Bulletin No. 31. The Geology and Underground Waters of Southern Minnesota

Abstract

The first reports on the water supplies of southern Minnesota were made late in the past century by my distinguished predecessor, Dr. N. H. Winchell, and his associates. The latest report before the present bulletin was by Professor C. W. Hall, Dr. O. E. Meinzer, and Mr. M. L. Fuller, and was issued in 1911. These two reports were excellent and included essentially all the data available at the time of their preparation. The supply of these reports was soon exhausted, and many requests for information on water supplies of the region were received at the office of the Minnesota Geological Survey from officers of municipalities, railroad companies, canning and packing plants, creamery operators, fanners, well drilling engineers, and from industrial plants. New data were steadily becoming available, chiefly by the sinking of new wells, and it soon became apparent that if the State Geological Survey were to answer these inquiries adequately it must obtain and utilize the information as it became available. Notwithstanding his other heavy university duties, Dr. George A. Thiel agreed to undertake the collection and correla tion of the increasing volume of well records. The results of his researches, together with water analyses and other data supplied by the State Board of Health and by the Division of Lands and Minerals of the State Department of Conservation, are presented herewith. References to papers treating the water supplies of southern Minnesota may be found in this report and also in Bulletin 30 of the Survey, issued in 1943.