15 



3.3 Groundwater 



3.3.1 Operations 



In 1992, as part of the Supplementary Water Supply Project, 21 wells were in operating status. 

 Operation of these wells resulted in a total of 5 225 dam^ of ground water being pumped. A regional 

 network of 1 71 piezometers was monitored as part of this project. 



Currently, there are eight pump wells installed as part of the Soil Salinity Project. These wells 

 produced a total of 942 dam^. However, 95 percent of this water was produced from PW87103 and 

 PW87104 on the east side of the East Poplar River and PW90108 on the west side of the East 

 Poplar River. 



3.3.2 Ground-Water Levels 

 3.3.2.1 Saskatchewan 



As can be seen in figure 3.9, there appears to have been a slight general expansion in the cone of 

 depression in 1992. Of particular note is the expansion of the cone along the Montana border The 

 cone has shifted south only slightly, but it has spread out along the border As a result, the 1 -metre 

 drawdown contour is approaching the border along a front from Section 1, Township 1, Range 27, 

 West of 2, to Section 1 , Township 1 , Range 28, West of 2, and in places is less than 1 kilometre from 

 the border This change may be due in part to the replacement of border piezometers M506 and 

 M510. The old piezometers were not yielding reliable data which probably influenced the 

 interpretation of previous drawdown maps. Based on the drawdowns seen on the 1 992 map, it is 

 clear that some drawdown will be occurring along the border in Montana. However, these 

 drawdowns are estimated to be less than 1 metre. This confirms the drawdowns noted by state 

 officials in Montana in piezometers they measured in 1991. 



