Data, resources, studies

Data

Statewide water chemistry data

Harness data from the Groundwater Atlas Program’s water chemistry database, including analytical results from well, spring, surface water, and atmospheric samples gathered during atlas studies and special projects.

Parameters include major cations and anions, trace elements, field parameters, tritium, stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen, and carbon-14. An Excel format is available below.

• Excel - updated March 31, 2026.

• Metadata

Send questions to [email protected].

External Data

• County Well Index database through the Minnesota Well Index application

• Minnesota Geospatial Commons

• MPARS: MNDNR Permitting and Reporting System

• Web Soil Survey - Natural Resources Conservation Service

• Minnesota Geological Survey County Geologic Atlas

Resources

Atlas User Guides

• Groundwater Atlas User Guide (DNR, Part B)

• Geologic Atlas User's Guide (MGS, Part A)

Pollution sensitivity

• Definition of pollution sensitivity

• Procedure for Determining Buried Aquifer and Bedrock Surface Pollution Sensitivity based on Cumulative Fine-grained Sediment (CFGS) Thickness, GW-02: January 2016, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

• Methods to Estimate Near-Surface Pollution Sensitivity, GW-03: ;March 2016, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

  • Archived method: Procedure for Determining Near-Surface Pollution Sensitivity, v.2.1, 2014.

• Criteria and guidelines for assessing geologic sensitivity of ground water resources in Minnesota: 1991, Geologic Sensitivity Workgroup, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 122 p. Original printed document scanned December 2003. A few pages contain minor clarifications of the original text.

• Geological sensitivity assessment of groundwater systems–a pilot Study for Scott County, Minnesota–summary and evaluation: 1998, by Pfannkuch, H.O., Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, 61 p.

  • Report

  • Color maps

Hydrogeology

Karst

• Minnesota Regions Prone to Surface Karst Feature Development, GW-01: 2016, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

• Minnesota Spring Inventory Guidance Document provides a framework for statewide MSI data gathering and processing for the DNR, Minnesota Geological Survey, and the University of Minnesota.

Water Table

• Methods for Estimating Water-Table Elevation and Depth to Water Table, GW-04: April 2016, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Residence time

• Residence times of Minnesota ground waters: 1989, by Alexander, S.C., and Alexander, E.C., Jr., Minnesota Academy of Sciences Journal, v. 55, no. 1, p. 48-52.

• Carbon-14 age dating calculations for Minnesota groundwaters: 2018, by Alexander, S.C., Alexander, E.C., Jr., Available online from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy.

• Tritium Age Classification: Revised Method for Minnesota, GW-05: December 2020, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota Department of Health.

Agencies

• Minnesota Geological Survey

• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

• Minnesota Geospatial Information Office

• USGS Minnesota Water Science Center

Special studies

• Groundwater Provinces:
  Summary of aquifer and groundwater resource differences at the regional level.

• Groundwater and the Mt. Simon Aquifer:

  • Video: Part 1 and Part 2
    A primer on groundwater and an explanation of the results of a study of groundwater usage in a major water supply aquifer that serves the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area and southeastern Minnesota.

  • Report: Phase 1 and Phase 2
    South-Central Minnesota Groundwater Monitoring of the Mt. Simon Aquifer.

• Buried Sand and Gravel Aquifers of the Breckenridge/Wahpeton Area, Minnesota and North Dakota (2012)

• Hydraulic Impacts of Quarries and Gravel Pits (2005)

• Hydrogeology of the Rock River watershed, Minnesota and associated off-channel habitats of the Topeka shiner

• Impacts of Sand and Gravel Mining in the Felton Prairie Fen Area on Down Gradient Calcareous Fens (2002)

• Ground Water Hydrology of Lac Qui Parle County, Minnesota (1983)

• Shallow Buried Aquifers of Murray County (January 2002)

  • Figure 4: Cross sections J, K, L, M

  • Figure 5: Cross sections S and W

  • Figure 7: Verdi buried sand and gravel aquifers

  • Figure 8: Unit 1 buried sand and gravel aquifers

• Ground Water in Alluvial Channel Deposits - Nobles County, Minnesota (Bulletin No. 14, September 1960)

• Ground Water Hydrology of Swift County, Minnesota (1980)