Red River Watershed Association

"Supporting the Red River Watershed

So It Can Support YOU!"

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Red River Watershed Association
P.O. Box 1185
Springfield, TN 37172

info@redriverwatershed.org

The RRWA is teaming up with the United States Geologic Survey (USGS), the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), and the Kentucky Division of Water (KDOW) to learn more about sinkholes in our watershed.

Volunteers are needed to assess some of the sinkholes in our area to determine flow rates.  Sinkholes are DIRECT CONDUITS for rainwater, and anything else, to get directly to the aquifer.  This means anything put into a sinkhole goes directly to the water that feeds our wells, runs underground into rivers and streams, and ends up in our tap water.

We need volunteers to identify sinkholes in the study area and take note of the amounts of water in them immediately after rain events.  Then look at how quickly they drain. The intention of the study is to keep drainage rate calculations simple - i.e. Is the sinkhole wet or dry on days 1, 2, 3, 5, etc. after a significant storm event? I don't think actual flooded depths are as important for us.

Planning the data collection procedures will take some effort on the part of the USGS, but we should all be focusing on the same storms and plan to revisit sinks at the same intervals to check for flooded ones. The easiest way to document sinkhole flooding might be using a map with sinks that can be marked as wet or dry for day 1, day 2, etc. Photos would be helpful, but we'll need to have some way of connecting photos back to sinks on the map.

The study area map is below.  Click the thumbnail to enlarge it.  This is a big document so it may take time to load.

Contact David Ladd of the USGS at (615) 837-4773 for more info or to get involved!

Click the map to open a .PDF map.