ABSTRACT

Economic constraints on the oil industry in the late 1980's had a catastrophic impact on geologists in this profession. Oil and water have much in common, as they occur in nature as a liquid, solid, and gas. The two groups of geoscientists who study these resources, petroleum geologists and hydrogeologists, have much in common, as they use many of the same methods, techniques, instruments, and concepts. The only major difference is that potable water generally occurs in geologic formations nearer to land surface.

With the advent of the environmental movement in the 1970's and 80's, and the resulting legislative action that created the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Comprehensive Emergency Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Drinking Water Standards Act, and others, there has been a very sharp increase in the employment of geoscientists to address the myriad of problems that have occurred. The reservoir of geoscientists in the petroleum and water resources industries is an important reserve of professionals to meet the nation's demand in the future.