The Groundwater Program produces potentiometric maps to evaluate water-level conditions throughout the state's major aquifers.

Overview

The potentiometric surface of an aquifer is defined by the elevations at which water stands in tightly cased wells completed in the aquifer. Since the 1980s, the Hydrology Section, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, SCDES, and the U.S. Department of Energy at the Savannah River Site, has prepared numerous potentiometric maps of the major Coastal Plain aquifers in order to assess changes in groundwater storage, determine regional ground-water flow directions and hydraulic gradients, calibrate groundwater models, and identify areas experiencing excessive groundwater pumping.

Water-level data used to construct these maps are collected from hundreds of wells, including numerous monitoring wells and a variety of public-supply, industrial, agricultural, and domestic wells. Typically, the potentiometric surface of one of three major Coastal Plain aquifers is mapped each year, in November and December.

For more information about the Hydrology Section’s potentiometric mapping program, contact Andrew Wachob at andy.wachob@des.sc.gov or by phone at (803)898-0324.


TitleYear(s)Aquifer
SCDNR Report 69: Potentiometric Surface of the McQueen Branch Aquifer in South Carolina, November–December 20222022McQueen Branch/Middendorf
SCDNR Report 66: Potentiometric Surface of the Crouch Branch Aquifer in South Carolina, November–December 20202021Crouch Branch
SCDNR Report 62: Potentiometric Surface of the McQueen Branch, Charleston, and Gramling Aquifers in South Carolina, November–December 20192020McQueen Branch/Middendorf
SCDNR Report 61: Potentiometric Surface Maps of the Upper and Middle Floridan and Gordon Aquifers in South Carolina, November-December 20182018Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCDNR Report 60: Potentiometric Surface Maps of the South Carolina Coastal Plain, November-December 20162016Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCDNR Report 60: Potentiometric Surface Maps of the South Carolina Coastal Plain, November-December 20162016Crouch Branch/Black Creek
SCDNR Report 60: Potentiometric Surface Maps of the South Carolina Coastal Plain, November-December 20162016McQueen Branch/Middendorf
SCDNR Report 59: Potentiometric Surface of the Black Creek (Crouch Branch) Aquifer in South Carolina, November 20152015Crouch Branch/Black Creek
SCDNR Report 58: Potentiometric Surface of the Middendorf Aquifer in South Carolina, November 20142014McQueen Branch/Middendorf
SCDNR Report 56: Potentiometric Surface of the Floridan and Tertiary Sand Aquifers in South Carolina, November 20132013Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCDNR Report 55: Potentiometric Surface of the Black Creek Aquifer in South Carolina, November 20122012Crouch Branch/Black Creek
SCDNR Report 54: Potentiometric Surface of the Middendorf Aquifer in South Carolina, November 20112011McQueen Branch/Middendorf
SCDNR Report 53: Potentiometric Surface of the Floridan and Tertiary Sand Aquifers in South Carolina, November 20102010Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCDNR Report 52: Potentiometric Surface of the Black Creek Aquifer in South Carolina, November 20092009Crouch Branch/Black Creek
SCDNR Report 51: Potentiometric Surface of the Middendorf Aquifer in South Carolina, November 20092009McQueen Branch/Middendorf
SCDNR Report 48: Potentiometric Surface of the Floridan Aquifer and Tertiary Sand Aquifer in South Carolina, November 20042004Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCDNR Report 47: Potentiometric Surface of the Black Creek Aquifer in South Carolina, November 20042004Crouch Branch/Black Creek
SCDNR Report 46: Potentiometric Surface of the Middendorf Aquifer in South Carolina, November 20042004McQueen Branch/Middendorf
SCDNR Report 29: Potentiometric Surface of the Black Creek Aquifer in South Carolina, November 20012001Crouch Branch/Black Creek
SCDNR Report 28: Potentiometric Surface of the Middendorf Aquifer in South Carolina, November 20012001McQueen Branch/Middendorf
SCDNR Report 23: Potentiometric Map of the Floridan and Tertiary Sand Aquifer in South Carolina, 19981998Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCDNR Open-File Report 6: Water-level Measurements used in the Construction of the 1998 Potentiometric Map for the Floridan Aquifer and Tertiary Sand Aquifer in South Carolina1998Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCDNR Report 19: Potentiometric Surface of the Middendorf Aquifer in South Carolina; November 19961996McQueen Branch/Middendorf
SCDNR Report 16: Potentiometric Surface of the Black Creek Aquifer in South Carolina; November 19951995Crouch Branch/Black Creek
SCWRC Open-File Report 43: Water-level Measurements and Potentiometric Maps for 1991-1993 Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, and Jasper Counties, South Carolina, with Selected Hydrographs for 1975-19931991-1993Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCWRC Open-File Report 38: Potentiometric Surface of the Upper Floridan Aquifer, Beaufort Hampton, and Jasper Counties, South Carolina, March and July 19901990Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCWRC Report 157: Potentiometric Surface of the Floridan Aquifer in South Carolina, July 19861986Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCWRC Open-File Report 14: Water Level Conditions in the Upper Permeable Zone of the Floridan Aquifer in the South Carolina Low Country, June 19851985Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCWRC Open-File Report 13: Water Level Conditions in the Upper Permeable Zone of the Floridan Aquifer in the South Carolina Low Country, May 19851985Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCWRC Open-File Report 12: Water Level Conditions in the Upper Permeable Zone of the Floridan Aquifer in the South Carolina Low Country, March 19851985Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCWRC Open-File Report 20: Report on Water Level Conditions of Beaufort, Jasper, Colleton, and Hampton Counties, South Carolina During March 19841984Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary
SCWRC Open-File Report 16: Water Level Conditions in Beaufort, Jasper, Colleton, and Hampton Counties, from Data Collected during August of 19831983Floridan/Gordon/Tertiary