4. Comprehensive Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

The West Fargo Aquifer System is made of multiple loosely related aquifer units located in the Fargo metro area from Argusville through West Fargo down to the Wild Rice (Ripley 2000), roughly the same areas experiencing high growth during recent years. These nine aquifer units share similar characteristics and are loosely connected; meaning changes in one unit could likely be somewhat transmitted to the other units. The individual channels of the WF AS were created during different times of glacial melting traveling through the valley that predated the Red River Valley as we know it. As a result, this aquifer system is covered by glacial lake clays of the bottom of Lake Agassiz; these clays inhibiting seepage of surface water into the aquifer to recharge water levels (Ripley 2004). Recharge of an aquifer is limited to the snowmelt and rainfall seeping through the ground down to the aquifer. In the case of the WFAS, the 60 to 90 feet of lake clays above the aquifer limits any recharge. This is a benefit in reducing contamination, but results in an aquifer with a finite amount of water (Ripley 2004). The profile of the water in the WF AS indicates the majority of the water has characteristics of cold water precipitation, rather than mixture of cold and warm water precipitation. The fact that the area only receives a small portion of precipitation in the form of snow indicates the water in the WF AS dates back to the cold water trapped during the glacial melts, meaning little apparent modern day recharge has occurred (Ripley 2000). The declining levels in the WFAS's finite amount of water suggest little potential for new users to aquifer. The WF AS has experienced some ofthe largest water declines in the area; as a result, proper planning of new development will need to find other sources of water and in the future current users of the system will likely need to find alternative water sources. The Page Aquifer is another significant aquifer which is located in the northwest portion of the county and extends into Traill and Steele counties (Ripley 2004). This aquifer was primarily used as municipal water supply for the town of Page and since 1976 15,000 acres of land have been supplied water for irrigation from the Page Aquifer (Arndt and 14