Geologic and Hydrologic Features – San Bernardino Area, California

Measuring water levels in Southern California.

This fascinating collection of nineteen lithographed plates was published in Washington, D.C. by the Government Printing Office in 1963. They were originally issued to accompany a water-supply paper by L. C. Dutcher and Arthur A. Garrett of the United States Geographical Survey (U.S.G.S.) that discusses the hydrology of San Bernardino County, California, just east of Los Angeles. According to the abstract;

“The report deals qualitatively with the geology, the fault barriers that divide the area into several ground-water basins, the physical nature and degree of imperviousness of the barriers, the occurrence and movement of ground water and fluctuations of water level in the basins, and the chemical quality of surface and ground waters in the San Bernardino area. The report includes a geologic map and sections, water-level-contour maps and profiles, and hydrographs of selected wells.”

The group includes 11 such hydrographs and diagrams that highlight the fluctuation in water levels. A folding chart shows geologic cross-sections across the county and two small black and white maps are also included.

Four large color folding maps of San Bernardino County are present, each measuring approximately 51.25″ x 37″. One is a strictly geologic map, while the other three show the dispersal of wells and water-level contours for 1936, 1945, and 1951.

Source: U.S.G.S. Water Supply Paper 1419