The posted coordinates take you to a demonstration shelterbelt.  To claim a find for this EarthCache, please provide answers to the following questions. Do not include your answers in your online log but do send them to the cache owner through their public profile. ALL answers can be derived from cache listing and at ground zero.

A shelterbelt is a barrier of trees and/or shrubs that has been planted to provide protection from wind. Shelterbelts may also be planted to improve wildlife habitat and to provide a buffer between agricultural land and bodies of water.

The Winkler Aquifer is a water-bearing deposit of sand and gravel. It is approximately 17 miles long and varies from one to three miles wide. Its thickness varies to a maximum of 200 feet. The northern tip of the aquifer is exposed where it is mined as a
valuable local source of sand and gravel resources. A three-square-mile area near the northern end of the aquifer has no clay cover.
This is the primary recharge area, where a large portion of freshwater enters the aquifer. The rest of the aquifer is covered by clay soils and glacial till. Near Neuenburg, the southern tip of the aquifer is about 100 feet below the surface. A network of approximately 55 monitoring wells is used to obtain water level and water quality data.

The aquifer generally contains 170,000 acre-feet of freshwater floating on 400,000 acre-feet of saltwater. The freshwater portion varies in thickness from nearly 200 feet at the north end to only 20 feet at the south end. The freshwater is used at a rate of 976 acre-feet per year. The freshwater volume is charged at an average rate of 337 acre-feet per year by the percolation of rain and snow meltwater through the geological materials and soils overlying and surrounding the aquifer. The saltwater volume is charged at a rate of approximately 230 acre-feet per year by the continental groundwater regime. The saltwater is not used. The sustainable freshwater supply capacity of the Winkler Aquifer is considered to be equal to the average annual freshwater recharge of 337 acre-feet.

Questions:

1.How much of the annual recharge of the aquifer takes place in this area?

2.Additional recharge helps to improve the amount of water available for use by which parties?

3.Is the saltwater used?

4.Downward leakage through the clay unit is 124-acre feet or what percentage?

References:
Planning for the Future of the Winkler Aquifer-Plan Development published March 1997

Stanley Soil Management Association