Shelterbelts and Aquifers EarthCache

The posted coordinates take you to a demonstration shelterbelt.  To claim a find for this EarthCache, please provide answers to the following questions. Do not include your answers in your online log but do send them to the cache owner through their public profile. ALL answers can be derived from cache listing and at ground zero.

A shelterbelt is a barrier of trees and/or shrubs that has been planted to provide protection from wind. Shelterbelts may also be planted to improve wildlife habitat, and to provide a buffer between agricultural land and bodies of water.

The Winkler Aquifer is a water bearing deposit  of sand and gravel. It is approximately 17 miles long and varies from one to three miles wide. Its thickness varies to a maximum of 200 feet. The northern tip of the aquifer is exposed where it is mined as a
valuable local source of sand and gravel resources. A three square mile area near the northern end of the aquifer has no clay cover.
This is the primary recharge area, where a large portion of fresh water enters the aquifer . The rest of the aquifer is covered by clay soils and glacial till. Near Neuenburg, the southern tip of the aquifer is about 100 feet below the surface. A network of approximately 55 monitoring wells is used to obtain water level and water quality data.

The aquifer generally contains 170,000 acrefeet of fresh water floating on 400,000 acrefeet of salt water. The fresh water portion varies in thickness from nearly 200 feet at the north end to only 20 feet at the south end. The fresh water is used at a rate of 976 acrefeet per year. The  fresh water volume is charged at an average rate of 337 acre-feet per year by the percolation of rain and snow melt water through the  geological materials and soils overlying and surrounding the aquifer.The salt water volume is charged at a rate of approximately 230 acre-feet per year by the continental groundwater regime. The salt water is not used. The sustainable fresh water supply capacity of the Winkler Aquifer  is considered to be equal to the average annual fresh water recharge of 337 acre-feet.

Questions:

1.How much of the annual recharge of the aquifer takes place in this area?

2.Additional recharge helps to improve the amount of water available for use by which parties?

3.Is the salt water used?

4.Downward leakage through the clay unit is 124 acre feet or what percentage?

References:
Planning for the Future of the Winkler Aquifer-Plan Development published March 1997

Stanley Soil Management Association

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