Southern New Castle County has a land area of 190 square miles
in north-central Delaware. It is predominantly a rural area with
a population of about 9,000 people who are engaged chiefly in
agriculture. By and large, the residents are dependent upon
ground water as a source of potable water. This investigation
was made to provide knowledge of the availability and quality of
the ground-water supply to aid future development. The climate,
surface features, and geology of the area are favorable for the
occurrence of ground water. Temperatures are generally mild and
precipitation is normally abundant and fairly evenly distributed
throughout the year. The topography of the area is relatively
flat and, hence, the streams have low gradients. The surface is
underlain to a considerable depth by highly permeable
unconsolidated sediments that range in age from Early Cretaceous
to Recent.