Recent awareness of the finite nature of fossil-fuel resources has resulted in an increased interest in alternate sources of energy such as geothermal. To evaluate the geothermal energy potential of the hot-springs system near Midway, Wasatch Co., Utah, consideration was given to heat flow, water chemistry, and structural controls. Abnormal heat flow was indicated qualitatively by snow-melt patterns and quantitatively by heat-flow measurements that were obtained from two of four temperature-gradient wells drilled in the area. These measurements indicated that the area north of the town of Midway is characterized by heat flow equal to 321.75 mW/m2, which is over 4 times the value generally considered as "normal" heat flow. Chemical analyses of water from six selected thermal springs and wells were used in conjunction with the silica and Na-K-Ca gethermometers to estimate the reservoir temperature of the thermal system. Because the calculated temperature was more than 25°C above the maximum observed temperature, a mixing model calculation was used to project an upper limit for the reservoir temperature. Based on these calculations, the system has a reservoir temperature ranging from 46 to 125°C. Structural information obtained from published geologic maps of the area and from an unpublished gravity survey, enabled two models to be developed for the system. The first model, based on geologic relationships in the mountains to the north and west of Midway, assumes that the heat for the thermal system comes from a relatively young intrusive or related hydrothermal convection system in the vicinity of the Mayflower mine. Meteoric waters would be heated as they approach the heat source and then move laterally to the south through faults and fractures in the rocks. These thermal waters then rise to the surface through fractures in the crest of an anticline underneath the Midway area. The second model, based on the gravity survey, assumes an igneous intrusion directly beneath Midway as the heat source. The first model is considered more likely. The Midway geothermal system is a low temperature resource, suitable for space-heating and other direct use applications.

In addition to a loss of potential revenues from Utah's $393 million sport fishing industry, the state expends millions of dollars every year on costs associated with whirling disease mitigation and prevention. A state fish hatchery at Midway, Utah was closed when the shallow unconfined aquifer being used for fish culture by spring discharge was deemed to be contaminated by whirling disease. An alternative water source may exist in a confined aquifer below this contaminated unconfined aquifer. However, the complex hydrostratigraphy presents a challenge in determining if this source is a viable resource for fish culture. Geological, physical, chemical, geophysical, and isotopic data were combined to create a conceptual model of the groundwater flow at the site and to determine the interactions this confined aquifer may have with the contaminated aquifer. This model divides groundwater at the hatchery into a shallow unconfined system, an upper confined system, and a lower confined system. The shallow unconfined system is characterized by a water table ~1m below ground surface, several active springs, fast travel times, modern water mixed with ancient hydrothermal water, relatively high TDS, and relatively enriched isotopic values. The confined aquifers have a smaller hydrothermal component, relatively depleted isotopic values, lower TDS, and modern recharge components. Two orthogonal shallow high-resolution seismic reflection profiles indicate substantial heterogeneity in the subsurface at the level of the confined systems at the hatchery. Several north-south trending normal discontinuities were interpreted as possible faults from the seismic profile oriented as a dip line, whereas the strike profile shows discontinuous layering without noticeable faulting. A well log profile for the site shows discontinuous tufa layers amid heterogeneous alluvium material. These tufa layers separate upward leaking confined aquifers from the unconfined system. It is only through the integration of several methods that such mixed systems, can be understood. In this study, the lower confined aquifer was found to be a sufficient and safe resource through the integration of numerous methods.

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