crystal Lake 7 3 3 1 1 4 1 5 1

E) Southern Burden Lake Road, Orient Avenue, Prospect Avenue 30 5 5 7 1 11 8 13 4

F) Barzen Road and Route 43 nearby 13 0 2 0 2 14 1 5 2

G) Johnnycake Lane, Breezedale Drive 19 3 7 5 0 7 8 10 0

 Morning Circle, south of Breezedale Drive 0 0 0 0 9 0 4 5 0

H) West side of Averill Park (Terrace Drive, Pine and 

 Allen Avenues, Old Route 66)

47 22 11 16 7 15 24 21 4

 Eastern Union Turnpike (south of Wynants Kill) 10 0 4 2 1 8 3 4 0

Total for Averill Park 210 51 44 46 25 104 68 87 22

a Includes four wells where 2002 measurement was in a well on a lot adjacent to that where the 1987–91 measurement was made; also includes seven wells where 1987-91 measurement was made by driller, 

pump installer, or well owner.

b Resident population determined by interviews in 1999 from Route 43 south and Burden Lake Road west, in 2001 and 2002 for the remainder of the study area.c This locality also includes two wells in which net declines are likely but not quantifiable because low recovery rates prevented determination of static water level. d Includes new, deeper wells that replaced older wells.e Includes a few wells that replaced dug wells.
12 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Figure 4. Net change in static water levels in wells at Averill Park, Rensselaer County, N.Y., from 1988 to 2002. (General 

location is shown in inset map in fig. 1.) 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

H

73°34' 73°33'30" 73°33'

42°

38'

42°

38'

30"

1:12,000

0 500 1,000 FEET

0 125 250 METERS

13.2

6

5

3.7

7.4 1.1

0.7

2.0 3.6

1.0

1.7

4

6

9

9

9.1

10.9

17.2 13

9 13 7.0 3.7 12.3

4.8 8.6

1.6

0.2

>12 2

1.4

15 3.2

15.4 15.8

<18 16.2

17.3

9

2.9

1

6.4

3

1.1

0.2

Estimated average net change in water levels,

within each designated locality, 1988± to 2002, in feet.

A 0 C -2 E -4 G -13

B -2 D -5 F -10 H -15

8.6

0.2 Net water-level rise, in feet

Net water-level decline, in feet

Boundary of locality designated E by capital letter

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, various dates,

1:24,000, Universal Transverse Mercator projection, NAD 83,

Zone 18 EXPLANATION
Data Collection 13

Figure 5. Net change in static water levels in wells at Averill Park, Rensselaer County, N.Y., from 2002 to 2005. (General 

location is shown in inset map in fig. 1.) 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

H

F

5.1

2.2

7.8

7.9 3.9

2.3

8.0

0.3

0.5

3.2

1.4

0.2 1.1

1.6

9.1

1.4

1.6 1.1

0.7

0.7

0.3

0.6

4.6

0.7

0.6

2.5

4.4

6.9

5.8

1.6

0.7 4.9 4.0

1.3

6.0

13.0

2.3

5.0

6.2

6.8

5.1

1.3

0.1

5.9

6.8

6.0

6.2

6.6 6.0

8.2

9.2

6.5

8.3

2.4

4.0

8.1

0.7 7.6

5.6

8.7 8.8 9.2

10.0

10.0

10.2

6.6

0.7 Net water-level rise, in feet

Net water-level decline, in feet

Boundary of locality designated by capital letter

EXPLANATION

Well, with change in depth to water between measurements in the

summer of 2002, adjusted to August 15, 2002, and measurements

in the summer of 2005, nearly all between July 30 and August 17

E

73°34' 73°33'30" 73°33'

42°

38'

42°

38'

30"

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, various dates,

1:24,000, Universal Transverse Mercator projection, NAD 83,

Zone 18

0 500 1,000 FEET

0 125 250 METERS

1:12,000
14 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Effect of Fluctuations in Precipitation 

and Recharge

Water levels throughout the northeastern United States 

typically show a net rise during winter and spring, and a net 

decline in summer and fall, chiefly in response to the regular 

annual cycle of evapotranspiration. Water levels also fluctuate 

in response to random variations in precipitation from month 

to month and from year to year, and these fluctuations can 

vary in magnitude from one rock type or geographic setting 

to another (Kontis and others, 2004; Frimpter, 1980; Socolow 

and others, 1994). No continuous records of water-level 

fluctuations in bedrock at locations affected solely by these 

natural processes during the study period were available from 

Averill Park or elsewhere in Rensselaer County; therefore, 

no attempt was made to quantify the magnitude or timing of 

water-level changes caused by fluctuations in precipitation 

or recharge. Nevertheless, the assumption that antecedent 

recharge in mid-2002 and 1988–89 were similar receives some 

support from three categories of hydrologic evidence. These 

three categories of evidence—estimated amounts of water 

available for recharge, net changes in water levels from 2002 

to 2005, and trends in ground-water discharge to streams—are 

summarized below. 

1. Amount of water available for recharge during 

1987–91 and 1999–2005. Water available for recharge (Lyford 

and Cohen, 1988; Kontis and others, 2004) was computed 

month by month for the two periods during which water-level 

measurements used in this study had been made (1987–91 and 

1999–2005) from records of precipitation and estimates of 

evapotranspiration, as follows:

•	 The mean annual rate of evapotranspiration of 

20 inches for 1951–80 at Averill Park (Randall, 1996: 

Kontis and others, 2004) was distributed by months in 

proportion to the product of the percentage of annual 

daylight that occurs in that month (from ephemeris 

tables) and normal monthly mean temperature at 

Albany Airport, 15 miles west of Averill Park, by the 

method described by Olmsted and Hely (1962). 

•	 Average evapotranspiration values thus computed 

for each month were subtracted from the actual 

precipitation values recorded during 1987–91 and 

1999–2005 at station West Sand Lake 2S, about 

5 miles southwest of Averill Park (National Weather 

Service, 1983–2005), to obtain the amount of water 

available for recharge month by month. 

•	 If a month’s estimated evapotranspiration exceeded 

the measured precipitation, the difference (soilmoisture deficit) was carried forward until offset by a 

subsequent surplus of water available for recharge.

The resulting monthly values are a reasonable estimate 

of actual recharge to surficial stratified drift. They are 

undoubtedly an overestimate of recharge to bedrock, however, 

because much of the surficial till at Averill Park probably 

becomes saturated to land surface for several months of each 

year, during which time most precipitation cannot infiltrate 

and becomes storm runoff (Kontis and others, 2004).

The depths to water that were measured on four to six 

dates during 1999–2005 in seven wells, all in central and 

southeastern parts of Averill Park, were ranked in order from 

shallowest to deepest and compared with cumulative totals of 

water available for recharge during the preceding 3, 4, 6, and 

12 months, including the month of water-level measurement. 

Results for three of these wells are given in table 2. Depth to 

water in well 111 increased as the amount of water available 

for recharge during the preceding 3 or 4 months decreased, 

except for the May 2001 measurement. The same was true for 

three of four measurements in well 54. Therefore, the waterlevel fluctuations observed in these two wells may be largely 

a function of recharge over the previous few months—a 

plausible interpretation in that the surrounding till overburden 

is only a few feet thick and discontinuous. In contrast, the 

rank for depth to water in well 9, where bedrock is overlain 

by more than 100 feet of till, showed no correlation with 

the estimated amount of water available for recharge over 

the preceding 3 to 6 months but, in four of the five depth 

measurements, was inversely correlated with the amount of 

water available during the preceding 12 months (table 2). No 

correlation was evident between the rank order of depth to 

water and the amount of water available for recharge over any 

time period at the other four wells analyzed (10, 37, 145, 186). 

These few records provide scant evidence of the 

magnitude and timing of water-level response to variations 

in the amount of water available for recharge. Nevertheless, 

water levels could be reasonably expected to be lower after 

a year or more of subnormal precipitation and subnormal 

amounts of water available for recharge than after a year 

or more in which these variables were well above normal. 

Fluctuations in the long-term amount of water available for 

recharge are illustrated in figure 6, which depicts, for each 

month of 1987–91 and 1999–2005, the total amount of water 

available for recharge during that month plus the preceding 

11 months. Many of the water-level measurements listed in 

appendix B were made during June–August 1988, August–

December 1989, and July–August 2002, and figure 6 indicates 

that, throughout each of these periods, the amount of water 

available for recharge during the preceding 12 months was 

about 20 inches (and had not exceeded this amount for many 

months prior to each of these periods). Therefore, figure 6 

indicates that any net changes in water level between 1988–89 

and 2002 are not primarily a function of differences in the 

cumulative amount of water available for recharge over the 

12 months (or more) preceding the water-level measurements. 

2. Net changes in water levels from 2002 to 2005. A 

net rise in water levels from August 2002 to August 2005 in 

bedrock wells throughout central and eastern Averill Park 

(fig. 5) can be attributed to greater precipitation and a greater 

amount of water available for recharge in 2003, 2004, and 

2005 than in 2001 and 2002. The median net rise in this 

area was 1.6 feet. (A decline in water levels in southwestern 
Data Collection 15

Averill Park can be attributed to withdrawals from several 

new wells, as discussed farther on.) The 12-month amount of 

water available for recharge was sustained at about 30 inches 

for nearly 3 years prior to the water-level measurements made 

in August 2005, a 50-percent increase over the 19.2 inches 

recorded from June through September 2002 (fig. 6). By 

contrast, the 12-month amount of water available for recharge 

in June–September 2002 was only 5 percent less than the 

amount available in June–September 1988. Therefore, 

one might expect the net water-level response to the slight 

difference in recharge from 1988 to 2002 to be much smaller 

than the response of 1.6 feet observed from 2002 to 2005.

3. Ground-water discharge to streams. Base flow 

(streamflow during dry intervals between storms) consists 

almost entirely of ground water that seeps into streams, and 

the rate of seepage is proportional to the water levels in the 

aquifers that border the stream system. Accordingly, similarity 

between base flows of an upland stream on two different dates 

implies that water levels in the adjacent till and bedrock on 

those dates were also similar. The nearest streamflow-gaging 

stations on upland streams that drain less than 50 square miles 

and were in operation from 1988 through 2002 are in the 

Schoharie Creek basin, about 48 miles southwest of Averill 

Park. Base flows in 1987–88 are compared with those 

in 2001–02 at one of these stations, Manor Kill at West 

Conesville, in figure 7. The flow of Manor Kill from October 

2001 through January 2002 was the lowest of record, but 

flow returned to the normal range from February through 

early June of 2002 (fig. 7 ), as did the flow of larger streams 

in east-central New York. The flow of Manor Kill between 

storm peaks in June through September 1988 was similar to 

that in June through September 2002—generally well below 

the median flow but above the lowest flow of record. This 

similarity of base flows in the two summers implies that 

antecedent recharge from precipitation in 1988 was similar to 

that in 2002 in the Manor Kill watershed. That watershed is 

similar to Averill Park in consisting predominantly of tillcovered bedrock uplands, but relief is greater, and glacial 

and alluvial gravel aquifers 1,500 feet wide border the main 

channel, so a somewhat different pattern of recharge and 

water-level response at Averill Park is possible. 

The data in appendix B indicate that water levels in 

bedrock in areas of thin till at Averill Park have fluctuated 

as much as 4 to 6 feet over a year or two; much of this 

fluctuation may result from fluctuations in precipitation and 

evapotranspiration. The foregoing analysis indicates, however, 

Table 2. Depth to water in three wells finished in bedrock at Averill Park, N.Y., on several dates in 1999-2005, and calculated amount of 

water available for recharge during antecedent time periods.

[Well locations shown on pl. 2. Measurements are listed in order of increasing depth to water]

Well 

number

Measured water level Total amount of water available for recharge during indicated number of months, 

including and preceding month of measurement, in inches

Date Depth below top 

of casing (feet) 3 months 4 months 6 months 12 months

111 Aug 17, 2000 18.04 8.67 11.79 19.09 37.90

Mar 13, 2002 19.25 7.74 10.61 10.36 12.70

Jul 25, 2002 21.56 6.04 8.50 13.22 19.18

Jun 15,1999 22.87 1.32 4.74 11.93 5.80

Aug 10, 2005 23.05 2.24 2.24 9.66 27.96

May 17, 2001 23.54 5.96 8.40 14.96 26.80

54 Mar 12, 2002 23.61 7.74 10.61 10.36 12.70

Aug 6, 2005 24.34 2.24 2.24 9.66 27.96

Jul 25, 2002 25.44 6.04 8.50 13.22 19.18

Jul 24, 2001 25.61 1.79 2.02 9.95 32.11

9 Aug 4, 2005 126.90 2.24 2.24 9.66 27.96

Jan 12, 2000 127.79 7.19 10.16 15.55 22.00

Jul 19, 2002 128.86 6.04 8.50 13.22 19.18

Mar 12, 2002 129.71 7.74 10.61 10.36 12.70

May 17, 2001 129.89 5.96 8.40 14.96 26.80
16 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Figure 6. Amount of water available for recharge at Averill Park, N.Y., during 12-month periods ending in each month 1987–1991 and 1999–2005, as calculated from estimated evapotranspiration rate and recorded precipitation. 

MAR

JUN

SEP

DEC

MAR

JUN

SEP

DEC

MAR

JUN

SEP

DEC

MAR

JUN

SEP

DEC

MAR

JUN

SEP

DEC

MAR

JUN

SEP

DEC

MAR

JUN

SEP

DEC

MAR

JUN

SEP

DEC

MAR

JUN

SEP

DEC

JUN

SEP

DEC

MAR

JUN

SEP

DEC

MAR

JUN

SEP

DEC

50

504540353025201510

TOTAL WATER AVAILABLE FOR RECHARGE

DURING PREVIOUS 12 MONTHS, IN INCHES

1987 1988 1990 1991 1999 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 1989 2000

MAR

Months in which water levels were measuredin a few ( ) or many ( ) wells

DATE
Data Collection 17

was not reported in 1988, or not in 2002; therefore, the 

population of Averill Park on both dates was probably about 

15 percent greater than the totals reported here. The number 

of commercial properties did not increase appreciably from 

1988 to 2002, although changes in the amount of water used 

by businesses are possible. Water-level declines that followed 

construction of new houses in two localities and increased 

business activity in a third locality are evaluated in the 

following paragraphs.

Locality G: Water levels in five wells along Breezedale 

Drive (locality G, fig. 4) declined 9 to 17 feet from about 

1988 to 2002. Measurements in three of these wells in 

2005 indicated substantial rises since 2002; nevertheless, 

net declines from about 1988 to 2005 ranged from 6 to 

11 feet. These declines can be attributed to a new residential 

development of eight houses along Morning Circle, which 

extends southeast from Breezedale Drive; the wells here were 

drilled from 1990 through 1995, and the houses were occupied 

after about 1995. The resident population along Johnnycake 

Figure 7. Hydrographs of daily mean streamflow in the Manor Kill at West Conesville, N.Y., 1987–88 and 2001–02. 

(Conesville is 48 miles southwest of Averill Park, in the Schoharie Creek basin.) Data from U.S. Geological Survey 

(1976–2005).

2002

0.1

0.2

0.5

1

2

5

10

20

50

100

200

500

1,000

2,000

3,000

DISCHARGE, IN CUBIC FEET PER SECOND

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep

2001

EXPLANATION

Daily mean streamflows for 1988 water year (October 1987 through September 1988)

Daily mean streamflows for 2002 water year (October 2001 through September 2002)

Median values of daily mean streamflows from October 1986 through September 2001

Unshaded area encompasses the range from minumum to maximum daily mean

streamflows, from October 1986 through September 2001

that any net water-level declines greater than 2 to 3 feet 

between 1988–89 and 2002 can probably be attributed to 

other factors, as discussed in the next three sections, because 

climatic conditions were similar prior to measurement of water 

levels in 1988–89 and 2002.

Water-Level Changes as a Function of Resident 

Population or Business Activity 

Any substantial increase in the resident population or in 

water-using commercial activities, such as restaurants, would 

result in increased ground-water withdrawals and thereby 

lower water levels, at least locally. The resident population 

of Averill Park as a whole remained nearly constant from 

1988 through 2002, as indicated by interviews at 232 houses 

and apartment buildings that disclosed 716 residents in 1988 

and 724 residents in 1999–2002 (table 1). These totals do 

not include 35 dwellings for which the number of residents 
18 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Lane and Breezedale Drive decreased slightly from 1988 

through 2002, but with the new development included, locality 

G increased 20 percent in population from 1988 to 2002. 

The net declines in water level were probably smaller near 

the north end of this locality than near the new development, 

although no documentation is available.

Locality H: Water levels in eight wells widely spaced 

across the west side of Averill Park (locality H, fig. 4) declined 

9 to 17 feet from 1988 to 2002. This substantial decline, 

which seems to have encompassed all of locality H, cannot be 

attributed to an increase in population, in that the number of 

residents in that locality remained nearly constant from 1988 

to 2002 (table 1). Water-level declines before 1988 and after 

2002, however, could be attributed to increased population. 

A new development with nine houses was constructed 

in the late 1980s along Hickory Lane (a new road north of 

Gettle Road, about 600 feet west of Old Route 66). Wells were 

drilled here in 1987, and many houses were first occupied 

in about 1988. This new demand for water presumably 

lowered water levels near the north end of locality H, but 

whether most of the decline took place before or after water 

levels were measured in the summer of 1988 is uncertain. 

Construction of another new development began in 2002 in 

the triangular tract of land between Firemans Pond and Marcy 

and Prospect Avenues, which occupies the southern part of 

locality H and the western end of locality E; eight wells were 

drilled here from 1997 through 2002, but only two houses 

had been occupied, briefly, before the 2002 water-level 

measurements were completed. Therefore, withdrawals in this 

new development likely did not contribute to the observed 

decline in water levels. By 2005, however, 14 new houses had 

been built and occupied along Prospect and Marcy Avenues. 

All water levels measured in localities H and E declined from 

2002 to 2005; median declines were 6.7 feet in locality E 

and 8.2 feet in locality H, and most of the largest declines in 

locality H were near and south of Route 43, close to the new 

development. These declines can be attributed at least in part 

to withdrawals from wells serving the 14 new houses.

Locality F: A decline in water levels in locality F from 

1986–88 to 2002 seems to have resulted from increased 

commercial use of water. Water levels in four wells along 

Barzen Road in locality F declined 9 to 11 feet, and no 

declines of less than 9 feet were measured within this locality. 

The water level in 2002 in a well along Bullis Drive, just 

east of locality F, was about 6 feet lower than in the well at 

an adjacent home in May 1989. The resident population of 

locality F did not change from 1988 to 2002 (table 1), but 

two new wells were drilled in 1998 for a large restaurant 

(nos. 2098, 2099) to replace an inadequate well. These new, 

deeper wells have been pumped regularly since 1998. Another 

nearby restaurant (wells 7, 8) reportedly served increased 

numbers of customers after 2000. Increased commercial use 

at these businesses could at least partly explain the decline 

in water levels along Barzen Road. Water levels in five wells 

in locality F rose 4 to 9 feet from 2002 to 2005, but the three 

wells closest to well 2099 recorded declines of 4 and 6 feet 

and a rise of only 1.6 feet, which suggests a continuing 

response to persistently larger commercial withdrawals from 

2002 to 2005.

In summary, water levels in most of Averill Park over 

the 14 years from 1988 to 2002 remained constant or declined 

only a few feet, which is consistent with the generally stable 

population. Declines of 9 to 17 feet in two localities (F, G) 

from 1988 to 2002, and in two other localities (E, H) from 

2002 to 2005, can be largely attributed to localized increases 

in population or in commercial withdrawals. The decline from 

1988 to 2002 along the western side of Averill Park cannot be 

similarly explained, however, and is discussed further in the 

next two sections.

Water-Level Declines as a Function of 

Withdrawals and Natural Discharge

Water levels in locality H seem to have declined 

substantially before the first comprehensive set of 

measurements were made in 1987–89. The potentiometric 

surface in locality H before the installation of bedrock wells 

probably sloped steeply westward toward the lowland west 

of Smauder Hill. No records of water levels when wells 

were first drilled into bedrock in this locality in the 1950s 

or earlier have been found, but unless the water levels were 

initially at least 50 feet above the bottoms of these wells, 

most drillers would presumably have drilled deeper to provide 

storage. Accordingly, the total water-level decline due to 

human activities at two wells along Old Route 66 that were 

dry, or nearly so, in 2002 probably exceeds 75 feet. A similar 

calculation for two wells along Allen Avenue suggests a total 

decline of at least 50 feet. 

The inferred large decline in head in the northern part 

of locality H over the past 50 years, and the continuing large 

(15-foot) decline in head throughout locality H from 1988 

through 2002, could be interpreted as normal aquifer response 

to increased withdrawals from wells—namely, a decrease in 

the westward gradient that would have existed in the 1930s, 

when all water in bedrock at Averill Park flowed westward to 

discharge naturally into the lowland west of locality H. The 

potentiometric surface in 2002 in locality H north of Route 43 

is inferred to have been nearly level (pl. 3) and at nearly 

the same altitude as in the lowland to the west. Water levels 

measured in 19 wells along Old Route 66, and along Lake, 

Pine, and Allen Avenues and along Route 43 west of Lake 

Avenue, were all within 4 feet of an altitude of 620 feet. The 

lowland west of Smauder Hill is underlain largely by surficial 

sand and gravel (LaFleur, 1965); thus, the water table there is 

probably close to the altitude of swamps and streams shown 

on the topographic map—about 630 feet in the area north 

of Route 43 and about 610 feet in the area south of Route 

43. Therefore, ground water north of Route 43 in locality 

H probably no longer flows westward to discharge into that 

lowland. South of Route 43, however, water levels remain 

higher in locality H than in the lowland and continue to slope 
Data Collection 19

steeply westward toward the lowland (pl. 3). If the water-level 

gradient had not reached equilibrium by 2002 and continued to 

decline at the same rate through 2005, this trend would explain 

15 to 20 percent of the median water-level declines observed 

during these 3 years in localities H and E (8.2 and 6.7 feet). 

If the increase in recharge from precipitation during 2003–05 

that caused a net rise in water levels in central and eastern 

Averill Park also occurred in localities H and E, the declines in 

water levels observed in these localities were probably a foot 

or so smaller than would have occurred if the dry conditions of 

2001–02 had continued.

Water-Level Declines as Cause and Result 

of Well Deepening 

A total of 47 bedrock wells had been drilled in locality 

H, on the west side of Averill Park, by 1970 (table 1). Nearly 

all of these wells were less than 200 feet deep. By 2002, 38 

of those wells (81 percent) had been deepened, or replaced 

by deeper wells—a much higher percentage than in any other 

locality around Averill Park. Of the 65 wells inventoried 

in 2002, only 15 were less than 200 feet deep, and 25 were 

300 to 722 feet deep (table 1). The long-term water-level 

declines described in the preceding section are an obvious 

proximate cause of the abundance of deepened wells in this 

locality. Several older, relatively shallow wells have reportedly 

been rendered useless by declining water levels, as indicated 

in the first table below. All have been replaced by deeper wells 

or by lake water. 

 The deepening of many wells in locality H and elsewhere 

around Averill Park is to some extent a cause of water-level 

decline, as well as a response to a previous decline. In humid 

regions such as the northeastern United States, head decreases 

with increasing depth beneath hills or uplands, and increases 

with increasing depth beneath major valleys or lowlands. 

This head distribution is the result of gravity, which causes 

precipitation on hills to infiltrate to the water table, where it 

then moves downward and laterally toward valleys, and finally 

upward into streams that drain those valleys (fig. 8; see also 

Toth, 1962; Kontis and others, 2004, fig. 5). Water levels in 

pairs of nearby shallow and deep wells document decreases in 

head with depth at four places in locality H, as indicated in the 

second table below. 

The latter two well pairs are near the eastern margin of 

locality H and exemplify the large differences in head (pl. 3) 

between the shallow bedrock near the center of Averill Park 

and the much lower bedrock in locality H to the west (pl. 1), 

where bedrock is mantled by 60 to 190 feet of till. Head in 

bedrock at depths of 200 feet or more (fig. 3) may have been 

lower in 2002 than under natural (predevelopment) conditions 

as a result of withdrawals from deep wells, but head probably 

decreased with depth even under natural conditions (fig. 8).

 Any well that is drilled to a depth of 300 to 600 feet at 

Averill Park is likely to intersect water-yielding fractures at 

multiple depths. If so, the water level in the well would be 

an average of the heads in the individual fractures, weighted 

in proportion to the water-transmitting capacity (hydraulic 

conductivity) of each fracture, and would be deeper than if the 

well had been drilled to a depth of only 200 feet. Water would 

Well 

number 

(plate 2)

Street 

(figure 1, 

plate 2) 

Depth below land surface (feet)

Bottom Owner’s experience

of well 

Water level 

in 2002 

195 Old Rte 66 130.0 dry Well failed abruptly in 1974

147 Old Rte 66 139.1 126.4 Yield only enough for drinking 1984-94

152 Old Rte 66 186 reported not measured Yield negligible after wells at adjacent homes were deepened 1979-85

69 Crowley Way 129.4 127.0 Yield inadequate 1998

309 Terrace Drive 110 reported 113.7* Well failed 1996

*

Depth to water level measured in nearby well 200 feet deep

Street 

(fig. 1, pl. 2)

Well numbers 

(pl. 2) 

Well depth 

(feet below land surface)

Water- surface altitude 

(feet above NGVD29)

Date of water-level 

measurement

Crowley Way (off Allen Avenue) 69

69A

129.4

300(?)

 619.26 

618.56 

August 15, 2002

Do.

Lake Avenue 52

52A

188

500

621.80 

621.01

July 24, 2002

Do.

Route 43, near Lake Avenue 303

213A

202

342

700.20

625.87

August 19, 2002

Do.

Old Route 66 247

248a

139.1

400

 676.36 

620.92 

August 7, 2002

July 22, 2002
20 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Figure 8. Vertical section through an idealized homogeneous aquifer showing typical ground-water flow paths in uplands and 

valleys. (Modified from Hubbert, 1940.) Wells A, B, and C each intersect one water-yielding fracture; head in each well is equal to 

the head represented by the equipotential line that intersects that fracture. Well D intersects two fractures; water flows into the 

well from the fracture with higher head and out of the well into the fracture with lower head. Stream

Stream

Land surface

Water table

D A B C

EXPLANATION

Equipotential line (all points along

each line have the same head)

Direction of ground-water

flow (from highest to lowest head)

Impermeable rock

C Well

Water level in well (corresponds to head in

fracture(s) penetrated)

Water-yielding fracture(s)

Flow into, down, and out well that

intersects two fractures
 Quality of Water in Bedrock 21

drain into the well from shallow fractures and then flow down 

the well bore and out of the well through deep fractures. This 

process would lower the head in the shallow fractures and in 

any nearby well that tapped those same fractures—even if the 

number of wells in use, and the total volume of withdrawals, 

remained constant. Therefore, deepening wells could 

decrease the yield of individual wells that depend on shallow 

fractures without decreasing the total yield available from the 

bedrock aquifer. 

The foregoing hypothesis, that drilling wells deep into 

bedrock in uplands can result in a decline in head in shallow 

bedrock by allowing downward flow along the boreholes 

(in addition to any decline that subsequently results from 

withdrawal of water), is supported by well and water-level 

records collected during this study from a tract of undeveloped 

land between Marcy Avenue, Prospect Avenue, and Firemans 

Pond. Two new wells were drilled here in 1999, and three 

more in 2002 (wells 2084–88, pl. 2); all were intended to 

serve individual houses, construction of which began in 

2002. Water levels in five older wells along Prospect Avenue 

were measured in May 1999 and again in August 2002. The 

estimated amount of water available for recharge during the 

12 months preceding the 2002 measurements was almost 

identical to that preceding the 1999 measurements (fig. 6). The 

two westernmost of the older wells, which are close to (and 

less deep than) the new wells, showed net water-level declines 

of 3.48 and 3.72 feet from 1999 to 2002 (table 3). In contrast, 

the two easternmost wells showed net water-level rises of 

2.3 to 3.3 feet, and the middle well showed an intermediate net 

water-level change. A small net water-level rise from June or 

August 1999 to August 2002 also was observed in a few wells 

along Terrace Drive, west of Prospect Avenue (appendix B). 

This observed net water-level decline near five newly drilled 

deep wells that were not yet in use, over a period when water 

levels rose in more distant wells, could be plausibly explained 

by continuous downward flow along the new well bores, 

although it does not rule out other possible explanations, such 

as some unknown anomaly in the distribution of recharge 

or pumpage.

Downward flow undoubtedly takes place within many 

deep wells, but its magnitude is unknown. Downward head 

gradients in bedrock near the center of Averill Park are much 

steeper than in locality H, yet the bedrock remains saturated 

to within 10 to 15 feet of land surface in many places near the 

center (wells 56, 176, 177, 292, appendix A; pl. 2). Therefore, 

downward flow along boreholes seems to have only a small 

effect on head at shallow depth in bedrock. 

The preceding discussion of water-level changes at 

Averill Park since 1988 can be summarized as follows. Water 

levels in bedrock wells fluctuate by a few feet in response 

to fluctuations in precipitation and evapotranspiration, and 

decline when and where an increase in resident population or 

commercial activity increases pumpage. Water levels in the 

upper part of the bedrock may have declined a few feet as a 

result of continuous small downward flows within deep wells. 

Small net declines in water levels from 1988–89 to 2002, 

averaging 0 to 5 feet, were measured in most localities in 

central and eastern Averill Park. Net declines averaging 15 feet 

that were measured in western Averill Park demonstrate 

that withdrawals from wells, plus some continued westward 

ground-water flow toward points of natural discharge, 

exceeded recharge to this locality. The magnitudes of net 

water-level declines from 1988–89 to 2002 were probably not 

affected substantially by natural fluctuations in precipitation 

because both sets of measurements were made after relatively 

dry periods. 

Quality of Water in Bedrock

Chemical data collected during 1999–2001 indicated 

several pronounced contrasts in ground-water quality 

that affect the suitability of ground water for domestic or 

commercial use, and also provide clues as to the source and 

movement of ground water from which areal differences in 

well yields and recharge rates could be inferred.

Patterns of Chemical-Quality Distribution 

Ground water in bedrock beneath Averill Park varies 

greatly in chemical character. Three principal types of water 

can be identified (fig. 9): (1) moderately hard, calcium 

bicarbonate water, which is found in the upper part of the 

Table 3. Net change in water level from May 1999 to August 2002 in wells along Prospect Avenue at Averill Park, N.Y.

[All depths are in feet. Well locations are shown on pl. 2.]

Well number Well depth Depth to Water 

May 1999 Aug 2002 Net change

↕

28 170 89.78 93.50 3.72 deeper

27 152 100.55 104.03 3.48 deeper

26 145 96.13 98.07 1.94 deeper

29 295 125.14 121.85 3.29 higher

118 > 293 136.64 134.34 2.30 higher

EAST WEST
22 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Figure 9. Distribution of major chemical constituents in water samples from 15 wells at Averill Park, N.Y. 

increasing

roadsalt

natural softening

at depth

20

40

60

80

80

60

40

20

20

40

60

80

20

40

60

80

20

40

60

80

20

40

60

80

20

40

60

80

20

40

60

80

SULFATE PLUS CHLORIDE

CALCIUM PLUS MAGNESIUM

SODIUM PLUS POTASSIUM

CARBONATE PLUS BICARBONATE

SULFATE

MAGNESIUM

CALCIUM CHLORIDE

CATIONS ANIONS

PERCENTAGE REACTING VALUES

20

40

60

80

20

40

60

80
 Quality of Water in Bedrock 23

bedrock, chiefly in areas of thick till overburden; (2) very soft, 

sodium-rich alkaline water, which is found at greater depth 

throughout the area; and (3) very hard, relatively mineralized 

chloride-rich water, which is found at shallow depths in areas 

of thin till overburden near major roads. The distribution 

and significance of these water types are discussed in the 

next three sections. Most of the analyses used to compile 

figure 9 were not complete (table 4). Therefore, for 13 wells 

the concentration of calcium plus magnesium was calculated 

from hardness (as analyzed or from field measurements in 

2001), and the ratio of magnesium to calcium was estimated 

from results for other wells. For seven wells, one other 

constituent was estimated, generally by assuming that total 

anion milliequivalents equal total cation milliequivalents and 

subtracting measured cations from total anions (or vice versa). 

Moderately Hard Water in Shallow Bedrock 

Beneath Thick Till

Bedrock is mantled by at least 30 feet of till in 

most localities surrounding the center of Averill Park. 

The maximum known till thickness is about 190 feet. 

Nearly all wells less than about 180 feet deep in these 

localities, and some deeper wells, had water hardness of 

80 to 170 milligrams per liter and specific conductance of 

300 to 550 microsiemens per centimeter (at 25 ̊C). Hardness

in such wells along the western outskirts (Allen Avenue, 

Crowley Way, Route 43) was typically 100 to 240 milligrams 

per liter, and conductance was 600 to 660 microsiemens per 

centimeter. Chloride concentrations in these localities were 

typically 3 to 10 milligrams per liter but were as high as 

40 to 55 milligrams per liter in a few wells.

The predominant dissolved constituents in this 

moderately hard water are calcium and bicarbonate ions, 

derived largely from dissolution of limestone fragments 

in the till. Hardness is caused chiefly by calcium, along 

with smaller amounts of magnesium. The alkalinity values 

in table 4 indicate that bicarbonate concentrations of 

120 to 250 milligrams per liter are common near Averill Park 

(bicarbonate concentration = alkalinity concentration × 1.22). 

Hardness in water is not particularly objectionable for 

domestic uses until it exceeds about 100 milligrams per liter 

(Hem, 1985), and relatively few Averill Park property owners 

have chosen to soften this type of water. The heating of water 

decreases the solubility of carbon dioxide, which in turn can 

result in the deposition of calcium or magnesium carbonate 

(often referred to as “lime”) in water heaters, furnace coils, 

and hot-water pipes, and in the accumulation of sand-size 

calcium or magnesium carbonate crystals in washing-machine 

and faucet screens. Carbon dioxide also can evolve when 

water is subject to strong vacuum, such as on the suction side 

of a pump, or when ground water containing abundant carbon 

dioxide comes in contact with the atmosphere and equilibrates 

to the concentration of carbon dioxide therein.

Calcium or magnesium carbonate has precipitated 

within the plumbing system in unusually large amounts 

in several wells at Averill Park. For example, at well 115 

copious amounts of sand-size carbonate crystals accumulated 

in a wound-string cartridge filter between the submersible 

pump and the pressure tank, carbonate precipitation caused 

the pump to fail after 7 years, and the furnace coil required 

acid treatment every 4 to 6 months to alleviate clogging. 

Carbonate crystals accumulated on filters installed after the 

pressure tank at wells 112 and 36. Carbonate precipitation 

forced replacement of the submersible pump at well 8 every 

18 months from 1981 through 2000, clogged the furnace 

coil at well 143 despite several acid treatments, and formed 

an inch-thick coating on the submersible pump in well 2113 

after 14 years of use. Water from well 2113 had a hardness 

of 137 milligrams per liter, but the other wells mentioned 

had water hardness of only 17 to 50 milligrams per liter (as 

measured at the pressure tank or a sink, presumably after 

some calcium carbonate had already precipitated). All but one 

of these five wells is deeper than 180 feet. Accordingly, the 

unusually abundant carbonate precipitation in these wells may 

result from the mixing of waters from two sources—water 

derived from shallow fractures that has a moderately high 

calcium concentration and high alkalinity, and water derived 

from deeper fractures that has somewhat higher alkalinity 

but a low calcium concentration (as discussed in the next 

section). Such a mixture could be supersaturated with respect 

to calcium carbonate (Drever, 1988, p. 63).

Soft Water in Deep Bedrock

Nearly all wells in several areas of thick till west and 

south of the center of Averill Park are more than 180 feet 

deep and yield soft water (0 to 50 milligrams per liter 

hardness). These areas include Orient Avenue and Burden 

Lake Road, more than 600 feet south of Route 43, also Marcy 

Avenue, Terrace Drive, Allen Avenue, Lake Avenue, and 

Old Route 66 north of Lake Avenue. A few older wells less 

than 180 feet deep in these localities yield water with greater 

hardness (65 to 155 milligrams per liter; wells 26, 27, 202, 

2079, appendix A). Water from most wells near and east of 

the center of Averill Park, regardless of till thickness, is at 

least moderately hard, but some deep wells yield soft water. 

The soft water in all these localities is not characterized by 

consistently higher or lower chloride concentrations or specific 

conductance than the hard water from nearby wells. The few 

relatively complete chemical analyses of soft water from 

deep wells (table 4) are consistent, however, in reporting far 

more sodium than chloride, greater alkalinity than in shallow 

wells, and a pH generally between 8.0 and 9.6. Similar 

geochemical conditions prevail in the town of Poestenkill, 1 

to 5 miles north of Averill Park, where water from 14 wells, 

some finished above bedrock, contained substantial calcium 

and magnesium concentrations (and therefore considerable 

hardness), but water from six wells contained far more sodium 

than calcium, and three others contained less than 5 milligrams 
24 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York Table 4. Chemical analyses of ground-water samples collected from 21 wells at Averill Park, N.Y., 1978–2001.—Continued [All values are in milligrams per liter except as noted. mg/L, milligrams per liter; --, no data, <, less than. Well status: N, newly drilled; I, in use. Source of analysis: N, New York State Department of Health; R, Rensselaer County Health Department.; P, private laboratory; W, water-treatment company. Abbreviations: μS/cm, microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius; CaCO3, calcium carbonate. Well locations shown on pl. 2] Well no. Street (fig. 1) Well depth (feet) Date sampled Well status Tur- bidity (units) pH (units) Alka- linity Hard- ness as CaCO3 Sod- ium Potas- sium Cal- cium Mag- nesi- um Bar- ium Iron a Man- ganese Chlor- ide Sul- fate Nitrate (as N) Fluor- ide Total dis- solved solids Spec- cific con- duct- ance (μS/cm) Source of analy- sis 3A N.Y. Route 43 245 3 Mar 99 I -- 7.4 194 692 140 1.6 244 17 7.7 <0.05 1.38 515 16 0.6 <0.2 1,220 --

P

37 Houston Way 400 13 Mar 87

N 35 9.6 184 2 97.5 -- -- -- <0.1 2.22 0.05 -- -- -- 0.28 -- --

P

37 Houston Way 400 6 Mar 00 I 4.1 9.6 177 <2 -- -- -- -- -- 0.12 0.01 11 20 <0.2 -- -- 400

P

39a Crystal Lake 

Rd.

155 28 Dec 01 I 0.1 7.7 157 64 59.5 -- -- -- -- 0.10 0.20 5 36 <0.2 <0.2 -- 360

P

79 Johnnycake 

Lane

190 19 May 93 I -- 7.4 138 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.05 -- -- -- -- -- 397 --

R

131 N.Y.Route 43 190 2 Mar 78 I 43 6.9 160 191 207 1.7 156 36 -- 9.70 0.80 195 10 0 -- -- 1,000

Wb

134B Old Route 66 240 18 Nov 86 I -- -- -- -- 36.6 -- -- -- -- -- -- 296 -- 0.3 -- -- --

R

 138a N.Y. Route 43 400 24 Oct 84 I -- -- -- -- 74 -- -- -- -- -- -- 368 -- 0.3 -- -- --

R

138a N.Y. Route 43 400 Oct 98 I -- 7.5 -- 44 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 500 --

W

161 Johnnycake 

Lane

120 16 Jun 89 I -- 7.0 -- 297 40.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 109 -- 0.9 -- -- --

R

176A N.Y. Route 43 443 10 Jul 98 I 6 8.8 -- 48 195 -- -- -- -- 0.09 0.00 -- -- 1 -- 243 --

W

183 N.Y. Route 43 95 19 Jan 87 I -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.18 0.04 530 -- 1.8 -- -- R

190 Crystal Lake 

Rd.

-- 18 Sep 01 I 0.6 8.2 148 23 -- -- -- -- -- 0.06 0.04 18 15 <0.2 -- -- 360 P

 c Crystal Lake 

Rd.

-- 18 Sep 01 -- 0.25 7.3 34 40 -- -- -- -- -- 0.07 0.02 41 15 <0.2 -- -- 230 P

204A Old Route 66 340 10 Aug 98 I -- 9.4 226 9 116 -- -- -- -- <0.05 0.02 -- -- <0.2 -- -- -- P

 221a Beach Lane 265 7 Aug 00 I 8.3 8.0 104 37 -- -- -- -- -- 0.29 0.05 43 12 <0.2 -- 212 370 P
 Quality of Water in Bedrock 25

Table 4. Chemical analyses of ground-water samples collected from 21 wells at Averill Park, N.Y., 1978–2001.—Continued[All values are in milligrams per liter except as noted. mg/L, milligrams per liter; --, no data, <, less than. Well status: N, newly drilled; I, in use. Source of analysis: N, New York State Department of Health; R, Rensselaer County Health Department.; P, private laboratory; W, water-treatment company. Abbreviations: μS/cm, microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius; CaCO3, calcium carbonate. Well locations 

shown on pl. 2] 

Well 

no.

 Street

 (fig. 1)

Well 

depth 

(feet)

Date 

sampled

 Well 

status

Turbidity 

(units)

pH 

(units)

Alkalinity Hard- ness as CaCO3 Sod- ium Potas- sium Cal- cium Mag- nesi- um Bar- ium Iron a Man- ganese Chlor- ide Sul- fate Nitrate (as N) Fluor- ide Total dis- solved solids

Speccific 

conductance 

(μS/cm)

Source 

of 

analysis

289A Burden Lake 

Rd.

503 16 Sep 88 N -- 9.4 270 4 -- -- <2 -- <0.1 0.97 0.04 -- -- -- -- 537 -- P

 291a Burden Lake 

Rd.

400 30 Jan 95 I -- 7.3 -- 154 -- -- -- -- -- 0.40 -- -- -- -- -- 520 -- W

2060 Eastern Union 

Turnpike

380 7 Jul 97 N 4.5 7.5 -- 280 15.3 -- -- -- -- 0.32 0.40 5 34 <0.2 <0.2 332 -- P

2077a Burden Lake 

Rd.

142 23 Mar 94 I 3.3 -- -- -- 106 <0.5 3.5 <0.5 0.03 0.21 0.02 -- -- --- -- -- -- N

2081 Marcy Ave. 290 23 Oct 77 N 8 8.9 210 10 149 -- -- -- -- 0.43 0.03 67 33 <0.2 0.22 447 720 P

2082 Marcy Ave. 210 27 Oct 97 N 15 8.8 183 26 115 -- -- -- -- 1.05 0.04 51 34 <0.2 <0.2 340 560 P

2083 Prospect Ave. 350 30 Oct 97 N 16 8.0 198 28 128 -- -- -- -- 0.42 0.05 38 60 <0.2 <0.2 403 620 P

2084 Prospect Ave. 170 19 May 99 N 0.4 8.0 195 38 -- -- -- -- -- <0.05 0.01 48 67 <0.2 -- -- 670 P

a High iron values from wells with turbid water may reflect leaching of iron from suspended sediment as a result of acid used to preserve water sample. b Alkalinity value converted from bicarbonate of 195 mg/L. This analysis is internally inconsistent: the sum of anions does not equal the sum of cations in milliequivalents per liter.c Water from Crystal Lake, same house as well 190.
26 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

bedrock is depicted in figure 2. Ground water in these areas is 

characterized by the following chemical characteristics:

•	 specific conductance is typically between 1,000 and 

2,500 microsiemens per centimeter,

•	 hardness is typically between 250 and 425 milligrams 

per liter, but as high as 680 to 1,500 milligrams per 

liter in some wells,

•	 chloride concentrations have varied widely but 

exceeded 100 milligrams per liter in many wells, 

exceeded 500 milligrams per liter in a few wells, and 

increased from the 1960s to the 1980s or 1990s in most 

wells from which repeated samples were analyzed.

•	 sodium concentrations, available from only four 

scattered wells (table 4), are much lower than chloride 

concentrations.

This chemical signature is attributed to infiltration 

of salt-laden highway runoff in winter. Concentrations of 

chloride in winter runoff from streets and highways can reach 

1,000 milligrams per liter or more (Kappel and others, 1986, 

fig. 6; Granato, 1996, table 3). Exchange of sodium ions in 

this saline water with calcium on the surfaces of soil particles 

or bedrock fractures greatly increases water hardness and 

depletes dissolved sodium relative to chloride. The restriction 

of this chemical signature to localities of shallow bedrock 

implies that, in areas of thick till, water that infiltrated since 

the start of intensive road-salt applications in the 1960s has 

not yet reached bedrock. Accordingly, the rate of recharge to 

bedrock must be slower in areas of thick till than in areas of 

thin, discontinuous till.

The distributions of specific conductance values and 

chloride concentrations are depicted in figures 10 and 11, 

respectively; these maps indicate that conductance values 

greater than 1,000 microsiemens per centimeter, and chloride 

concentrations greater than 100 milligrams per liter, are 

confined to the area of shallow depth to bedrock (0 to 30 feet, 

fig. 2). The spread of these contours farther to the south and 

west of Route 43 and Old Route 66 than to the north and east 

is consistent with the predominantly southward and westward 

directions of ground-water flow inferred from the water-level 

measurements (pl. 3). 

Water in deep wells within the areas of shallow bedrock 

is generally characterized by lower specific conductance, 

hardness, and chloride concentrations than water in nearby 

shallow wells (but not as low as in deep wells in areas where 

till thickness exceeds 30 feet). This pattern can be attributed to 

the blending of salty recharge along streets in areas of shallow 

bedrock with the softer water that is typically found at depths 

below 180 feet throughout Averill Park and is presumed 

to have infiltrated far from streets, or before road salting 

became common.

Water that is very hard as a result of road salting contains 

an abundance of calcium with lesser concentrations of sodium 

and magnesium. Deposition of calcium and magnesium 

per liter of calcium but were not analyzed for sodium (LaFleur 

and Randall, 1995). Those nine wells ranged from 200 to 700 

feet in depth; alkalinity generally exceeded 185 milligrams per 

liter as CaCO3

, and pH consistently exceeded 9.0. 

The fact that some deep wells yield moderately hard 

water, whereas other equally deep wells nearby yield soft 

water, can be explained by differences in the depths at which 

the wells intersect water-yielding fractures. The wells that 

yield moderately hard water probably obtain that water from 

the upper part of the bedrock, either because these wells do not 

intersect fractures at greater depth, or because downward flow 

within the well bore recharges deeper fractures with water that 

entered the wells from the upper part of the bedrock. The fact 

that nearly all wells in several areas of thick till are deeper 

than 180 feet and yield soft water implies that local recharge 

through the thick till is small or is subject to rapid natural 

softening through cation exchange in the bedrock.

Water hardness at several properties was lower in 

1999–2000 than reported earlier (table 5). The decrease in 

hardness in at least four wells coincided with an increase in 

well depth and, thus, could be attributed to a new source of 

soft water from deep fractures; the decreased hardness in the 

other wells might be attributed to water-level declines that 

dewatered shallow fractures that had yielded water previously. 

This interpretation is consistent with the observation that the 

static water levels in 2002 were below the bedrock surface 

at all but one of the 14 properties listed in table 5, but does 

not explain the apparent absence of hard water from modern 

recharge. An alternative hypothesis is that ground-water 

circulation in bedrock before wells were drilled around Averill 

Park may have taken place largely within about 180 feet of 

land surface, and that the capacity of bedrock in this zone of 

active circulation to soften water by cation exchange may have 

been depleted over the millennia through continual exposure 

to recharge that contained appreciable amounts of calcium and 

magnesium from the overlying till. In recent decades, deep 

wells may have penetrated a zone in which water circulation 

had previously been minimal and the ion-exchange capacity 

was undiminished. As soft water is withdrawn from this zone, 

any modern recharge that replaces it apparently is altered 

through the continued dissolution of carbonate minerals, 

a process that increases alkalinity and pH, and is softened 

through cation exchange. One implication of this hypothesis is 

that hardness should eventually increase as the ion-exchange 

capacity of the deep bedrock becomes depleted. 

Very Hard, Mineralized Water near Highways 

Where Depth to Bedrock is Slight

Depth to bedrock near the center of Averill Park is 

slight (0 to 30 feet below land surface), and discontinuous 

outcrops of bedrock are common (pl. 1). Bedrock is equally 

close to land surface in a small area along Eastern Union 

Turnpike. The extent of these areas of shallow depth to 
 Quality of Water in Bedrock 27

Table 5. Evidence of decrease in water hardness at several properties at Averill Park, N.Y.

[μS/cm, microsiemens per centimeter at 25° Celsius; ft, feet; mg/L, milligrams per liter; CaCO3, calcium carbonate. A dash (--) denotes no data available]

Well 

number

Street

(fig. 1)

Well depth 

(feet)

Specific 

conductance 

(μS/cm)

Hardness 

as CaCO3

(mg/L)

Date 

sampled Remarks

A. Decrease as a result of increased depth

34 Johnnycake Lane 110? 700 265 9 Apr 01 Old well, small yield

34A Johnnycake Lane 320 490 68 9 Oct 02 New well August 2002

203 Old Route 66 

(north of Lake 

Avenue)

400 450 17 21 Jul 00 Water reported softer after well 

deepened from 147 ft in 1986

219 Beach Lane 143 280 120 24 Jul 02 Located 80 ft from well 220

220 Beach Lane 500 360 26 24 Jul 02 Located 80 ft from well 219

302 Johnnycake Lane 125 700 111 14 Apr 01 Old well, small yield

302A Johnnycake Lane 380 470 43 11 Sep 02 New well May 2002

B. Apparent decrease over time in a well of constant depth

28 Prospect Avenue 170 -- 170 24 Nov 87 --

-- 680 77 24 Oct 99 -- 

57 Old Route 66 

(south of Lake 

Avenue)

220 610 43 22 Jul 02 Hardness test 1964 after well was 

deepened; softener needed. 

Softener disconnected 1988, no 

difference in hardness noticed.

112 Burden Lake 

Road

250 1,040 17 11 Nov 99 Water tested 1986, “very high in 

lime,” a “lime-removal device” 

(not a softener) installed, later 

replaced by filter to capture small 

carbonate crystals.

120 Burden Lake 

Road

390 750 0 31 Oct 99 Well was deepened from 219 ft 

in 1976, softener was installed 

before 1983, no longer used in 

1999.

122 Orient Avenue 335 560 51 Nov 99 Softener installed 1985, 

discontinued 1993 due to 

mechanical problems.

148 Prospect Avenue 220? 560 17 4 Dec 99 1967–88, gritty sand (“lime”?) 

in washing-machine screen, so 

installed filter on water line. 

1999, filter no longer in use, no 

sand in washer screen.

195 Old Route 66 

(north of Lake 

Avenue)

200 480 68 16 Jun 02 Softener installed 1968 on old well 

130 ft deep, primarily to remove 

iron; new well 1974, softener still 

in use in 2002.

248 Old Route 66 

(north of Lake 

Avenue)

400 690 8 15 Jun 02 Softener installed sometime after 

1972, still in use 2002. 

277 Pine Avenue 220 730 34 2 Jun 02 Well deepened from 148 ft in 1970; 

new, deeper pump 1999. Water 

softer since 1999, has slight 

sulfur, no iron stains now.

313 Terrace Drive 560 670 0 21 Aug 99 Softener 1974 when well was 

drilled, removed 1986 when 

serviceman said not needed.
28 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Figure 10. Specific conductance of water from wells at Averill Park, N.Y., as measured between July 1999 and October 2002. 

500

750

1000

500

1000

750

500

500

500

500

750

1000

500

EXPLANATION

Line of equal specific conductance—Contour interval

250 microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius

Well from which specific conductance of water was measured

on site between July 1999 and October 2002

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, various dates,

1:24,000, Universal Transverse Mercator projection, NAD 83,

Zone 18

0 500 1,000 FEET

0 125 250 METERS

1:12,000

73°34' 73°33'30" 73°33'

42°

37'

30"

42°

38'

42°

38'

30"
 Quality of Water in Bedrock 29

Figure 11. Chloride concentrations in water from wells at Averill Park, N.Y., as measured between 1964 and 2001.

Line of equal chloride concentration—Contours at 10 and

100 milligrams per liter

Well from which water sample has been analyzed for chloride—

Dates of sampling vary, but 90 percent were between 1970 and 2001.

For wells from which multiple analyses were available, the most

recent was selected

10

100

10

10

10

100

100

EXPLANATION

73°34' 73°33'30" 73°33'

42°

38'

42°

38'

30"

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, various dates,

1:24,000, Universal Transverse Mercator projection, NAD 83,

Zone 18

0 500 1,000 FEET

0 125 250 METERS

1:12,000
30 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

carbonates (“lime”) can occur when the water is heated or 

when the ambient pressure is decreased, but does not increase 

in proportion to hardness because bicarbonate is generally less 

abundant than chloride plus sulfate. Furthermore, many wells 

are equipped with softeners to remove hardness. Accordingly, 

deposition of carbonates is not widely reported to be a 

problem in homes with very hard water.

Three wells have relatively high hardness that seems 

unrelated to highway salting and might thereby provide clues 

as to the geochemical evolution of ground water. Their depths, 

sampling dates, specific conductance, and hardness are listed 

in the table below. 

All three wells are at least 850 feet from major roads. 

Well 38 is in a sparsely populated locality; wells 2060 and 

2112 are in undeveloped localities 600 feet or more from 

any other well. (Well 38 is only 200 feet from Crystal Lake 

Road, but road salting along that narrow residential street 

may be slight, till thickness exceeds 30 feet, and no other well 

produced water with a hardness greater than 150 milligrams 

per liter.) All three wells had been used much less than other 

wells at Averill Park prior to sampling. These circumstances 

suggest that the hardness of water from these wells might be 

representative of natural recharge to bedrock through thick till, 

whereas the hardness (50 to 240 milligrams per liter) of water 

from most wells that tap the upper part of bedrock in longsettled areas with thick till might reflect modification of local 

recharge by ion exchange, or by dilution with softer water 

from greater depth.

Localized Nuisance Conditions

Three other water-quality conditions that are not 

hazardous to human health but have caused inconvenience 

to several well owners at Averill Park are hydrogen sulfide, 

suspended clay or silt, and suspended or dissolved iron and 

manganese. These nuisance conditions are discussed in turn in 

the following sections.

Hydrogen Sulfide (“Sulfur Water”)

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a flammable gas that is highly 

soluble in water and gives water a distinctive “rotten-egg” 

odor that can be detected by most people at concentrations 

of only a few tenths of a milligram per liter (Hem, 1985, 

p. 117). Hydrogen sulfide can form through several bacterially 

mediated processes, including reduction of sulfate and, in the 

absence of oxygen, decomposition or anaerobic oxidation of 

organic matter (Chapelle, 1993).

About 30 percent of well owners at Averill Park 

acknowledge the presence of hydrogen sulfide in their well 

water but generally describe the condition as slight, temporary, 

or infrequent. The only locality in which most well owners 

report continuous strong sulfur odor and (or) have installed 

water-treatment equipment to remove sulfur is on Crystal Lake 

Road along the north shore of Crystal Lake (fig. 12). Most of 

the homeowners in this locality who did not report a problem 

with sulfur water use the lake rather than wells for their 

domestic supplies.

Well 

number

Date 

drilled

Depth 

(feet below 

land surface)

Casing length 

(feet)

Specific 

conductance 

(microsiemens 

per centimeter 

at 25 ̊Celsius)

 Hardness, 

as calcium 

carbonate, in 

milligrams 

per liter

Date 

sampled Location and remarks

38 1967 150 45 

(estimated)

910 427 August 8, 2002 Side of drumlin near east 

shore of Crystal Lake. 

House unoccupied for 

at least 1 year prior to 

substantial use on date 

sampled. Hardness 

measured by field kit.

2060 June 17, 1997 380 43.5 not measured 288 July 7, 1997 Hilltop east of Eastern 

Union Turnpike. 

Hardness measured by 

private laboratory.

2112 Mar 29, 2001 400 133 625 256 June 4, 2003 Hilltop (drumlin) west 

of Eastern Union 

Turnpike. House first 

occupied July 2002. 

Hardness measured by 

field kit. 
 Quality of Water in Bedrock 31

 Figure 12. Distribution of wells at Averill Park, N.Y., whose water contains high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide or is turbid. 

73°34' 73°33'30" 73°33'

42°

38'

42°

38'

30"

EXPLANATION

Water reported to have strong odor of hydrogen

sulfide, and (or) is treated to remove odor

Water turbid with suspended clay or silt

continuously, or intermittently when well was

pumped heavily, for several months or years

after the well was drilled

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, various dates,

1:24,000, Universal Transverse Mercator projection, NAD 83,

Zone 18

1:12,000

0 500 1,000 FEET

0 125 250 METERS
32 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Suspended Clay or Silt

Several wells near and north of the center of Averill 

Park yielded water containing considerable suspended finegrained sediment or turbidity for several years after the well 

was drilled, some at all times, and some only when heavily 

pumped. The distribution of wells that are, or were, affected 

by prolonged turbidity is shown in figure 12. Bedrock 

near Averill Park is generally described by well drillers as 

alternating red and gray shale. Most of the affected wells 

produced pink sediment derived from the red shale, but a 

great majority of the wells that penetrate red shale have never 

yielded turbid water, and a few wells have been reported to 

yield gray, silt-laden water. Apparently, a few rock layers 

consist of soft, weakly cemented shale that is easily eroded 

by flowing ground water. One owner reported that 60 feet of 

mud accumulated in his well in 3 months. The pumps in three 

other wells, all near Barzen Avenue, failed after a few weeks, 

months, or years and could not be pulled; whether the pumps 

simply became buried in mud, or whether chunks of rock 

along the well bore collapsed and lodged against the pumps, 

is unknown.

Iron and Manganese

The most widespread displeasing aspect of groundwater quality that occurs naturally in the northeastern United 

States is dissolved iron and manganese. These constituents 

can readily dissolve in water that lacks dissolved oxygen—a 

common characteristic of ground water that follows a long, 

deep flow path or that is exposed to organic matter near land 

surface in recharge areas or within the aquifer. Typically, ironor manganese-bearing ground water is clear when pumped 

from the well or drawn from the faucet, but when it is exposed 

to oxygen in the air, the iron and manganese form insoluble 

oxides that stain plumbing fixtures and laundry and form a 

surface sheen on standing water.

Severely troublesome concentrations of dissolved iron 

and manganese are not widespread at Averill Park. Some 

residents reported iron staining of toilets, and a few reported 

a brown color in water after adding bleach, generally in 

water that was moderately hard and derived from the upper 

part of the bedrock, but almost no one reported staining 

of laundry. Suspended fine particles of oxidized iron and 

manganese are present in the water at 11 homes, however. 

These 11 homes have wound-string sediment filters installed 

after the pressure tank to capture suspended sediment; the 

filters become heavily coated in a few months with a sludge 

that is extremely fine grained and black or dark brown (rather 

than the gray, gray-green, or red typical of the local bedrock). 

This sludge is particulate manganese and (or) iron oxide that 

precipitated inside the well, pump, or pressure tank. All of the 

11 homes known to experience this condition (appendix A) 

are within the area of shallow depth to bedrock near the center 

of Averill Park (fig. 13), and well water at all but three of 

these homes had specific conductance values greater than 

1,000 microsiemens per centimeter and (or) hardness values 

greater than 340 milligrams per liter. No residents reported 

staining of laundry before the filter was installed, however. 

Chemical analyses of well water from this area, and from the 

smaller area of shallow bedrock near Eastern Union Turnpike, 

indicated combined iron and manganese concentrations 

of 0.3 to at least 2 milligrams per liter in six of eight 

wells sampled. Those analyses were performed by private 

laboratories or water-treatment technicians, and may have 

included suspended particulate matter as well as dissolved 

iron or manganese. The suspended particulate manganese 

or iron in water is probably precipitated within the well or 

plumbing when oxygen-free water is mixed with oxygenated 

water from a different fracture system or is exposed to air in a 

pressure tank. 

 The foregoing sections have described the distribution 

and interaction of three principal types of ground-water 

quality in bedrock at Averill Park. Recharge in areas remote 

from major highways generates moderately hard water in the 

upper part of the bedrock. Shallow ground water near major 

highways in areas of thin overburden is much harder and 

more mineralized as a result of infiltration of salty winter 

runoff from the highways and subsequent cation exchange; 

furthermore, water from some wells in these areas contains 

abundant suspended particles of oxidized iron and manganese. 

Ground water that has penetrated to depths greater than about 

180 feet is much softer than ground water at shallower depths 

nearby and is characterized by high alkalinity and high pH. 

Almost all wells in some localities of thick till yield soft 

water. About 30 percent of the wells at Averill Park produce 

hydrogen sulfide, generally intermittently and in only trace 

amounts. A few scattered wells have yielded persistently turbid 

water containing clay or silt derived from the disintegration of 

weak rock layers.

The relation of hardness to depth is used in the next 

section as a basis for interpreting the relation of well yield to 

well depth. The spatial distribution of water quality is cited 

farther on as evidence for inferred spatial differences in rates 

of recharge to bedrock. 

Quantity of Water Obtainable 

from Bedrock

Bedrock aquifers are potential sources of water 

throughout Rensselaer County (Cushman, 1950), but the 

amounts of water available are limited by two constraints: 

well yield and aquifer yield. Well yield (the maximum rate 

at which water can be withdrawn from an individual well) 

is typically only a few gallons per minute and is chiefly a 

function of the water-transmitting properties of the bedrock, 

particularly the size and distribution of fractures through 

which all water movement takes place. Aquifer yield (the 

maximum rate at which water can be withdrawn from the 

bedrock aquifer through multiple wells in a given locality) 
Quantity of Water Obtainable from Bedrock 33

Figure 13. Distribution of wells at Averill Park, N.Y., that yield water containing abundant suspended or dissolved manganese 

and (or) iron.

73°34' 73°33'30" 73°33'

42°

38'

42°

38'

30"

0 500 1,000 FEET

0 125 250 METERS

1:12,000

EXPLANATION

Depth to bedrock generally less than 30 feet

Well; filter accumulates black, very fine-grained sediment

that is likely to be manganese and (or) iron precipitate

Well; water contained iron and manganese in concentrations

greater than 0.3 milligrams per liter . Concentrations may

represent suspended as well as dissolved iron and manganese.

Some wells sampled when newly drilled

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, various dates,

1:24,000, Universal Transverse Mercator projection, NAD 83,

Zone 18
34 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

can become a matter of concern where many wells are close 

to one another, as in large housing developments or in hamlets 

such as Averill Park. Aquifer yield is a function of the amount 

of water stored in the bedrock in the locality of interest, and 

the rate at which water enters (recharges) the bedrock, chiefly 

from infiltrating precipitation. Collective withdrawals from 

bedrock in excess of aquifer yield can result in lowered water 

levels and, thus, decreased well yield in that locality. This 

report is directed primarily to estimation of recharge rate and 

aquifer yield, but the following documentation of well yield 

at Averill Park may prove helpful in future studies that seek 

to explain differences among recharge rates estimated for 

several localities.

Well Yields 

Yields reported for wells at Averill Park by well drillers 

ranged from 0.5 to 25 gallons per minute; most were near the 

low end of that range. Written records of the initial yield of 

many older wells were unavailable, but the owners’ reported 

experiences enabled the yield of such wells to be deemed 

either adequate, or less than adequate, for domestic use. The 

following paragraphs summarize the geographic distribution 

of well yields within the study area. 

Yields of wells near the center of Averill Park and 

north along Old Route 66 and Crystal Lake Road: Median 

reported yield was about 2.3 gallons per minute. Yields 

ranging from 0.5 to 3 gallons per minute were reported for 

57 wells, and yields of 8 more wells were assumed to be in 

this range because they were deemed less than adequate, 

whereas 28 wells were reported to yield more than 3 gallons 

per minute. Of the 19 wells whose yields were unknown but 

adequate, at least 9 yields could have been less than 3 gallons 

per minute because enough water was stored in the casing 

to ensure that a yield of 0.5 to 3 gallons per minute would 

adequately supplya typical household3

.

Yields of wells west and southwest of the center of Averill 

Park: 42 of 74 wells in use in 2002 were reported to yield 

more than 3 gallons per minute when drilled. The yields of 21 

other wells in this area were unknown but deemed adequate. 

Only six wells in this area were reported to have yields of 

3 gallons per minute or less, and the yields of five others 

were less than adequate. Median reported yield was 6 gallons 

per minute.

Yields of wells east of the center of Averill Park, along 

and somewhat north of Route 43: Few well yields in this area 

were known, but nearly all wells were deemed adequate for 

3

 For example, consider a deep well of 6-inch diameter that contains 

200 feet of water (300 gallons) between the static water level and the 

pump. This stored water is ample to satisfy the average demand of a typical 

family, 220 gallons per day (55 gallons per day per person, as documented 

in appendix E). If well yield is only 0.5 gallon per minute at maximum 

drawdown, or 0.25 gallon per minute at median drawdown, daily inflow could 

easily average 367 gallons (0.25 gallon per minute multiplied by 1440 minutes 

per day), more than enough to replenish the storage required to supply the 

average daily demand.

domestic use. Of 34 wells, 30 were less than 270 feet deep, 

and 26 were less than 200 feet deep. Only three unknown well 

yields were deemed less than adequate.

Yields of wells elsewhere around Averill Park: Well 

yields and depths were less easily characterized because few 

written records were available and, perhaps, because the yields 

that were reported generally reflected conditions that prevailed 

when the wells were drilled, without any interference from 

wells drilled nearby more recently. Also, a well driller who 

believes that the yield and depth of a newly completed well 

are adequate to meet the customer’s needs may report a yield 

larger than the actual measured yield to help the customer 

meet the demands of a lending institution; two examples of 

this were documented during this investigation. 

In summary, most wells at Averill Park seem to be 

adequate for domestic use, but well yields less than 3 gallons 

per minute predominate near and north of the center, whereas 

yields greater than 3 gallons per minute predominate west and 

southwest of the center. 

Possible Effect of Bedrock Lithology 

on Well Yield

Average yields of domestic wells can vary from one 

type of bedrock to another, as documented elsewhere in New 

York by Frimpter (1972) and Perlmutter (1959). For example, 

the bedrock fractures in which ground water is stored are 

typically longer and wider in hard, massive sandstone than 

in soft, easily deformed shale (Coates, 1971). The bedrock 

at Averill Park seems to be more permeable to the west and 

southwest (localities H and E, fig. 4) than elsewhere, as 

indicated by three factors—the greater frequency of wells with 

yields exceeding 3 gallons per minute, the greater uniformity 

in altitude of water levels among nearby wells of differing 

depths, and the consistency of large declines in water levels 

from 1988 to 2005 throughout these localities. Scattered 

outcrops in the areas of thin overburden (fig. 2), and brief 

drillers’ logs of about 25 wells, provide some information 

on bedrock lithology at Averill Park but are insufficient to 

prove that a contrast in lithology coincides with the apparent 

contrast in permeability. Most drillers’ logs report penetrating 

only alternating red and gray shale, although four wells along 

Terrace Drive and two wells east of Old Route 66 and Eastern 

Union Turnpike penetrate grit or hard sandstone interbedded 

with gray shale. 

Possible Effect of Water-Level Declines 

on Well Yield

The water-level declines that have occurred in some 

localities, as described earlier, could adversely affect well 

yield by dewatering some shallow fractures that formerly 

contributed to well yield, and by decreasing the maximum 

potential drawdown in the well when it is pumped. Many 

studies in northeastern North America have concluded that 
Quantity of Water Obtainable from Bedrock 35

the size and abundance of fractures typically decrease with 

depth below the bedrock surface (Randall and others, 1988; 

Morin and others, 2000). A study in New Hampshire reported 

that, although the yield of any given well might (or might not) 

increase as the well is deepened, the yield per foot of depth is 

likely to decrease with increasing depth (Moore and others, 

2002, p. 29). LaFleur (1989) hypothesized that a water-level 

decline below the bedrock surface might cause a decrease in 

well yields that is large in proportion to the magnitude of the 

water-level decline because (1) the upper part of the bedrock, 

which is the most highly fractured and most permeable part, 

can no longer contribute water to wells, and (2) the hydraulic 

conductivity of the dewatered bedrock might be permanently 

diminished through subsequent compaction of thin fractures 

and (or) the growth of mineral oxides along those fractures. 

Water levels are below the bedrock surface in most of Averill 

Park, as shown in figure 14. The contours in figure 14 are 

based on (1) the depth to static water level and depth to 

bedrock at individual wells, and (2) superposition of waterlevel contours (pl. 3) on bedrock-surface contours (pl. 1). 

LaFleur’s hypothesis that a potentiometric surface below the 

bedrock surface detracts from well yields seems plausible, but 

the 2002 data provide little support for a simple correlation 

of apparent dewatering with well yield, as discussed in 

appendix F. 

Potential for Augmenting Well Yield 

by Deepening the Well

The yield of any well might be increased by drilling 

deeper. The probability of intersecting additional wateryielding fractures cannot be calculated directly from the 

well records at Averill Park, however, because those records 

generally do not include measurements of yields from 

successive depth increments that could be used to define 

a relation between yield and depth. The low yields of the 

deepest wells, typically less than 3 gallons per minute, merely 

indicate that fractures are poorly developed at any depth at 

these locations.

The relation of well yield to well depth at Averill Park 

was quantified through an analysis of records of all wells 

more than 200 feet deep for which yield and water-hardness 

measurements were available. The wells were classified 

into two yield categories—2 gallons per minute or less, and 

2.2 to 10 gallons per minute. As explained in the earlier 

section “Patterns of chemical-quality distribution,” wells 

less than about 180 feet deep typically yield moderately hard 

water, whereas many of the deeper wells yield soft water. 

Accordingly, wells with yields of 2.2 to 10 gallons per minute 

were further classified according to the following assumptions:

•	 Wells that yield water with hardness of at least 

170 milligrams per liter obtain all their yield from 

fractures at depths less than 200 feet. 

•	 Wells that yield water with a hardness of 50 milligrams 

per liter or less obtain all their yield from fractures 

deeper than 200 feet. 

•	 The yield of wells with hardness between 50 and 

170 milligrams per liter was assigned to deep and 

shallow fractures in proportion to the hardness. 

 The wells were also classified into three localities 

(fig. 15) as follows: 

•	 The center of Averill Park, where two thirds of the 

wells have low yields, and water levels in most wells 

are above an altitude of 680 feet (pl. 3), 

•	 A large area north, east, and southeast of the center, 

where water levels are also generally above an altitude 

of 680 feet; and 

•	 An area west of the center, where water levels are 

generally below an altitude of 680 feet. 

Results of the analysis are given in table 6. The 

percentages in the last column indicate that, if a well near, east, 

or north of the center of Averill Park were drilled to a depth 

of 200 feet without obtaining an adequate supply of water, or 

if an existing well nearly 200 feet deep were to fail because 

the water level declined below some fractures that formerly 

supplied that well, the liklihood of obtaining an additional 

2.2 gallons per minute or more by deepening the well would 

be about 25 percent. A final depth of 350 to 400 feet (the 

median depths of wells analyzed) could be expected. West 

of the hamlet center, where water levels in wells are lower 

than near the center, the likelihood of obtaining an additional 

2.2 gallons per minute or more by drilling beyond a depth 

of 200 feet is 51 percent, and a final depth of 320 feet could 

be expected. (Note that table 6 does not imply that if several 

wells west of the center were deepened from 200 to 320 feet 

in depth, 51 percent of those wells would gain an additional 

2.2 gallons per minute or more. Indeed, table 6 actually 

implies that a majority of the wells deepened only to 320 feet 

would fail to gain 2.2 gallons per minute. If, however, 

some wells were drilled deeper than 320 feet in the hope of 

increasing their yield, and if the final array of wells had a 

median depth of 320 feet, then 51 percent of those wells would 

gain at least 2.2 gallons per minute.) The last row of table 6 

indicates that only 34 percent of all the deep wells at Averill 

Park have obtained at least 2.2 gallons per minute from the 

lower part of the bedrock. A yield of 2.2 gallons per minute 

from a well 320 feet or more in depth would easily meet the 

needs of a typical home because water could be withdrawn 

from well-bore storage at 5 gallons per minute or more to meet 

short-term demands.

The computations in table 6 are not rigorously accurate 

and may under- or overestimate yields from deep bedrock. 

The main reason for inaccuracy is that a deep well that yields 

moderately hard water from shallow fractures was assumed 

to not also penetrate deep water-yielding fractures. Some of 

these wells might in fact intersect deep fractures, unrecognized 
36 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Figure 14. Relation of water levels in 2002 to the bedrock surface at Averill Park, N.Y. 

+ −

-50

0

0

+ −

− +

+

−

− +

0

-50

-100

0

0

0

-50

0

0

-50

+ −

+

−

− +

-50

EXPLANATION

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, various dates,

1:24,000, Universal Transverse Mercator projection, NAD 83,

Zone 18

Contour lines showing position of water levels in wells above (+)

or below (-) the bedrock surface. Juxtaposition or close proximity of

contours in a few places reflects overlap of shallow and deep sets

of water levels (plate 3) 0 +

−

0 500 1,000 FEET

0 125 250 METERS

1:12,000

73°34' 73°33'30" 73°33'

42°

37'

30"

42°

38'

42°

38'

30"
Quantity of Water Obtainable from Bedrock 37

Figure 15. Boundaries of localities at Averill Park, N.Y., that were selected for analysis of well yield as a function of well depth.

73°34' 73°33'30" 73°33'

42°

38'

42°

38'

30"

1:12,000

0 500 1,000 FEET

0 125 250 METERS

CENTER

WEST EAST

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, various dates,

1:24,000, Universal Transverse Mercator projection, NAD 83,

Zone 18
38 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

because the shallow fractures that yield hard water generally 

have higher heads than deep fractures, as indicated by water 

levels in many pairs of nearby shallow and deep wells around 

Averill Park (appendix B and fig. 3). Therefore, once the 

water level in a well has recovered from prior pumping, hard 

water from the surrounding shallow fractures is likely to flow 

into and down the well bore, then out into the deep fractures, 

where heads are lower. The next time the well is pumped, this 

hard water in the deep fractures will be withdrawn along with 

hard water from the shallow fractures. The computations in 

table 6 therefore underestimate the yield from deep bedrock 

to the extent that this process occurs. A countervailing effect 

arises from the variation in depth to soft water, as evidenced 

by the presence of soft water in a few wells less than 200 feet 

deep, particularly north of Crystal Lake. The computations in 

table 6 overestimate the yield from deep bedrock to the extent 

that soft water occurs at depths less than 200 feet. 

Despite some imprecision in table 6, the percentages in 

the last column indicate that deep bedrock in the area of low 

heads west of the center of Averill Park (fig. 15, pl. 3) is more 

productive than deep bedrock farther east. This contrast could 

reflect a difference in bedrock lithology, such as a greater 

abundance of lenses of graywacke west of the center of the 

hamlet than in the center, but the well logs currently available 

are inadequate to confirm or refute this explanation. Drilling 

below 200 feet anywhere around Averill Park is likely to 

increase well yield by only about 2.2 gallons per minute or 

less; however, a yield as small as 0.5 to 1 gallon per minute 

can meet typical domestic demand when supplemented by 

water stored within a deep well or auxiliary storage tank.

Recharge Rate as a Limit on Ground-Water 

Withdrawals from Bedrock

Pumping any well at Averill Park lowers the water 

level in the well and thus creates a water-level gradient that 

causes water in the surrounding bedrock to flow toward 

the well at a rate sufficient to equal the average rate of 

withdrawal. The small region in which water levels slope 

toward the well is termed the “cone of depression” of that 

well. The pumped water is eventually replenished through 

recharge—the infiltration and downward seepage of water 

that originated as precipitation. If several wells on adjacent 

lots together withdraw water at a rate that exceeds the local 

rate of recharge, the collective cone of depression will deepen 

and expand beyond those lots to the point at which it captures 

enough additional recharge from adjacent land to equal the 

average withdrawal rate. The installation of additional wells 

to supply new development on the adjacent land would 

inevitably result in greater water-level declines. Therefore, 

the rate of ground-water withdrawal (and thus the maximum 

sustainable population density) in an upland locality such as 

Averill Park is ultimately limited by the rate of recharge to the 

bedrock aquifer. The rate of recharge, in turn, depends on the 

infiltration capacity of the overlying till and the average rate 

of precipitation minus evapotranspiration 

The average rate of recharge to the bedrock aquifer at 

Averill Park could be estimated if (1) a collective cone of 

depression for many wells could be delineated, and (2) the 

water levels in those wells were in a state of dynamic stability, 

such that fluctuations might occur from day to day, but the 

amount of water in the bedrock was not declining persistently 

and substantially over time. The sum of the withdrawals from 

those wells, each of which could be measured or estimated, 

would then be equal to the average local rate of recharge. 

A map of water levels in wells at Averill Park in 1988 

(LaFleur,1989, pl. 4) suggested that such a computation 

of recharge is indeed feasible here. The map was modified 

slightly (Randall, 2000) to depict topographic constraints 

on water levels beyond the map boundaries and to include 

a ground-water divide that encompassed three small cones 

of depression inferred by LaFleur near the center of Averill 

Park. The combined withdrawal within the area surrounded 

Table 6. Well yield at Averill Park, N.Y., as a function of location, well depth, and depth at which water enters the well.

[Data set included all wells more than 200 feet deep for which driller’s measurement of yield was known. gal/min, gallons per minute ; %, percent]

Locality

(fig. 16)

Number

of wells 

analyzed

Depth of wells analyzed

Number (and percentage) of wells yielding 

0.5 to 2 

gal/min

2.2 to 10 gal/min

Range

(feet)

Median 

(feet)

Water is derived 

largely from upper 

part of bedrock a

(hard water)

At least 

2.2 gal/min is soft 

water derived from 

lower part of bedrock

Center of Averill Park 41 b

220–740 400 25 (61%) 6 (15%) 10 (24%)

East or north of center 43 213–702 350 13 (30%) 19 (44%) 11 (26%)

West of center (area of low head) 43 218–722 320 9 (21%) 12 (28%) 22 (51%)

Totals (all of Averill Park) 7 b

213–740 47 (37%) 37 (29%) 43 (34%)

a

 Generally bedrock within about 180 feet of land surface, but varies by location.

b

 One outlier, 1,000 feet deep.
Quantity of Water Obtainable from Bedrock 39

by that divide was roughly estimated as the number of wells 

multiplied by 200 gallons per day (on the assumption that each 

well served four persons who each used 50 gallons per day), 

and could be equated to recharge if the water levels could be 

shown to be stable. Accordingly, further data collection was 

undertaken, as described previously, to better document water 

levels in wells and water use by residents and businesses, and 

thereby permit a reasonably accurate estimate of recharge to 

bedrock in this locality. The two components of the estimation 

procedure (delineation of capture area and estimation of 

withdrawals) are described in the following sections. 

Delineation of Capture Area

The contours of water levels in 2002 (pl. 3) encompass 

small cones of depression at the center of Averill Park and east 

of Orient Avenue that are bordered by ground-water divides to 

the north and west, and by hills to the south and southeast that 

are presumed to approximately coincide with ground-water 

divides. Control for the water-level contours is discussed in 

the earlier section “Measurements in 2002.” A perimeter is 

drawn along all these divides on plate 3. Only one short reach 

of this perimeter, near the northeastern corner, does not fall on 

a ground-water divide. A divide was inferred to have existed 

in this locality under predevelopment conditions, beneath the 

drumlin east of Crystal Lake (LaFleur, 1989, pl. 5), but was 

not evident in 2002; instead, water levels in bedrock beneath 

the drumlin were inferred to be slightly lower than the water 

table in the sandy lowland around Sand Lake School, east 

of Victors Lane. The water-level gradient westward in the 

bedrock beneath the drumlin in 2002 was gentle, however, 

such that any flow across this reach of the perimeter was 

probably small enough to be ignored in the estimation of 

recharge rates.

Estimation of Ground-Water Withdrawals

Every building within the delineated capture area was 

visited, and inquiries were made as to the number of occupants 

in that building and their use of water. The occupants of 

most dwellings reported their use of water to be “normal,” 

according to their needs and desires. Occupants of some 

dwellings, however, reported that their use of water was 

constrained by the modest yield of their well, or by restrictions 

at some rental properties on use of washing appliances, or by 

personal motivation to conserve the water resource shared 

by the community. Such constraints deserve consideration in 

any attempt to estimate residential water use by a particular 

community. Accordingly, each dwelling within the perimeter 

described above was assigned to one of four categories of 

water use and a ratio to “normal” use was assigned to each 

category; that ratio was then multiplied by the number of 

residents in that category to obtain an estimate of how many 

residents with “normal” water-use habits would use the same 

amount of water. This calculation is summarized in table 7 .

The magnitude of “normal” annual residential water 

use at Averill Park is unknown; therefore, an estimate of 

55 gallons per day per capita was selected on the basis of a 

survey of water use at 206 homes similar to those in Averill 

Park but served by metered public water supplies in two 

Table 7. Estimated domestic use of ground water in 2002 within the part of Averill Park, N.Y., that is encompassed by a groundwater divide, expressed in terms of an equivalent population that uses water normally.

[Location of divide shown on pl. 3] 

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Use

category a

Number 

of residences

Number 

of residents

Estimated ratio 

for normal use

Equivalent number of 

normal-use residents 

(column 3 x column 4)

N 127 403 1.0 403

C 21 59 0.9 53.1

R 26 109 0.7 76.3

Ex 3 12 0.4 4.8

 Total 177 583 537.2

Average number of actual residents per dwelling unit (total for column 3 divided by total for column 2): 583 / 177 = 3.3

Average number of equivalent residents who use water “normally” (total for columnn 5 divided by total for column 2): 537.2 / 177 =

3.0

a

 N = Normal use, no concern about water availability, no effort to conserve water. 

C = Concerned citizens: little or no use of water outdoors (for lawn, garden, car), avoid unnecessary use indoors; motivated by ethic of stewardship, concern for neighborhood water resource, or fear for one’s own well.

R = Use restricted by low well yield; nearly all laundry done elsewhere, no use of water outdoors, showers and other personal use commonly 

limited; bottled water commonly used for drinking. 

Ex = Extreme limit on well yield, less than 50 gallons per day total, or house frequently unoccupied.
40 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

the door-to-door survey at Averill Park. For this report, 

115.9 “equivalent” residents from step 1 was added to 

537.2 normal-use residents (from table 7) to obtain a total 

of 653.1 residents.

3. Divide the sum of residents obtained in step 2 by the 

area within the ground-water divide. For this report, 

653.1 residents was divided by 0.54 square mile to obtain 

1,209 residents per square mile, or 1.9 residents per acre. 

Uncertainty in Estimate of Recharge

The chief potential sources of error in the foregoing 

estimate of recharge to bedrock from precipitation are 

as follows:

1. Imprecise estimates of water use. The foregoing 

calculations are spelled out in detail so that if a reader 

can obtain better estimates of normal residential use 

per capita, or of nonresidential uses, in this locality 

in 2002, such estimates could be substituted, and 

recharge recalculated. 

2. Imprecise delineation of the ground-water divide around 

Averill Park. The southern reach of this perimeter was 

not constrained by water-level measurements in wells; its 

position was inferred from topography. The smallest and 

largest alternative positions that seemed plausible would 

have decreased the capture area by 5 percent or increased 

it by 15 percent, respectively. 

3. Possible recharge from three sources other than 

infiltrating precipitation. 

•	 Seepage loss from the Wynants Kill where it crosses 

the study area. A detailed evaluation given in a later 

section, “The Wynants Kill as a possible source of 

recharge,” concludes that seepage loss under lowflow conditions is negligible but could not rule out 

the possibility that seepage loss might increase during 

periods of moderate to high flow. 

•	 Recharge to bedrock from Crystal Lake. Water levels 

in bedrock near Crystal Lake are generally 10 feet 

or more below lake level, but till along most of the 

lakeshore ranges from 30 to 90 feet in thickness 

(fig. 2) and probably does not allow lake water to seep 

downward to bedrock any faster than precipitation 

infiltrates through thick till where no lake is present. 

In contrast, bedrock along 1,000 feet of the west shore 

of Crystal Lake, between the lake and Beach Lane, is 

close to land surface and may be in hydraulic contact 

with the lake, as indicated by heads close to lake level 

in a few wells. The water-level contours in this locality 

(pl. 3) depict ground-water flow to be nearly parallel to 

the shore, but a little recharge from the lake to bedrock 

is possible. 

nearby towns, as described in appendix E. Total residential 

water use (withdrawal) within the ground-water divide 

delineated around the center of Averill Park on plate 3 was 

then calculated as the per-capita water use of 55 gallons 

per day, multiplied by the 537.2 equivalent normal-use 

residents (table 7), to obtain a total of 29,546 gallons per day. 

Water use at nonresidential properties was estimated by 

a variety of methods according to the information available. 

Water use by a restaurant was obtained from an engineering 

report that had been used to design the restaurant’s water 

system, and was applied proportionately to a similar facility 

nearby. Water demand at several buildings was obtained from 

estimates of the average daily number of toilet flushes and 

other specific water uses, and (or) the average number of 

hours in which particular faucets were in use; these estimates 

were provided by the building’s owner, manager, or custodian. 

The demand at one commercial building was available from 

a water meter that had been temporarily installed. The values 

for all nonresidential buildings were summed to obtain an 

estimated average use of 6,373 gallons per day.

Computations of Recharge to Bedrock and 

Population Density Supported by that Recharge 

Total annual ground-water withdrawal within the 

ground-water capture area that encompasses the center of 

Averill Park (pl. 2) was estimated to average 35,919 gallons 

per day (29,546 gallons residential use plus 6,373 gallons 

nonresidential use); this total was divided by the number of 

square miles within this area (0.54 square mile as measured by 

planimeter) to obtain an average withdrawal of 66,500 gallons 

per day per square mile, or about 104 gallons per day per acre. 

This rate was taken as a reasonable estimate of average 

recharge from precipitation, inasmuch as water levels within 

most of this perimeter have changed little since 1988, as 

explained in the section “Changes in water levels, 1988–2002 

and 2002–2005,” and nearly all properties are served by 

sanitary sewers and, therefore, provide little or no return of 

wastewater to the ground-water system. 

The estimated rate of recharge to bedrock, in gallons per 

day per acre, can be converted to an estimate of the average 

residential population per acre that could be supplied by that 

recharge in a locality where only residential buildings are 

present, as follows:

1. Calculate the number of residents that would use as much 

water as the estimated nonresidential usage at Averill 

Park in 2002. For this report, the estimated nonresidential 

water use (6,373 gallons per day) was divided by the 

assumed per-capita residential use (55 gallons per day) 

to obtain 115.9 “equivalent” residents—the number of 

residents that together would use as much water as the 

estimated nonresidential usage in 2002. 

2. Add the number of “equivalent” residents computed in 

step 1 to the 537.2 normal-use residents calculated from 
Quantity of Water Obtainable from Bedrock 41

•	 Lateral flow across a short segment of the perimeter of 

the capture area. As pointed out earlier, a 3,000-foot 

reach of the northeastern perimeter of the capture area 

delineated on plate 3 is not a ground-water divide; 

rather, water levels in bedrock seem to rise eastward 

and merge with the water table beneath the valley floor 

around Sand Lake School (pl. 3). The gentle westward 

gradients within the bedrock, and the inferred presence 

of silt and clay within the valley fill (LaFleur and 

others, 1995; LaFleur, 1998), suggest that lateral flow 

across the perimeter in this area is probably small. 

Each of the three potential sources of recharge described 

above, to the extent that they occur, would cause total recharge 

to exceed recharge from precipitation. Withdrawals from wells 

could still be equated to total recharge, but would represent 

an overestimate of recharge from precipitation. Furthermore, 

an underestimate of capture area seems more likely than an 

overestimate (item 2 above). Therefore, the recharge estimate 

of 104 gallons per day per acre from precipitation is more 

likely to be too large than too small.

Recharge Rate as a Function of Till Thickness

Several forms of evidence, considered together, indicate 

that the rate of recharge to bedrock is greater where till is thin 

and discontinuous than where it is continuously thicker than 

30 feet. Near the center of Averill Park, where till is less than 

30 feet thick (fig. 2), water-level contours form a pronounced 

mound (pl. 3), water levels showed no net change from 1998 

to 2002 (table 1), and ground water contains elevated chloride 

concentrations and specific conductance values resulting from 

salt-laden winter highway runoff (figs. 10, 11). In contrast, 

beneath nearby drumlins, where till is much thicker than near 

the hamlet center, the water-level contours are not mounded, 

water levels declined slightly to substantially from 1988 to 

2002, and chloride concentrations and specific conductance 

values show little or no effect of road salt. This contrast 

indicates that the average recharge rate of 104 gallons per 

day per acre calculated herein for Averill Park is an average 

of some unknown higher rate in the area of thin till near the 

center of Averill Park and some unknown lower rate in the 

nearby drumlin areas, where till thickness exceeds 30 feet. 

The apparent inverse relation between recharge rate and till 

thickness cannot be quantified here from data from a single 

cone of depression but could be quantified if recharge rates 

were calculated by similar methods in several localities that 

differ substantially in the extent of thick till relative to thin till.

The absence of mounding of water levels in bedrock 

beneath drumlins was clearly evidenced by measurements 

in 2002, but whether mounding occurred before groundwater development began is uncertain. LaFleur (1989, p.17) 

mentioned that the static water level in the first well drilled 

on the crest of one drumlin was reported to have “originally 

stood within 20 feet of the land surface.” Largely on the basis 

of this one homeowner’s statement, LaFleur sketched a map 

of the potentiometric surface “as it might have been before 

anyone lived in Averill Park” (LaFleur, 1989, p. 16, pl. 6) that 

depicts a substantial water-level mound in bedrock beneath 

each of several drumlins. Contrasting evidence was obtained 

at another drumlin during this study. A well drilled in 2001 

for a new house on the crest of a 34-acre drumlin south of 

Averill Park (well 2112, pl. 2, appendix A) is at least 600 feet 

from any other well. The drumlin crest is 50 to 125 feet 

higher than the surrounding area, and bedrock was reached 

at a depth somewhat less than 133 feet. The static water 

level in 2003, 11 months after the house was first occupied, 

was 106 feet below land surface (appendix B). The record 

of this well indicates that either the water level in bedrock 

beneath this drumlin was not substantially mounded under 

predevelopment conditions, or any mound that did exist 

disappeared in response to 11 months of domestic withdrawals 

at one house. In either case, the rate of recharge to bedrock 

through the thick till in this drumlin is inferred to be small in 

relation to the water-transmitting capacity of the bedrock and 

(or) in relation to the calculated average recharge rate of 104 

gallons per day at Averill Park 

Contrast with Recharge in Other Upland Areas 

as Estimated from Streamflow Records 

The recharge rate estimated in this report for Averill 

Park (104 gallons per day per acre or 1.4 inches per year) is 

much smaller than recharge rates that have been estimated 

from streamflow records for upland areas elsewhere in the 

northeastern United States. For example:

1. Several studies in Connecticut used graphical methods to 

distinguish the “base flow” (ground-water) component of 

streamflow from the storm-runoff component in selected 

streams for 1 or more years. These studies, summarized 

by Weaver (1987) and Kontis and others (2004, fig. 15), 

concluded that the average rate of ground-water recharge 

in till-mantled uplands equals 35 percent of mean annual 

streamflow. Mean annual streamflow over most of 

Connecticut ranges from 22 to 28 inches (Kontis and 

others, 2004, pl. 2). Therefore, annual recharge in the tillmantled uplands averages 8.7± 1 inches. 

2. Posten (1984) developed and applied a different 

graphical method of base-flow separation to several 

years of streamflow records from two upland watersheds 

in northern New Jersey and calculated ground-water 

recharge under average conditions to be 10.3 inches 

(38 percent of average runoff) in the first watershed and 

12.4 inches (46 percent of average runoff) in the second. 

3. Flynn and Tasker (2004) applied a computer-generated 

method of base-flow separation to records of streamflow 

in New Hampshire. Their estimated ground-water 

recharge rates were 56 to 81 percent of mean annual 

streamflow in 13 watersheds in northern New Hampshire 

and higher percentages farther south. 
42 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Reconciling the estimates of ground-water recharge to 

bedrock in Averill Park with the higher recharge estimates 

obtained by base-flow-separation methods for upland 

watersheds elsewhere was beyond the scope of this report, but 

four factors may help explain the difference.

1. Percentage of area overlain by thick till: At Averill Park, 

till greater than 30 feet thick underlies about 70 percent of 

the 0.54 square mile on which the computation of average 

recharge was based. In the larger watersheds where 

others have calculated recharge from streamflow records, 

thick till probably underlies less than 70 percent of the 

uplands. For example, soils derived from till that is more 

than 5 or 6 feet thick above bedrock underlie 62 percent 

of the uplands in Rensselaer County, in which Averill Park 

is located, and only 40 percent of the uplands in adjacent 

Columbia County (Work, 1988; Chase, 1989). If so, till 

greater than 30 feet thick presumably underlies somewhat 

less than 62 percent and 40 percent of the uplands in these 

two counties. If recharge to bedrock is greater where till 

is thin and discontinuous than where it is greater than 

30 feet thick, as inferred in this study, average recharge 

to bedrock in many upland watersheds seems likely to 

exceed average recharge to bedrock at Averill Park.

2. Differing methods of computation: Base flow estimated 

by stream-hydrograph separation is likely to include some 

ground water that discharges from shallow flow paths 

through till and does not recharge bedrock; therefore, 

recharge estimates obtained by that method are likely to 

be greater than the rate of recharge to bedrock estimated 

by methods used in this study.

3. Till permeability: Upland till in much of New England 

and New Jersey is derived from crystalline metamorphic 

bedrock and, thus, is likely to contain smaller percentages 

of clay and silt than the till derived from shale at Averill 

Park. Less clay and silt may result in greater permeability 

and, thus, greater recharge to bedrock.

4. Differences in mean annual runoff: Mean annual runoff, 

which equals the annual amount of water available for 

recharge (Lyford and Cohen, 1988), is substantially 

greater in Connecticut, northern New Jersey, and 

New Hampshire (18 to 40 inches) than at Averill Park 

(16.5 inches; Kontis and others, 2004, pl. 2). The amount 

of actual recharge in upland areas probably does not vary 

as widely as the amount of water available for recharge; 

nevertheless, the lesser amount of water available for 

recharge at Averill Park might result in somewhat less 

recharge here than in the other areas mentioned. 

Probable Effect of Increased Withdrawals 

at Averill Park

Construction and use of new wells at Averill Park to 

serve new residential or commercial buildings, or to supply 

increased amounts of water to existing structures, would 

cause water levels in bedrock to decline, which in turn 

would diminish the maximum potential yields of existing 

wells. As water levels decline, the westward water-level 

gradient beneath the southwestern part of Averill Park would 

become less steep and thereby decrease the rate of groundwater flow away from Averill Park, and the ground-water 

divide that surrounds the center of Averill Park (pl. 3) would 

probably expand eastward, northward, and southward to 

capture sufficient additional recharge to compensate for the 

increased pumping. 

Recharge to bedrock may increase after development 

takes place in some glaciated upland localities, but probably 

not at Averill Park. A ground-water flow model of a small 

New Hampshire upland watershed (Tiedeman and others, 

1998) indicated that, under natural (nonpumping) conditions, 

about 40 percent of total ground-water recharge followed 

shallow flow paths through till overburden to streams and 

never entered bedrock. If that model were modified to specify 

an array of domestic wells that penetrated bedrock and were 

pumped sufficiently to lower the head in bedrock below 

the bedrock surface, simulated flowpaths would probably 

shift such that nearly 100 percent of recharge would reach 

bedrock. The clayey till at Averill Park is so poorly permeable, 

however, that it often becomes saturated to land surface, 

thereby forcing subsequent precipitation to run off to streams. 

Furthermore, head in bedrock at Averill Park is already below 

the bedrock surface in most places (fig. 14). Thus, additional 

ground-water withdrawals, and the resulting decline in water 

levels, would not appreciably increase the rate of recharge 

per acre through the till; instead, a larger and deeper cone of 

depression would result. 

The Wynants Kill as a Possible Source 

of Recharge

The Wynants Kill, which flows southwestward through 

the part of Averill Park on which the recharge computation 

was based, was evaluated during this study as a possible 

source of induced infiltration to bedrock.

Induced infiltration is, in theory, a function of hydraulic 

conductivity of sediment beneath the stream channel and 

vertical head gradients, both of which vary along the Wynants 

Kill. The channel is incised in drumlin till nearly to bedrock 

in a reach that extends about 700 feet downstream from 

the Legion Hall (just west of well 2073, pl. 2). The next 

1,200 feet of channel, as far as Johnnycake Lane, meanders 

across a small alluvial plain interpreted by LaFleur (1965) 

to be underlain by outwash. Downstream from Johnnycake 

Lane, the Wynants Kill occupies a gorge incised in bedrock. 

The first 800 feet of the gorge is floored by silty alluvium 

that was deposited in a pond behind a dam constructed in the 

19th century to provide water power for mills. A small outlet 

structure in the dam was always open during 1999–2005. 

Water was ponded at the level of the spillway crest during 
Quantity of Water Obtainable from Bedrock 43

periods of high flow. During periods of low flow, a narrow 

stream channel crossed the pond-bottom alluvium and exited 

through the outlet structure. Downstream from the dam, 

the Wynants Kill flows for about 2,300 feet to Olmstead 

Lane over gravelly alluvium a few feet thick that rests upon 

bedrock. This reach contains a permanent mill pond about 

400 feet long adjacent to the former Faith Mills. Water levels 

in bedrock near the Wynants Kill (pl. 3) are 5 to 15 feet lower 

than the Wynants Kill channel upstream from Johnnycake 

Lane, and several tens of feet lower than that channel for some 

distance downstream from Johnnycake Lane.

The possibility of seepage from the Wynants Kill 

into bedrock was addressed by LaFleur (1989, p. 18), who 

reported a net loss of 0.65 cubic foot per second from the 

5,000-foot reach of the Wynants Kill between the Legion 

Hall and Olmstead Lane. This net loss was derived as the 

difference between single current-meter measurements made 

at each site on April 11, 1986, and amounted to 4 percent of 

measured streamflow. The precision or uncertainty of currentmeter measurements is a concern when differences of a few 

percent between measurements at two sites are to be taken as 

representing a net gain or loss in the intervening reach. An 

extensive literature survey (Pelletier, 1988) concluded that 

the uncertainty of individual measurements can be as low as 

4 percent at the 95-percent confidence level if a variety of 

ambient conditions and measurement techniques are optimal, 

but that larger errors are commonly expected. Potential 

error was further investigated by Dysart and Rheaume 

(1999, p. 30–33), who applied rigorous procedures during 

an evaluation of water loss from a river in New Jersey to a 

municipal well field. They carefully selected and prepared 

measurement sites, made six replicate flow measurements at 

each site, and collected stage records sufficiently precise to 

allow adjustment for gradually declining stream stage during 

the several hours required to complete all measurements. 

Despite these efforts, the standard deviation of calculated 

loss was 0.46 cubic foot per second about a mean loss of 

0.67 cubic foot per second (5 percent of streamflow). Results 

of the two studies cited suggest that errors in the single pair of 

streamflow measurements in the Wynants Kill in 1986 could 

have substantially exceeded the computed loss. 

The possibility of seepage losses (aquifer recharge) from 

the Wynants Kill was evaluated from 10 sets of streamflow 

measurements made in August and September 2001, a period 

of low flow (92- to 98-percent flow duration4

, as estimated 

from graphs in LaFleur and others, 1995). This was an ideal 

time period in which to detect and quantify any seepage loss 

that might be taking place because the ratio of seepage loss 

to the flow of the Wynants Kill would be larger than during 

larger flows. Measurements were made at two sites 3,100 feet 

apart—one 70 feet downstream from the Johnnycake Lane 

bridge and the other 100 feet downstream from the bridge 

on Burden Lake Road near Olmstead Lane (fig. 1). Both 

4

 92-percent flow duration is that daily mean flow that was exceeded on 

92 percent of the days over a long period of record. 

measurement sites were on or adjacent to bedrock outcrops, 

and both were carefully straightened and smoothed to ensure 

straight, steady flow at velocities of 0.25 to 0.6 foot per 

second. The downstream site was measured about 45 minutes 

after the upstream site was measured, so as to approximately 

accommodate the travel time of any possible fluctuations 

in stage or flow. Stream stage was measured to the nearest 

1 millimeter from a temporary reference point before and after 

each set of streamflow measurements; no fluctuations in stage 

were detected.

The 10 sets of measurements (table 8) indicate only 

small changes in streamflow over the study reach. The 

changes ranged from a gain of 0.05 cubic foot per second 

to a loss of 0.10 cubic foot per second (15 to 20 percent of 

streamflow). The mean result was a loss of 0.004 cubic foot 

per second (1.8 gallons per minute), and the median result 

was a gain of 0.005 cubic foot per second (2.2 gallons per 

minute). Results varied somewhat with time of day—five 

measurement pairs at about 9 a.m. showed a mean net gain of 

0.022 cubic foot per second; two measurements at about noon 

showed a mean net change of zero; and three measurements 

at about 4 p.m. showed a mean net loss of 0.05 cubic foot per 

second. This pattern could be attributed to the diurnal cycle 

of riparian evapotranspiration, which can be large enough 

to convert a small net gain during overnight hours into a 

small net loss late on a summer afternoon; however, the 

number of measurement pairs was too small to lend statistical 

validity to this interpretation. The measurements do indicate, 

however, that the reach of the Wynants Kill downstream from 

Johnnycake Lane is insignificant as a source of recharge to 

the bedrock aquifer during periods of low flow. Whether some 

seepage loss might occur during periods of high flow, when 

stage and exposure area are increased, is unknown; the width 

of the Wynants Kill in the 800-foot reach downstream from 

Johnnycake Lane at high flow is approximately as shown on 

the topographic map, and water depth is about 10 feet near 

the dam; each of these is about 15 times the values typical of 

low flow.

Need for Additional Studies of Rates of 

Recharge to Bedrock

Residential and commercial developments in upland 

areas of New York that are beyond the reach of municipal 

water mains obtain water supplies from wells drilled into 

till-mantled bedrock. Future planning for development in such 

areas, and regulation of the density of development, would 

benefit from an accurate method for estimating the rate of 

recharge to bedrock.

The investigation described herein estimated recharge 

to bedrock in one upland locality by a method that has not 

been widely applied elsewhere. The resulting estimate of 

1.4 inches per year is substantially lower than estimates of 8 to 

12 inches of recharge in other upland areas that were derived 

by base-flow separation methods; the lower rate obtained at 
44 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Averill Park may result from differences in site hydrology 

and (or) in methods of analysis. Furthermore, the rate of 

recharge to bedrock from precipitation may vary widely from 

one locality to another, depending on several environmental 

factors, such as clay or silt content of the till (which in turn is 

a function of bedrock lithology), thickness of till, and average 

precipitation rate, which is generally a function of altitude. 

Therefore, selection of several well clusters (hamlets or 

housing subdivisions) that differ substantially in these or other 

environmental factors would provide a basis for comparision 

and assessment of the relative effect of each factor through 

procedures such as regression analysis, simultaneous 

equations, or graphical methods.

The method used in this study to estimate the rate of 

recharge to bedrock consists of (a) delineating the extent of 

the cone of depression around the selected cluster of wells 

through precise measurement of water-level altitudes in wells 

within and beyond the cone, (b) verifying that water levels 

are not changing substantially over time, and (c) estimating 

as accurately as feasible the average rate of withdrawal from 

each well within the cone of depression. Many of the specific 

procedures described in this report could be replicated in 

other studies, but modifications might be required in some 

circumstances. For example:

•	 Selection of a well cluster on a hilltop or group of hills, 

such as at Averill Park, simplifies delineation of the 

cone of depression. Recharge to a cluster that is low 

on a hillside is likely to be drawn from a large capture 

area upslope, which could be difficult to delineate. 

An alternative approach in this circumstance might be 

to calculate the water-transmitting properties of the 

bedrock by methods such as described in Randall and 

Klusman (2004) based on brief tests of wells in the 

cluster, followed by calculation of lateral flow into the 

cluster from the upslope bedrock. 

•	 Discharge of wastewater to on-lot septic systems, 

which is typical of most upland residential clusters 

supplied by wells, could complicate estimation of 

recharge to bedrock from precipitation. Where the 

bedrock is mantled by thick till throughout the study 

locality, however, wastewater discharge may not 

substantially augment annual recharge to bedrock from 

precipitation. 

•	 A continuous record of water-level fluctuation in a 

nearby unpumped well(s) that penetrates bedrock 

would help in evaluating the fluctuation and timing 

of recharge. Such a record was unavailable for this 

investigation. 

Table 8. Net change in flow of the Wynants Kill in a 3,500-foot reach at Averill Park, N.Y., August–September 2001.

[ft3/s, cubic feet per second. A dash (--) denotes no measurement or data. Street locations are shown in fig. 1]

Date

(2001)

Site 70 feet downstream from

Johnnycake Lane bridge

Site 100 feet downstream from Burden 

Lake Road bridge at Olmstead Lane Net gain (+)

or loss (-)

(ft3 Timea /s) Reference point to 

water (centimeters)

Streamflow

 (ft3

/s) Timea Streamflow

(ft3

/s) 

Aug. 22 1215 17.7 0.47 1310 0.49 + 0.02

1500 17.7 0.50 1540 0.46 - 0.04

1640 17.7 0.49 1725 0.39 - 0.10

Aug .23 0845 18.0 0.41 0945 0.44 + 0.03

-- -- -- 1055 0.43 + 0.02

1138 18.0 0.44 1220 0.42 - 0.02

Aug. 24 1930 17.9 -- -- -- --

Aug. 27 1930 18.2 -- -- -- --

Aug. 28 0828 18.4 0.35 0910 0.34 - 0.01

Aug. 30 1900 18.5 -- -- -- --

Aug. 31 0845 18.6 0.26 0935 0.28 + 0.02

Sep. 3 1915 17.8 -- -- -- --

Sep. 7 1900 18.2 -- -- -- --

Sep. 8 0840 18.4 0.33 0925 0.38 + 0.05

1645 18.2 0.375 1725 0.365 - 0.01

Sum - 0.04

Mean change over 10 measurements - 0.004

a Eastern Daylight time at which streamflow measurement was completed or reference-point measurement was made.
Acknowledgments 45

Summary and Conclusions 

The hamlet of Averill Park occupies an upland area in 

which shale bedrock is mantled by till that ranges in thickness 

from 0 to 190 feet. All residences and other buildings obtain 

water from drilled wells that penetrate bedrock. Water levels 

in the bedrock aquifer, which supplies the hamlet with water, 

have declined in response to increased withdrawals from new 

wells. Similar experiences in other upland localities have 

led to awareness that the rate of recharge to bedrock can be 

a significant constraint on the density of new development 

in uplands. The rate of recharge to bedrock at Averill Park 

was calculated from careful estimates of withdrawals from 

a reasonably well defined cone of depression. The datacollection and recharge-estimation procedures documented 

herein could be applied in other upland localities in support of 

community-planning studies.

Depths to static water level were measured in 2002 

in 145 wells that penetrate bedrock, and top-of-casing 

altitudes were fixed by leveling. Water-level altitudes were 

contoured, and a 0.54-square-mile cone of depression was 

delineated within which ground-water discharge occurs solely 

as withdrawals from wells. Comparison with water-level 

measurements made in 45 of these 145 wells in 1988, under 

relatively dry conditions similar to those of 2002, revealed 

that net water-level declines over those 14 years had averaged 

from 0 to 5 feet in most neighborhoods. Interviews with 

building occupants in 1988 and 2002 indicated negligible 

change in resident population and nonresidential use within 

the cone of depression, except in two small neighborhoods 

where new homes or increased commercial activity resulted 

in localized water-level declines of 9 to 17 feet; these declines 

had largely stabilized by 2002. Water-level measurements 

made in 65 wells in 2005, after 3 years of sharply increased 

precipitation, revealed an average water-level rise of only 

1.6 feet since 2002. Therefore, the cone of depression 

delineated in 2002 was deemed to be stable. 

The per-capita withdrawal by residents whose use of 

water was not constrained by limitations in well yield or by 

voluntary conservation was estimated to average 55 gallons 

per day. This estimate was based on surveys of 206 homes 

similar to those in Averill Park that were served by metered 

public water supply in two nearby towns. Commercial/

institutional use, as estimated by a variety of techniques, was 

5 times smaller than the estimated residental use. Accordingly, 

recharge to bedrock from precipitation within the cone of 

depression was estimated to average 104 gallons per day per 

acre (1.4 inches per year)—enough to sustain 1.9 persons per 

acre if all use were residential. This result is subject to the 

following qualifications:

1. If new evidence were to indicate that the rate of daily 

per-capita residential water use in 2002 at Averill Park 

differed significantly from the 55 gallons per day 

estimated herein, the estimated rate of recharge per acre 

would change proportionately. The sustainable population 

density would change only slightly, however, because the 

resident population at Averill Park in 2002 was mostly 

counted, not estimated.

2. An evaluation of potential sources of error that might 

affect the estimation of recharge rate and sustainable 

population density, such as recharge from a nearby 

stream, lake, or gravel aquifer, suggests that both 

estimates are more likely to be too large rather than too 

small.

3. Vertical head gradients and the spatial distribution of 

ground-water quality suggest that recharge to bedrock is 

more rapid and abundant in localities where the bedrock is 

exposed or close to land surface (discontinuously mantled 

by till less than 30 feet thick) than in localities where the 

till is thicker and continuous. Therefore, the estimated 

recharge rate of 104 gallons per day per acre is an average 

of two unknown rates—a higher rate in the areas of 

discontinuous, thin till, which comprise 30 percent of the 

study area, and a lower rate in areas of thick till, which 

comprise 70 percent of the study area.

The average recharge rate of 104 gallons per day per acre 

could reasonably be applied to other upland localities that are 

similar to Averill Park in the following characteristics: thick 

till appears to be present in about two-thirds of the locality, 

bedrock is shale or slate, and average annual runoff is roughly 

17 inches. Future studies of clusters of wells in localities that 

differ substantially from one another in these environmental 

characteristics could provide a basis for development of a 

regionalized method of estimating the rate of recharge to 

bedrock in any upland locality. 

Acknowledgments 

Several well drillers, particularly Paul Wehnau, provided 

records of drilled wells. William Embree, Angelo Kontis, 

Robert Martin, Bruce Perry, Edwina and David Randall, 

and William Welling assisted with leveling. Timothy Moot 

of Smith and Mahoney Engineers furnished water-level 

measurements made periodically in several wells as part of 

a concurrent study for the town of Sand Lake. Nearly every 

property owner and resident at Averill Park cooperated in 

providing information and in arranging for uninterrupted 

access to wells for water-level measurements when so 

requested. Robert G. LaFleur (Spectra Environmental Group), 

Thomas Mack and Kenneth Pearsall (U.S. Geological Survey), 

and Russell Urban-Mead (The Chazen Companies) provided 

technical review of the manuscript.
46 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

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and Lockatong formation, Penna.: Ground Water, v. 38, 

no. 2, p. 182–192.

National Weather Service, 1983–2005, Climatological data 

New York: National Weather Service, issued monthly.

Olmsted, F.H., and Hely, A.G., 1962, Relation between 

ground water and surface water in Brandywine Creek basin, 

Pennsylvania.: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 

417A, 21 p.

Pelletier, P.M., 1988, Uncertainties in the single determination 

of river discharge—a literature review: Canadian Journal of 

Civil Engineering, v. 15, p. 834–850.

Perlmutter, N.M., 1959, Geology and ground-water resources 

of Rockland County, New York: New York Water Power 

and Control Commission Bulletin GW-42, 133 p.

Posten, S.E., 1984, Estimation of mean groundwater runoff 

in hard-rock aquifers of New Jersey: Pergamon Press, 

Columbia University seminar series on pollution and water 

resources, v. 16, p. 109–154.

Randall, A.D., 1996, Mean annual runoff, precipitation, and 

evapotranspiration in the glaciated northeastern United 

States, 1951–80: U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 

96–395, 2 pls, 1:1,000,000.

Randall, A.D., 2000, Provisional appraisal of ground-water 

resources near Averill Park, N.Y.: Unpublished report to 

Sand Lake Planning Board, 17 p. [*]

Randall, A.D., Francis, R.M., Frimpter, M.H., and Emery, 

J.M., 1988, Region 19, Northeastern Appalachians, in

Back, William, Rosenshein, J.S., and Seaber, P.R., eds., 

Hydrogeology: Boulder, Colo., Geological Society of 

America, The Geology of North America, v. O–2, p. 

177–187.

Randall, A.D., and Klusman, Kate, 2004, Analysis of 

minimally disruptive brief pumping tests of domestic 

wells completed in bedrock in the Appalachian Plateau 

of New York: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 

2004–1276, 8 p. 

Ruedemann, Rudolf, 1930, Geology of the Capital District: 

New York State Museum Bulletin no. 285, 218 p. 

Socolow, R.S., Frimpter, M.H., Turtora, M., and Bell, R.W., 

1994, A technique for estimating ground-water levels at 

sites in Rhode Island from observation-well data: U.S. 

Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 

94–4138, 43 p. 

Tiedeman, C.R., Goode, D.J., and Hsieh, P.A., 1998, 

Characterizing a ground-water basin in a New England 

mountain and valley terrain: Ground Water, v. 36, no. 4, 

p. 611–620.

Toth, J., 1962, A theoretical analysis of groundwater flow 

in small drainage basins: National Research Council 

Canada, Proceedings of Hydrology Symposium No. 

3—groundwater, p. 75–96.

Weaver, M.F., 1987, Availability of ground water from 

selected stratified-drift aquifers in southwestern 

Connecticut: Connecticut Water Resources Bulletin 33B, 

63 p.

Work, Ralph, 1988, Soil Survey of Rensselaer County, N.Y.: 

U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 190 p. 

plus maps.

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New York: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Data Report, 

issued annually at http://wdr.water.usgs.gov
48 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Appendix A. Records of Wells at Averill Park

Download Appendix A data table in three different formats (.csv, .txt, and .xls) here: 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2008/5087/appendixa.htm

Definitions of column headings

Well # Well number. Serial numbers used to identify wells in this report. Letters following a number indicate successive wells 

on same property; lower-case letters indicate a deepening of the previous well, capital letters indicate a separate well. 

Numbers 1–320 were assigned by LaFleur (1989). Well locations are shown on plate 2, but successive wells on the same 

property are plotted and numbered only if far enough apart to be shown distinctively at map scale.

Date drill Date drilled (or deepened). Format is month/day/year; “1” denotes unknown month or day of drilling. Therefore, a 

date of 1/1/50 generally indicates that the well was drilled at some unknown date in or about 1950, and a date of 8/1/85 

indicates that the well was drilled sometime in August 1985.

Depth Well depth below land surface, in feet.

Csd Depth of casing below land surface, in feet.

D S Source of well depth (and of casing depth, if known):

D From driller’s bill or well-completion report, or from driller’s office records.

M From memory of well owner or some other individual, not from a written record. 

R From written notes or report by owner, plumber, or some individual other than the well driller.

U From measurement with steel tape 1999–2002 by U.S. Geological Survey.

Note: all wells listed are drilled wells of 6-inch diameter unless noted otherwise in Remarks column.

Yield Maximum well yield, in gallons per minute.

Y S Source of yield data:

D	 From driller’s bill, well-completion report, or office records, generally measured with water level drawn down to

bottom of well by bailing or air-lift pumping.

M From memory of owner or some other individual; generally a recollection of the driller’s measurement upon well 

completion, but some represent results of more recent pumping.

R From written notes or report by owner, plumber, or some individual other than the driller.

U	 Based on specific capacity as determined during prolonged measurement of water-level recovery by U.S. Geological

Survey in 1999–2002, extrapolated linearly to depth of pump. (This method used only for low-yield wells, and 

probably overestimates maximum yield because specific capacity can be expected to decrease as drawdown increases

beyond the depth range of recovery data.)

A Well yield not known but judged adequate from experience of residents.

S Well yield not known but judged small from experience of residents.

Use Use of water from well:

C Commercial (store, restaurant).

D3 Domestic; number denotes the number of residents served on date of well inventory in 1999–2002. 

I	 Institutional (church, firehouse, hall).

N Water not used (generally because well had been replaced or deepened prior to date of well inventory; also applied to 

wells for new houses not yet occupied as of the summer of 2002 and to a few test boreholes in which no well casing 

was installed).

Sp C Specific conductance, in microsiemens per centimeter at 25° Celsius, as measured on date of well inventory in

1999–2002 with a calibrated portable conductance meter (Electronic Switchgear Model MC-1 Mark V).
Appendix A 49

Hard Hardness, in milligrams per liter as CaCO3, as measured on the date of well inventory in 1999–2002 by EDTA titration 

with a Hach model 5B field kit, which could generally be read to + 8 milligrams per liter; the kit is designed for a 

hardness range of 0–30 grains per gallon (0–513 milligrams per liter). All tests represent water that was not softened, 

and at nearly all sites was free of any chemical treatment. 

Cl Chloride concentration, in milligrams per liter, as reported in written records from a laboratory. Most samples were 

collected by, and analyzed for, the Rensselaer County Health Department.

Cl_date Date on which sample was collected for chloride analysis (month/day/year). If results of multiple analyses are on file

for a particular well, results for the most recent sample are given here.

Qual Water-quality information, or problems reported by well owners:

C Chemical analysis in table 4.

S	 Sulfur odor (hydrogen sulfide), strong and persistent. (Occasional or slight sulfur odor not listed here.)

Sx	 Water treatment to remove sulfur (generally chlorination followed by carbon filter).

I Iron and(or) manganese, generally in suspended or particulate form, but at some sites dissolved in large 

concentrations. (Slight iron/manganese staining is not listed here. For wells equipped with softeners, current iron/

manganese concentrations of untreated water are seldom obvious and are not listed here unless reportedly severe 

prior to installation of softener.)

Ix	 Water treatment to remove iron (generally a cartridge-type sediment filter to remove suspended iron

and manganese).

L	 Abundant carbonate crystals trapped in sediment filter. (Many other well owners report modest amounts of “sand”

(generally carbonate crystals) in screens on faucets or washing machines; this condition is not listed here, but is 

occasionally mentioned in Remarks column.)

NOTE: Many wells are equipped with water softeners; this information is not reported in appendix A because 

hardness of untreated water is given in another column.

T Persistent and(or) severe turbidity in water from well.

Tx	 Cartridge filter, sand-bed filter, or alum treatment followed by filter, to remove turbidity.

Alt LS Altitude of land surface, in feet above NGVD29. Altitudes estimated from the topographic map (some modified on

the basis of leveling to nearby sites) are reported as whole numbers. Altitudes determined by leveling to top of casing 

and measurement from top of casing to land surface are reported to the nearest tenth of a foot; for most of these wells, 

measurements of water level are tabulated in appendix B.

Alt R Altitude of bedrock surface, in feet above NGVD29, calculated from well log or estimated from casing depth.

USGS Serial numbers used to identify wells in U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System electronic data 

base. In that data base located at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/si,each number is preceded by “Re” (to represent 

Rensselaer County, N.Y.) to form the site name (i.e. “Re3500” or “Re 2”).

Remarks: This column includes well logs as reported by driller; numbers are in feet. Text following \_ symbol is a continuation of remarks in the previous row. The following abbreviations are used: Cl, chloride. Diam, diameter. 

Dwl, depth to water level below land surface upon well completion, as reported by driller; numbers are in feet. 

PVC, polyvinylchloride. WL, depth to water, numbers are in feet. apts, apartments. avg, average. hrdpn, hardpan (till). 

ft, feet. gpm, gallons per minute. gpd, gallons per day. hr, hours. hydrofrac, hydrofractured. meas, measured. 

Rensselaer grit (or Renss. grit), hard greywacke or sandstone, of a type that predominates on Taborton Mountain 

(east of Averill Park). rept, reported. sh, shale. w/, with.
50 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

z Street Date drill Depth Csd DS Yield YS Use SpC Hard Cl Cl_date Qual AltLS AltR

 1 3039 NY Route 43 150 10 M N 791

 1A 3039 NY Route 43 6/24/87 280 40 D 0.6 D CD 1700 376 791 786

 2 3041 NY Route 43 1/1/50 197 12 D 1.7 D D5 1600 240 201 8/1/84 790 778

 2A 3041 NY Route 43 7/11/88 312 40 D 0.67 U D5 786.8 782

 3 NY Route 43 219 U 1 M N 789.9

 3A NY Route 43 1/1/84 245 M 5 R D8 1900 530 515 3/3/99 CI 788.6

 4 1611 Burden LkRd 12/11/86 302 40 D 1 D C 700 43 784.3 745

 5 1613 Burden LkRd 200 M 0.5 M D4 750 120 784

 6 1622 Burden LkRd 1/1/46 125 M A D2 1500 590 776

 7 3016 NY Route 43 250 M A 1060 8 773

 8 3016 NY Route 43 11/3/81 380 D 3.5 D C 1040 17 L 778 760

 9 13 Breezedale Dr 6/8/87 320 122 D 2.5 D D2 485 85 820.2 698

 10 8 Breezedale Dr 1/1/57 170 115 R 7 R D1 450 120 3 7/2/85 827.1 712

 11 3 Breezedale Dr 4/1/86 320 102 D 1.5 D D2 400 111 3 10/23/90 821 719

 12 5 Breezedale Dr 9/4/85 400 119 D 1.5 D D5 460 17 3 7/1/91 830 710

 13 9 Johnnycake La 100 M A D4 24 10/20/64 782

 14 18 Johnnycake La 8/16/79 215 61 D 7 D D3 590 136 35 7/27/82 TxI 810 749

 15 12 Johnnycake La 7/18/69 145 34 D 6 D D4 760 170 141 4/6/98 782.1 748

 16 14 Johnnycake La 1/1/40 107 31 R S N 792 762

 16A 14 Johnnycake La 8/31/98 320 41 D 2.2 D D2 470 154 Tx 792 762

 17 19 Johnnycake La 129 U S N 11 8/16/67 813.7

 17A 19 Johnnycake La 8/16/93 310 82 D 5 D D2 700 154 813 731

 18 6 Orient Ave 108 25 M S D4 1100 282 306 8/5/86 778

 19 12 Orient Ave 5/17/55 230 36 D 3.9 D D2 980 26 94 10/11/77 775 739

 20 1 Orient Ave 1/1/50 128 20 M A D2 1030 240 190 11/20/86 782

 21 8 Orient Ave 7/29/63 140 35 D 3 D N 89 3/1/79 766.1 731

 21A 8 Orient Ave 6/15/88 323 42 D 3 D N 766

 21b 8 Orient Ave 3/11/97 600 42 D 1 R D6 970 85 766

 22 16 Orient Ave 200 M N 116 8/1/84 778

 22A 16 Orient Ave 1/1/85 350 M S D8 760 0 778.1

 23 28 Orient Ave 8/2/63 190 92 D 2 D N 40 8/4/92 784 694

 23A 28 Orient Ave 4/15/93 500 102 D 2 D D6 58 4/3/96 782 682

 24 18 Orient Ave 1/1/34 140 75 R S D5 510 154 96 5/31/88 786 711

 25 17 Prospect Ave 12/20/72 162 60 D 7.2 D D2 670 137 Ix 775 715

 26 23 Prospect Ave 129 60 M N 12 3/3/71 772 712

 26A 23 Prospect Ave 1/1/70 145 60 M 5 M D2 690 120 18 3/18/85 772.4 712

 27 29 Prospect Ave 4/8/68 150 57 D 9 D D3 820 128 8 1/20/69 773.6 717

 28 25 Prospect Ave 5/25/73 170 83 D 10 D D4 680 68 12 9/13/83 765.8 682

 29 30 Orient Ave 12/9/64 158 84 D 5.3 D N 40 11/26/84 T 783.7 700

 29a 30 Orient Ave 6/1/92 295 D 9 M D2 640 8 783.7

 30 14 East.Union Tpk 1/1/50 86 M A D3 790 325 83 2/28/85 787

 31 36 East.Union Tpk 300 M A D9 290 128 S 795

 32 52 East.Union Tpk 1/1/82 250? M A D3 1000 420 42 6/24/84 IS 800.9

 33 60 East.Union Tpk D4 28 9/12/86 795

 34 16 Johnnycake La 1/1/43 119 M S N 700 265 795

 34A 16 Johnnycake La 8/24/01 320 51 D 7 D D5 490 68 795.8 750

 35 62 Houston Way 4/23/70 250 130 D 7.3 D D4 350 17 4 5/1/70 871.5 742

 36 48 Houston Way 8/1/85 520 80 D 1 D D2 270 34 LTx 833.2 753

 37 64 Houston Way 4/1/86 400 60 D 2 D D2 420 17 11 3/6/00 C 776.4 716

 38 104 Crystal Lk Rd 1/1/67 150 M A N 910 427 18 1/12/83 790.2

 39 87 Crystal Lk Rd 1/1/55 155 D 2 7/11/66

 39a 87 Crystal Lk Rd 180 M 3 M D3 360 85 5 12/28/01 C 805.8

 40 27 Crystal Lk Rd 8/12/85 400 110 D 1.5 D D2 560 17 <2 12/23/85 Sx 791 681

 49 Miller Hill Rd 1/1/65 150 M 5.2 M N 14 1/1/72 802.3

 49A Miller Hill Rd 6/1/88 300 M 7.8 M D4
Appendix A 51

Well# USGS Remarks

 1 3500 Failed 1988

 1A 3501 0-5 dirt, 5-280 soft red shale, some gray, water 150-58. WL meas 73.81 July 1987. 2 stores, 1 apt, often out of water.

 2 3502 Used alternately with 2A; also cistern and occasionally buy truckloads of water.

 2A 3503 0-5 ash&gravel fill, 5-12 broken red shale, 12-312 shale, red w/layers black, gray. Yield <0.5 gpm (driller).

 3 3504 Supplied 2 buildings 1972-84, low-rate pump into storage tank.

 3A 3505 Supplies 2 buildings.

 4 3506 Supplies beauty parlor. Since 2002 also connected to 1 apartment..

 5 3507

 6 3508 Hot-water coil in furnace plugged with lime in 1 year. Occasional sulfur odor.

 7 3509 Supplies drinking water and ice cubes for inn/restaurant, all other uses from well #8.

 8 3510 0-5 loam/gravel, 5-18 hardpan, 18-380 red shale w/seams Renss. grit. "Eggshell lime" forms in pump and pipes;

 9 3511 0-119 hardpan, 119-320 red&gray shale. \_pump replaced every 18 months. 500-gal storage tank.

 10 3512 WL meas 1987-92, 1999-2002, on file.

 11 3513 0-97 hardpan&boulders, 97-101 gray shale, 101-320 red&gray shale. Water heater plugged 1997. Dwl 90.

 12 3514

 13 3515 Also dug well in front yard, not used.

 14 3516 0-58 hardpan, 58-215 red&gray shale w/grit seams. Dwl 60. WL120 Nov 1992 (plumber)

 15 3517 Gradual increase in chloride from 47 mg/L in 1969, 69 in 1979, 105 in 1989; total of 7 analyses.

 16 3518 Enough water for 1 resident, not for 3.

 16A 3519 0-30 hardpan&boulders, 30-320 red shale, a little gray, a little Rensselaer grit.

 17 3520

 17A 3521

 18 3522 Cistern used for toilets, and laundry in wet seasons. Sodium 85 mg/L, chloride 402 Sept 1981

 19 3523 Water tested hard in 1960's. Water dirty when well next door was drilled, later hydrofractured

 20 3524

 21 3525 Dwl 20.

 21A 3526 Dwl 40.

 21b Well hydrofractured March 1997

 22 3527

 22A 3528 Typically out of water twice a week.

 23 3529 0-10 overburden, 10-90 hardpan, 90-190 shale.

 23A 3530 0-100 hardpan, 100-500 red&gray shale.

 24 3531 WL 54 July 1974. Only 4gpd from well in 1999; use cistern, dug well, and buy truckloads of water.

 25 3532 0-59 hardpan&boulders, 59-162 gray&red shale; 1gpm at 80, 5gpm at 132. Dwl 95.

 26 3533

 26A 3534

 27 3535 0-57 hardpan&boulders, 58-150 shale.

 28 3536 0-84 alternating layers hardpan and dry gravel, 84-170 red&gray shale. Hardness 170 mg/L 1987.

 29 3537 Water often cloudy during heavy use 1984-92. Yield tested <1gpm 1992.

 29a Water black twice 1992-1999 during heavy use. Water much softer after deepening well.

 30 3538

 31 3539 Intermittent strong sulfur odor since 1995.

 32 3540 Sulfur odor was intermittent, but increased in 2002.

 33 3541 Reverse osmosis unit on kitchen sink.

 34 3542 Yield limited since 1990, very little June 2001, only 8 ft of water in well August 2001

 34A 3543 0-46 hardpan&boulders, 46-320 red&gray shale & Renss. grit. Occasional sulfur odor.

 35 3544 0-130 clay hardpan, 130-250 gray slate w/streaks red paint rock. Dwl 104.

 36 3545 Intense red turbidity initially and when pumped hard; has gradually declined. Dwl 90

 37 3546 0-55 hardpan, 55-400 red&gray shale

 38 3547 Seasonal camp, little use 2001-2.

 39 3548

 39a

 40 3549 Dwl 75.

 49 3550

 49A 3551
52 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

z Street Date drill Depth Csd DS Yield YS Use SpC Hard Cl Cl_date Qual AltLS AltR

 50 2 Houston Way 1/1/45 180 M A D1 540 135

 51 113 Crystal Lk Rd 360 D 2 D D2 38 3/22/88 778.5 772

 52 27 Lake Ave 188 U N 786.1

 52A 27 Lake Ave 11/13/84 500 62 D 6 D I 850 17 785.4 728

 53 45 Lake Ave 1/1/63 182 M N 6 6/10/64 812.2

 53a 45 Lake Ave 10/1/81 350 D 2 D D2 670 8 812.2

 54 41 Old Route 66 4/25/83 138 38 D 8 D N 786.7 757

 54a 41 Old Route 66 7/1/93 300 38 D A I 4100 1500 786.7 757

 55 13 Old Route 66 80 M <3 M D4 1850 795 800

 56 21 Old Route 66 19.7 0 U N 799.2 798

 56A 21 Old Route 66 1/1/67 207 U 10 M D6 920 257 I 799.1 798

 57 23 Old Route 66 120 M S N 800

 57a 23 Old Route 66 11/1/64 220 M 3 M D6 610 43 115 12/9/81 800

 58 29 Old Route 66 95 D N 800

 58a 29 Old Route 66 1/1/65 165 D 4.5 M N 110 12/14/76 800

 58b 29 Old Route 66 4/1/86 187 D 11 D D9 1180 445 Ix 800

 59 33 Old Route 66 160 D 2.7 M N 57 7/23/74 800

 59a 33 Old Route 66 11/1/83 400 D 2 D D7 1150 68 84 11/27/84 Ix 800

 60 26 Crowley Way 1/1/53 118 R 8? M N 733

 60a 26 Crowley Way 11/30/95 402 R A D1 620 154 733

 61 13 Allen Ave 10/6/62 137 105 D N 759.2 654

 61a 13 Allen Ave 10/14/87 343 D 8.5 D D4 770 17 759.2

 62 Allen Ave 146 M N 12 9/6/79 767

 62a Allen Ave 6/6/80 232 D 9 D D2 670 222 11 8/8/84 767

 63 15 Terrace Drive 3/7/80 122 98 D 4 D D6 570 205 726 628

 64 16 Terrace Drive 3/27/81 200 90 D 5 D D3 550 170 16 3/6/96 721.3 633

 65 4 Terrace Drive 125? M N 723.1

 65A 4 Terrace Drive 1/1/96 450? M A D2 650 205 723.9

 66 12 Crowley Way 150 87 M S D5 630 240 5 2/27/73 741 654

 66A 12 Crowley Way 4/5/04 540 92 D 0.5 M D5 741 651

 67 30 Allen Ave 9/28/64 165 90 D 8 D N 7 3/12/68 785.7 696

 67a 30 Allen Ave 12/19/88 322 D 6 D D2 610 180 785.7

 68 12 Allen Ave 143 50 M D3 11 11/3/78 755

 69 6 Crowley Way 129.4 U N 9 11/14/84 746.3

 69A 6 Crowley Way 1/1/98 300? M A D3 620 214 745.7

 70 34 Terrace Drive 180 150 M D2 5 11/8/82 745

 71 21 Terrace Drive 1/1/55 121 R N 38 10/5/84 732

 71A 21 Terrace Drive 2/25/97 300 95 D 6.5 D D3 640 34 732 638

 72 5 Cottage Street 115 M N 15 9/6/85 739

 72a 5 Cottage Street 1/15/94 240 90 D 20 D D4 560 111 739.1 649

 73 Cottage Street 1/1/80 128.7 107 U 3.5 M D2 505 137 Sx 737.9 631

 74 55 Lake Ave 170 M S N 32 9/12/83 803.9

 74a 55 Lake Ave 1/1/95 475 M 5 M D4 840 0 803.9

 75 47 Lake Ave 7/10/75 455 84 D 1.5 D D2 790 8 823 740

 76 1616 Burden LkRd 1/1/66 300? M A D2 2500 975 230 2/5/81 I 775

 77 26 Johnnycake La 4/30/63 230 115 D 3 D D3 450 111 6 6/2/87 Ix 822.8 708

 78 24 Johnnycake La 1/1/74 240 100 M 6.5 M D2 480 128 7 12/14/82 820.8 721

 79 20 Johnnycake La 1/1/68 195 73? M A D4 610 154 25 10/20/80 C 809.1

 80 15 Johnnycake La 1/1/65 200 60 M D2 720 154 37 11/3/89 801.7 742

 81 10 Breezedale Dr 1/1/57 206 117 M 4.5 M D2 520 170 828 711

 82 6 Johnnycake La 95 M S N 780

 82A 6 Johnnycake La 1/1/87 320 41 D 4.5 D D4 780 745

 83 11 Johnnycake La 1/1/50 100 55 M A D2 770 300 32 7/13/71 790

 84 14 Tin Can Alley 1/1/60 130 30 M 10 M D1 1240 496 776.4

 85 8 Johnnycake La 130 40 M A D4 860 410 79 1/13/86 771.6

 86 23 Johnnycake La 7/1/56 198 122 D 10.5 D D3 570 86 21 2/5/86 827 705
Appendix A 53

 50 3552

 51 3553 0-6 hardpan, 6-360 red&gray shale

 52 3554 Diam. 8 inches

 52A 3555 0-57 hardpan, 57-500 gray&red shale

 53 3556

 53a

 54 3557 0-30 hardpan, 30-138 rock. Frequently out of water 1990-93.

 54a Reverse osmosis unit after softener for drinking water. Water supply adequate.

 55 3558 Cistern in basement, used for laundry and showers. Pump replaced 1992, plugged with lime.

 56 3559 Dug well, diameter several feet.

 56A 3560 Shale at depth of about 1 foot on this property

 57 3561 House also supplied by cistern prior to 1964

 57a Water hard in 1964 (tested with kit), installed softener; seemed softer in 1988, softener discontinued.

 58 3562

 58a

 58b

 59 3563

 59a

 60 3564 Dug well & cistern until 1953, 12 residents then. In 1995, 4 residents, ran out of water often.

 60a

 61 3565

 61a 137-343 red&gray shale & Rensselaer grit. Dwl 100. Hard crust on pump pipe Oct 2000.

 62 3566

 62a

 63 3567 Owner thinks yield has dinimished since 1998. Also 2 dug wells, used for laundry and gardens

 64 3568 0-55 hrdpn, 55-60 fine gray sand, stones, 60-88 hrdpn, 88-95 red shale, 95-200 Renss. grit, shale seams. Dwl 40.

 65 3569 6-in PVC casing extension to above land surface.

 65A 3570

 66 3571 In 2002, when filling washing machine must stop to let well recover. Replaced well 2004 when pump failed.

 66A 3572 Well hydrofractured 4/7/2004.

 67 3573 Dwl 132. WL deeper than 147 ft June 1988 (meas during study by R.G. LaFleur)

 67a

 68 3574 Well deepened 1987, no information.

 69 3575 WL meas 127.5 ft below land surface Aug 2002

 69A 3576

 70 3577

 71 3578 WL 93 Feb 1997, yield inadequate.

 71A 3579 0-94 hardpan, 94-300 shale, sandstone. Dwl 60.

 72 3580 Pump failed Jan 1994, WL 106.

 72a 112-180 Rensselaer grit, 180-185 red shale, 185-240 Rensselaer grit. 20gpm at 120, dwindled to 3gpm at 212,

 73 3581 Well may have been deepened, no information. \_20 gpm at 240

 74 3582

 74a Well hydrofractured, subsequent yield 8 gpm.

 75 3583 0-80 red hardpan, 80-455 red&gray shale

 76 3584 Carbon filter for drinking water.

 77 3585

 78 3586 1998-2000, entrained gas and black gritty sediment if pumped 0.5 hour or more.

 79 3587 Occasional gray silt until new pump in 1996. Chloride 8 mg/L in 1969, 17 in 1974.

 80 3588 Abundant gray silt occasionally when pumped heavily.

 81 3589

 82 3590 Often out of water 1982-87.

 82A 3591 0-35 overburden, 35-320 rock.

 83 3592

 84 3593 Lime plugs pump & intake pipe, must clean every 3 years. Shallow-well pump.

 85 3594 Usage spaced out to avoid overstressing well. Lime buildup in faucets.

 86 3595

Well# USGS Remarks

 1 3500 Failed 1988

 1A 3501 0-5 dirt, 5-280 soft red shale, some gray, water 150-58. WL meas 73.81 July 1987. 2 stores, 1 apt, often out of water.

 2 3502 Used alternately with 2A; also cistern and occasionally buy truckloads of water.

 2A 3503 0-5 ash&gravel fill, 5-12 broken red shale, 12-312 shale, red w/layers black, gray. Yield <0.5 gpm (driller).

 3 3504 Supplied 2 buildings 1972-84, low-rate pump into storage tank.

 3A 3505 Supplies 2 buildings.

 4 3506 Supplies beauty parlor. Since 2002 also connected to 1 apartment..

 5 3507

 6 3508 Hot-water coil in furnace plugged with lime in 1 year. Occasional sulfur odor.

 7 3509 Supplies drinking water and ice cubes for inn/restaurant, all other uses from well #8.

 8 3510 0-5 loam/gravel, 5-18 hardpan, 18-380 red shale w/seams Renss. grit. "Eggshell lime" forms in pump and pipes;

 9 3511 0-119 hardpan, 119-320 red&gray shale. \_pump replaced every 18 months. 500-gal storage tank.

 10 3512 WL meas 1987-92, 1999-2002, on file.

 11 3513 0-97 hardpan&boulders, 97-101 gray shale, 101-320 red&gray shale. Water heater plugged 1997. Dwl 90.

 12 3514

 13 3515 Also dug well in front yard, not used.

 14 3516 0-58 hardpan, 58-215 red&gray shale w/grit seams. Dwl 60. WL120 Nov 1992 (plumber)

 15 3517 Gradual increase in chloride from 47 mg/L in 1969, 69 in 1979, 105 in 1989; total of 7 analyses.

 16 3518 Enough water for 1 resident, not for 3.

 16A 3519 0-30 hardpan&boulders, 30-320 red shale, a little gray, a little Rensselaer grit.

 17 3520

 17A 3521

 18 3522 Cistern used for toilets, and laundry in wet seasons. Sodium 85 mg/L, chloride 402 Sept 1981

 19 3523 Water tested hard in 1960's. Water dirty when well next door was drilled, later hydrofractured

 20 3524

 21 3525 Dwl 20.

 21A 3526 Dwl 40.

 21b Well hydrofractured March 1997

 22 3527

 22A 3528 Typically out of water twice a week.

 23 3529 0-10 overburden, 10-90 hardpan, 90-190 shale.

 23A 3530 0-100 hardpan, 100-500 red&gray shale.

 24 3531 WL 54 July 1974. Only 4gpd from well in 1999; use cistern, dug well, and buy truckloads of water.

 25 3532 0-59 hardpan&boulders, 59-162 gray&red shale; 1gpm at 80, 5gpm at 132. Dwl 95.

 26 3533

 26A 3534

 27 3535 0-57 hardpan&boulders, 58-150 shale.

 28 3536 0-84 alternating layers hardpan and dry gravel, 84-170 red&gray shale. Hardness 170 mg/L 1987.

 29 3537 Water often cloudy during heavy use 1984-92. Yield tested <1gpm 1992.

 29a Water black twice 1992-1999 during heavy use. Water much softer after deepening well.

 30 3538

 31 3539 Intermittent strong sulfur odor since 1995.

 32 3540 Sulfur odor was intermittent, but increased in 2002.

 33 3541 Reverse osmosis unit on kitchen sink.

 34 3542 Yield limited since 1990, very little June 2001, only 8 ft of water in well August 2001

 34A 3543 0-46 hardpan&boulders, 46-320 red&gray shale & Renss. grit. Occasional sulfur odor.

 35 3544 0-130 clay hardpan, 130-250 gray slate w/streaks red paint rock. Dwl 104.

 36 3545 Intense red turbidity initially and when pumped hard; has gradually declined. Dwl 90

 37 3546 0-55 hardpan, 55-400 red&gray shale

 38 3547 Seasonal camp, little use 2001-2.

 39 3548

 39a

 40 3549 Dwl 75.

 49 3550

 49A 3551
54 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

z Street Date drill Depth Csd DS Yield YS Use SpC Hard Cl Cl_date Qual AltLS AltR

 87 25 Johnnycake La 1/1/58 213 M 5.5 M D3 480 86 20 9/8/88 827

 88 21 Johnnycake La 170 130 M N 7 2/11/74 820

 88A 21 Johnnycake La 1/1/79 265 M 5.2 M D5 560 128 16 5/27/86 820

 89 9 Tin Can Alley 175 M A D3 I 770 765

 90 7 Breezedale Dr 1/1/55 213 M 5 M N 4 6/28/65 831

 90A 7 Breezedale Dr 7/9/84 302 132 D 4.5 D D3 440 120 9 4/18/85 830.3 700

 91 11 Breezedale Dr 1/1/64 200 M A D2 550 170 41 5/15/92 833.2

 92 38 East.Union Tpk 1/1/54 84 M A D2 410 188 803

 93 4 Breezedale Dr 10/13/86 400 83 D 2 D D5 500 26 15 12/24/86 812.4 729

 94 35 Houston Way 9/1/70 245 50 D 6 D D5 420 43 10 808.7 759

 95 42 Houston Way 2/26/68 300 126 R 5.7 R D3 440 85 2 4/1/68 840.7 715

 97 17 Crystal Lk Rd 95 M N

 97a 17 Crystal Lk Rd 9/1/79 320 D 1.8 D D1 790 8 38 9/29/93 Sx 794.3

 98 9 Crystal Lake Rd 6/28/60 143 M <1 M N 210 34 5 6/28/65 S 781.8

 99 3 East.Union Tpk 1/1/83 110 M S D4 1600 720 772

 100 6 East.Union Tpk C 960 565 772

 101 3021 NY Route 43 1/1/65 120 M A N 52 9/25/75 782

 101A 3021 NY Route 43 11/8/95 420 39 D 1.5 D D2 T 782 747

 102 2 Johnnycake La 100 M A N 783

 102A 2 Johnnycake La 10/28/88 400 D 2 D D4 783 755

 103 18 East.Union Tpk 1/1/62 146 45 D 5.3 D D1 48 6/13/83 787

 104 20A East Union Tpk 3/1/50 138 58 D 6.3 D N 760 255 786.5 729

 104a 20A East Union Tpk 11/1/02 230 D 10 M D5 786.5

 105 16 East Union Tpk 147 M A D1 870 265 105 8/22/85 782.7

 106 40 East Union Tpk 140 M 2.3 M D2 440 205 802.4

 107 42 East Union Tpk 1/1/56 80 20 M 3 M N 801 781

 107A 42 East Union Tpk 8/13/02 230 40 D 5 D D2 810 325 801 781

 108 22-24 East Union Tpk 1/1/86 300 M A D8 61 5/19/87 790

 109 NY Route 43 C 81 9/25/79 790

 110 1621 Burden LkRd 2/28/78 350 39 D 1.3 D D2 670 8 101 9/8/80 766 757

 111 1623 Burden LkRd 1/1/85 360 M A D3 1220 393 148 5/1/90 Ix 774.7

 112 1630 Burden LkRd 250 M S D3 1040 17 108 6/11/86 L 807

 113 1626 Burden LkRd 26 0 U C 24 7/20/64 805

 114 26 Orient Ave 240 M A D2 590 0 790

 115 1547 Burden LkRd 3/2/79 339 51 D 5 D D5 800 43 41 1/21/93 L 775.6 727

 116 1569 Burden LkRd 207 68 M N 786 718

 116A 1569 Burden LkRd 11/1/88 400 70 D 3 D D3 675 8 786 721

 117 1614 Burden LkRd 8/3/71 100 40 D 3 D D3 2300 607 216 3/1/79 775 775

 118 1581 Burden LkRd 22 0 U N 791

 118A 1581 Burden LkRd >293 U A D3 700 8 790.7

 119 20 Orient Ave 157 M S N 66 11/22/83 784

 119A 20 Orient Ave 5/13/94 460 91 D 2.5 D D2 745 8 784.4 693

 120 6 House Road 219 D N

 120a 6 House Road 8/23/76 390 D 3.5 D D2 750 0 83 10/10/89 806.9

 122 15 Orient Ave 158 U N 76 7/31/79 773.6

 122A 15 Orient Ave 7/23/83 335 39 D 0.4 U D2 560 51 100 2/13/85 774 752

 123 3049 NY Route 43 1/1/53 350 M N 787

 123A 3049 NY Route 43 3/1/74 485 42 D 1 D D5C 787

 123B 3049 NY Route 43 12/24/83 740 40 D 1 D D5C 1340 248 787 775

 124 2989 NY Route 43 600 M A D3 1280 427 29 5/20/77 785

 125 3020 NY Route 43 S D2 790 230 780

 125A 3020 NY Route 43 8/12/04 1020 140 D 1 D N 782 652

 126 3024 NY Route 43 A D1 840 34 61 7/12/89 785

 127 3033 NY Route 43 1/1/53 215 M S N 791

 127A 3033 NY Route 43 1/1/88 400 M 1.1 U D3 1260 197 791.5

 128 2981 NY Route 43 3/8/55 117 48 D 6.4 D D3 540 180 42 8/22/85 781 733
Appendix A 55

 87 3596

 88 3597

 88A 3598

 89 3599 Cellar dug in shale.

 90 3600 Diam 4 in.

 90A 3601 0-130 hardpan&shale, 130-302 red&green shale. Dwl 40.

 91 3602 Also supplied house next door for several months in 1984

 92 3603 Replaced dug well.

 93 3604 0-80 hardpan&boulders, 80-400 red&gray shale. Slight sulfur odor in hot water. Dwl 80

 94 3605 0-50 hardpan, 50-245 bedrock

 95 3606 0-126 clay; 4 gpm 126-244, 1.7 gpm 244-275. Dwl 75 ft

 97 3607

 97a Reverse osmosis unit for drinking water only. Use also for church office, 6 persons

 98 3608 House supplied by lake water since 1988. WL 90.5 below land surface June 1991 (owner's records)

 99 3609 Quality worse since 1988. Carbon filter in 1995 to extract gasoline.

 100 3610 Mineralized taste. Filter for several years to extract gasoline, removed by 2001.

 101 3611 Also old dug well about 30 ft deep

 101A 3612 0-35hrdpn, 35-420red&gray sh, seams sandstone. Red clay persisted 1995-98(removed w/alum&filter);rare since.

 102 3613 Well replaced because so much sand (lime?) in faucet filters; yield was adequate. \_Dwl 60.

 102A 3614 0-28 hardpan&boulders, 28-400 red&gray shale.

 103 3615

 104 3616 Aug. 2002, out of water once a week, wait 6 hours. Pre-1996, filled pool & watered lawn, no problems.

 104a Reverse osmosis unit on kitchen faucet since pre-1996.

 105 3617

 106 3618 Hot water pipes plugged with lime until softener installed years ago.

 107 3619 In 2002, ran a faucet 45 minutes before water stopped flowing. WL 12 in 1983.

 107A 3620 0-20 gravel, 20-230 red&gray shale

 108 3621

 109 3622

 110 3623 0-9 red hardpan, 9-350 red&gray shale w/seams Rensselaer grit.

 111 3624 Record is for well deepened 1985; no information on original well.

 112 3625

 113 3626 Dug well, diameter several feet, supplies beauty parlor and real estate office. Often out of water 2001.

 114 3627 Sulfur odor April-Nov 1997, not since.

 115 3628 0-49 hrdpn, 49-100 graywacke, 100-260 gray sh, 260-339 red sh. Dwl 100. Lime plugs hot water pipes.

 116 3629 This well had been deepened in 1960, no record of original depth.

 116A 3630 0-65 hardpan, 65-400 red&gray shale. Dwl 122.

 117 3631 0-100 red shale, water 85-100. Dwl 20.

 118 3632 Dug well, diam 4.2 ft

 118A 3633 This well may have been drilled or deepened in 1988.

 119 3634 1988-94, out of water after each load of wash.

 119A 3635 0-88 hardpan, 88-460 red&gray shale. Dwl 120. Occasional minor sulfur odor.

 120 3636

 120a

 122 3637

 122A 3638 0-22 red hardpan, 22-335 red&gray shale. Dwl 50. Yield 1.3gpm driller

 123 3639 Hydrofractured 1994. Not regularly used as of 2000. Wells 123,123A,123B <10 ft apart.

 123A 3640 Hydrofractured 1994. Used occasionally when well 123B is overpumped because of a leak.

 123B 3641 0-12 hrdpn, 12-740 red&gray shale. Hydrofrac 1994. Dwl 80. 2 stores, 3 apts; avg use 218 gpd(water meter)

 124 3642 \_Oct 2002, one store vacant.

 125 3643

 125A 3877 0-130 red hrdpn, 130-1020 red shale. [Note: depth to bedrock inconsistent with records of many nearby wells.]

 126 3644 Also dug well in cellar, valves allow either well to supply the house; pump inoperable 2002.

 127 3645 Filter in 1980's to remove gasoline contamination.

 127A 3646

 128 3647

Well# USGS Remarks

 1 3500 Failed 1988

 1A 3501 0-5 dirt, 5-280 soft red shale, some gray, water 150-58. WL meas 73.81 July 1987. 2 stores, 1 apt, often out of water.

 2 3502 Used alternately with 2A; also cistern and occasionally buy truckloads of water.

 2A 3503 0-5 ash&gravel fill, 5-12 broken red shale, 12-312 shale, red w/layers black, gray. Yield <0.5 gpm (driller).

 3 3504 Supplied 2 buildings 1972-84, low-rate pump into storage tank.

 3A 3505 Supplies 2 buildings.

 4 3506 Supplies beauty parlor. Since 2002 also connected to 1 apartment..

 5 3507

 6 3508 Hot-water coil in furnace plugged with lime in 1 year. Occasional sulfur odor.

 7 3509 Supplies drinking water and ice cubes for inn/restaurant, all other uses from well #8.

 8 3510 0-5 loam/gravel, 5-18 hardpan, 18-380 red shale w/seams Renss. grit. "Eggshell lime" forms in pump and pipes;

 9 3511 0-119 hardpan, 119-320 red&gray shale. \_pump replaced every 18 months. 500-gal storage tank.

 10 3512 WL meas 1987-92, 1999-2002, on file.

 11 3513 0-97 hardpan&boulders, 97-101 gray shale, 101-320 red&gray shale. Water heater plugged 1997. Dwl 90.

 12 3514

 13 3515 Also dug well in front yard, not used.

 14 3516 0-58 hardpan, 58-215 red&gray shale w/grit seams. Dwl 60. WL120 Nov 1992 (plumber)

 15 3517 Gradual increase in chloride from 47 mg/L in 1969, 69 in 1979, 105 in 1989; total of 7 analyses.

 16 3518 Enough water for 1 resident, not for 3.

 16A 3519 0-30 hardpan&boulders, 30-320 red shale, a little gray, a little Rensselaer grit.

 17 3520

 17A 3521

 18 3522 Cistern used for toilets, and laundry in wet seasons. Sodium 85 mg/L, chloride 402 Sept 1981

 19 3523 Water tested hard in 1960's. Water dirty when well next door was drilled, later hydrofractured

 20 3524

 21 3525 Dwl 20.

 21A 3526 Dwl 40.

 21b Well hydrofractured March 1997

 22 3527

 22A 3528 Typically out of water twice a week.

 23 3529 0-10 overburden, 10-90 hardpan, 90-190 shale.

 23A 3530 0-100 hardpan, 100-500 red&gray shale.

 24 3531 WL 54 July 1974. Only 4gpd from well in 1999; use cistern, dug well, and buy truckloads of water.

 25 3532 0-59 hardpan&boulders, 59-162 gray&red shale; 1gpm at 80, 5gpm at 132. Dwl 95.

 26 3533

 26A 3534

 27 3535 0-57 hardpan&boulders, 58-150 shale.

 28 3536 0-84 alternating layers hardpan and dry gravel, 84-170 red&gray shale. Hardness 170 mg/L 1987.

 29 3537 Water often cloudy during heavy use 1984-92. Yield tested <1gpm 1992.

 29a Water black twice 1992-1999 during heavy use. Water much softer after deepening well.

 30 3538

 31 3539 Intermittent strong sulfur odor since 1995.

 32 3540 Sulfur odor was intermittent, but increased in 2002.

 33 3541 Reverse osmosis unit on kitchen sink.

 34 3542 Yield limited since 1990, very little June 2001, only 8 ft of water in well August 2001

 34A 3543 0-46 hardpan&boulders, 46-320 red&gray shale & Renss. grit. Occasional sulfur odor.

 35 3544 0-130 clay hardpan, 130-250 gray slate w/streaks red paint rock. Dwl 104.

 36 3545 Intense red turbidity initially and when pumped hard; has gradually declined. Dwl 90

 37 3546 0-55 hardpan, 55-400 red&gray shale

 38 3547 Seasonal camp, little use 2001-2.

 39 3548

 39a

 40 3549 Dwl 75.

 49 3550

 49A 3551
56 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

z Street Date drill Depth Csd DS Yield YS Use SpC Hard Cl Cl_date Qual AltLS AltR

 129 3005 NY Route 43 104 M A D1 1260 300 152 6/9/76 770

 130 2954 NY Route 43 12/10/91 175 40 D 6 D D3 170 775.1 735

 131 3055 NY Route 43 8/3/60 190 32 D 9 D I 1220 410 269 4/20/89 C 775.2 745

 132 67 Old Route 66 4/15/80 217 D 12 D D 200 3/28/86 797

 133 76 Old Route 66 8/4/77 305 40 D 1.3 D N 36 11/15/85 790.7 751

 134 17 Old Route 66 100 M N 800

 134a 17 Old Route 66 4/1/69 425 M 2 M N 680 85 T 800

 134B 17 Old Route 66 1/1/75 240 M 5 M D4 2350 940 296 11/18/86 TIxC 800

 135 NY Rt 43 & Old Rt 66 500 M C 795

 136 11 Old Route 66 110 M S D3 1750 700 178 2/8/88 Ix 794.3

 136A 11 Old Route 66 9/1/95 400 40 D 2 D D3 800 170 T 793.7 793

 137 3066 NY Route 43 128 M A D2 Ix 760

 138 3075 NY Route 43 11/1/65 215 25 D 3.5 D N 51 6/8/67 756 731

 138a 3075 NY Route 43 12/1/84 400 25 D 2 D D5 752 332 5/7/86 C 756 731

 139 3089 NY Route 43 65 17 M N 735

 139A 3089 NY Route 43 1/1/82 375 M A D3 1110 290 118 6/27/86 735

 140 3092 NY Route 43 1/1/45 187 M N 20 10/11/66 743

 140A 3092 NY Route 43 8/16/89 502 40 D 3.5 D D7 1140 359 742.9 722

 141 3098 NY Route 43 150 M N 745

 141A 3098 NY Route 43 1/1/90 210 M 7 M D5 745

 142 1575 Burden LkRd 300 M A D6 14 6/4/82 790

 143 5 Victors Lane 1/1/68 158 50 D 8 D D5 430 51 180 10/9/86 782.9 733

 144 12 Barzen Road 1/1/58 86 32 M A D3 770 248 >60 8/24/71 777.5 745

 145 20 Barzen Road 6/9/70 160 40 D 8 D D4 410 51 7 5/10/72 800.6 774

 146 13 Victors Lane 9/1/64 217 60 D 4 D D2 320 120 2 12/19/66 803 743

 147 9 Victors Lane 10/17/66 155 36 D 6 D D2 310 110 S 788.3 754

 148 19 Grand Way 150 M D3 560 17 32 8/7/81 770

 149 25 Old Route 66 142 M D4 1090 393 151 11/25/85 800

 150 2967 NY Route 43 80 M A D3 85 6/10/82 785

 151 2985 NY Route 43 150 M A D8 650 222 37 5/1/85 S 785

 152 105 Old Route 66 1/1/68 186 M S N 23 10/24/89 785

 153 4 Old Route 66 3/20/76 380 D 3 D C 126 9/7/82 790.5 770

 154 11 Pine Ave 190 44 M A D1 660 162 10 12/20/76 746

 155 17 Pine Ave 10/15/76 170 73 D 25 D D1 22 12/20/76 749 675

 156 2 Pine Ave 195 80 M 10 M D2 780 145 28 5/19/86 S 742

 157 99 Crystal Lk Rd 8/26/77 294 50 D 5 D D2 34 <5 12/19/77 778 730

 159 NY Route 43 105 M A D5 2470 693 369 1/5/83 766.5

 160 25 Orient Ave 190 M A D2 610 8 26 8/10/81 795

 161 7 Johnnycake La 120 M A D2 640 290 109 6/16/89 C 779.3

 162 45 Terrace Drive 11/1/84 302 M A D4 600 17 9 1/7/85 802.7

 163 1 Crystal Lk Rd 10/1/87 360 61 D 5 D D2 405 17 Sx 783 727

 169 16 Crystal Lk Rd 1/1/46 185 R A D2 330 17 Sx 781.5

 171 Burden LkRd A D5 235 6/13/85 776

 173 22 Allen Ave 1/1/55 118 M N 760.3

 173a 22 Allen Ave 1/1/76 290 D 9 D D4 660 154 760.3

 174 3040 NY Route 43 A D3 882 375 793

 175 3042 NY Route 43 12/20/45 118 19 D 1.7 D N 786 781

 175a 3042 NY Route 43 1/1/71 200 19 M 3.5 M D5 410 137 786

 176 3048 NY Route 43 6/17/71 300 40 D 2.5 D N 7 8/30/89 785.1 783

 176A 3048 NY Route 43 10/3/91 443 42 D 5 D D4 510 34 C 785.1

 177 3054 NY Route 43 D1 505 154 784 779

 178 3060 NY Route 43 11/1/78 132 31 D 6 D N I 773.7 764

 178a 3060 NY Route 43 1/1/95 450 M 3.5 M D4 745 308 773.7

 179 3095 NY Route 43 50 M 3 D3 530 166 5/21/86 735

 180 3083 NY Route 43 1/1/79 100 M A D1 738

 181 3077 NY Route 43 1/1/42 66 M A D6 1380 615 750
Appendix A 57

 181 3698

 129 3648

 130 3649 Dwl 8. Replaced older drilled well reported 78 ft deep

 131 3650 0-28 gravel/red cobbly hardpan, 28-78 soft red shale, 78-190 red&green shale; bailed 2gpm w/well depth 160. Dwl 24.

 132 3651 Well deepened 1980, original depth 147.

 133 3652 Well unused since 1987 due to low yield; domestic water now obtained entirely from lake.

 134 3653

 134a Little or no additional yield after deepening. Used occasionally when newer well yields dirty water.

 134B 3654 Water gray, gritty occasionally after prolonged pumping.

 135 3655

 136 3656 In use alternately with well 136A

 136A 3657

 137 3658

 138 3659

 138a Dwl 23. Reverse osmosis unit in use. Dug well 12 ft deep below cellar floor, unused.

 139 3660

 139A 3661

 140 3662 Softener backwashed each night in 1989, leaving inadequate water for occupants, so well replaced.

 140A 3663 0-21 brown,red hardpan, 21-502 red&gray shale. Hydrofractured Aug 1989, subsequent yield 8 gpm.

 141 3664 Inadequate yield June 1988, first time. Pump failed 1990, could not recover jet, so well replaced.

 141A 3665

 142 3666

 143 3667 Tested 1992, very hard. Lime crystals in faucet screens 2002, furnace coil plugged. Cl 4 mg/L 4/1973,2/1985,9/1986

 144 3668 This well also supplied house next door 1968-88; in 2001 it seems barely adequate for this house.

 145 3669 0-27 boulders, 27-160 red&gray shale \_WL 45.5 plumber 8/1996.

 146 3670 Dug well rept. 17 ft deep, beneath garage floor; overflows each spring.

 147 3671 0-35 hardpan, 1gpm at 75, 6gpm at 155. Sulfur odor since jet pump with broken pipe replaced by submergible 1998

 148 3672

 149 3673 Well may have been deepened in about 1984, to 500 ft (?)

 150 3674 House unoccupied, remodeled July-Aug 2002. WL meas 16.43 June 1988, rising.

 151 3675 Sulfur odor only in upper 2 floors. Mineral deposits on coils in water heaters.

 152 3676 Transitioned to use of lake water in 1980's as well became inadequate. Chloride 6 mg/L 10/17/68.

 153 3677 0-21 clay, hardpan, 21-380 red shale. Supplied restaurant & 6 apts until 1998 (lake water used for toilets, etc).

 154 3678 \_Now seldom used.

 155 3679 Dwl 90. WL meas. 112.28 Aug 1988

 156 3680 Sulfur odor since 2001 only. Occasional periods of low water pressure.

 157 3681 Rock at 48 ft

 159 3682 Filter used through 2002 to remove gasoline leaked from adjacent filling station prior to 1989.

 160 3683 pH test 8.5

 161 3684

 162 3685

 163 3686 0-56 hardpan, 56-360 red&gray shale. Dwl 85. Formerly supplied by well #98

 169 3687 Diam 10 inches. WL 80 below land surface Nov 1992 (owner's records)

 171 3688

 173 3689

 173a Dwl 105. Pump lowered July 2001.

 174 3690

 175 3691 0-5 overburden, 5-118 rock. Dug well in cellar, WL 1 ft below cellar floor Aug 1999.

 175a

 176 3692 0-2 overburden, 2-300 rock.

 176A 3693 Bedrock exposed in cellar, 4 ft below grade. Dug well under porch, used to water gardens.

 177 3694 Dug well in cellar, carved out of bedrock, not used, nearly full of water Sept 1999.

 178 3695 Replaced dug well in cellar, excavated in shale. In 1995, yield <1 gpm (tested by plumber), water often dirty.

 178a

 179 3696

 180 3697

Well# USGS Remarks

 1 3500 Failed 1988

 1A 3501 0-5 dirt, 5-280 soft red shale, some gray, water 150-58. WL meas 73.81 July 1987. 2 stores, 1 apt, often out of water.

 2 3502 Used alternately with 2A; also cistern and occasionally buy truckloads of water.

 2A 3503 0-5 ash&gravel fill, 5-12 broken red shale, 12-312 shale, red w/layers black, gray. Yield <0.5 gpm (driller).

 3 3504 Supplied 2 buildings 1972-84, low-rate pump into storage tank.

 3A 3505 Supplies 2 buildings.

 4 3506 Supplies beauty parlor. Since 2002 also connected to 1 apartment..

 5 3507

 6 3508 Hot-water coil in furnace plugged with lime in 1 year. Occasional sulfur odor.

 7 3509 Supplies drinking water and ice cubes for inn/restaurant, all other uses from well #8.

 8 3510 0-5 loam/gravel, 5-18 hardpan, 18-380 red shale w/seams Renss. grit. "Eggshell lime" forms in pump and pipes;

 9 3511 0-119 hardpan, 119-320 red&gray shale. \_pump replaced every 18 months. 500-gal storage tank.

 10 3512 WL meas 1987-92, 1999-2002, on file.

 11 3513 0-97 hardpan&boulders, 97-101 gray shale, 101-320 red&gray shale. Water heater plugged 1997. Dwl 90.

 12 3514

 13 3515 Also dug well in front yard, not used.

 14 3516 0-58 hardpan, 58-215 red&gray shale w/grit seams. Dwl 60. WL120 Nov 1992 (plumber)

 15 3517 Gradual increase in chloride from 47 mg/L in 1969, 69 in 1979, 105 in 1989; total of 7 analyses.

 16 3518 Enough water for 1 resident, not for 3.

 16A 3519 0-30 hardpan&boulders, 30-320 red shale, a little gray, a little Rensselaer grit.

 17 3520

 17A 3521

 18 3522 Cistern used for toilets, and laundry in wet seasons. Sodium 85 mg/L, chloride 402 Sept 1981

 19 3523 Water tested hard in 1960's. Water dirty when well next door was drilled, later hydrofractured

 20 3524

 21 3525 Dwl 20.

 21A 3526 Dwl 40.

 21b Well hydrofractured March 1997

 22 3527

 22A 3528 Typically out of water twice a week.

 23 3529 0-10 overburden, 10-90 hardpan, 90-190 shale.

 23A 3530 0-100 hardpan, 100-500 red&gray shale.

 24 3531 WL 54 July 1974. Only 4gpd from well in 1999; use cistern, dug well, and buy truckloads of water.

 25 3532 0-59 hardpan&boulders, 59-162 gray&red shale; 1gpm at 80, 5gpm at 132. Dwl 95.

 26 3533

 26A 3534

 27 3535 0-57 hardpan&boulders, 58-150 shale.

 28 3536 0-84 alternating layers hardpan and dry gravel, 84-170 red&gray shale. Hardness 170 mg/L 1987.

 29 3537 Water often cloudy during heavy use 1984-92. Yield tested <1gpm 1992.

 29a Water black twice 1992-1999 during heavy use. Water much softer after deepening well.

 30 3538

 31 3539 Intermittent strong sulfur odor since 1995.

 32 3540 Sulfur odor was intermittent, but increased in 2002.

 33 3541 Reverse osmosis unit on kitchen sink.

 34 3542 Yield limited since 1990, very little June 2001, only 8 ft of water in well August 2001

 34A 3543 0-46 hardpan&boulders, 46-320 red&gray shale & Renss. grit. Occasional sulfur odor.

 35 3544 0-130 clay hardpan, 130-250 gray slate w/streaks red paint rock. Dwl 104.

 36 3545 Intense red turbidity initially and when pumped hard; has gradually declined. Dwl 90

 37 3546 0-55 hardpan, 55-400 red&gray shale

 38 3547 Seasonal camp, little use 2001-2.

 39 3548

 39a

 40 3549 Dwl 75.

 49 3550

 49A 3551
58 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

z Street Date drill Depth Csd DS Yield YS Use SpC Hard Cl Cl_date Qual AltLS AltR

 182 3071 NY Route 43 110 M 2.5 M D4 1260 350 758

 183 3067 NY Route 43 95 M 0.15 U D2 1500 462 530 1/15/87 C 760.4

 184 3063 NY Route 43 118 R S D2 975 360 762

 185 3101 NY Route 43 78 M 1.5 M 736

 185A 3101 NY Route 43 4/2/92 220 40 D 7.5 D D 736 711

 186 3105 NY Route 43 1/1/58 130 M 3.5 M D2 1000 393 733.9

 187 32 East.Union Tpk 105 R D2 350 137 792.8

 188 44 East.Union Tpk 5/23/86 300 31 D 2.5 D D2 1180 487 802.6 793

 190 11 Crystal Lk Rd S N 23 18 9/18/01 C

 190A 11 Crystal Lk Rd 7/18/02 400 86 D 5 D D4 789.7 706

 191 12 Gettle Road 1/1/50 200 M N 785

 191a 12 Gettle Road 7/1/74 315 M 2 M D3 640 8 785

 192 13 Gettle Road 1/1/28 220 M A D2 470 S 791

 192A 13 Gettle Road 9/5/05 540 42 D 1 D D2 791 753

 193 5 Gettle Road 1/1/85 196 M 4 M D2 550 0 780

 194 6 Gettle Road 3/23/71 350 60 D 2.5 D D2 1 7/15/74 782 744

 195 135 Old Route 66 129.9 U N 775.5

 195A 135 Old Route 66 2/20/74 200 60 D 7.5 D D2 480 68 775.9 718

 196 139 Old Route 66 1/1/38 150 M N 3 4/1/66 777

 196A 139 Old Route 66 3/1/94 A D2 630 17 777

 198 147 Old Route 66 1/1/50 140 D N 763

 198a 147 Old Route 66 12/7/88 320 D 2 D D2 480 0 <2 12/22/88 763

 202 140 Old Route 66 1/1/47 140 M 5 M D4 380 68 6 6/30/82 777

 203 142 Old Route 66 1/1/45 147 D N 10 11/27/81 769

 203a 142 Old Route 66 5/14/86 400 D 3 D D1 450 17 769

 204 146 Old Route 66 1/1/37 N 2 2/13/62

 204A 146 Old Route 66 6/28/83 340 63 D 2.5 D D4 515 17 C 759.6 700

 208 168 Old Route 66 3/2/61 133 77 D 6.5 D D 730 660

 213 3109 NY Route 43 1/1/59 110 M N 731

 213A 3109 NY Route 43 5/21/91 342 60 D 4 D D4 850 34 731.5 672

 214 7 Hickory Lane 2/1/87 380 61 D 1.5 D D 732 677

 215 5 Hickory Lane 1/20/87 320 61 D 2 D D 718.1 660

 219 38 Beach Lane 143 R A D2 280 120 Ix 792.5

 220 36 Beach Lane 9/1/94 500 M 5 M D3 360 26 T 792.7

 221 12 Beach Lane 1/1/40 127 M N 811

 221a 12 Beach Lane 1/1/60 265 M A D2 410 43 43 8/7/00 TC 811

 222 6 Old Route 66 408 M N T 797.7

 222a 6 Old Route 66 1/1/69 650 D 1 D DC 460 34 29 1/19/70 797.7

 223 19 Barzen Road 1/1/53 75 M A D5 1120 308 >60 1/26/71 771.1

 224 23 Barzen Road 11/18/86 400 61 D 1.5 D D4 450 17 T 776.7 716

 225 27 Barzen Road 5/1/85 95 M A D2 290 77 779.9

 226 24 Barzen Road 1/1/30 128 D N 3 3/2/88 789.4

 226a 24 Barzen Road 9/4/90 400 D 2.5 D N T 789.4

 226B 24 Barzen Road 6/22/93 400 72 D 2 D D4 370 0 T 795

 227 16 Barzen Road 1/1/58 D1 530 77 795

 228 8 Barzen Road 3/1/88 502 40 D 6.7 D D3 S 770.5 731

 229 2992 NY Route 43 110 M A D3 520 145 165 6/23/80 SI 767.1

 230 2988 NY Route 43 34 0 M A N 769

 230A 2988 NY Route 43 6/7/00 702 40 D 4 D N 769.5 735

 230b 2988 NY Route 43 7/15/00 400 40 D D2 920 239 769.5 735

 231 5 Bullis Drive 1/1/41 100 15 M A D2 1160 333 >60 7/8/71 790 789

 232 11 Bullis Drive 1/1/43 120 R S D3 830 230 72 10/27/97 Ix 817

 233 15 Bullis Drive 186 M A D4 370 51 3 4/30/85 825.5

 234 19 Bullis Drive 180 R A D3 390 77 5 7/8/86 834

 235 27 Bullis Drive 1/1/73 150 M 5 R D3 380 103 823.3

 236 10 Bullis Drive 1/1/50 100 M A D3 600 180 7 3/19/87 Sx 823
Appendix A 59

 236 3746

 182 3699

 183 3700

 184 3701 Ample water 1968-81. Out of water occasionally in 1980's, daily in late 1990's. WL 15 below cellar in 1977.

 185 3702 WL 27 June 1983 rept by owner.

 185A 3703 0-25 hardpan, 25-220 gray&black shale. Dwl 34.

 186 3704

 187 3705

 188 3706 0-10 hardpan, 10-300 red&gray shale. Dug well used until 1986, still available.

 190 3707 House supplied largely by lake water until 2002.

 190A 3708 0-83 hardpan, 83-300 red shale w/seams gray, 300-400 gray shale; 1gpm from above 300, 4 gpm at 303

 191 3709 Well went dry 1974

 191a

 192 3710 Sulfur odor since about 1992. Softener since about 1995 to remove iron. No water often 2004-5, daily summer 2005.

 192A 3876 0-38 hardpn & boulders, 38-540 gray shale & Renss. grit. Hydrofractured, little increase in yield. Replaces #192.

 193 3711 Well deepened 1985, no information on original well

 194 3712 Formerly used lake water

 195 3713 Well dry July 24, 2002 (USGS measurement). Softener installed in 1968 to remove iron.

 195A 3714

 196 3715 Well failed Feb 1994

 196A 3716

 198 3717

 198a 140-320 gray shale, a litle red

 202 3718

 203 3719 Chloride 3 mg/L 8/27/1967. Pump ran a lot in 1985, well dry after January 1986.

 203a Water softer after well deepened.

 204 3720 Water harder than in replacement well

 204A 3721 Dwl 120

 208 3722 0-40 red clay hardpan, 40-65 soft wet clay, 65-70 gravel, 70-77 soft red&gray shale, 70-133 red&gray slate

 213 3723 Also supplied next house east 1966-86.

 213A 3724

 214 3725 0-55 hardpan, 55-380 gray shale

 215 3726 0-58 hardpan & boulders, 58-320 Rensselaer grit, gray shale

 219 3727 Pump replaced 1996, plugged with lime.

 220 3728 House supplied by lake water and shallow drilled well prior to 1994.

 221 3729

 221a Well water turbid1960-80, used mostly lake water; well water clear since 1980 except if pumped hard.

 222 3730 Original depth reported 219 ft; red cloudiness when deepened to 408.

 222a

 223 3731 Used some lake water also 1953-65.

 224 3732 Red cloudiness for several years, none since 1999. Dwl 15.

 225 3733 Lake water used for lawn watering

 226 3734

 226a Dwl 55. Well caved in or filled with sediment in 1993, could not pull pump

 226B 3735 4-inch PVC liner with saw-cut slots 20-400 ft. Dwl 50.

 227 3736 Prior to 1970, hot water pipes would plug with lime

 228 3737 Sediment filled bottom 100 ft in first few months of use.

 229 3738

 230 3739 Dug well,diam 2.5ft. Pump occasionally broke suction in summer, must wait 2 hours. Replaced to help property sale.

 230A 3740 0-35 hrdpn, 35-220 gray shale, 220-278 gray&red sh, 278-702 soft gray sh, weathered seams, graywacke 410-440.

 230b Well 230A caved in below 400 in July 2000; new pump set at 280. \_Most yield below 500. Pump at 600.

 231 3741 Softener since 1976, hardness tested every few years, has increased persistently.

 232 3742 WL 60 Oct 2001, meas by owner.

 233 3743 Diam 8 inches

 234 3744 WL 83 May 1987, meas by plumber.

 235 3745

Well# USGS Remarks

 1 3500 Failed 1988

 1A 3501 0-5 dirt, 5-280 soft red shale, some gray, water 150-58. WL meas 73.81 July 1987. 2 stores, 1 apt, often out of water.

 2 3502 Used alternately with 2A; also cistern and occasionally buy truckloads of water.

 2A 3503 0-5 ash&gravel fill, 5-12 broken red shale, 12-312 shale, red w/layers black, gray. Yield <0.5 gpm (driller).

 3 3504 Supplied 2 buildings 1972-84, low-rate pump into storage tank.

 3A 3505 Supplies 2 buildings.

 4 3506 Supplies beauty parlor. Since 2002 also connected to 1 apartment..

 5 3507

 6 3508 Hot-water coil in furnace plugged with lime in 1 year. Occasional sulfur odor.

 7 3509 Supplies drinking water and ice cubes for inn/restaurant, all other uses from well #8.

 8 3510 0-5 loam/gravel, 5-18 hardpan, 18-380 red shale w/seams Renss. grit. "Eggshell lime" forms in pump and pipes;

 9 3511 0-119 hardpan, 119-320 red&gray shale. \_pump replaced every 18 months. 500-gal storage tank.

 10 3512 WL meas 1987-92, 1999-2002, on file.

 11 3513 0-97 hardpan&boulders, 97-101 gray shale, 101-320 red&gray shale. Water heater plugged 1997. Dwl 90.

 12 3514

 13 3515 Also dug well in front yard, not used.

 14 3516 0-58 hardpan, 58-215 red&gray shale w/grit seams. Dwl 60. WL120 Nov 1992 (plumber)

 15 3517 Gradual increase in chloride from 47 mg/L in 1969, 69 in 1979, 105 in 1989; total of 7 analyses.

 16 3518 Enough water for 1 resident, not for 3.

 16A 3519 0-30 hardpan&boulders, 30-320 red shale, a little gray, a little Rensselaer grit.

 17 3520

 17A 3521

 18 3522 Cistern used for toilets, and laundry in wet seasons. Sodium 85 mg/L, chloride 402 Sept 1981

 19 3523 Water tested hard in 1960's. Water dirty when well next door was drilled, later hydrofractured

 20 3524

 21 3525 Dwl 20.

 21A 3526 Dwl 40.

 21b Well hydrofractured March 1997

 22 3527

 22A 3528 Typically out of water twice a week.

 23 3529 0-10 overburden, 10-90 hardpan, 90-190 shale.

 23A 3530 0-100 hardpan, 100-500 red&gray shale.

 24 3531 WL 54 July 1974. Only 4gpd from well in 1999; use cistern, dug well, and buy truckloads of water.

 25 3532 0-59 hardpan&boulders, 59-162 gray&red shale; 1gpm at 80, 5gpm at 132. Dwl 95.

 26 3533

 26A 3534

 27 3535 0-57 hardpan&boulders, 58-150 shale.

 28 3536 0-84 alternating layers hardpan and dry gravel, 84-170 red&gray shale. Hardness 170 mg/L 1987.

 29 3537 Water often cloudy during heavy use 1984-92. Yield tested <1gpm 1992.

 29a Water black twice 1992-1999 during heavy use. Water much softer after deepening well.

 30 3538

 31 3539 Intermittent strong sulfur odor since 1995.

 32 3540 Sulfur odor was intermittent, but increased in 2002.

 33 3541 Reverse osmosis unit on kitchen sink.

 34 3542 Yield limited since 1990, very little June 2001, only 8 ft of water in well August 2001

 34A 3543 0-46 hardpan&boulders, 46-320 red&gray shale & Renss. grit. Occasional sulfur odor.

 35 3544 0-130 clay hardpan, 130-250 gray slate w/streaks red paint rock. Dwl 104.

 36 3545 Intense red turbidity initially and when pumped hard; has gradually declined. Dwl 90

 37 3546 0-55 hardpan, 55-400 red&gray shale

 38 3547 Seasonal camp, little use 2001-2.

 39 3548

 39a

 40 3549 Dwl 75.

 49 3550

 49A 3551
60 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

z Street Date drill Depth Csd DS Yield YS Use SpC Hard Cl Cl_date Qual AltLS AltR

 237 6 Bullis Drive 112 M A D4 1150 375 15 9/11/85 I 807

 239 2972 NY Route 43 D4 440 128 815

 240 2966 NY Route 43 10/1/52 <190 >20 R A D2I 680 145 815

 241 2956 NY Route 43 1/1/83 98 58? M 12 M D2 510 145 795.3

 242 2948 NY Route 43 89 41 M A D2 380 137 4 8/12/69 789

 244 2977 NY Route 43 102 M 10 M D10 755 282 S 779.8

 245 21 Victors Lane 1/1/65 225 M 15 M D5 340 86 817

 246 25 Victors Lane D4 86 815

 247 91 Old Route 66 1/1/30 139 U N 30 9/26/84 802.7

 247A 91 Old Route 66 12/7/94 500 63 D 1 D D2 750 0 805 745

 248 99 Old Route 66 1/1/72 240 D N 7 9/19/72 805.9

 248a 99 Old Route 66 7/1/79 400 D 5 D D2 690 8 805.9

 258 Old Route 66 1/1/80 400 M D 3 12/31/86 722

 268 2999 NY Route 43 1/1/34 160 R A D8 1140 325 201 2/4/87 Sx 775

 269 10 Buy Way 1/1/47 116 R A D3 1180 436 Ix 777

 270 Crystal Lk Beach 1/1/52 C 295 110 784.5

 271 72 Old Route 66 12/14/87 120 39 D 6.5 D D2 2200 700 293 7/8/88 790

 272 69 Old Route 66 8/17/90 200 41 D 6 D D4 800 299 791 766

 273 end Pine Ave 1/1/47 153 M 3 M N 790

 273a end Pine Ave 4/6/64 197 D 2.5 D N 790

 273B end Pine Ave 360 M 4 M D2 700 34 S 790

 274 3164 NY Route 43 1/1/29 240 M N 723

 274A 3164 NY Route 43 10/1/76 440 91 D 2.5 D4 570 103 7 5/17/77 723.8 632

 275 4 Allen Ave 1/1/72 146 M N 747

 275A 4 Allen Ave 5/20/02 250 90 D 10 D D2 747.4 657

 276 25 Pine Ave 125 D N 752

 276a 25 Pine Ave 10/30/91 250 D A D2 730 162 752.1

 277 16 Pine Ave 1/1/52 148 M N 763

 277a 16 Pine Ave 1/1/70 220 D 12 D D2 730 34 Sx 763

 278 3110 NY Route 43 1/1/59 132 40 M 6 M N 737

 278a 3110 NY Route 43 9/17/01 250 D 9 D D1 820 60 737

 279 3106 NY Route 43 24 0 M N 757

 279A 3106 NY Route 43 1/1/59 140 M N 756.6

 279b 3106 NY Route 43 1/1/76 190 M A D1 750 68 756.6

 281 Beach & Old Rt 66 400 M D 40 9/18/84 810

 282 8 Beach Lane 500 M 4/5 M D4 820 120 807

 283 1635 Burden LkRd 197 D N 787

 283A 1635 Burden LkRd 7/21/76 389 D 3 D D8 1060 274 62 8/11/76 787

 284 Burden LkRd 155 U N 783.3

 284A Burden LkRd 10/1/98 1000 40 D 0.5 D C 783

 285 4 Johnnycake La 280 M A D1 62 8/28/80

 286 1619 Burden LkRd 80 M N 265 5/8/89 768

 286A 1619 Burden LkRd 8/4/94 400 41 D 2.5 D D1 830 85 Ix 768.3 750

 287 1617 Burden LkRd 197 M S D4 680 162 138 6/10/87 776

 289 1609 Burden LkRd 99 U 103 10/14/86 789

 289A 1609 Burden LkRd 7/13/88 503 48 D 1.5 D D5 860 17 52 8/1/88 C 789.2 742

 290 Burden LkRd 1/1/51 D1 798

 291 1608 Burden LkRd 132 20 D 0.3 D N 190 7/30/85 777.1 757

 291a 1608 Burden LkRd 6/1/90 400 D 1.9 U D4 1000 120 C 777.1

 292 1638 Burden LkRd 14 0 M 96 12/23/86 784

 292A 1638 Burden LkRd 4/29/96 350 38 D 0.6 U D3 1060 17 210 7/15/98 784.1 764

 293 NY Route 43 >287 M C 950 137 790

 294 3 Prospect Ave 1/1/73 218 R 3.5 R D5 760 17 20 10/5/82 792

 295 39 Orient Ave 1/1/87 A D1 700 0 32 11/9/90 785

 296 1589 Burden LkRd 196 R A D2 710 17 796.2

 298 2 Prospect Ave 1/1/68 179 M 3.5 M D1 470 17 62 10/20/88 790
Appendix A 61

 298 3795

 237 3747

 239 3748

 240 3749 Depth, casing estimated from recorded cost and prices. Well located at parsonage, also serves church.

 241 3750

 242 3751

 244 3752 Also serves a lawyer's office.

 245 3753

 246 3754

 247 3755 Well supplied drinking water until 1994, lake water used for other purposes.

 247A 3756 0-60 hardpan, 60-500 red&gray shale. Dwl 70.

 248 3757

 248a 240-400 red&green shale. Dwl 130.

 258 3758

 268 3759 Sulfur odor noted only since about 1987.

 269 3760 Owner recalls WL meas 13 in 1970, 27 in 1986. Well originally also supplied house next to east.

 270 3761 Bedrock outcrop near well. Supplies one residence plus kitchen at beach pavilion.

 271 3762 Reverse osmosis unit on kitchen tap to remove taste imparted by softener. Lake water for lawn watering.

 272 3763 0-25 hardpan, 25-200 red&gray shale. Three 220-ft uncased holes in driveway for heat pump installation.

 273 3764 1957-63, jet pump adusted several times, apparently to compensate for declining water level.

 273a Well failed in (1987, or later), no water.

 273B 3765

 274 3766

 274A 3767

 275 3768 WL 106 June 2002, decided to drill new well.

 275A 3769 0-60 hardpan, 60-90 clay, 90-250 shale

 276 3770 Well failed in 1991, completely out of water.

 276a

 277 3771 Yield declined after well drilled at house nearby.

 277a Since submergible pump replaced jet in 1999, water soft and light sulfur odor, no longer any iron.

 278 3772 Hard water. Well failed Sept 2001, nearly dry, yield 0.25 gpm (reported by driller of well 278a).

 278a 0-132 old well, 132-230 red&gray shale, 230-250 red shale. Dwl 72.

 279 3773

 279A 3774

 279b Also dug well, not used recently.

 281 3775

 282 3776

 283 3777

 283A 3778 Drilled in dug well 9.4 ft deep. WL in dug well 8.17 Aug 9,2002 and 7.80 July 31,2005, below land surface.

 284 3779 Well produced dirty water in 1998.

 284A 3780 Telephone substation faces Orient Ave; wells in lot on Burden Lake Road.

 285 3781

 286 3782

 286A 3783 0-18 gravel&hardpan, 18-400 red&gray shale & Rensselaer grit. Also carbon filter since 2001.

 287 3784

 289 3785 Often out of water 1985-88.

 289A 3786

 290 3787

 291 3788 Yield checked 1986 by driller, 0.3 gpm.

 291a Yield 1.5 gpm driller. Dwl 120.

 292 3789 Dug well, diam several ft, is used for some toilets; also used for laundry 1987-2001.

 292A 3790 0-20 hardpan, 20-350 red&gray shale. Yield 1 gpm driller. Water much softer than dug well.

 293 3791

 294 3792

 295 3793 Also dug well, not used.

 296 3794 WL 135 below casing, 139.4 below land surface Nov 1987 (records of pump installer)

Well# USGS Remarks

 1 3500 Failed 1988

 1A 3501 0-5 dirt, 5-280 soft red shale, some gray, water 150-58. WL meas 73.81 July 1987. 2 stores, 1 apt, often out of water.

 2 3502 Used alternately with 2A; also cistern and occasionally buy truckloads of water.

 2A 3503 0-5 ash&gravel fill, 5-12 broken red shale, 12-312 shale, red w/layers black, gray. Yield <0.5 gpm (driller).

 3 3504 Supplied 2 buildings 1972-84, low-rate pump into storage tank.

 3A 3505 Supplies 2 buildings.

 4 3506 Supplies beauty parlor. Since 2002 also connected to 1 apartment..

 5 3507

 6 3508 Hot-water coil in furnace plugged with lime in 1 year. Occasional sulfur odor.

 7 3509 Supplies drinking water and ice cubes for inn/restaurant, all other uses from well #8.

 8 3510 0-5 loam/gravel, 5-18 hardpan, 18-380 red shale w/seams Renss. grit. "Eggshell lime" forms in pump and pipes;

 9 3511 0-119 hardpan, 119-320 red&gray shale. \_pump replaced every 18 months. 500-gal storage tank.

 10 3512 WL meas 1987-92, 1999-2002, on file.

 11 3513 0-97 hardpan&boulders, 97-101 gray shale, 101-320 red&gray shale. Water heater plugged 1997. Dwl 90.

 12 3514

 13 3515 Also dug well in front yard, not used.

 14 3516 0-58 hardpan, 58-215 red&gray shale w/grit seams. Dwl 60. WL120 Nov 1992 (plumber)

 15 3517 Gradual increase in chloride from 47 mg/L in 1969, 69 in 1979, 105 in 1989; total of 7 analyses.

 16 3518 Enough water for 1 resident, not for 3.

 16A 3519 0-30 hardpan&boulders, 30-320 red shale, a little gray, a little Rensselaer grit.

 17 3520

 17A 3521

 18 3522 Cistern used for toilets, and laundry in wet seasons. Sodium 85 mg/L, chloride 402 Sept 1981

 19 3523 Water tested hard in 1960's. Water dirty when well next door was drilled, later hydrofractured

 20 3524

 21 3525 Dwl 20.

 21A 3526 Dwl 40.

 21b Well hydrofractured March 1997

 22 3527

 22A 3528 Typically out of water twice a week.

 23 3529 0-10 overburden, 10-90 hardpan, 90-190 shale.

 23A 3530 0-100 hardpan, 100-500 red&gray shale.

 24 3531 WL 54 July 1974. Only 4gpd from well in 1999; use cistern, dug well, and buy truckloads of water.

 25 3532 0-59 hardpan&boulders, 59-162 gray&red shale; 1gpm at 80, 5gpm at 132. Dwl 95.

 26 3533

 26A 3534

 27 3535 0-57 hardpan&boulders, 58-150 shale.

 28 3536 0-84 alternating layers hardpan and dry gravel, 84-170 red&gray shale. Hardness 170 mg/L 1987.

 29 3537 Water often cloudy during heavy use 1984-92. Yield tested <1gpm 1992.

 29a Water black twice 1992-1999 during heavy use. Water much softer after deepening well.

 30 3538

 31 3539 Intermittent strong sulfur odor since 1995.

 32 3540 Sulfur odor was intermittent, but increased in 2002.

 33 3541 Reverse osmosis unit on kitchen sink.

 34 3542 Yield limited since 1990, very little June 2001, only 8 ft of water in well August 2001

 34A 3543 0-46 hardpan&boulders, 46-320 red&gray shale & Renss. grit. Occasional sulfur odor.

 35 3544 0-130 clay hardpan, 130-250 gray slate w/streaks red paint rock. Dwl 104.

 36 3545 Intense red turbidity initially and when pumped hard; has gradually declined. Dwl 90

 37 3546 0-55 hardpan, 55-400 red&gray shale

 38 3547 Seasonal camp, little use 2001-2.

 39 3548

 39a

 40 3549 Dwl 75.

 49 3550

 49A 3551
62 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

z Street Date drill Depth Csd DS Yield YS Use SpC Hard Cl Cl_date Qual AltLS AltR

 299 1593 Burden LkRd 1/1/54 228 D 0.5 D N 802

 299a 1593 Burden LkRd 10/8/96 500 D 1 D D2 810 0 802

 300 11 Orient Ave 87 R S D2 825 265 148 9/2/86 765

 301 1563 Burden LkRd 155 D N 779

 301a 1563 Burden LkRd 1/1/73 305 D A D7 740 0 779.2

 302 29 Johnnycake La 125 R S N 700 111 813

 302A 29 Johnnycake La 5/21/02 380 122 D 6 D D4 470 43 813.4 697

 303 3107 NY Route 43 1/18/86 202 60 D 10 D D2 890 137 730.9 671

 304 3125 NY Route 43 70 M N 726.4

 304a 3125 NY Route 43 1/1/85 160 M A D3 710 196 726.4

 305 3147 NY Route 43 7/9/97 722 100 D 1 D D5 660 51 726 626

 306 3149 NY Route 43 1/1/58 150 M 3 M D5 540 188 720

 307 3157 NY Route 43 138 >93 R A N 710.5

 307A 3157 NY Route 43 9/23/02 290 90 M 1.5 M D2 709 619

 308 25 Terrace Drive 1/2/80 330 D 10 D D4 650 17 23 4/5/93 Sx 745

 309 Terrace Drive 100 M N 774

 309A Terrace Drive 10/1/96 200 M 4.5 M D1 530 17 755.2

 310 39 Terrace Drive 1/1/48 170 D N 762.7

 310a 39 Terrace Drive 9/25/98 320 D 4 D D5 620 17 762.7

 311 50 Marcy Ave 1/1/59 218 M A D1 520 17 795

 312 46 Terrace Drive 11/1/71 167 167 M 2.5 M D2 555 34 782.4

 313 42 Terrace Drive 10/1/74 560 M A D2 670 0 757.5

 314 15 Cottage Street 11/6/70 143 R D2 325 171 730

 315 1560 Burden LkRd N 770.9

 316 1554 Burden LkRd 425 R A D16 585 8 8 2/22/91 766

 317 1564 Burden LkRd 1/1/60 220 80 M A D5 875 17 11 8/16/67 779 700

 318 1570 Burden LkRd 330 M A D4 783

 319 56 Marcy Ave 7/15/88 240 193 D 8.5 D D2 600 17 789.1 599

 320 22 Johnnycake La S N 470 111 821

 320A 22 Johnnycake La 9/24/02 400 94 D 1.7 D D2 821 731

2060 East Union Tpk 6/17/97 380 43 D 6.5 D N 288 5 7/7/97 C 826.9 795

2061 East Union Tpk 188 21 D I 814.8 794

2062 2 Morning Circle 6/3/94 400 121 D 5.5 D D2 380 137 832 715

2063 4 Morning Circle 1/5/90 390 99 D 3 D D4 400 120 8 8/15/95 827 729

2064 6 Morning Circle 2/23/95 215 99 D 8 D D3 400 136 818.5 719

2065 8 Morning Circle D4 370 85

2066 9 Morning Circle 6/7/94 400 101 D 3.5 D D4 810.8 713

2067 7 Morning Circle 3/24/95 200 85 D 6.5 D

2068 5 Morning Circle 6/6/94 400 90 D 3.5 D D4 400 170 811.1 724

2069 3 Morning Circle 1/10/90 310 89 D 4 D D3 420 170 814 726

2070 1 Morning Circle 7/10/95 205 80 D 7.5 D N 815.3 735

2071 20 East.Union Tpk 6/20/95 400 61 D 2.5 D D2 960 160 786.9 726

2072 13 Buy Way 7/16/96 170 38 D 6.5 D D7 820 308 768 758

2073 NY Route 43 8/14/89 500 80 D 1 D C 777.4 707

2076 Burden LkRd 9/20/88 320 51 D 7.5 D D2 4 11/30/88 746 701

2077 1481 Burden LkRd 1/1/65 70 M 2.7 M N 8 8/8/85 700.9

2077a 1481 Burden LkRd 1/1/92 142 M 3.2 M D4 TC 700.9

2078 1504 Burden LkRd 60 U A D5 699.9

2079 1545 Burden LkRd 135 58 M S D2 695 154 17 7/1/74 774

2080 10 Marcy Ave 2/25/02 230 92 D 6 D D3 640 197 725.3 633

2081 21 Marcy Ave 8/5/97 290 96 D 5 D D2 590 17 67 10/23/97 C 755.8 660

2082 27 Marcy Ave 7/31/97 210 128 D 10 D D4 560 26 51 10/27/97 C 774.7 647

2083 20 Prospect Ave 7/29/97 350 48 D 3.5 D 620 28 38 10/30/97 C 775.1 727

2084 55 Marcy Ave 1/1/99 170 R 8 R 670 38 48 5/19/99 C 777 689

2085 28 Prospect Ave 1/1/99 290 R 5 R 768.5

2086 45 Marcy Ave 7/7/02 270 140 D 5 D 789.9 650
Appendix A 63

2086 3846 0-10 clay, 10-140 hardpan, 140-270 shale. No house 2002.

 299 3796 Yield checked 1996 by driller, 0.5 gpm.

 299a Dwl 120.

 300 3797

 301 3798

 301a

 302 3799 Not out of water 1990-95; out at least twice yearly 1996-01. WL 85 Apr 2001. Dirty if pumped hard.

 302A 3800 0-116 hardpan, 116-380 red&gray shale. Dwl 115.

 303 3801 0-57 hardpan, boulders, 57-202 red&gray shale.

 304 3802 Well failed suddenly in 1985, no water

 304a

 305 3803

 306 3804 Also supplied next house east until 1997.

 307 3805 Jet pump failed June 2002, plumber broke pipes, tried to install new pipes, failed, so new well drilled

 307A 3806

 308 3807

 309 3808 Well went dry Sept 1996

 309A 3809

 310 3810 Yield always modest, declined 1997-8.

 310a

 311 3811

 312 3812 Many boulders, dynamited several times; bailed 2.5 gpm after last blast, owner elected to stop. Also dug well, unused.

 313 3813 Pump repaired 1987, WL 90. Softener installed 1974, removed 1986 when water test showed it was not needed.

 314 3814 Strong sulfur odor 1981-94, light and sporadic since.

 315 3815 2 apt. buildings supplied 1975-92 by this well, supplied by well 316 before 1975 and since 1992

 316 3816 Formerly owned by Faith Mills. 3-inch discharge pipe from former pump suggests large yield.

 317 3817 Depth rept 184 in 1960; well may have been deepened.

 318 3818

 319 3819 0-190 hardpan&boulders, 190-240 gray shale & Rensselaer grit. Sulfur odor occasionally since 2000.

 320 3820

 320A 3821 0-90 hardpan, 90-400 red shale. Dwl 125 overnight.

2060 3822 0-32 till, 32-80 gray shale w/sandstone layers, 80-300 red&gray shale, w/quartz layers &water 175-200.

2061 3823

2062 3824 0-117 hardpan&boulders, 117-400 red&gray slate. Dwl 90. House occupied since 1996.

2063 3825 0-98 hardpan&boulders, graywacke bldr 92-95, 98-140 green shale w/layers graywacke, 140-390 red&green shale.

2064 3826 0-99 hardpan&boulders, 99-215 rock. Dwl 68. House occupied since 1995.

2065 3827

2066 3828 0-98 hardpan&boulders, 989-400 red&gray shale. Dwl 57.

2067 3829 0-85 hardpan&boulders, 85-200 rock.

2068 3830 0-87 hardpan&boulders, 87-400 red&gray shale

2069 3831 0-88 red hardpan&boulders, 88-120 green shale w/graywacke layers, 120-310 red&green shale. Dwl 60.

2070 3832 0-80 hardpan&boulders, 80-205 rock. Dwl 70. No house 2002.

2071 3833

2072 3834 0-10 hardpan, 10-170 rock. Hot-water coil in furnace plugs, must be cleaned regularly.

2073 3835 0-70 overburden, 70-200 red shale w/quartz seams, 0.3gpm; 200-500 gray&red shale, 1gpm above 300.

2076 3836 \_Hydrofractured.

2077 3837

2077a

2078 3838

2079 3839 Lime plugged pipes until softener installed

2080 3840 0-60 hardpan, 60-92 sand, 92-230 red&gray shale.

2081 3841 0-96 hardpan & clay, 98-290 shale, mostly gray.

2082 3842 0-128 hardpan & clay, 130-210 shale.

2083 3843 0-50 hardpan, 50-350 gray shale. No house 2002.

2084 3844 House unoccupied 2002.

2085 3845 No house 2002.

Well# USGS Remarks

 1 3500 Failed 1988

 1A 3501 0-5 dirt, 5-280 soft red shale, some gray, water 150-58. WL meas 73.81 July 1987. 2 stores, 1 apt, often out of water.

 2 3502 Used alternately with 2A; also cistern and occasionally buy truckloads of water.

 2A 3503 0-5 ash&gravel fill, 5-12 broken red shale, 12-312 shale, red w/layers black, gray. Yield <0.5 gpm (driller).

 3 3504 Supplied 2 buildings 1972-84, low-rate pump into storage tank.

 3A 3505 Supplies 2 buildings.

 4 3506 Supplies beauty parlor. Since 2002 also connected to 1 apartment..

 5 3507

 6 3508 Hot-water coil in furnace plugged with lime in 1 year. Occasional sulfur odor.

 7 3509 Supplies drinking water and ice cubes for inn/restaurant, all other uses from well #8.

 8 3510 0-5 loam/gravel, 5-18 hardpan, 18-380 red shale w/seams Renss. grit. "Eggshell lime" forms in pump and pipes;

 9 3511 0-119 hardpan, 119-320 red&gray shale. \_pump replaced every 18 months. 500-gal storage tank.

 10 3512 WL meas 1987-92, 1999-2002, on file.

 11 3513 0-97 hardpan&boulders, 97-101 gray shale, 101-320 red&gray shale. Water heater plugged 1997. Dwl 90.

 12 3514

 13 3515 Also dug well in front yard, not used.

 14 3516 0-58 hardpan, 58-215 red&gray shale w/grit seams. Dwl 60. WL120 Nov 1992 (plumber)

 15 3517 Gradual increase in chloride from 47 mg/L in 1969, 69 in 1979, 105 in 1989; total of 7 analyses.

 16 3518 Enough water for 1 resident, not for 3.

 16A 3519 0-30 hardpan&boulders, 30-320 red shale, a little gray, a little Rensselaer grit.

 17 3520

 17A 3521

 18 3522 Cistern used for toilets, and laundry in wet seasons. Sodium 85 mg/L, chloride 402 Sept 1981

 19 3523 Water tested hard in 1960's. Water dirty when well next door was drilled, later hydrofractured

 20 3524

 21 3525 Dwl 20.

 21A 3526 Dwl 40.

 21b Well hydrofractured March 1997

 22 3527

 22A 3528 Typically out of water twice a week.

 23 3529 0-10 overburden, 10-90 hardpan, 90-190 shale.

 23A 3530 0-100 hardpan, 100-500 red&gray shale.

 24 3531 WL 54 July 1974. Only 4gpd from well in 1999; use cistern, dug well, and buy truckloads of water.

 25 3532 0-59 hardpan&boulders, 59-162 gray&red shale; 1gpm at 80, 5gpm at 132. Dwl 95.

 26 3533

 26A 3534

 27 3535 0-57 hardpan&boulders, 58-150 shale.

 28 3536 0-84 alternating layers hardpan and dry gravel, 84-170 red&gray shale. Hardness 170 mg/L 1987.

 29 3537 Water often cloudy during heavy use 1984-92. Yield tested <1gpm 1992.

 29a Water black twice 1992-1999 during heavy use. Water much softer after deepening well.

 30 3538

 31 3539 Intermittent strong sulfur odor since 1995.

 32 3540 Sulfur odor was intermittent, but increased in 2002.

 33 3541 Reverse osmosis unit on kitchen sink.

 34 3542 Yield limited since 1990, very little June 2001, only 8 ft of water in well August 2001

 34A 3543 0-46 hardpan&boulders, 46-320 red&gray shale & Renss. grit. Occasional sulfur odor.

 35 3544 0-130 clay hardpan, 130-250 gray slate w/streaks red paint rock. Dwl 104.

 36 3545 Intense red turbidity initially and when pumped hard; has gradually declined. Dwl 90

 37 3546 0-55 hardpan, 55-400 red&gray shale

 38 3547 Seasonal camp, little use 2001-2.

 39 3548

 39a

 40 3549 Dwl 75.

 49 3550

 49A 3551
64 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

z Street Date drill Depth Csd DS Yield YS Use SpC Hard Cl Cl_date Qual AltLS AltR

2087 35 Marcy Ave 7/13/02 250 140 D 15 D 779.3 639

2088 34 Marcy Ave 7/1/02 270 160 D 6 D 789.5 630

2089 5 Allen Ave 6/1/02 290 90 M 6 M D3 630 162 S 751 661

2090 3163 NY Route 43 5/18/01 250 84 D 6 D D2 600 162 694.6 611

2091 18 Beach Lane 8/7/98 480 40 D 0.75 D D2 560 180 809.8 809

2092 57 Crystal Lk Rd 10/1/96 501 M 1.5 M D2 520 17 18 12/11/96 SxT

2093 4 Houston Way 11/9/98 190 46 D 6 D N 813.7 766

2094 6 Houston Way 3/29/95 280 40 D 1 D N 807.3 767

2095 41 Houston Way 1/1/91 320 R A D4 590 154 820

2096 7 Atlantic Ave 8/30/99 290 138 D 5 D D 762.4 626

2097 14 Orient Ave 1/24/97 290 56 D 5 D D2 735 17 150 11/13/97 754.1 698

2098 4 Old Route 66 1/13/98 600 41 D 1 D C T 792 774

2099 4 Old Route 66 9/22/98 600 38 D 1 D C 510 68 780 758

2100 3010 NY Route 43 9/15/98 400 41 D 2 D D1 2750 990 764.5 735

2101 Bullis Drive D 845.3

2102 5 Tin Can Alley 10/1/84 300 30 D 4 D D4 660 240 767

2104 16 Drumlough Rd 10/1/02 420 65 D 3 D 675 610

2105 11 Drumlough Rd 6/6/02 184 80 D 7 D

2106 29 Drumlough Rd 6/5/02 564 140 D 2 D 690 550

2108 55 Mtn View Dr 10/9/02 540 102 D 5 D D 830 733

2109 39 East.Union Tpk 350 M A D2 750 325 SI 810

2110 43 East.Union Tpk 10/31/45 105 25 D 4.6 D D1 560 230 816 793

2111 64 East.Union Tpk 1/1/41 170 M A D2 1270 425 I 802 797

2112 80 East.Union Tpk 3/29/01 400 133 D 5 D D5 625 256 875 750

2113 2 Hickory Lane 1/1/89 380 M A D2 680 137

2114 3019 NY Route 43 6/27/89 25 D N 774.3 751

2115 3019 NY Route 43 9/13/89 30 D N 772 742

2116 3049 NY Route 43 9/4/90 13 D N 789.9 778

2117 3039 NY Route 43 9/5/90 12 D N 793.1 782
Appendix A 65

2117 3875 0-3 fill, 3-11 till, 11-12 red slate, foliation dips 45 degrees. Test hole for gasoline spill study.

2087 3847 0-5 clay, 5-140 hardpan, 140-250 shale. House unoccupied 2002.

2088 3848 No house in 2002.

2089 3849 Sulfur odor developed several months after well placed in use June 2001

2090 3850 0-60 hardpan, 60-84 clay, 84-250 shale; 2gpm at 180, 2gpm 180-200, 2gpm below 200.

2091 3851 0-480 red&gray shale, seams Rensselaer grit. Well hydrofractured, subsequent yield 3 gpm.

2092 3852 1.2 gpm at 100, 0.3 gpm 100-320, none below. Hydrofractured 8gpm. Seasonal use only.

2093 3853 0-48 hardpan, 48-190 gray shale. Pumped 4.5 hr at 8gpm Nov 18,1988; WL declined from 53 to 77 ft

2094 3854 0-40 hardpan, 40-280 red&gray shale. Hydrofractured; pumped 5 hr at 3gpm, WL declined from 34 to 238 ft

2095 3855

2096 3856 138-250 gray fine sandstone, minor gray shale, thin seams calcite (4 samples); water enters 210-230 (driller).

2097 3857 0-56 hardpan&boulders, 56-290 red&gray rock.

2098 3858 0-18 hrdpn, 18-600 red shale, little hard gray rock. Hydrofrac 1/15/98, yield 3 gpm. Yield declined when #2100 drilled.

2099 3859 0-22 hardpan, 22-600 red shale. Chief source of water for inn as of 2001-2; pumps into 1550-gal storage tank. Dwl 38.

2100 3860 0-30 hrdpn, 30-400 red&gray sh & Renss grit. Water clear at first, got dirty, pump at 380 buried in mud; redrilled to

2101 3861 Seasonal use only. PVC liner visible inside casing. \_400, slotted 4-inch PVC liner installed

2102 3862

2104 3863 0-65 clay hardpan, 65-420 shale.

2105 3864 0-80 clay&boulders, 80-184 red&green shale

2106 3865 0-140 hardpan&boulders, 140-200 red shale, 200-400 green shale, 400-564 red shale.

2108 3866 0-97 hardpan, 97-540 red&gray shale and Rensselaer grit

2109 3867

2110 3868 Reverse osmosis unit on line to kitchen sink.

2111 3869 Taste worse since 1994. Bedrock near surface around the house

2112 3870 0-133 hardpan, shale, slate, 133-400 shale, slate. Well dynamited.

2113 3871 Sulfur odor 1989-92, treated 1992-2002; no odor 2002-03. Pump failed 2001, had chalky hard coating 1 inch thick

2114 3872 0-4 fill, 4-23 till, very compact, 23-25 weathered rock, 25.2 refusal. Test hole for gasoline spill study.

2115 3873 0-5 fill, 5-17 silty sandy clay &stones(till), 17-26 silty clay,thin layers fine sand &sandy gravel, 30 refusal.

2116 3874 0-3 fill, 3-12 till, 12-13 red slate. In a test hole east 50 ft, till 2-18 ft. Test holes for gasoline spill study

Well# USGS Remarks

 1 3500 Failed 1988

 1A 3501 0-5 dirt, 5-280 soft red shale, some gray, water 150-58. WL meas 73.81 July 1987. 2 stores, 1 apt, often out of water.

 2 3502 Used alternately with 2A; also cistern and occasionally buy truckloads of water.

 2A 3503 0-5 ash&gravel fill, 5-12 broken red shale, 12-312 shale, red w/layers black, gray. Yield <0.5 gpm (driller).

 3 3504 Supplied 2 buildings 1972-84, low-rate pump into storage tank.

 3A 3505 Supplies 2 buildings.

 4 3506 Supplies beauty parlor. Since 2002 also connected to 1 apartment..

 5 3507

 6 3508 Hot-water coil in furnace plugged with lime in 1 year. Occasional sulfur odor.

 7 3509 Supplies drinking water and ice cubes for inn/restaurant, all other uses from well #8.

 8 3510 0-5 loam/gravel, 5-18 hardpan, 18-380 red shale w/seams Renss. grit. "Eggshell lime" forms in pump and pipes;

 9 3511 0-119 hardpan, 119-320 red&gray shale. \_pump replaced every 18 months. 500-gal storage tank.

 10 3512 WL meas 1987-92, 1999-2002, on file.

 11 3513 0-97 hardpan&boulders, 97-101 gray shale, 101-320 red&gray shale. Water heater plugged 1997. Dwl 90.

 12 3514

 13 3515 Also dug well in front yard, not used.

 14 3516 0-58 hardpan, 58-215 red&gray shale w/grit seams. Dwl 60. WL120 Nov 1992 (plumber)

 15 3517 Gradual increase in chloride from 47 mg/L in 1969, 69 in 1979, 105 in 1989; total of 7 analyses.

 16 3518 Enough water for 1 resident, not for 3.

 16A 3519 0-30 hardpan&boulders, 30-320 red shale, a little gray, a little Rensselaer grit.

 17 3520

 17A 3521

 18 3522 Cistern used for toilets, and laundry in wet seasons. Sodium 85 mg/L, chloride 402 Sept 1981

 19 3523 Water tested hard in 1960's. Water dirty when well next door was drilled, later hydrofractured

 20 3524

 21 3525 Dwl 20.

 21A 3526 Dwl 40.

 21b Well hydrofractured March 1997

 22 3527

 22A 3528 Typically out of water twice a week.

 23 3529 0-10 overburden, 10-90 hardpan, 90-190 shale.

 23A 3530 0-100 hardpan, 100-500 red&gray shale.

 24 3531 WL 54 July 1974. Only 4gpd from well in 1999; use cistern, dug well, and buy truckloads of water.

 25 3532 0-59 hardpan&boulders, 59-162 gray&red shale; 1gpm at 80, 5gpm at 132. Dwl 95.

 26 3533

 26A 3534

 27 3535 0-57 hardpan&boulders, 58-150 shale.

 28 3536 0-84 alternating layers hardpan and dry gravel, 84-170 red&gray shale. Hardness 170 mg/L 1987.

 29 3537 Water often cloudy during heavy use 1984-92. Yield tested <1gpm 1992.

 29a Water black twice 1992-1999 during heavy use. Water much softer after deepening well.

 30 3538

 31 3539 Intermittent strong sulfur odor since 1995.

 32 3540 Sulfur odor was intermittent, but increased in 2002.

 33 3541 Reverse osmosis unit on kitchen sink.

 34 3542 Yield limited since 1990, very little June 2001, only 8 ft of water in well August 2001

 34A 3543 0-46 hardpan&boulders, 46-320 red&gray shale & Renss. grit. Occasional sulfur odor.

 35 3544 0-130 clay hardpan, 130-250 gray slate w/streaks red paint rock. Dwl 104.

 36 3545 Intense red turbidity initially and when pumped hard; has gradually declined. Dwl 90

 37 3546 0-55 hardpan, 55-400 red&gray shale

 38 3547 Seasonal camp, little use 2001-2.

 39 3548

 39a

 40 3549 Dwl 75.

 49 3550

 49A 3551
66 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Appendix B. Measured Water Levels in Wells, 1987–2005

Download Appendix B data table in three different formats (.csv, .txt, and .xls) here: 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2008/5087/appendixb.htm

Definitions of column headings 

Well number: Serial numbers are used to identify wells in this report. Letters following a number distinguish successive wells 

on the same property; the complete sequence of wells on each property is tabulated in appendix A. Well locations are 

shown on plate 2. Any numbers to the right of a decimal point are not part of the well number; they were added to force 

the computer program to keep multiple measurements in the same well in proper order.

Date measured (2002): Date, during the late summer of 2002, on which depth to water was measured in this well.

Status on date measured: Status of water level at the time of measurement is coded as follows: 

S Static; no change in water level over at least 20 minutes.

D Dynamic equilibrium; water level was slowly falling, or rising and falling (presumably in response to nearby 

pumping) when measured.

R Rising water level; number is feet of rise in 10 minutes. In most of these wells, 

the rise probably constitutes recovery from the last operation of the owner’s 

pump several hours earlier, but temporarily rising water levels that reflect

dynamic equilibrium with pumping in the neighborhood are also possible.

ExS Static water level extrapolated from a series of measurements of rising water level, generally over periods of 

1 to 4 hours.

U Well unused—either abandoned, or a new well not yet in use.

V Power to the pump known to be off, or no one home, for at least 6 hours prior to measurement.

C Water level measured during this study but not in the summer of 2002; static water level adjusted to 

Aug 15, 2002, by correlation with other wells.

Other measurements

Date: Most measurements in 1988–91 made by students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (R.G. LaFleur, written commun., 

1999). 

Most measurements in 1999–2002 made by USGS; some by Smith and Mahoney Engineers (Timothy Moot, written 

commun., 2002). All measurements in 2005 made by USGS.

Status: Same codes as previous status column.

Footnotes:

a After recovery period of 72 hours.

b

 Water level deeper than 147 feet.

c

 Water level rose at a constant rate from 1415 through 1530 hours; this rise may represent a dynamic equilibrium with withdrawals and 

recovery in the neighborhood.

d

 Water level rose from 113.13 feet at 1102 hours to 107.36 feet at 1306 hours; the rate of water-level recovery through this depth interval 

in 1988 was more rapid than the rate of recovery through the same interval on Oct. 12, 2002, which suggests that the static water level was 

several feet higher in 1988 than in 2002.

e

 After recovery period of 48 hours. 

f

 Water level might have been as much as 0.5 feet deeper on August 15; the altitude given is the highest altitude possible.

g

 Altitude of top of casing was estimated from levels to the roadside nearby.
Appendix B 67

Appendix B. Measured water levels in wells.

Well 

number

Date

measured

(2002)

Status 

on date 

measured

Depth to water below top 

of casing (feet) Altitude (feet) of Other measurements

On date 

measured

Adjusted 

to Aug 15

Top of 

casing

Water level 

Aug 15 Date Status

 Depth 

to water 

below top 

of casing 

(feet)

2A CD 75.80 787.81 712.01 7/20/1988 US 78.85

2A.1 2/13/2000 D a/ 76.80

3 Aug 9 UR <0.01 59.07 59.13 789.90 730.77

3A Aug 11 ExS 71.22 71.18 788.59 717.41

4 Sep 1 VD 85.18 85.01 785.44 700.43 12/12/1989 S 76.35

4.1 8/19/2005 ExS(?) 77.00

9 Jul 19 VS 128.86 129.13 821.66 692.53 6/19/1987 SU 108.94

9.1 5/10/1991 S 116.60

9.2 1/12/2000 R 0.02 127.79

9.3 5/17/2001 R 0.01 129.89

9.4 3/12/2002 R 0.02 129.71

9.5 8/4/2005 R 0.02 126.90

10 July 25 R 0.43 107.00 6/29/1988 S 97.73

10.1 Sep 7 R 0.02 109.39 109.16 828.32 719.16 7/12/1988 D 96.51

10.2 11/14/1989 S 94.13

10.3 8/9/1990 S? 100.60

10.4 8/20/1991 S? 97.80

10.5 6/8/1999 R 0.045 103.10

10.6 2/10/2000 R 0.03 101.66

10.7 8/17/2000 R 0.05 103.25

10.8 8/16/2005 VR 0.04 102.25

15 Aug 25 VS 68.50 68.40 783.00 714.60

17 Aug 24 UD 102.66 102.57 810.94 708.37 11/1/2001 U 101.83

17.1 8/11/2005 US 98.17

21 Aug 21 US 20.68 20.62 766.96 746.34 7/31/2005 D 17.42

22A July 26 ExS 111.75 111.95 780.28 668.33 7/14/1988 R 0.15 111.98

22A.1 6/1/1999 R 0.11 117.85

26A Aug 17 VS 98.09 98.07 773.29 675.22 5/21/1999 ? 96.13

26A.1 8/4/2005 VS 104.07

27 Sep 1 R 0.01 104.20 104.03 775.27 671.24 5/26/1999 S 100.55

28 Aug 21 R 0.01 93.56 93.50 762.77 669.27 11/14/1989 R 0.02 85.00

28.1 5/26/1999 S 89.78

28.2 2/4/2000 R 0.01 90.63

28.3 8/22/2000 R 0.01 90.74

28.4 8/12/2005 VS 100.11
68 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Appendix B. Measured water levels in wells.

Well 

number

Date

measured

(2002)

Status 

on date 

measured

Depth to water below top 

of casing (feet) Altitude (feet) of Other measurements

On date 

measured

Adjusted 

to Aug 15

Top of 

casing

Water level 

Aug 15 Date Status

 Depth 

to water 

below top 

of casing 

(feet)

29a Aug 16 R 0.01 121.86 121.85 784.25 662.40 5/27/1999 R 0.01 125.13

29a.1 8/3/2005 ExS 128.10

32 Aug 29 S 19.11 18.97 802.86 783.89 9/20/2005 S 16.52

34A Aug 21 VS 92.36 92.30 798.34 706.04 8/24/2005 VR 0.02 91.64

35 Jul 26 ExS 116.24 116.44 872.82 756.38 8/2/1988 S 114.37

35.1 8/4/2005 VS 115.70

36 Sep 4 ExS 75.98 75.78 834.61 758.83 8/2/1988 S 77.76

36.1 10/25/1989 S 73.07

36.2 8/1/2005 VS 75.04

37 Jul 25 S 18.64 18.85 776.92 758.07 8/2/1988 S 15.23

37.1 5/17/2001 S 17.71

37.2 3/12/2002 S 17.78

37.3 8/16/2005 VS 18.95

38 Aug 26 VR 0.01 26.82 26.71 786.25 759.54

39a Jul 26 R 0.03 61.84 62.04 807.31 745.27 5/3/1988 ? 54.63

39a.1 8/1/2005 VS 57.49

40 Jul 25 R 0.02? 87.41 87.62 792.50 704.88 3/7/1988 ? 81.10

40.1 7/30/2005 VS 86.90

49 Aug 1 US 33.46 33.60 803.59 769.99 8/9/1990 S 35.11

49.1 8/1/2005 US 33.01

51 779.50 8/9/1990 S 13.81

52 Jul 24 US 154.27 154.49 776.07 621.58 4/23/1988 S 138.25

52.1 Sep 12 US 154.49 154.21 8/2/2005 US 159.96

52A Jul 24 R 0.03 166.43 166.65 787.44 620.79

53a Jul 20 VR 0.02 190.39 190.65 812.56 621.91 11/2/1989 S 173.41

53a.1 8/3/2005 VS 198.20

54 6/29/1988 R 0.06 27.02

54.1 10/14/1989 R 0.20 24.04

54a Jul 25 VS 25.44 25.65 787.53 761.88 7/24/2001 R 0.03 25.61

54a.1 3/12/2002 R 0.02 23.61

54a.3 8/6/2005 VR 0.015 24.34

56 Jul 31 V 12.51 12.66 799.73 787.07

56A Jul 31 VR <0.01 32.89 33.04 800.51 767.47

61a Jul 25 S 143.65 143.86 760.71 616.85 1/17/2000 S 141.63

61a.1 5/17/2001 D 143.40

61a.2 3/13/2002 R 0.04 146.11

61a.3 8/2/2005 VR 0.01 153.01

64 Aug 15 R 0.02 88.37 88.37 722.53 634.16

65A Aug 17 S 102.55 102.53 725.16 622.63
Appendix B 69

Appendix B. Measured water levels in wells.

Well 

number

Date

measured

(2002)

Status 

on date 

measured

Depth to water below top 

of casing (feet) Altitude (feet) of Other measurements

On date 

measured

Adjusted 

to Aug 15

Top of 

casing

Water level 

Aug 15 Date Status

 Depth 

to water 

below top 

of casing 

(feet)

67a Aug 15 S 166.30 166.30 786.86 620.56 6/21/1988 b/

69 Aug 15 U f/ 129.50 129.50 748.76 619.26

69A Aug 15 R 0.01 127.80 127.80 746.36 618.56

73 Aug 16 R 0.02 99.90 99.89 738.84 638.95 8/23/1999 R 0.02 101.68

73.1 7/31/2005 D 109.05

74a Sep 11 S 182.81 182.53 805.90 623.37

77 Aug 24 VD 132.97 132.88 823.44 690.56

78 Aug 23 US 130.37 130.29 822.67 692.38

79 Aug 24 VD 122.36 122.27 810.31 688.04 8/11/2005 VS 120.70

80 Aug 21 S 98.75 98.69 802.02 703.33

84 Aug 7 S 43.16 43.24 778.12 734.88

85 Aug 22 R 0.035c/ 44.40 44.33 773.34 729.01

90A Aug 27 VR 0.02 118.22 118.10 831.98 713.88 11/14/1989 S 100.87

90A.1 8/4/2005 VR 0.06 112.27

91 Aug 23 R 0.01 124.27 124.19 833.79 709.60

93 Sep 5 ExS 95.05 94.84 813.96 719.12

94 Sep 6 S 47.11 46.89 810.96 764.07

95 Aug 1 S 84.66 84.80 842.13 757.33

97a Jul 25 ExS 95.82 96.03 795.79 699.76 5/17/2001 R 0.02 95.10

97a.1 3/12/2002 R 0.02 94.21

98 Jul 31 US 90.79 90.94 776.32 685.38

104 Sep 1 VR 0.01 49.74 49.57 782.83 733.26

105 Aug 28 VR 0.015 50.20 50.07 783.69 733.62 7/30/2005 VS 45.16

106 Aug 28 R 0.015 50.06 49.93 803.75 753.82

111 Jul 25 VS 21.56 21.77 775.81 754.04 7/14/1988 S 24.11

111.1 11/14/1989 S 18.87

111.2 8/9/1990 S? 18.80

111.3 6/15/1999 R 0.01 22.87

111.4 8/17/2000 S 18.04

111.5 5/17/2001 R 0.03 23.54

111.6 3/13/2002 S 19.25

111.7 8/10/2005 S 23.05

115 Sep 10 R 0.015 108.96 108.70 776.63 667.93 6/7/1999 R 0.01 111.93

115.1 5/17/2001 S 108.98

115.2 3/13/2002 S 109.51

118A Jul 26 S 134.14 134.34 791.80 657.46 5/29/1999 R 0.035 136.64

118A.1 9/3/2000 R 0.035 137.76

118A.2 3/12/2002 R 0.03 134.40

118A.3 8/9/2005 VS 141.09
70 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Appendix B. Measured water levels in wells.

Well 

number

Date

measured

(2002)

Status 

on date 

measured

Depth to water below top 

of casing (feet) Altitude (feet) of Other measurements

On date 

measured

Adjusted 

to Aug 15

Top of 

casing

Water level 

Aug 15 Date Status

 Depth 

to water 

below top 

of casing 

(feet)

119A Aug 21 VR 0.01 120.55 120.49 786.68 666.19

120a Aug 14 R 0.03? 149.36 149.37 808.02 658.65 8/9/1990 S 144.45

120a.1 6/7/1999 R 0.02 151.74

120a.2 2/7/2000 R 0.02 150.29

120a.3 8/5/2005 VS 154.42

122 Aug 14 US 65.21 65.22 774.33 709.11 5/6/1991 U 63.65

122.1 Oct 13 US 64.56 64.07 774.33 8/17/2000 US 64.41

122.2 8/8/2005 US 62.90

122A Oct12 ExS 100.25 99.67 774.50 674.83 8/3/1988 d/

127A Oct3 ExS 69.68 69.19 793.43 724.24

130 Aug30 R0.005 13.12 12.97 776.55 763.58

131 Jul28 VS 28.88 29.06 777.34 748.28 6/22/1988 ? 35.25

131.1 Oct5 VS 29.50 28.99 5/29/1999 ExS 30.88

131.2 2/12/2000 R0.01 32.69

131.3 8/19/2000 R0.01 30.10

131.4 7/30/2005 VS 27.65

133 Jul24 US 67.92 68.14 792.10 723.96 8/10/2005 US 68.87

133.1 Sep13 US 69.51 69.22

136 Jul22 VF 20.42 20.66 789.40 768.74 8/1/2005 VS 19.60

136A Jul20 VR0.02 41.52 41.78 794.85 753.07 8/6/2005 VR0.01 41.54

140A Jul26 D 43.24 43.44 744.38 700.94 8/22/1989 UD 40.04

143 Aug30 D 23.59 23.44 783.91 760.47

144 Sep11 ExS 50.06 49.80 778.97 729.17 8/4/2005 D 45.92

145 Jul25 D 74.31 74.52 802.13 727.61 6/28/1988 S 65.43

145.1 1/20/2000 R0.05 68.41

145.2 3/12/2002 R0.16 72.11

145.3 8/15/2005 VD 66.70

147 Jul26 ExS 29.05 29.25 789.32 760.07 9/14/2000 D 29.05

147.1 3/12/2002 R0.03 27.56

147.2 8/19/2005 R0.01 28.16

153 Aug18 D 68.22 68.19 791.97 723.78 8/10/2005 US 66.59

155 8/1/1988 R0.04 112.28

159 Aug19 D 29.70 29.66 766.65 736.99

161 Aug24 S 24.05 23.96 780.57 756.61

162 Sep4 R0.025 161.18 160.98 803.87 642.89 6/1/1999 R0.03 163.28

169 Jul22 R0.01g/ 80.00 80.24 776.60 696.36 8/12/2005 S 82.59

173a Aug15 D 151.01 151.01 762.43 611.42

176 Jul27 US 22.16 22.35 785.58 763.23 11/23/1999 D 24.02

176.1 8/17/2000 S 19.66
Appendix B 71

Appendix B. Measured water levels in wells.

Well 

number

Date

measured

(2002)

Status 

on date 

measured

Depth to water below top 

of casing (feet) Altitude (feet) of Other measurements

On date 

measured

Adjusted 

to Aug 15

Top of 

casing

Water level 

Aug 15 Date Status

 Depth 

to water 

below top 

of casing 

(feet)

178 727.62 6/29/1988 S 26.00

178a Jul29 ExS 24.88 25.05 774.49 749.44 6/7/1999 R0.09 27.88

178a.1 8/3/2005 VD 24.51

183 Aug22 ExS 18.63 18.56 760.60 742.04

186 Aug14 R0.02 34.36 34.37 735.50 701.13 6/22/1988 R0.01 32.94

186.1 6/4/1999 R0.02 33.02

186.2 2/4/2000 S 36.00

186.3 8/17/2000 R0.01 32.18

186.4 8/3/2005 R0.03 36.71

187 Aug25 D 47.61 47.51 794.55 747.04

188 Aug26 R0.01 21.52 21.41 804.53 783.12

190A Jul20 US 104.31 104.57 791.20 686.63

195A Jul31 R<0.01 156.77 156.92 777.64 620.72 8/25/2005 VS 163.73

202 767.56 9/26/2007 DV 94.94

204A Jul25 S 138.16 138.37 760.86 622.49 6/22/1988 S 125.22

204A.1 9/14/2000 S 135.65

204A.2 3/13/2002 S 138.52

204A.3 8/13/2005 VS 144.22

213A Aug19 S 108.05 108.01 733.88 625.87 8/7/2005 R0.01 116.06

215 C 81.00 718.74 637.74 5/17/2001 R0.06 82.35

219 Jul27 ExS 18.93 19.12 789.05 769.93

220 Jul25 R0.015 26.96 27.17 795.08 767.91

222a Aug4 R0.16 86.67 86.78 799.11 712.33

223 Sep5 ExS 47.48 47.27 771.90 724.63 8/12/2005 ? 39.41

224 Sep5 ExS 34.85 34.64 779.03 744.39 8/12/2005 ExS 40.83

225 Sep10 R0.01 36.24 35.98 780.94 744.96 6/28/1988 ExS 25.06

225.1 8/7/2005 VS 40.93

226a Sep5 UD 64.56 64.35 770.93 726.58 8/7/2005 UD 58.35

228 771.99 6/28/1988 S 34.04

229 Sep6 R0.01 10.34 10.12 767.30 757.18

230b Aug23 ExS 35.48 35.40 770.49 735.09

233 Sep25 D 79.96 79.55 820.25 740.70

235 Sep4 D 83.37 83.17 824.84 741.67

241 Aug22 R0.02 37.58 37.51 796.83 759.32 6/28/1988 ExS 36.49

244 Aug18 R 41.38 41.35 781.80 740.45 6/29/1988 D 37.29

247 Aug7 US 126.38 126.46 802.74 676.28

248a Jul22 R0.02 186.39 186.63 807.31 620.68

258 Jul25 S 71.74 71.95 6/22/1988 S 63.06

258.1 3/13/2002 S 70.91
72 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Appendix B. Measured water levels in wells.

Well 

number

Date

measured

(2002)

Status 

on date 

measured

Depth to water below top 

of casing (feet) Altitude (feet) of Other measurements

On date 

measured

Adjusted 

to Aug 15

Top of 

casing

Water level 

Aug 15 Date Status

 Depth 

to water 

below top 

of casing 

(feet)

270 Jul24 R 18.41 18.62 786.97 768.35

274A Aug18 ExS 109.70 109.67 726.48 616.81 6/21/1988 S 94.30

274A.1 8/2/2005 ExS 119.90

275A Jun5 U 126.20 748.39

275A.1 Jul26 US 125.66 125.86 748.39 622.53

275A.2 Aug25 U 126.27 126.17 748.39 622.22

275A.3 Sep12 U 126.15 125.87 748.39 622.52

276a Aug15 D 131.24 131.24 752.77 621.53 8/2/2005 US 139.98

279 Aug9 U 3.11 3.17 8/3/2005 U 1.80

279A Aug9 S 133.32 133.40 757.91 624.51 10/24/1989 S 117.60

279A.1 8/3/2005 VS 142.19

284 Aug9 UD 67.28 67.34 784.51 717.17 8/17/2000 US 56.52

284.1 Aug15 US 64.90 64.90 784.51 719.61

284.2 8/9/2005 US 64.65

286A Aug9 VS 65.10 65.16 769.21 704.05 8/10/2005 VS 52.18

289A C 123.45 790.55 667.10 7/20/1988 R0.88 123.68

289A.1 2/7/2000 ExS 124.45

291a Sep7 ExS 72.58 72.35 778.30 705.95

292A Aug3 VDe/ 81.55 81.67 785.23 703.56

301a Aug24 R0.01 117.76 117.67 780.60 662.93 7/28/1988 R0.18 114.10

301a.1 8/15/2005 VD 123.63

302A Sep11 S 116.30 116.03 815.20 699.17

303 Aug19 S 32.03 31.99 732.23 700.24

304a Aug15 S 103.34 103.34 727.62 624.28

307 Aug17 U 94.77 94.75 710.95 616.20

307A 710.05

309A Aug16 R0.02 116.13 116.12 757.49 641.37 6/1/1999 R0.10 117.49

309A.1 8/17/2000 D 116.80

309A.2 8/1/2005 D 124.45

310a 763.68 6/1/1999 D 123.57

312 Aug15 S 144.68 144.68 783.44 638.76 5/28/1999 D 145.46

312.1 8/2/2005 VD 151.14

313 Aug30 VS 119.68 119.53 759.84 640.31 8/23/1999 D 119.73

315 Aug24 UR0.01 113.68 113.59 772.80 659.21 7/28/1988 UD 116.46

315.1 11/9/1999 UD 116.51

315.2 8/17/2000 UD 117.37

315.3 8/15/2005 UD 123.59

319 Aug20 R0.01 145.52 145.47 791.11 645.64

2060 Aug30 US 47.72 47.57 828.17 780.60 6/24/1997 US 41.66
Appendix B 73

Appendix B. Measured water levels in wells.

Well 

number

Date

measured

(2002)

Status 

on date 

measured

Depth to water below top 

of casing (feet) Altitude (feet) of Other measurements

On date 

measured

Adjusted 

to Aug 15

Top of 

casing

Water level 

Aug 15 Date Status

 Depth 

to water 

below top 

of casing 

(feet)

2060.1 Nov14 US 43.01 7/30/2005 US 43.56

2061 Sep25 VR0.015 35.11 34.70 816.13 781.43

2064 Aug29 D 84.59 84.45 819.73 735.28

2066 Aug29 D 75.48 75.34 811.80 736.46 8/19/2005 VD 74.78

2068 Sep2 VD 73.59 73.41 812.71 739.30

2070 Aug30 UD 73.32 73.17 816.07 742.90 11/4/2001 U 71.70

2071 Aug28 VS 69.93 69.80 788.40 718.60

2073 Sep8 D 19.53 19.29 779.04 759.75 8/22/1989 US 17.57

2073.1 7/31/2005 S 17.94

2077a C 44.96 701.26 656.30 7/6/1999 VS 47.91

2078 C 8.50 701.29 692.79

2080 Sep1 S 88.54 88.37 725.52 637.15

2081 Aug27 VS 105.66 105.54 756.57 651.03

2082 776.34

2083 C 89.49 89.49 766.49 677.00 5/21/1999 U 88.50

2084 Aug4 US 107.46 107.57 777.76 670.19

2085 769.45

2086 Jul 29 US 121.98 122.15 791.24 669.09 8/11/2005 D 130.31

2087 Aug 4 US 121.46 121.57 780.24 658.67

2088 Aug 4 UD 143.98 144.09 790.61 646.52 8/10/2005 R 0.01 154.07

2090 Aug 19 R 0.01 74.94 74.90 695.35 620.45 8/16/2005 R 0.015 78.88

2091 Sep 13 ExS 44.19 43.90 811.46 767.56 8/24/2005 VD 38.80

2093 Jul 26 US 56.61 56.81 814.44 757.63

2094 Jul 26 US 33.60 33.80 808.76 774.96 8/11/2005 US 33.51

2096 763.20 8/30/1999 UD 126.84

2097 C 39.88 755.25 715.37 11/11/1999 R 0.01 40.89

2100 Aug 23 S 41.50 41.43 766.51 725.08 8/24/2005 S 32.33

2101 Sep 4 US 106.19 105.99 847.17 741.18 8/12/2005 S 104.39

2112 C 775.00 6/12/2003 VS 101.66
74 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Appendix C. Procedures by which Measured Water Levels in Wells Were 

Converted to a Common Datum

Differential leveling procedures were used to ascertain the altitude of the top of the casing at each well in which depth to 

water was measured in 2002, thereby providing a common datum for calculation of water-level altitudes (pl. 3 and appendix B). 

All altitude values in this report represent vertical distance above the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29).

 All level lines can be traced back to the following benchmarks: (1) a stone monument along Marcy Avenue with an altitude 

given as 727.83 feet on a map by ABD Engineers (Andress, 1997), and (2) a concrete slab in front of Sand Lake School on 

New York Route 43 (900 feet east of Victors Lane, fig. 1) with an altitude given as 774.67 feet NGVD by Tallamy Contractors 

(Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1979). Both of these engineering reports referenced benchmark altitudes to “USGS 

datum” without identification of the USGS benchmark source(s). Level lines from these two benchmarks were joined near the 

intersection of Barzen Road and New York Route 43, with an error of closure of 0.12 foot. Another level line originating at the 

Marcy Avenue monument was run to a third benchmark set by Tallamy Contractors on an unused dam on the Wynants Kill (east 

of well 120 along Burden Lake Road, pl. 2), also with an error of closure of 0.12 foot. An error of 0.12 foot was deemed small 

enough that the surveyed altitudes of top of casing at all wells could be treated as a single data set without adjustment.

All level lines were extended by means of a double-rodding method. The altitude of the measuring point on the top of 

each well casing was taken as the average of the results from two parallel sets of level lines, which seldom differed by more 

than 0.015 foot. Six long loops were closed where one level line joined another; errors of closure were 0.005, 0.005, 0.015, 

0.03, 0.035, and 0.04 foot. The errors of closure indicate that the surveyed altitudes of measuring points are accurate within at 

least 0.l foot, and probably within 0.05 foot in most instances, relative to the datum defined by the benchmarks set by the two 

engineering firms cited.

The altitude of land surface at each well was measured to the nearest 0.1 foot from the surveyed measuring point. 

This value was then compared to the altitude estimated to the nearest 1.0 foot by interpolation between 10-foot contours on 

the topographic map (Averill Park 7.5-minute USGS topographic quadrangle, 1980 edition). Altitudes estimated from the 

topographic map ranged from 7.8 feet higher to 10.1 feet lower than surveyed altitudes (except for one site at which some 

excavation apparently took place after preparation of the topographic map). The departures of estimated altitudes from surveyed 

altitudes probably result chiefly from errors in preparing the topographic map, in plotting well locations on the map, and in 

interpolating altitudes between map contours. One might expect such departures to be randomly distributed about a median 

departure of zero, and indeed, they were distributed about a median of zero in two areas on the fringes of Averill Park, near 

Crystal Lake Road and Houston Way and near southern Johnnycake Lane and Eastern Union Turnpike. Over the entire study 

area; however, land-surface altitudes estimated from the topographic map were lower than surveyed altitudes at 78 percent of the 

wells surveyed. The median underestimate was 4.7 feet in areas west of Lake Avenue and Firemans Pond, and 2.7 feet near or 

east of the center of Averill Park. 
Appendix D 75

Appendix D. Calibration of conductivity meter.

[Meter was Electronic Switchgear Model MC-1 Mark V; scales used were temperature-compensated to yield specific conductance in microsiemens at 

25 degrees Celsius. Repeated measurements at residence were intended as a convenient check on meter consistency. Most measurements for this report were 

made from August 1999 through July 2002; all are tabulated in appendix A. Double dash (--) means that this parameter was not measured]

Date

Specific conductance 

of untreated well water 

from residence at 

35 Taborton Rd, 

Sand Lake, N.Y. 

Comparison with 

specific conductance of 

laboratory standard solutions 

Remarks

0.1-K cell 

(reading 

x 100)

1.0-K cell

(reading

x 1000)

Standard 

0.1-K cell 

(reading 

x 100)

1.0-K cell

(reading

x 1000)

July 4, 1995 325 -- -- -- -- Meter 296628

Aug. 9, 1995 330 -- -- -- -- Meter 296628.

Feb 4, 1999 330 -- -- -- -- Meter 296628.

Sep 29, 1999 -- 330 -- -- -- Meter 296628. Test balance = 970

Nov 5, 2000 310 -- -- -- -- Meter 314860, used for all subsequent readings.Test 

balance = 1000.

Nov 25, 2000 140 320 -- -- -- Test balance = 1000.

Dec 3, 2000 -- -- 499 360 489 Readings erratic with 0.1 K cell, as well as 

commonly less than 1.0 K cell and less than 

standards. Decided to use results from 1.0K cell 

only, from October-November 2000. 

-- -- 743 460 730

-- -- 989 975 930

Dec 5, 2000 -- -- 499

743

487

720

475

700

Results after sanding wires at connections from cells 

to meter.

-- -- 989 900 965

-- -- 1780 1750 ± 1730

 

Apr 14, 2001 300 330 -- -- --

Oct 25, 2001 -- -- 500

993

1780

500

980

1750

490

970

1750

New battery installed.0.1 K cell would not replicate 

1.0 K cell in this test (nor in the field, recently) 

until connection plug was repeatedly twisted in 

meter socket.

Nov 20, 2001 -- 310 -- -- -- Tested after replacing 1.0 K cell connecting wire, 

following a malfunction in the field today.

Dec 5, 2001 315 470 -- -- -- 1.0 K cell malfunctioned in the field today; test 

confirmed that it is reading incorrectly.

Dec 5, 2001 -- 315 -- -- -- Tested after replacing connecting wire, again.

Mar 12, 2002 320 325 -- -- -- --

Aug 7, 2002 300 300 -- -- -- --

July 27.2003 380 380 -- -- -- --

May 4, 2004 345 345 -- -- -- --

Jun 24, 2005 335 335 -- -- -- --
76 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Appendix E. Estimation of Annual Average Per-Capita Water Use 

The section entitled “Recharge rate as a limit on ground-water withdrawals from bedrock,” describes how the rate of 

ground-water withdrawal from wells was calculated largely as the known residential population multiplied by an estimate of 

average daily per-capita water use. That estimate (55 gallons per day) was derived by the method described below.

Several localities served by municipal water systems in two neighboring towns—North Greenbush and East Greenbush 

(fig. 1)—were selected for a survey of water use. These localities are about 8 miles from Averill Park and only a few hundred 

feet lower in altitude. Like Averill Park, these localities are characterized largely by one- and two-story single-family homes 

that were built 30 to 60 years earlier. All homes are fairly close to small commercial districts on nearby streets, and a few homes 

have been divided into two or three apartments.

The municipal water department for each locality furnished a printout that showed metered water consumption at each 

property served by the municipal water system during two successive 6-month periods in 2004–2005. Door-to-door inquiries 

ascertained the number of residents in each house during those periods, noted the month in which any change occurred, and 

found that nearly all residents did their own laundry at home. Several homes in each locality had swimming pools that were 

filled or topped off from the municipal water supply, and a few others had hot tubs, fish ponds, or (at one home) a midwinter 

ice rink; the amount of water consumed by each of these facilities was estimated, generally from the dimensions of the water 

body and the owner’s estimate of the depth of water added, and was subtracted from the metered water consumption before 

water use per person was calculated. Little effort was made to include every home in each locality; if no one answered the door 

on one or two Saturday or evening visits, that home was ignored. Three homes in North Greenbush were excluded because 

water consumption for one or both 6-month periods was 2 to 10 times the maximum per-capita use at other homes, probably 

because of a known (in one home) or suspected long-term water leak in a toilet. Two homes in East Greenbush were excluded 

because the owners were in residence there only about 6 months each year. Slightly more than 100 homes were included in each 

town survey. 

East Greenbush

Most water meters in East Greenbush were read by drive-by remote-sensing equipment. Some meters could be read only 

in increments of 100 cubic feet, others in increments of 1 cubic foot. The exact dates of all meter readings were furnished; all 

were in mid-April 2004, early to mid-October 2004, and mid-April 2005, although the dates varied slightly from one locality 

to another. Most homes in several localities had originally been served by private on-lot wells but switched to municipal water 

supply after it became available in 1966; by 2004, only a few homes had not connected to the municipal water system, or had 

connected but retained private wells to supply outdoor faucets. All homes in one locality were originally served by a community 

water system supplied by a well within the locality; that system was taken over by the town water department in 1995, and use 

of the local supply well was discontinued. 

North Greenbush

Water meters in North Greenbush recorded consumption in increments of 1,000 gallons and were read by drive-by remotesensing equipment at the end of February and in late August varied slightly from one street to another, but approximate dates 

of March 3, 2004 (or slightly earlier), August 27, 2004, and February 23, 2005, were available from water-department records. 

Municipal water supply was extended in 1997 to the localities studied. Nearly all homes were originally served by private on-lot 

wells; in 2005, about 20 percent were still served only by these wells, and 43 percent of those served by the municipal system 

retained use of private wells for occasional outdoor uses (such as watering plants and lawns, washing cars, or filling pools) and, 

in a few homes, for drinking water. Therefore, the water-use habits of most current residents may have been affected by their 

past experience of relying on a well for water supply.

East Greenbush and North Greenbush Combined

The final data set included 206 residences—102 in East Greenbush and 104 in North Greenbush. In each town, the average 

number of persons per residence was 3.0, nearly the same as at Averill Park, and use per day per capita during the spring and 

summer averaged 7 percent higher than during the fall and winter. Annual average per-capita use ranged widely—from less 

than 20 to more than 110 gallons per day. Mean and median values of annual average use per capita in North Greenbush were 

52.9 and 52.1 gallons per day, respectively, and in East Greenbush, 58.9 and 61.2 gallons per day. Among the factors that might 

account for the differences in rate of water use are the uncertainty as to the exact dates of meter readings in North Greenbush, 

the availability of well water for outside use at 43 percent of the homes in North Greenbush, and possible socioeconomic and 

age differences that were beyond the scope of this investigation.
Appendix E 77

The distribution of per-capita daily use values in the East Greenbush and North Greenbush data sets was somewhat erratic 

and bimodal (lower curves, fig. E–1), whereas that of the combined data set (upper curve, fig. E–1) was smooth and fairly close 

to a normal distribution, although somewhat skewed. Mean per-capita use in the combined data set was 55.4 gallons per day, 

and median per-capita use was 54.4 gallons per day. Accordingly, an average withdrawal of 55 gallons per day per capita was 

applied in estimating ground-water recharge at Averill Park.

Figure E–1. Frequency distribution of average daily per-capita water use among 2006 residences surveyed in East Greenbush 

and North Greenbush, N.Y. 

EXPLANATION

East Greenbush, New York, 102 residences

North Greenbush, New York, 104 residences

Total all residences surveyed in both towns,

206 residences

Less than 10

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

NUMBER OF RESIDENCES

10-19.920-29.930-39.940-49.950-59.960-69.970-79.980-89.990-99.9

100-109.9110-119.9120-129.9

ANNUAL AVERAGE WATER USE, IN GALLONS PER DAY PER CAPITA
78 Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York

Appendix F. Effect of a Decline in Water Levels Below the Bedrock Surface on 

Well Yield

LaFleur (1989) coined the term “freeboard” to describe the distance that separates the water level in bedrock from the 

bedrock surface. “Positive freeboard” denotes a water level above the top of bedrock, whereas “negative freeboard” denotes a 

water level below the bedrock surface. The distribution of freeboard (fig. 14) was mapped on the basis of known depths to the 

static water level and known depths to bedrock at individual wells, and on superposition of bedrock-surface contours (pl. 1) on 

water-level contours (pl. 3). The water level is below the bedrock surface in most localities around Averill Park. 

LaFleur’s hypothesis that a decline in water levels that dewatered the upper part of the bedrock would significantly 

decrease well yield seems plausible, but the 2002 data provide little support for a simple correlation of apparent dewatering of 

bedrock with well yield. For example, freeboard is commonly negative near and north of the center of Averill Park, where a 

majority of wells yield less than 3 gallons per minute, but the areas of strongly negative freeboard do not closely coincide with 

the areas where many wells yield less than 3 gallons per minute. Most wells west of the center yield more than 3 gallons per 

minute, but freeboard varies: wells along Marcy Avenue and Terrace Drive generally have positive freeboard, whereas wells 

along and north of Route 43 have consistently negative freeboard (-20 to -70 feet). The area east of the center of Averill Park, 

along Bullis Drive and the east side of Barzen Avenue, has negative freeboard, but well performance here seems similar to that 

along Route 43 and Victors Lane where freeboard is positive. Variations in freeboard among individual wells in other localities 

seem generally to not correlate with variations in well performance. One reason for the lack of correlation is that part of the 

bedrock above the water level in drilled wells is probably saturated even in areas of negative freeboard. This interpretation is 

supported by observed water levels only 6 to 12 feet below land surface in large-diameter dug wells excavated into bedrock 

at three locations near the center of Averill Park in which the water level in drilled wells was 20 to 30 feet below land surface. 

Furthermore, the sides of the well bore were wet for at least several feet above the water level in few wells with deep static water 

levels, presumably as a result of seepage from fractures in saturated bedrock. Thus, freeboard is apparently not a predominant 

control on well yields, although yields in any given locality are likely to decrease if freeboard becomes more negative. 
For additional information write to:

New York Water Science Center

U.S. Geological Survey

425 Jordan Road.

Troy, N.Y. 12180

Information requests:

(518) 285-5602

or visit our Web site at;

http://ny.water.usgs.gov
Randall and Finch—Recharge to Shale Bedrock at Averill Park, an Upland Hamlet in Eastern New York—

An Estimate Based on Pumpage within a Defined Cone of Depression

Scientific Investigations Report 2008–5087