The field trip to Upriver Dam...

on the Spokane River this afternoon provided the ENVS 100 class an opportunity to examine where several modern wells pump large volumes of groundwater from the Spokane aquifer.  It's at this location that the aquifer was first discovered in the early 1900s, and here's a look inside the original dug well.

Today, the Well Electric station operates near the discovery site, and here's a shot showing an older centrifugal pump (left) and two modern turbine pumps (right), capable of pumping millions of gallons of water per day:

At the bottom of each of the turbine shafts is a rapidly spinning impeller, used to force the water up the shaft and into the water supply system:

All of the City of Spokane's water system is controlled from this station, including the operation of its seven wells and numerous storage reservoirs and major valves: