Water Quantity
Find a Ground Water Resources Map for Your County
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water has developed a series of maps that provide basic ground water resource information on a county-by-county basis in an easy to use format. Generally referred to as “Ground Water Resource Maps”, these maps are intended to aid homeowners, industries, municipalities, and regional water systems in developing reliable ground water supplies and can be viewed online or downloaded.
Easy to Read Map Design
Ground water resources maps show the expected yield of a drilled well at any location in a county. All maps use a consistent color-coding system to represent well yields. For example, properly constructed wells drilled in areas colored blue on any map can be expected to yield 100 to 500 gallons per minute. Areas colored yellow would yield 25 to 100 gallons per minute. In all, there are six colors used to identify well yield categories ranging from greater than 500 gallons per minute to less than 3 gallons per minute.
Information to Plan Your Water Supply
In addition to yield information, Ground Water Resources Maps show several other types of data that can be used to aid in the development of a water supply. All maps show selected well log data for locations throughout the county. These data include total well depth, well yield, aquifer type, and depth to bedrock if encountered. Many of the maps also include data for some of the most common, naturally occurring, inorganic chemicals such as iron and total hardness. Each map includes a brief written description of the ground water geology within the county. These descriptions usually contain information on the type of aquifer or aquifers present in an area (e.g. sandstone, limestone, sand and gravel, etc.), typical well depths, and any known unusual conditions a well driller may encounter when drilling.
Other Information on a Ground Water Resources Map
Ground water resources maps are printed on a U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic map base that shows significant natural and man-made features such as roads, streams and rivers, lakes, and buildings. County political subdivisions are also illustrated on the base map including township borders, and city and village limits. Ground Water Resource Maps are produced at a scale of 1:62,500 or approximately 1 inch = 1 mile.
