ENVIRONMENT

Groundwater Observations
for Mine Operations
by DAVE LARSSEN and H. RODNEY SMITH, Westbay Instruments
Ltd., West Vancouver, British Columbia and MYLES L. PARSONS,
Klohn Leonoff, Richmond, British Columbia.
Paper presented at the 11th District 6 Meeting, Vancouver,
British Columbia.
October, 1987.
Although many calculations assume that groundwater flow occurs uniformly throughout an aquifer, most
field observations in mines indicate that the majority of flow is often concentrated in a small percentage of
the aquifer. For this reason it is important that groundwater observations be made on the same scale as the
geologic details that control groundwater flows. To accomplish this, modular multi-level groundwater
monitoring instruments, such as the MP System developed by Westbay Instruments Ltd., can be used.
An example is provided of field measurements obtained with a modular monitoring system. This example
shows how multi-level monitoring in a few drillholes can provide data for hydrogeologic cross-sections in
relatively complex geologic conditions.

Introduction

Most groundwater problems encountered in mining result from unexpected or

unforeseen groundwater conditions. This
may be due to insufficient consideration of
the hydrogeology of the mine area during
initial evaluation and mine planning due to
small scale geologic features which have
significant hydrologie impact.
PattonO) has noted that use of the observational method, a geotechnical design
technique, should include provisions to
identify and monitor small-scale hydrogeologic features. These features can result
in localized inflows that are well known to
mine operators. Only recently have
researchers begun to address the importance of variability in hydrogeology to
groundwater flow and, in turn, to applied
problems such as mine development.
Identification and monitoring of significant groundwater features requires
adequate instrumentation to locate major
and minor features and to provide a threedimensional description of groundwater
conditions. To accomplish this, multi-level
groundwater monitoring is very desirable,
if not necessary, in most cases. In recent
years, new multi-level monitorting systems
have been developed and are in use at
many sites. One of these, the MP System,
appears well suited for application in many
aspects of mine development.
This paper summarizes requirements for
groundwater monitoring for a mining
development in relation to the four
categories of groundwater concern noted
below. The paper concludes with a field
example illustrating the application of the
MP System to groundwater monitoring of
!
a Trona Mine.

Typical Groundwater Problems

Each mine or potential mine is unique in

physical location, geology and method of
development. Thus, groundwater conditions differ from mine site to mine site.
Nevertheless, groundwater problems in

mines generally can be categorized as

follows:
inflow of groundwater to the mine
workings;
ground stability problems associated with
open pit and underground excavations;
water supply for process and plant purposes and the impact of mine development
on other water supplies in the vicinity of
the mine; and
changes in the quality of groundwater and
surface water as a result of mining
operations.
These problems are examined one by
one in this paper.

Groundwater Problems in Mining

lnf,()w
Where
mine
excavation is carried out below the water
table, groundwater inflow to the
excavation can be expected. Groundwater
inflow can hinder mining operations by:
(1) impeding movement of traffic on the
open pit floor; (2) reducing the safety of
working conditions; and (3) reducing blast
efficiency. In addition, when water must
be pumped from the workings, operating
costs will increase.
In many cases groundwater inflow
occurs from surficial deposits (Fig. la).
However, Figure la shows that fractured
rock is also capable of transmitting large
quantities of water to a mine excavation.
Nominal variations in groundwater inflow,
(for example, due to variations in depth of
a mine), usually can be predicted and
accommodated in mine operations as the
mine progresses. However, the most
difficult water problems occur when mine
workings unexpectedly penetrate a major
fracture zone or an aquifer such as is
illustrated in Figures lb and lc. The
position of extensive aquifers, such as the
basal aquifer in Figure lc, should be well
known prior to mining. Yet, as Figure lc
shows, fracture zones and discontinuous
aquifers, such as buried valleys or sand
Groundwater

and gravel lenses, may be missed during

the investigation stage. Penetration of
these features may cause sudden inflows
which exceed the capacity of the pumping
facilities.
Inflow will often occur through a small
portion of the overburden or rock mass. To
estimate groundwater inflow to a mine
opening with a reasonable degree of certainty, fluid pressure and hydraulic conductivity distributions need to be
established on the basis of detailed piezometric measurements and hydrogeologic
testing. The chemical quality of the mine
inflow water may also be important in
mine planning. Hence, the monitoring
network should also be capable of allowing
groundwater samples to be collected for
chemical analyses.
During mine operation, groundwater
pressure observations made on a regular
basis will allow the identification of soil or
rock masses which are not draining. If such
masses are identified before work starts in
a particular area, corrective measures can
be introduced to prevent or accommodate
sudden inflows to the mine workings.

Ground Stability

Unstable ground conditions encountered

in mining operations include general
subsidence, localized collapse, active solution and/or erosion of materials in mine
walls or roofs, slope failure, and floor
heave. These conditions are illustrated in
Figure 2.
Mining operations conducted beneath a
soil deposit can be expected to cause a
decrease in pore pressure in the soils. If the
soil is compressible, then significant
settlement of the ground surface may result
as shown in Figure 2a. As all soil materials
are compressible to some degree, some
settlement can be expected around all
mines. However, such settlements are only
of concern if they affect mine structures or
surrounding projects. Thus, as long as the
potential for settlement is identified, there
is an opportunity for mine design and land
acquisition to be carried out in a rational
manner.

A severe form of ground instability can

occur in karst terrain when a lowering of
regional groundwater levels increases rock
stress and causes cavern collapse as shown
in Figure 2b. The occurrence of such collapse features is difficult to predict as
caverns
may
exist
in
unknown
locationssome distance from the mine site.
Collapse occurring at locations far
removed from the mine may affect local
inhabitants or other third parties.
The stability of excavated slopes and
floors is controlled in part by groundwater
pressures. High fluid pressures encountered close to mine walls or floors can
cause their failure. Most floor heave
problems are related to excavation close to
an underlying aquifer where high pressure
can cause the floor to heave. When the
floor heaves, there would be a reduction in
support for the toe of the excavated slopes,
which can become unstable. The result can
be slope failure as illustrated in Figure 2c.
Slope and floor failures in rock generally
reflect not only high fluid pressures but
also some mechanism to maintain high
groundwater pressures during continued
movement. Maintenance of high pressure
may result from a high capacity for water
transmission through a very permeable
formation or from gas coming out of
solution.
High water pressures close to an underground opening are often related to
permeability contrasts due to changes in
lithology, proximity to faults or other significant hydrogeological features which
control groundwater occurrence. High
fluid pressures near excavation faces can
also occur when the rate of excavation exceeds the rate that natural drainage can
equilibrate the unbalanced pressures.
The stability of surface reservoir slopes
and embankments (for example, water
reservoirs or waste lagoons) is also influenced by groundwater pressures. A
critical period for stability occurs during
first filling and first drawdown of the
reservoir. Drawdown of reservoirs should
be carried out slowly to allow any high
fluid pressures present to be reduced by
natural drainage. An exception to this
would be when the slopes have been specifically designed to withstand a rapid
drawdown.
The identification of areas of potential
ground instability due to groundwater
conditions, such as those shown on Figure
2, requires fluid pressure and hydraulic
conductivity distributions to be established. In cases where solution or precipitation of materials might be expected,
groundwater samples may be required for
chemical analyses.
Where slope stability is of concern,
groundwater pressures are most likely to
cause unexpected failures when small but
significant hydrogeologic features are
present within the slope or beneath the
embankment. Monitoring fluid pressures
during mine operation may allow
destabilizing pressures to be identified and
corrective measures to be taken. Ground-

water monitoring to detect the influence of

geologic details on slope stability has been
discussed by Pattoni*.2).
Patton noted that the importance of
apparently minor geologic details can be
investigated by installing a detailed

alternative.
Therefore,
groundwater
quantity and quality should be investigated
to determine if a groundwater source may
be less costly to develop than a surface
water source. In some cases, it may be
feasible to provide water from mine

LEGEND:

FIGURE 1. Typical sources of groundwater Inflow.

-------------- ORIGINAL GROUND SURFACE
.............. ORIGINAL GROUNDWATER TADLE

dewatering systems, particularly where

groundwater is intercepted to minimize
water inflow to the mine.

NEW GROUNDWATER TABLE

--------------POTENTIOMETRlC SURFACE IN
AN ARTESIAN AQUIFER
SLIDE MOVEMENT
{ FOR LITHOLOGY LEGEND SEE FIGURE I )

monitoring network, then stressing the

hydrogeologic system (increasing or
decreasing the local fluid pressure differences) and observing the resulting hydrologie behaviour. This stressing action
brings into play the effects of significant
permeability differences which are made
evident by the resulting redistribution of
piezometric levels. Once hydrologically
significant features are identified, they can
be further monitored if necessary. Peck
described how such field measurements
form the basis for the observational
method. PattonW noted that, unless the
critical observation points are known in
advance,
reliable
hydrogeologic
observations should be made at many
different depths and at each of a number of
locations to help ensure that the significant
observations are obtained.

Water Supply

In all mining operations an adequate

supply of water is required for consumption, ore processing and fire protection.
Where a surface water supply for the mine
and mill is unavailable or too expensive,
groundwater may be a reasonable

FIGURE 2. Hydrogeologie conditions leading to

ground instability.

Mining operations may have an impact distributions should be monitored to verify

on the water supplies of neighbouring the expected supply and to assess the
groundwater users. For example, under- influence of mine workings on neighbourground operations and dewateringschemes ing groundwater users.
commonly cause a lowering of
groundwater levels in aquifers. Declining
Water Quality
water levels could result in a loss of
domestic water supply to local inhabitants. The chemical quality of groundwater and
This situation is shown in Figure 3a. surface water can be adversely affected by
Regulations generally require that such the interaction of mining operations and
impacts be assessed during the approval the groundwater regime. These adverse
stage of mine planning so that, where affects could include:
reduction in groundwater quality by the
necessary, mitigating action can be
introduction of contaminants directly into
undertaken.
Water supply problems for mines may the groundwater system;
be aggravated by water losses due to un- reduction in groundwater quality resulting
expected seepage from retaining structures from the discharge of contaminants to
such as tailings dams, water supply dams surface water systems which in turn may
and settling ponds. This problem is eventually recharge aquifers;
reduction in surface water quality by
illustrated in Figure 3b, which shows
excess seepage from a surface reservoir causing an already contaminated aquifer to
escaping either through fractured rock or discharge more directly to the surface
through highly permeable granular water system; and
accidental aquifer degradation through
materials. Zones of fractured rock and
lenses or bands of granular materials of hydraulic connection of poor quality
limited areal extent are often difficult to groundwater to a good quality aquifer
locate without installing a detailed in- during either the exploration or operations
phase.
strumentation system.
Of particular concern is the contamiDetermining the availability of a
nation
of existing and potential potable
groundwater supply and evaluating the
impact of mining operations on neigh- water supplies and fish habitats. In this
bouring groundwater users requires fluid regard, various regulations and guidelines
pressure and hydraulic conductivity dis- are in force to define water quality obtributions to be established. Water samples jectives and to limit water quality degrafor chemical analyses may also be dation where mine waters are discharged.
collected from the same monitoring net- Figure 4 illustrates some of the ways minwork to establish the suitability of the ing activities could affect the quality of
groundwater resource for NEW GROUNDWATER TABLE adjacent surface water and groundwater
sources.
its intended use. During
The distribution, attenuation and movemine
operations,
fluid
pressure
ment of contaminants in a groundwater

FIGURE 3. Water losses due to groundwater conditions.

FIGURE 4. Potential contaminant pathways in groundwater

near
mineGROUNDWATER
workings.
T... ORIGINAL
TABLE

system is highly variable and is governed

by the local hydrogeologic framework, the
properties of the contaminants and the nature of the mining operation itself. Depending upon the nature of the
contaminant source and the geologic
framework, once contaminants are introduced into a groundwater flow system
they may move as a distinct slug or as a
plume. The majority of contaminants can
be expected to move through a small
proportion of the geologic medium in accordance with permeability distribution
and seepage paths.
Significant risk for groundwater degradation often exists during both operational
and abandonment phases of mining activities. During mine operation the major
cause of groundwater degradation is the
disposal of liquid and solid mine wastes.
Liquid mine wastes generated by dewatering systems and ore processing activities
may contain elevated concentrations of
toxic constituents. Figure 4 shows how
such constituents can affect the groundwater system in the vicinity of waste
dumps and tailings ponds. Furthermore,
surface water contaminated by seepage or
overflows from holding ponds may infiltrate into the groundwater system and
cause groundwater quality degradation.
Also shown in Figure 4 are other less
obvious, but nevertheless potentially significant, mining activities which can result
in groundwater degradation. Exploratory
boreholes and mine excavations may connect two aquifers of differing chemical
quality and thus cause mixing of waters
from the two aquifers. The lower quality
water from one aquifer can reduce the

TABLE 1. Summary of groundwater monitoring requirements at a mine site

Pressure
measurements

Hydraulic
conductivity tests

Water quality
samples

Investigation

Operation

Investigation

Operation

Investigation

Operation

Yes

Yes

Yes

Seldom

Yes

Seldom

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Seldom
Yes
Yes

No
No
No
No

Seldom
No
Seldom
No

No
No
No
No

Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes

No
No

Yes
Yes

Yes
Seldom

Yes
No
No

No
Yes
Yes

Yes
No
No

No
No
No

Yes
No
No

No
Yes
Yes

quality of the water in the other

aquifer or vice
versa.
Underground
blasting
and
excavation may
cause significant
changes in the
local
groundwater
flow
systems
and
such
changes
may
cause
movement
of
contaminants toward aquifers
having good quality water. Mine
dewatering can cause migration
of poor quality water to nearsurface
aquifers.
Other
conditions that are obvious
potential sources of contamination, but are not shown in
Figure 4, include underground
leaching and steam injection
operations.
An understanding of the fluid
pressure, hydraulic conductivity,
water chemistry distribution and
mine operating plans is generally
required to meet water quality
objectives set by specific
regulations. On the basis of such
information an assessment of the
impact of the mining operation
on the groundwater system can
be made. This information is
also needed to establish the paths
contaminants are most likely to
follow should they enter the surface or groundwater flow
systems. Mining plans may then
be adjusted or monitoring
systems established for early
identification
of
possible
contamination.
Groundwater monitoring will
be required in cases where
degradation of groundwater
quality has already occurred and
remediation
is
necessary.
Groundwater data are needed to
establish the extent of the
problem
and
to
design
remediation
works.
As
contaminated
groundwater
typically moves along preferred

1.
Groundwater inflow
2.
Ground stability
wall and floors
consolidation
cavern collapse
reservoir slopes
3.
Water supply
for the mine
for neighbours
4.
Water quality
baseline studies
detection monitoring
assessment monitoring

pathways,
multilevel
groundwater

monitoring is necessary to
properly identify contaminated
portions of the groundwater
system.

Monitoring Objectives

As the foregoing discussion

indicates,
groundwater
monitoring can be required in
many areas of a mine site. The
type of monitoring appropriate
from location to location or at
different times during the life of
the mine may vary in detail, but,
in general, the monitoring
system
must
allow
(1)

groundwater pressures to be
measured;
(2)
hydraulic
conductivity tests to be carried
out; and (3) groundwater samples to be collected for chemical
analysis.
Information collected by the
monitoring system is used to
determine groundwater flow
directions,
velocities
and
chemical composition. With
these
data,
safety,
cost
effectiveness of operation and
confirmation
of
discharge
requirements can be addressed.
Monitoring is also required to

establish background conditions,

the impact of mine operations
and
the
effectiveness
of
reclamation procedures. Thus,
monitoring will directly affect
planning
for
pumping
equipment,
waste
water
treatment,
construction
of

retaining structures and layout of

mine workings. In some cases
groundwater monitoring can be a
critical constituent of the mine
operation.
A
summary
of
the
groundwater monitoring that
may be required at a mining site

is presented in Table 1. For a

complete site characterization,
fluid
pressure,
hydraulic
conductivity and water chemistry
distributions may be necessary
over

the whole site. During operation, testing

new sites for hydraulic conductivity is seldom required. Water chemistry is required
only in those areas where a potential
pollution source has been identified. Fluid
pressures continue to be important
throughout the life of the operation as they
can indicate significant changes in
groundwater conditions. As noted earlier,
fluid pressures can reflect the influence of
both the hydrogeologic framework and
mine operations. Accordingly, fluid
pressure data can provide a primary
indicator of soil and rock stability and
expected mine inflow conditions. Fluid
pressures will react to the changing mine
environment.
Hydrogeologic
features
significant to mine planning can be
identified by pressure responses if adequate
instrumentation has been installed.
It is difficult to determine in advance the
location of critical observations. This leads
to a requirement for a groundwater
monitoring system which allows many
monitoring zones to be installed in a cost
effective manner. As drilling costs are
usually high, there are cost advantages to
installing multiple monitoring points in a
single drillhole rather than drilling a
separate hole for each monitoring point.
The monitoring system must be capable of
isolating small geologic features which
may have hydrologic significance and
allowing the necessary hydrogeologic testing to be carried out. The data collected
must be of high quality and have sufficient
precision for measurements to be matched
MP Geologic
Casing Log Log

chance
of
missing
important
hydrogeologic details is reduced.

Applications of the MP System

The MP System has been used extensively on geotechnical projects and industrial and nuclear waste projects in
drillholes ranging from a few feet to 4000
ft (1200 m) in depth. Although its use in
the mining industry has not been widespread, it has been used for regional baseline and tailings monitoring at the TeckCorona gold mine at Hemlo, Ontario, at
the Adanac uranium property near Atlin,
British Columbia, and at FMCs Trona
Mine near Green River, Wyoming. The MP
System was also used for uranium
exploration and regional groundwater
studies on two properties in northern
Saskatchewan. An extensive MP System
installation has been in operation for a
number of years at the Underground
Research Laboratory (URL) of Atomic
Energy Canada Limited near Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba. Davison has described
how the MP System is used at the URL site
for regional baseline studies and for data
input and calibration of groundwater
models to predict the influence of shaft and
mine construction. _________________
The following example of groundwater
monitoring with the MP System at a Trona
plant in Wyoming illustrates the utility of
the system and its advantages over
conventional piezometer instrumentation.

Trona Mine Green River,

Wyoming

Piezometric Elevation, feet

6280
The Trona Mine owned by FMC
Wyoming Corporation near Green River in
southwest Wyoming includes a soda ash
processing facility. A groundwater study
described by Nash et ar/CO was begun in
conjunction with modifications to the
existing tailings impoundment and
evaporation basin shown in Figure 5. Of
particular interest was the potential for
seepage of alkaline tailings water into the
adjacent Blacks Fork River.
Leoend f>M%] Alluvium
The site has approximately 150 ft of
|' | Fine Grained Sediments |
| Coarse Grained
topographic relief between the tailings
6300Sediments
pond and the river. Overburden materials
Oiishale Limestone
consist of recent alluvial sands, silty
Fill
MP System Components
clays and gravels, underlain by silty
sandstones and clayey shales of the
CIX -Packer
Atmospheric n. / -p Pressure '
Line /
Eocene Bridger Formation.
Pumping Port
A groundwater monitoring system
Measurement Port
that would provide three-dimensional
hydro- geologic information including
-3
fluid samples, fluid pressures and
are being developed. One of these is the hydraulic conductivity was required. The
MP System described by Black, et afl5).
system had to be easily installed, operated
The modular design of the MP system and maintained as well as be capable of
developed by Westbay Instruments Ltd. periodic verification. The MP System was
allows field assembly to accommodate the selected on the basis of a cost and technical
variable conditions encountered during evaluation of competitive alternatives.
drilling operations. Multiple monitoring Nash et alO) reported that the use of the
points can be installed at a low incremental MP System resulted in project cost savings
cost. 6180As many as 30 monitoring zones of about 65% (or US$600,000).
have been installed in a single drillhole.
Monitoring well holes were drilled using
Data quality is verifiable. The additional a dual-tube, reverse-circulation, air- rotary
data allows isolation or selection of critical drill rig. Drill cuttings were transported to
6140monitoring
zones so that the the surface through the drill stem and were
6240

with specific hydrogeologic units. Patton

and Smith<4) described how proper sizing
and selection of an adequate number of
monitoring zones, can minimize the
likelihood of missing critical data and
collection of misleading or incorrect data.
As the requirements for a groundwater
system become more complex, new types
of monitoring equipment

A
I

FIGURE 6. Detailed hydrogeologic log monitoring Well 4,

FMC Trona Mine.

collected for geologic logging. A total of

150 monitoring zones in 25 monitoring
wells up to 150 ft deep were installed in 25
days. The monitoring wells utilize
hydraulic inflatable packers as borehole
annulus seals. Figure 6 shows a casing log
for one monitoring well (No. 4) together
with a geologic log and the piezometric
elevations recorded for the initial field
measurements.

Piezometric data obtained from several

nearby drillholes and the corresponding
geologic logs were used to prepare a series
of hydrogeologic sections such as Section
A-A' shown in Figure 7. The location of
Section A-A' is indicated in Figure 5.
Hydrogeologic cross section A- A' extends
from the tailings pond to the river. Figure 7
shows the detailed monitoring network and
the corresponding distribution of fluid
equipotentials for a given set of readings.
The equipotentials indicate a downward
component of the flow from the upland
recharge area and the tailings pond and an
upward component of flow related to
discharge to the Blacks Fork River.
Moderately strong downward pressure
gradients are indicated across the shale and
mudstone layers, while the gradients are
largely horizontal in the alluvium and
sandstoneaquifers. The MP System
allowed the effective aquifer units at the
site to be identified and provided the
detailed data necessary to construct
hydrogeologic
sections
and
threedimensional groundwater models.
The MP System groundwater monitoring wells have been in operation at this site
since 1983. Nash et A7) reported that
some 1500 water samples have been collected, over 2000 piezometric pressure
measurements taken and more than 40
hydraulic conductivity tests performed.
The MP System has been found to be
reliable and cost-effective, and the
monitoring data are being used as the basis
for predictive modelling of possible
contaminant transport.

Geotechnical Engineering at the Dawn of the for open-pit mine dewatering, water supply and
Twenty-first Century, volume honouring environmental impact assessment. Mr. Larssen
Ralph B. Peck, E. J. Cording et al, eds., pp.
then joined Klohn Leonoff Ltd. in Richmond,
73-95, Prentice-Hall Inc., New York.
British Columbia, where he worked for five
2. PATTON, F.D., (1983), The role of in- years, on geotechnical and groundwater instrumentation in the analysis of the stability strumentation projects in the mining industry.
of rock slopes; Proceedings of the First He has worked for Westbay since 1985 on
International Symposium of Field Measure- groundwater projects in the United States and
ments in Geomechanics, Zurich, Switzerland, Canada.
Sept. 1983, pp. 719-748.
H.R. (Rod) Smith graduated from The
3. PECK, R.B., (1969), Advantages and limitations
of the observational method in applied soil University of British Columbia in 1971 with a
mechanics; Geotechnique, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. A.Sc. in geological engineering. Mr. Smith has an
M. A.Sc. (1975) from The University of British
171-187.
4. PATTON, F.D., and SMITH, H.R., (1988), Columbia in minerals engineering and an
Design considerations and the quality of data M.Eng. (1980) from the University of California,
from multiple level groundwater monitoring in Berkeley. He was recently appointed head of
wells; Field Methods for Ground Water the Groundwater Section, Klohn Leonoff Ltd.,
Contamination
Studies
and
Their based in Richmond, Britformation Meeting of the Canadian Nuclear
Standardization, ASTM STP963,
Fuel Waste Management Program (1985
A. G. Collins and A.I. Johnson, eds., American
General Meeting) Volume I, pp. 103-124.
Society for Testing and Materials,
7.
NASH, W.K., JR., ASKEY, J.L., BLACK,
Philadelphia, pp. 208-217.
W.H., and REHTLANE, E.A., (1987),
5.
BLACK, W.H., SMITH, H.R., and PATMultiple-level groundwater monitoring at
TON, F.D., (1986), Multiple-level groundthe FMC trona plant, Green River,
water monitoring with the MP System;
Wyoming;
Geotechnical
and
GeoProceedings of the Surface and Borehole
hydrological Aspects of Waste Management,
Geophysical Methods and Groundwater In-

Summary

Groundwater is a significant consideration in the design and operation of a mine

and mine processing facility. The inflow of
water to mine workings, the stability of the
workings, the water supply for plant
operation, and water quality are all
influenced to some degree by groundwater
conditions which are in turn influenced by
geologic details.
Groundwater often does not flow
through a homogeneous medium but rather
through rock discontinuities, such as
fractures, or through selected channels in
overburden materials. To identify such
significant geologic features, extensive
monitoring at various locations and depths
is often necessary. Multi-level groundwter
monitoring methods are required to
affectively perform this task within
strumentation Conference and Exposition,
economically feasible limits.
Colorado, Oct. 1986, pp. 41-61.
The MP System for groundwater 6. Denver,
DAVISON, C.C., (1985), URL drawdown
monitoring has been successfully used to
experiment and comparison with model
identify significant hydrogeological feapredictions; A.E.C.L. Technical Record
tures. This system allows a full suite of
Report, TR375, Proceedings of the 20th Inhydrogeologic information to be collected
including fluid pressures, hydraulic
conductivity measurements and water
David E. Larssen is an hydrogeologist with
samples for chemical analysis.
Westbay Instruments Inc. in North Vancouver,

REFERENCES
1.

PATTON, F.D., (1987), Groundwater instrumentation for determining the effect of

minor geologic details on engineering
projects; in The Art and Science of

British Columbia. He graduated from The

University of British Columbia in 1976 with a
B.A.Sc. in geological engineering. His early work
was as an hydrogeologist with Stevenson
International Groundwater Consultants carrying out field programs and engineering design

Lewis Publishers, Inc., Chelsea, Michigan,

pp. 259-269.

ish Columbia. His past includes two years on

rock mechanics instrumentation projects with
Iain Weir-Jones, four years with F.D. Patton,
principally on geological engineering for electrical generation facilities, three years with
Klohn Leonoff Ltd. as a project engineer in their
mining division and five years with Westbay
Instruments as a technical representative.

M.L. Parsons is a senior hydrogeologist and

vice-president, Pacific Region with Klohn
Leonoff Ltd., based in Richmond, British
Columbia. He received a B.Sc. in geological engineering (1960) and an M.Sc. in geology (1964)
from the University of Saskatchewan, and a

Ph.D. in hydrogeology (1969) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His early professional work was largely in hydrogeological
research with the Geological Survey of Canada
and Environment Canada. In 1979, following six
years with the Canadian International De-

velopment Agency as a water resource specialist,

he joined Klohn Leonoff as manager of the
Geology Division. Since then he has been involved in a wide range of groundwater studies
and problems associated with various mining,
municipal and environmental projects.