Flowing wells: terminology, history and role in the evolution of groundwater science

Abstract

Abstract. The gushing of water from flowing wells attracted public attention and scientific curiosity as early as the 17th century, but little attention has been paid to the influence of flowing wells on the evolution of groundwater science. This study asserts that questions posed by flowing wells since the early 19th century led to the birth of many fundamental concepts and principles of physical hydrogeology. Due to the widespread occurrence of flowing wells in basins with regional aquitards, there is a long-lasting misconception that flowing wells could only occur in regionally confined aquifers. However, the recognition of possible occurrence of flowing wells in unconfined aquifers was anticipated at the turn of the 20th century based on observed increases in hydraulic head with depth in topographic lows of basins without apparent aquitards. This was later verified in the 1960s by field and modeling studies that gave birth to quantitative analysis of topographically driven groundwater flow systems, which was a paradigm shift in hydrogeology. Following this paradigm, several preconditions for flowing wells established in the 19th century were found unnecessary. Intermingled in the evolution of flow system concepts are inconsistencies and confusion concerning the use of the term “artesian”, so we propose avoidance of this term. This historical perspective of the causes of flowing well conditions and the influence of flowing wells on groundwater science could lead to a deeper understanding of the evolution of groundwater science and guide future studies on hydraulics of flowing wells.

A cost-effective device and methodology to compute aquifer transmissivity and piezometry from free-flowing artesian wells

“…Confined aquifers have been surveyed and studied in several places around the world for a long time, at least as early as the 19 th century, notably the water wells drilled in the Artois region of the Paris Basin (France) from which the term "artesian" is derived (Margat et al 2013). However, the term "artesian" may cause confusion since, with proper topographic undulation, flowing artesian wells can also develop in an unconfined aquifer (Jiang et al 2020). Freeze and Cherry (1979) identified two mechanisms for the existence of flowing artesian wells which were named "geologically controlled" and "topographically controlled" (see Fig.…”

Widespread aquifer depressurization after a century of intensive groundwater use in USA

“…Our compiled well water level observations demonstrate the widespread decline in the prevalence of flowing artesian conditions in the US over the last century. Long-term groundwater withdrawals from confined aquifers have been implicated as the primary reason that artesian wells stopped flowing in the Los Angeles Basin [prevalence of flowing artesian conditions reduced substantially by ~1905 (16,17)], southeastern Michigan [many wells stopped flowing by ~1905 (18)], northeastern Texas [many wells stopped flowing by ~1894 (19)], and the Dakota Aquifer System [many wells stopped flowing by ~1910 (12)]. Although we lack adequate local-scale groundwater withdrawal and hydrogeologic data for causal analyses, historic groundwater withdrawals (15) are often acknowledged (20) to be the primary driver behind widespread loss of flowing artesian conditions over the past century that we demonstrate here (Figs.…”

“…1A ) ( 10 , 11 ). In some confined aquifers, high-elevation recharge and overlying aquitards can lead to potentiometric surfaces that lie above land surfaces, creating flowing artesian conditions in wells that tap such confined aquifers [for reviews see ( 1 , 12 ); Fig. 1A ].…”

Beyond rules and norms: Heterogeneity, ubiquity, and visibility of groundwaters

“…The territorial and conceptual integration of the modern hydrosphere took on a vertical dimension when city dwellers and farmers began drilling into the earth. As early as the 11th century residents of Paris tapped shallow confined aquifers to produce water (Jiang et al, 2020), but in the early 19th century the percussion method of drilling enabled a proliferation of much deeper artesian, or “flowing” wells (Garnier, 1822). British geologist William Smith laid the foundations of hydrogeology—the science of groundwater—and his student John Farey pioneered artesian well drilling in the Thames River basin in the first decade of the 19th century (Mather, 2021).…”