This map has been prepared for statewide ground water resource protection, water management, non-point source pollution prevention, and land use planning. The map was compiled from a geospatial analysis of the surficial materials and thickness of glacial sediments digital data layers of the Surficial Materials Map of Connecticut, Stone and others (1992) and Quaternary Geologic Map of Connecticut and The Long Island Sound Basin, Stone and others (1998, 2005). The map identifies areas with greater potential for ground water development based upon the texture and thickness of surficial aquifer deposits. The resulting hydrostratigraphic units define areas of coarse grained deposits, coarse overlying fine grained deposits, fine grained deposits, and areas where fine grained deposits overly coarse grained deposits. Aquifer deposit thickness intervals are 1-50 feet, 50-100 feet, 100-200 feet, 200-300 feet, and 300-400 feet.

The Surficial Aquifer Potential Map was prepared by the Connecticut Geological Survey at the request of the Water Protection and Land Reuse Bureau of the Department of Environmental Protection. A statewide view of surficial aquifer resources is necessary to facilitate proactive aquifer protection and water supply planning. Previous statewide groundwater availability (Meade 1978) and ground water yields mapping (Mazzaferro 1986) provided excellent planning documents at the time of publication. The compilation presented here incorporates geologic mapping and interpretations of Stone et al (1992; 1998; 2005) unavailable in the earlier treatments. Notably, the Surficial Materials Map of Connecticut (Stone et al 1992), used in this compilation, provides detailed 1:24,000 scale mapping which delineates larger and more numerous areas of coarse-grained deposits than previously known.