The berkeley pit is a notable feature in town and a reminder of butte’s mining history. water level in the berkeley pit poses a local and regional issue. now, groundwater flows into the pit, increasing the pit’s water level. as time goes on and the water level rises, the pit will approach the "critical water level". once this happens, the direction of groundwater flow will reverse, and groundwater will flow out of the pit, which would cause harm to groundwater and surface water downstream. therefore, it is important that the critical water level not be reached. above is a diagram of the berkeley pit generated using mytopo. com.
a) draw the boundary of this system.
b) estimate the volume of water (m3) contained in the berkeley pit.
c) read the article by mccullough et al. on moodle and do your own research on the berkeley pit. draw a flowchart that describes water inputs and outputs for the berkeley pit. you drawing should be different from the one in the mccullough article.
d) estimate the total volume (m3) of surface water and precipitation that flows into the pit each year.
e) estimate the total annual groundwater flow (m3) into the pit each year.
f) describe and estimate all water outputs annually (m3).
g) given your estimates, do you predict the pit level to be falling, rising, or remaining constant?
h) does anything need to be done to the pit? that is, do we need an engineering solution for the water level? explain.