Ohio State University Extension

Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

590 Woody Hayes Dr., Columbus, Ohio 43210

Greene County Water Resources

AEX-480.29

Gerald L. Mahan
Kristina M. Boone
Larry C. Brown

Water is a resource often taken for granted. In recent years, water availability and quality have become important concerns in Greene County. Although approximately 72 percent of the county's land area is used for agriculture, the county has a large population estimated at 136,731 (1990 census data). About 98 percent of the people in the county rely on ground water for their water supply. By understanding where water is obtained and how it is utilized, residents can gain a better appreciation for their water. Providing a brief overview of Greene County's water resources, such as rivers, streams, ponds, reservoirs and ground water, this fact sheet is intended to help increase public awareness and understanding of water resources. Water resources terminology used in this publication is included in Surface and Ground Water Terminology, fact sheet AEX-460, which provides a listing of generally accepted water resource definitions. OSU Extension publications are available from all county Extension offices.

Precipitation

An average of approximately 39 inches of precipitation falls on Greene County annually. Figure 1 illustrates the average monthly precipitation for the county for the period 1961 to 1990. Based on this 30-year record, the average precipitation is about 3.2 inches per month, with January and February (2.2 inches) typically being the driest months, and May (4.4 inches) the wettest. There can be, however, extreme variations in some years and in certain months within the year. Such seasonal and yearly extremes, which may have serious consequences, often are not apparent from the long-term precipitation information.

Figure 1. Average monthly precipitation (in inches) in Henry County, Ohio (1961-1990); data collected at Napoleon.

Surface-Water Resources

Greene County has seven major drainage basins: the Mad River, Beaver Creek, Little Miami River, Massie Creek, Caesars Creek, Anderson Fork and Rattlesnake Creek. All but the Mad River and Rattlesnake Creek watersheds drain into the Little Miami River basin. The Rattlesnake Creek watershed feeds into the Scioto River, while the Mad River empties into the Great Miami River. The Caesar Creek and Anderson Fork watersheds feed into Caesar Creek Lake prior to flowing into the Little Miami River basin, which includes a drainage area extending from Clark County to the Ohio River, a total length of 106 miles. The Little Miami basin drains an area of approximately 1,755 square miles.

Greene County contains 269,440 land acres, of which approximately 72 percent of the land area is used for agriculture. More than 37 soil types are represented in the county. Although there are several kinds of soil parent materials, deposits of glacial till are the most common. Glacial outwash consisting of stratified deposits of sand and gravel are found commonly in northwestern Greene County. The nearly level soils found in the eastern part of the county are very productive but poorly drained. Soils in western Greene County are fairly well-drained except where development has removed the topsoil and in some cases exposed the clay or subsoil layer.

Greene County has about 250 linear miles of streams and rivers (estimated from river basin maps, ODNR Division of Water), and approximately 460 acres of water impoundments. The largest water impoundment is Shawnee Lake, a human-made impoundment covering approximately 150 acres.

Figure 2. Surface-water resources of Greene County, Ohio (adapted from ODNR Division of Water river basin maps).

Ground-Water Resources

The primary sources of ground water in Greene County are limestone bedrock and unconsolidated sand and gravel deposits. The bedrock consists mainly of calcium and magnesium carbonate, which are commonly referred to as limestone. Consolidated materials that form the bedrock were deposited on the bottoms of inland seas that covered much of southwest Ohio between 400 and 500 million years ago.

Valleys existing in pre-glacial times on the western side of the county were filled with several hundred feet of glacial sediments. Where extensive sand and gravel deposits (glacial outwash) are present, well yields in excess of 1,000 gallons per minute (gpm) are possible. In addition, some springs in the area, most notably around Yellow Spring, Beaver Creek Valley and Spring Valley, provide an adequate flow of water in most years. These springs are the result of ground water being deflected to the surface by impermeable shale layers.

Several areas of southern and western Greene County have limited ground-water supplies resulting from a thin layer of shale that underlies clay-rich glacial till. Wells in this area commonly yield less than 10 gpm. Cisterns and water storage may be required for adequate water supply unless a public-water system is accessible. Private wells in the limestone areas of eastern Greene County may yield from 5 to 75 gpm at depths of 40 to 150 feet. This is adequate for most domestic uses. The availability of water is dependent on the fractures in the rock that allow ground-water storage and water movement through the rock formation. An overview of the ground-water resources in the county is given in Greene County Ground-Water Resources, AEX-490.29.

The yield of a well will vary considerably depending on the age and depth of the well, well construction, the diameter of the casting, pump capacity and age, and more importantly, properties of the geologic formation. Specific information on ground-water availability and wells can be obtained by contacting the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Water.

Where Does the Water Go?

Based on long-term weather records, Ohio receives an average of 38 inches of precipitation per year. These 38 inches move through a complex path called the hydrologic cycle. Of these 38 inches, about 10 inches (26 percent) become runoff, which moves immediately to surface-water bodies like streams and lakes. Two inches are retained at the ground surface and evaporate back into the atmosphere in a relatively short time period. Twenty-six of the 38 total inches enter the soil surface through infiltration. Twenty of these 26 inches go into soil storage and later are returned to the atmosphere by the combination of evaporation and transpiration (evapotranspiration). The remaining 6 inches of precipitation (16 percent of the total) have the potential to recharge the ground-water supply. Two of these 6 inches eventually move to springs, lakes, or streams as ground water discharge. The remaining 4 inches either return to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration or are withdrawn to supply water needs. For further reading, refer to Ohio's Hydrologic Cycle, AEX-461.

Statewide averages applied to the county's average annual precipitation provide a rough estimate of how many inches may result in runoff and how many inches have the potential to reach aquifers. Based on statewide averages of runoff and ground-water recharge, Greene County's 39 inches of annual precipitation results in about 10 inches of runoff to streams and lakes, and about 6 inches have the potential to recharge aquifers, annually. Values for particular locations will differ according to local conditions.

Water Consumption

Greene County has 14 public water-supply systems, as listed in Table 1. This table provides the estimated population served, primary water source, average daily water usage and treatment plant capacity of each of the 14 water suppliers. These systems provide water for domestic, commercial and industrial uses, which should be considered when using the data in Table 1. All of these water suppliers except the village of Cedarville use ground water. Excluding the populations served at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) and the three colleges, more than 99,000 people are served in the county by public water systems. Approximately 37,060 people, 27 percent of the total county population, use private water supplies.

Table 1. Water Use in Greene County, Ohio.1
Public Water System	Population Served	Primary Water Source	Water Usage (GPD)2	Treatment Plant Capacity (GPD)
Beaver Creek	23,079	Ground Water	2,460,000	4,740,000
Bellbrook	6,442	Ground Water	730,000	1,450,000
Bowersville	450	Ground Water	40,000	122,000
Cedarville	3,210	Surface Water	140,000	259,000
Cedarville College	2,330	Ground Water	820,000	250,000
Central State University	4,200	Ground Water	50,000	1,080,000
Fairborn	32,000	Ground Water	3,480,000	9,200,000
Jamestown	1,787	Ground Water	210,000	570,000
Shawnee Hills	2,217	Ground Water	170,000	205,000
Spring Valley	640	Ground Water	650,000	NA3
WPAFB	36,991	Ground Water	NA	10,260,000
Wright State University	19,020	Ground Water	250,000	1,000,000
Yellow Springs	4,077	Ground Water	510,000	1,350,000
Xenia	25,770	Ground Water	3,550,000	8,000,000
1 Abstracted from Inventory of Municipal Water-Supply Systems by County, Ohio (1977), and updated with data from Ohio EPA, Southwest District Office, Dayton, OH.
2 GPD = gallons per day.
3 Not Available.

Water Quality

As water moves through the limestone aquifer underlying much of the eastern side of Greene County, it dissolves and carries in solution minerals contained in the bedrock. This accounts for the hardness of the water (expressed as CaCO3), the slightly above-neutral pH and at times high levels of iron and manganese. Likewise, the water from western Greene County tends to be hard, and at times has high hydrogen sulfide content. Surface-water quality tends to mirror these qualities, except that hydrogen sulfide is not common in surface water.

Human activities, such as agricultural production, domestic waste disposal, and lawn and turf care, may have some influence on ground-water quality in Greene County. In 1988, 271 county wells were sampled for nitrate content, of which 163 (60 percent of total) contained nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in the range of 0 to 0.3 parts-per-million (ppm). This range is assumed to represent natural background levels. Thirty-six wells (13 percent) were tested in the range of 0.3 to 3.0 ppm; these values may or may not indicate human influence. The 57 wells (21 percent) that tested in the range of 3.0 to 10 ppm, may indicate elevated concentrations resulting from human activities. Only 15 wells (6 percent) tested at more than 10 ppm nitrate-nitrogen, which exceeds the safe drinking-water standard. The average test value over the 271 wells tested was 2.4 ppm. A major effort is underway by the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association to protect the underlying aquifer as urban development increases.

Summary

Water availability and quality are important public concerns. Water problems can be both costly and inconvenient. While the present and future availability of water is excellent for Greene County, water is a precious resource that must be conserved and protected. We must all work together to maintain an adequate supply of good quality water.

This fact sheet is intended to provided information to the public on water facts for Greene County. For more information on water resources and drinking-water quality in the county, contact the Greene County Extension Office, located at 100 Fairground Road in Xenia. In addition, the following agencies may be able to provide information on other water resources topics in the county: Greene Soil and Water Conservation District; USDA Soil Conservation Service; Greene County Health Department; ODNR Division of Water (Fountain Square, Columbus OH 43224); U.S. Geological Survey, Ohio District (975 W. Third Ave., Columbus OH 43212); Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (1800 Watermark Dr., Columbus OH 43266); and Ohio Department of Health (PO Box 118, Columbus OH 43226).

If you have other factual county water-resources information that might be of interest to the public, please send copies to the author of this publication at the Greene County Extension Office.

Bibliography

Gazetteer of Ohio Streams. 1960. Ohio Water Inventory Report No. 12. ODNR Division of Water.

Greene County Ground-Water Resources. 1992. G.L. Mahan, A.W. Jones, K.M. Boone and L.C. Brown. AEX-490.29. Ohio Cooperative Extension Service, The Ohio State University.

Ground-Water Resources of Greene County. 1991. J.J. Schmidt. ODNR Division of Water. (map).

Hydrologic Atlas for Ohio: Average Annual Precipitation, Temperature, Streamflow, and Water Loss for the 50-Year Period 1931-1980. 1991. L.J. Hartstine. Water Inventory Report No. 28. ODNR Division of Water.

Inventory of Municipal Water-Supply Systems by County, Ohio. 1977. Ohio Water Inventory Report No. 24. ODNR Division of Water.

Monthly Station Normals of Temperature, Precipitation, and Heating and Cooling Degree Days, 1961-1990, Ohio. 1991. Climatography of the United States, No. 81. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Nitrate and Pesticides in Private Wells of Ohio: A State Atlas. 1989. Water Quality Laboratory, Heidelberg College.

Nitrate in Drinking Water. 1987. K.M. Mancl. Bulletin No. 744. Ohio Cooperative Extension Service, The Ohio State University.

Ohio Ground-Water Quality. USGS National Water Summary - Ohio. 1986. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2325.

Ohio Ground-Water Resources. USGS National Water Summary - Ohio. 1984. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2275.

Ohio Surface-Water Resources. USGS National Water Summary - Ohio. 1985. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2300.

Ohio's Hydrologic Cycle. 1990. L.C. Brown and K.M. Coltman. AEX-461. Ohio Cooperative Extension Service, The Ohio State University.

Ohio's Natural Heritage. 1979. M.B. Lafferty (Ed.). Ohio Academy of Science, Columbus, OH.

Private Water Systems Handbook. 1987. MWPS-14. Midwest Plan Service, Ames, IA. (Available through your county Extension office).

Soil Survey of Greene County. 1978. USDA-Soil Conservation Service.

Surface and Ground Water Terminology. 1990. L.C. Brown and L.P. Black., AEX-460. Ohio Cooperative Extension Service, The Ohio State University.

Water - Ohio's Remarkable Resource. 1982. ODNR Division of Water.

Water Resources of Greene County. 1956. ODNR Division of Water.

Acknowledgments

This publication was produced through the Ohio Water Resources Education Project, in cooperation with: ODNR Division of Water; Ohio EPA; USGS, Ohio District; and Ohio Department of Health (ODH). Project leaders are Larry C. Brown and Kristina M. Boone. Support was provided, in part, by: the cooperating agencies; Greene County Extension office; Greene County Farm Bureau; Greene County Pork Producers Association; Greene Soil and Water Conservation District; Overholt Drainage Education and Research Program; and USDA Extension Service Grant No. 90-EWQI-1-9018.

The project leaders express appreciation to the following reviewers: Tom Ernstes (Greene Soil and Water Conservation District); A. Wayne Jones, David Cashell and Leonard Black (ODNR Division of Water); Scott Golden (Environmental Health, ODH); Larry Antosch (Ohio EPA Division of Water Quality Planning and Assessment); Rich Bendula (Ohio EPA Division of Drinking and Ground Water); Tim Lawrence (Agricultural Engineering, OSU); and Steve Hindall (USGS, Ohio District).

A special thanks to Michelle Roby and Ross A. Roberts (Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Assistants) for help in manuscript and graphics preparation, and Judy Kauffeld and Tonya Ewing (Section of Communications & Technology, OSU Extension) for editorial and graphic production.