How exposed is the aquifer under this ZIP?

Ohio EPA's map of sensitive geologic settings marks the ground where the drinking water aquifer has little natural protection: sand and gravel outwash, buried valleys, karst limestone, or bedrock within a few feet of the surface. The map shows the share of each ZIP in such a setting; the card adds whether the ZIP's center sits on bedrock known to form karst and how much glacial drift covers it (510 of 1,233 centers sit on such rock, 337 on Silurian-Devonian carbonate and 173 on Ordovician limestone and shale, but only 129 under less than 20 ft of drift, where sinkholes are likeliest), ODNR's field-verified sinkholes and springs, and how much of the ZIP lies inside a wellhead protection area or a river intake's emergency zone. It describes exposure, not contamination: a spill, a leaking tank or over-applied manure simply reaches the water table faster there.

1,233 of 1,233 ZIPs have data; median 39%.

Legend

Map of Ohio by Aquifer

Source

Ohio EPA Sensitive Geologic Settings (geology/Geology layer 0) intersected with ZCTA polygons; ODNR karst geology at the ZIP center (layer 7, point query) and karst and spring points (layer 5); Ohio EPA source water protection areas (DrinkingWater/SWAP)

Ohio EPA geology layers · Ohio EPA source water protection (SWAP) · ODNR Geological Survey

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