CV Theis Groundwater Observatory

UC Center for Field Studies

photo courtesy of Dylan Ward, UC Department of Geology

Current readings from the observatory

Archived data

Location of the Observatory

Who was CV Theis? The Great Miami groundwater observatory is named in honor of groundwater luminary, Charles Vernon Theis, who earned his undergraduate and master’s (1922) degrees from UC’s Civil Engineering Department and earned the first PhD awarded by the UC Department of Geology (1929).  Pages 45-56 are a detailed biography.

Here's a wonderful 1985 video interview with CV Theis by John Bredehoeft made as part of the the Hydrogeologist Time Capsule: Records and reflections of some eminent hydrogeologists of our time in which he talks about his career and reminisces about his time at the University of Cincinnati.

Sponsors and Contributors

Drone video of site by Dylan Ward

Video of aquifer response to March 1, 2017 high discharge event

Fantastic video of dynamics and importance of hyporheic zone (thank you Mike Miller, UC Biology Department!).  (FYI, no salmon in Great Miami River)

Promotional materials:

• UC Foundation brochure

• Information flyer

3D Animation of layout

The River Runs Through US (poster)

Reference materials:

• Watch What You Drink: An overview of the Great Miami Buried-Valley Aquifer and Great Miami Basin

• Sheets, R.A. and Dumouchelle, D.H., 2009, Geophysical Investigation Along the Great Miami River From New Miami to Charles M. Bolton Well Field, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2009–1025, 21p.

• Sheets, R.A. and Bossenbroek, K.E., 2005, Ground-Water Flow Directions and Estimation of Aquifer Hydraulic Properties in the Lower Great Miami River Buried Valley Aquifer System, Hamilton Area, Ohio, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5013. 31p.

• Sheets, R.A., Darner, R.A., Whitteberry, B.L., 2002, Lag times of bank filtration at a well field, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, Journal of Hydrology, 266:162–174.

• Spieker, A.M., 1968, Ground-Water Hydrology and Geology of the Lower Great Miami Valley, Ohio, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 605-A.

• The River Runs Through Us: Poster for UCCFS

• Walker, A.C., 1986, Ground-Water Resources of Hamilton County, Division of Water, Ohio Department of Natural Resources (map).

• Watkins, J.S., and Spieker, A.M., 1971, Seismic Refraction Survey of Pleistocene Drainage Channels in the Lower Great Miami Valley, Ohio, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 605-B.