Groundwater     West Virginia regulates ground water in its Groundwater Protection Act [W. Va. Code ch. 12, art. 12].  Groundwater is water located beneath the earth's surface in the deeper saturated zone where only water surrounds soil particles and fills cracks.  The more shallow zone underneath the surface is known as the unsaturated zone and contains both air and water in spaces between soil particles.  Groundwater accumulates in aquifers and the shallowest aquifer is the water table. 

      Standards are promulgated by the Environmental Quality Board and the DEP is "designated to be the lead agency for groundwater." The DEP Director oversees and coordinates implementation of the act by each regulatory agency through a certification program. Applications for certifications are required of governmental bodies whose actions (permits, activities, etc.) "may affect groundwater quality." Civil and criminal penalties are contained in the act. 

      Hole-ly ground. An intriguing aspect of groundwater is its ability to make caves and caverns.  West Virginia has over 400 known underground caverns, mostly located in the eastern counties.  Many caverns occur in broad bands of Mississippian limestone near the surface starting in Tucker County and extending southwestwardly to Greenbrier and Monroe Counties. 

     Caverns form along cracks in soluble rock, such as limestone, as groundwater containing carbonic acid, picked up from decaying vegetation, slowly enlarges the cracks.  Since cracks crosscross each other, passageways are formed.  In time a natural fairyland is created and dripping water creates stalactites and stalagmites.   As caverns enlarge, groundwater moves more freely and faster through openings and the water table drops.   Underground streams are common in caverns and may hide from view by us surface dwellers to emerge at another location.  Lost River in Hardy County is an example. Where caverns are close to the surface of land, depressions, called sinks, may form.   

    VOCs. In December 1999 the U. S. Geological Survey released a study showing the presence of harmful volatile organic compounds in groundwater nationally, in both rural and urban areas.  The most detected VOC was chloroform and the second VOC was MTBE, a gasoline additive.
Last updated on Tuesday, July 25, 2000