Dr. Jeff Marshall
Undergraduate Research Advising
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Student: Chris Horsley
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Research Project: Aquifer characteristics of the southern
Chino Groundwater Basin with emphasis on drilling, construction, and testing
of three municipal water supply wells |
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Tectonic map of the central
Transverse Ranges and adjacent sedimentary basins, southern California (from
Yeats, 2004, GSA Bulletin). The Chino Basin is shown on the right side of the
figure, bounded by the Puente Hills, Jurupa Hills, and San Gabriel Mountains. |
Map of the Santa Ana River
Watershed, southern California. The southern Chino Groundwater Basin lies in
the central part of the watershed (beneath the word “Santa” on this map). |
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Images: Project
photos and illustrations Project
Overview: Chris Horsley’s senior research project was a
hydrogeologic study of the southern Chino Groundwater Basin to assist in the
design, testing, and installation of three new water supply wells for the
Chino Basin Desalter Project. This thesis was a product of Chris’ employment
with GEOSCIENCE Support Services, Inc.,
a local hydrogeologic consulting firm based in Claremont, California. Chris’
work on this project was supervised jointly by Dr. Jeff Marshall, and by Mr.
Thomas Harder senior geohydrologist with GEOSCIENCE. Mr. Harder is an alumnus
of the Cal Poly Pomona Geological Sciences Department and has been
instrumental in supporting our students. The Chino Basin Desalter Project encompasses a regional
system of groundwater extraction wells and desalinization plants designed to
reduce nitrate contamination in the Chino Basin Aquifer, and to provide a new source of high-quality drinking water for
about 20,000 area families. The Project is a joint effort of the Santa Ana Watershed Project
Authority, the Inland Empire Utilities
Agency, the Orange County Water District,
and the Western Municipal Water District.
The Bureau of Reclamation and the State Water Resources Control Board
provided project funding. GEOSCIENCE Support
Services, Inc. provided well design,
construction, and testing oversight for the drilling of eleven new wells
installed during a major expansion of the desalter project in 2000-2005.
Chris Horsley’s research focused on the testing protocol and installation
process of the Chino I Expansion Wells 13, 14, and 15. His thesis begins with
a general discussion of the hydrogeology of the southern Chino Groundwater
Basin, and then presents detailed results of pilot borehole drilling,
down-hole geophysical logging, aquifer zone testing, sieve analysis, well
design, installation, and development, and step-drawdown and constant rate
pumping tests. The installation and testing of these new wells provided
important new information about the geologic structure and hydraulic
characteristics of the southern Chino Groundwater Basin. Senior
Thesis: Horsley, C., 2004,
Aquifer characteristics of the Southern Chino Groundwater Basin with emphasis
on drilling, construction, and testing of three municipal water supply wells:
[B.S. Thesis] Cal Poly Pomona University, Pomona, California, 78 p. Honors and
Awards: Ernest Prete Jr. Scholarship
(2004): Geological Sciences Department, Cal Poly Pomona University |
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