James C. Currens
NSS 13110 FL RL M.S., R.P.G.
Karst Studies Coordinator
Water Resources Section
Kentucky Geological Survey
Kentucky Geological Survey,
Univ. Ky., 504 Rose St.
228 Mining and Mineral Res. Bldg.
Lexington, Ky. 40506-0107
TELEPHONE: OFFICE 859-323-0526;
OFFICE EMAIL: [email protected];
FAX: 859-257-1147
EDUCATION:
Post-graduate; 2001, Karst Hydrogeology, Eastern Kentucky Univ.
Post-graduate; 1985 - 1988, Hydrogeology, University of Kentucky
Post-graduate; 1981 - 1982, Karst Hydrogeology, Western Kentucky Univ.
M.S., 1978, Geology, Eastern Kentucky University
B.S., 1973, Geology, University of Kentucky
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
1986-present Karst Hydrogeologist, Water Resources Section
1979-1986 Geologist, Coal Section, Kentucky Geological Survey
1978-1979 Geologist, Engineering Division, Ashland Coal
LIFE EXPERIENCE:
Jim Currens has been married to Teresa Ann Bottorff, an elementary school teacher
for 16 years. He has two adult children from his first marriage, Samantha and Benjamin,
and three grandchildren. Not only is Jim a native Kentuckian, he is a descendent of
pioneers that established Fort Harrod, the first permanent settlement and later the first
town in Kentucky.
He has helped found and incorporate three speleology related non-profits, the
Bluegrass Grotto, the Central Kentucky Karst Coalition and the Kentucky Speleological
Survey and in 1988 he helped incorporate the 7th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry,
Reactivated, an American Civil War re-enacting organization, which has endured for over
20 years. He has also started his own cottage industry business.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Jim Currens’ graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1973 and started his first
full time professional position later that year working for the head of Kentucky
Geological Survey’s Coal Section. Jim also took every hydrogeology course he could
manage. Eventually he secured a position as the data base manager for the Water
Resources section at KGS. The Sinking Creek Karst Valley flooded in the winter and
spring 1989 and Jim sensed an opportunity to do field research in karst hydrogeology. Jim
drove out to the area and crowd of local residents surrounded him that were very eager for
the water to go down. Jim couldn’t answer their questions immediately but the citizens
put some pressure on their legislators and Jim ended up quantifying the discharge
capacity of Sinking Valley.
Jim Currens has developed and managed over 2.5-million dollars of grants during his
career at the Kentucky Geological Survey. Professional accomplishments include the
development of a series of maps, collectively called the Kentucky Karst Atlas. He has
either managed or personally conducted over 500 groundwater traces being used for the
groundwater maps. Jim Currens has investigated over 300 cover-collapse sinkholes
throughout Kentucky. He has undertaken and completed several major karst hydrology
projects in Radcliff, Pulaski County, the Inner Blue Grass, and an eight yearlong project
in Logan County, and basin mapping project in Monroe County.
He has explored caves in Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee,
Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, and Kentucky. He was one of the
principal discovers of Roppel Cave and the Toohey Ridge Cave System and was leader of
three crucial breakthrough trips; discovery of the Roppel entrance, discovery of the Ssurvey (Hobbit Trail), discovery of Yahoo Avenue. The Toohey Ridge System is now
part of the 410 miles of aggregated surveyed length of Mammoth Cave.
Jim Currens is a Certified Professional Geologist in the Commonwealth of
Kentucky, and a Fellow and Life Member of the National Speleological Society, a
member of the Geological Society of America and the National Ground Water
Association. He received the 2014 Bill Barfield Award for outstanding contributions to
water resources research and was recognized as the 2014 Geologist of the year by the
Kentucky Chapter of the American Institute of Professional Geologists.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Currens, J.C., and Borden, J.D., 1977, In the shadow of #1, the Toohey Ridge System: National
Speleological Society News, v. 35, n. 12, p. 1, p. 239-243.
Currens, J. C., 1992, Caves, in The Kentucky Encyclopedia: J. E. Kleber, ed., University of Kentucky Press,
p. 174-176.
Currens, J. C., 1995, Mass flux of agricultural nonpoint-source pollutants in a conduit-flow-dominated karst
aquifer, Logan County, Kentucky, in Karst Geohazards, Engineering and Environmental Problems in
Karst Terrane, Beck, B.F., ed.: Proceedings of the Fifth Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes
and the Engineering and Environmental Impact of Karst, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, p. 179-187.
Currens, J.C., 1999, A sampling plan for conduit-flow karst springs: minimizing sampling cost and
maximizing statistical utility: Engineering Geology, v. 52, no. 1-2, p. 121-128.
Currens, J. C., 2000, Kentucky is Karst Country! What you should know about sinkholes and springs;
Kentucky Geological Survey, Series 12, Information Circular 4, 29p.
Currens, J.C., 2001, Changes in Ground-Water Quality in a Conduit-Flow-Dominated Karst Aquifer,
Following BMP Implementation: Environmental Geology, v. 42, no. 5, p. 525-531.
Currens, J.C, 2012, Cover-collapse sinkholes in Kentucky: Geographic and temporal distribution; 12th
Sinkhole Conference, Saint Louis, Missouri, P.E.LaMoreaux and Associates, Inc.
Currens, J.C., 2012, A model ordinance for development on karst in Kentucky, Guidance for construction
on karst terrain and the reduction of property damage and threat to human health resulting from karst
geologic hazards 12th Sinkhole Conference, Saint Louis, Missouri, P.E.LaMoreaux and Associates,
Inc.
Currens, J.C. 2012, Cover-collapse sinkholes in Kentucky: Geographic and temporal distribution:
proceedings of the 12th Sinkhole Conference, Saint Louis, Missouri, P.E.LaMoreaux and Associates,
Inc.; Carbonates and Evaporites, June 2012, v 27, issue 2, pp. 137-142.
Currens, J. C., 2012, Model ordinance for development on karst terrain: Kentucky, USA: proceedings of the
12th Sinkhole Conference, Saint Louis, Missouri, P.E.LaMoreaux and Associates, Inc.; Carbonates
and Evaporites, June 2012, v 27, issue 2, pp. 133-136.
Currens, J.C., and Graham, C.D.R., 1993, Flooding of Sinking Creek, Garretts Spring Karst Drainage
Basin, Jessamine and Woodford Counties, Kentucky, in Applied Karst Geology, Beck, B.F., ed.:
Proceedings of the Fourth Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and
Environmental Impact of Karst, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, p. 145-156; in Environmental Geology,
volume 22, number 4, p. 337-344.
Currens, J.C., Paylor, R.A., and Ray, J.A., 2002, Mapped karst ground-water basins in the Lexington 30 x
60 minute quadrangle: Kentucky Geological Survey: Series 12, Map and Chart Series 35, 1:100,000scale.
Currens, J.C., Paylor, R.A., and Ray, J.A., 2003, Mapped karst ground-water basins in the Harrodsburg 30 x
60 minute quadrangle: Kentucky Geological Survey: Series 12, Map and Chart Series 58, 1:100,000scale.
Currens, J.C., and Paylor, R.L., 2009, Caves and Karst Features of the Bluegrass Region, Kentucky, USA in
Palmer, A.N. and others, “Caves and Karst of the United States”, 2009 International Congress of
Speleology, Austin, TX, p. 103 – 107.
Currens, J.C., and Paylor, R.L., 2009, Karst Potential and Development Indices: Tools for Mapping Karst at
the Regional Scale; Proceedings of the International Congress of Speleology, Kerrville Texas, July,
2009, p. 425-430.
Currens, J.C., Paylor, R.L., Blair, R.J., and Ray, J.A., 2011, Karst groundwater basin map, Somerset
revision; Kentucky Geological Servey, ser 12, Map and Chart 102, 1:100,000-scale.
Currens, J. C., Paylor, R. L., Beck, G. E. and Davidson, Bart, 2012, A Method to Determine CoverCollapse Frequency in the Western Pennyroyal Karst of Kentucky: Journal of Cave and Karst
Studies, National Speleological Society, volume 74, number 3, p. 292-299.
Currens, J.C., and Ray, J.A., 1996, Mapped karst ground-water basins in the Lexington 60' x 30'
quadrangle: Kentucky Geological Survey: Series 11, Map and Chart Series 10, 1:100,000-scale.
Currens, J.C., and Ray, J.A., 1998, Mapped karst ground-water basins in the Harrodsburg 60' x 30',
1:100,000 topographic quadrangle: Kentucky Geological Survey: Series 11, Map and Chart Series
16, 1:100,000-scale.
Paylor, R. L., and Currens, J. C., 2002, Karst Occurrence in Kentucky: Kentucky Geological Survey, Ser.
12, Map and Chart 33, scale 1:1,000,000.
Ray, J. A., and Currens, J.C., 1998, Mapped karst ground-water basins in the Beaver Dam 60' x 30',
1:100,000 topographic quadrangle: Kentucky Geological Survey: Series 11, Map and Chart Series
19.
Ray, J.A., and Currens, J.C., 1998, Mapped karst ground-water basins in the Campbellsville 60' x 30',
1:100,000 topographic quadrangle: Kentucky Geological Survey: Series 11, Map and Chart Series
17.
Ray, J.A., and Currens, J.C., 2000, Mapped karst ground-water basins in the Bowling Green 60' x 30',
1:100,000 topographic quadrangle: Kentucky Geological Survey: Series 12, Map and Chart Series
22.
Ray, J. A., Moody, J. R., Blair, R. J., Currens, J. C., and Paylor, R. L., 2009, Mapped Karst
Groundwater Basins in the Tell City and Part of the Jasper 30 x 60 Minute Quadrangles:
Kentucky Geological Survey, Series 12, Map and Chart 196, 1:100,000-scale.