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Multiple-Well Monitoring Site Adjacent to the North and South Belridge Oil Fields, Kern County, California

Open-File Report 2020-1116
Prepared in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board
By: , , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20201116

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Abstract

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board, is evaluating several questions about oil and gas development and groundwater resources in California, including (1) the location of groundwater resources; (2) the proximity of oil and gas operations to groundwater and the geologic materials between them; (3) evidence (or no evidence) of fluids from oil and gas sources in groundwater; and (4) the pathways or processes responsible when fluids from oil and gas sources are present in groundwater (U.S. Geological Survey, 2017). As part of this evaluation, the USGS installed a multiple-well monitoring site in the southern San Joaquin Valley groundwater basin adjacent to the North and South Belridge oil fields, about 7 miles southwest of Lost Hills, California. Data collected at the Belridge multiple-well monitoring site (BWSD) provide information about the geology, hydrology, geophysical properties, and geochemistry of the aquifer system, thus enhancing understanding of relations between adjacent groundwater and the North and South Belridge oil fields in an area where there are few groundwater data. This report presents construction information for the BWSD and initial hydrogeologic data collected from the site. A similar site installed to the east of the Lost Hills oil field, 11.5 miles to the north of the BWSD site, was described by Everett and others (2020a).

Suggested Citation

Everett, R.R., Brown, A.A., Gillespie, J.M., Kjos, A., and Fenton, N.C., 2020, Multiple-well monitoring site adjacent to the North and South Belridge Oil Fields, Kern County, California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020-1116, 10 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20201116.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Study Area
  • Drilling and Well Installation
  • Sediment Analysis
  • Hydrology
  • Geochemistry
  • Accessing Data
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Multiple-well monitoring site adjacent to the North and South Belridge Oil Fields, Kern County, California
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2020-1116
DOI 10.3133/ofr20201116
Year Published 2020
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) California Water Science Center
Description Report: 10 p.; Data Release
Country United States
State California
County Kern County
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details