Well/Cistern Inventory and Closure

The project effort employed the expertise of a multi-disciplined scientific team and included extensive fieldwork over a large targeted area of the Shawnee National Forest. Team members included geologists, archeologists, geographic information systems (GIS) specialists, biologists, botanists/ecologists, soil scientists, environmental technicians and administrative personnel. The project team located, identified, and inventoried over 450 abandoned cisterns associated with historic home sites from the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

• Task 1 involved the development of a wells/cisterns location inventory through field methods and the design of a GIS database.
• Task 2 consisted of a sensitive resource inventory that involved archeological, wildlife, botanical, watershed, and soils identification, as well as the evaluation of the wells/cisterns areas.
• Task 3 consisted of filling and capping selected abandoned wells/cisterns.