
Instructions
Answer each question in 2-3 complete sentences. Consider each question carefully and be sure to provide a complete answer.
Questions
Use the graphs below to answer the questions that follow.


Figures 30 and 31. Hydrographs for 2013-2014 for two monitoring wells: one near Sacramento, CA (top), and one in Centre County, PA near State College (bottom). The red diamonds show the water level (hydraulic head) measured in depth below the land surface. Black triangles show the historical mean, and colored bars show historical percentiles for water level (red= <10%; orange = 10-24%; green = 25-75%; light blue = 76-90%; dark blue = >90%). Note that the water level in the Sacramento example is near the all-time historical low, whereas in Centre County the water level is near the historical mean.
Source: USGS, 10/4/2014

Figure 32. Long-term well hydrograph showing water levels from 1987 through 2014, for the same well as above (Figure 30) near Sacramento, CA.
Click to expand for morei information
Click to expand for morei information
Questions:
- Examine the hydrographs in Figures 30 and 31 above. Are the data consistent with what you know or remember about the news and/or climatic conditions in these two areas over the past year? How so?
- Examine Figure 32. Note the cycles of water level superimposed on the long-term trend. What do you think causes these?
- The hydrograph in Figure 32 illustrates an overall decline in water level of about 25 feet, with a brief period from ~1997-2003 when the trend is temporarily reversed. What do you think causes these two trends?
Files to Download
There is no worksheet for this assignment. It is a writing assignment.
Scoring and Rubric
Each answer will earn a maximum of 5 points, as described in the rubric below.