Surface and Groundwater Interactions in Penn State's Big Hollow Watershed

The Pennsylvania State University's Office of Physical Plant has instituted an extensive surface water monitoring project with over 25 permanent gages located throughout the University Park, Pennsylvania area in an effort to protect its water resources. This paper will look at data collected from a cluster of six gages located within the Big Hollow Watershed, which is an under-drained carbonate valley. Data collected show exactly where and when surface water is being generated within the gaged area of Big Hollow. Data indicate that the vast majority of the surface runoff that reaches the main stem of the Big Hollow is being generated in a small sub-watershed even though it accounts for less than 6.4% of the land area and 12% of the total imperviousness within the study area due to surface runoff from other areas being infiltrated before reaching the gages. This paper presents the collected data, explains why this phenomenon occurs and the University's efforts to protect the other remaining critical hydrologic land areas within the watershed, and how the University has integrated its wastewater, groundwater, and surface water systems in a karst terrain.