Status of Water Levels and Selected Water-Quality Conditions in the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer in Eastern Arkansas, 2004

Schrader, T.P.

doi:10.3133/sir20065128

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Approximately 11 km 3 /yr of groundwater was pumped in 2000 to meet irrigation requirements in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi (Hutson and others, 2004). Groundwater withdrawals for agriculture have caused water-level declines in the alluvial aquifer in Arkansas of at least 12 m in 40 years (Schrader, 2001) while withdrawals from confined aquifers in Arkansas have resulted in declines of more than 110 m since the 1920s (Scheiderer and Freiwald, 2006). The area includes about 70,000 wells (Clark and Hart, 2009).…”

Section: Mississippi Embayment Of the Gulf Coastal Plainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater depletion in the United States (1900−2008)

Konikow¹

2013

Scientific Investigations Report

206

138

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Section: Mississippi Embayment Of the Gulf Coastal Plainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater depletion in the United States (1900−2008)

Konikow¹

2013

Scientific Investigations Report

206

138

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Since the Gulf Coast Regional Aquifer System Analysis (GCRASA) study was completed in 1985, groundwater withdrawals have increased ranging from 37 percent at Memphis, Tennessee (17th largest city in the United States), to 132 percent in the agricultural areas of Arkansas from 1985 to 2000. Groundwater withdrawals for agriculture have caused water-level declines in the alluvial aquifer in Arkansas of at least 40 feet in 40 years (Schrader, 2001) while withdrawals from the middle Claiborne aquifer in Arkansas have resulted in declines of more than 360 feet since the 1920's (Scheiderer and Freiwald, 2006). These declines have prompted concerns over water availability and quality for agriculture and industry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS): Documentation of a groundwater-flow model constructed to assess water availability in the Mississippi embayment

Clark¹,

Hart²

2009

Scientific Investigations Report

136

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The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS) was conducted with support from the Groundwater Resources Program of the U.S. Geological Survey Office of Groundwater. This report documents the construction and calibration of a finite-difference groundwater model for use as a tool to quantify groundwater availability within the Mississippi embayment. To approximate the differential equation, the MERAS model was constructed with the U.S. Geological Survey's modular three-dimensional finite-difference code, MODFLOW-2005; the preconditioned conjugate gradient solver within MODFLOW-2005 was used for the numerical solution technique. The model area boundary is approximately 78,000 square miles and includes eight States with approximately 6,900 miles of simulated streams, 70,000 well locations, and 10 primary hydrogeologic units. The finitedifference grid consists of 414 rows, 397 columns, and 13 layers. Each model cell is 1 square mile with varying thickness by cell and by layer. The simulation period extends from January 1, 1870, to April 1, 2007, for a total of 137 years and 69 stress periods. The first stress period is simulated as steady state to represent predevelopment conditions. Areal recharge is applied throughout the MERAS model area using the MODFLOW-2005 Recharge Package. Irrigation, municipal, and industrial wells are simulated using the Multi-Node Well Package. There are 43 streams simulated by the MERAS model. Each stream or river in the model area was simulated using the Streamflow-Routing Package. The perimeter of the model area and the base of the flow system are represented as no-flow boundaries. The downgradient limit of each model layer is a no-flow boundary, which approximates the extent of water with less than 10,000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids. The MERAS model was calibrated by making manual changes to parameter values and examining residuals for hydraulic heads and streamflow. Additional calibration was achieved through alternate use of UCODE-2005 and PEST. Simulated heads were compared to 55,786 hydraulic-head measurements from 3,245 wells in the MERAS model area. Values of root mean square error between simulated and observed hydraulic heads of all observations ranged from 8.33 feet in 1919 to 47.65 feet in 1951, though only six root mean square error values are greater than 40 feet for the entire simulation period. Simulated streamflow generally is lower than measured streamflow for streams with streamflow less than 1,000 cubic feet per second, and greater than measured streamflow for streams with streamflow more than 1,000 cubic feet per second. Simulated streamflow is underpredicted for 18 observations and overpredicted for 10 observations in the model. These differences in streamflow illustrate the large uncertainty in model inputs such as predevelopment recharge, overland flow, pumpage (from stream and aquifer), precipitation, and observation weights. The groundwater-flow budget indicates changes in flow into (inflows) and out of (outflows) the model area during the...

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“…An assemblage of channel fill, point bar, and back-swamp deposits associated with present and former channels of the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers produced heterogeneity in lithology and resulted in large spatial and vertical variations in the hydraulic properties within the aquifer system (Joseph, 1999). The regional direction of groundwater flow is generally to the south and east except where affected by intense groundwater withdrawals (Schrader, 2001). Row-crop agriculture represents the major land use in the floodplain, whereas silviculture dominates the land use in the terrace portion of the watershed.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface complexation modeling for predicting solid phase arsenic concentrations in the sediments of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, Arkansas, USA

Sharif

Davis

Steele

et al. 2011

Applied Geochemistry

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The potential health impact of As in drinking water supply systems in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in the state of Arkansas, USA is significant. In this context it is important to understand the occurrence, distribution and mobilization of As in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer. Application of surface complexation models (SCMs) to predict the sorption behavior of As and hydrous Fe oxides (HFO) in the laboratory has increased in the last decade. However, the application of SCMs to predict the sorption of As in natural sediments has not often been reported, and such applications are greatly constrained by the lack of site-specific model parameters. Attempts have been made to use SCMs considering a component additivity (CA) approach which accounts for relative abundances of pure phases in natural sediments, followed by the addition of SCM parameters individually for each phase. Although few reliable and internally consistent sorption databases related to HFO exist, the use of SCMs using laboratory-derived sorption databases to predict the mobility of As in natural sediments has increased. This study is an attempt to evaluate the ability of the SCMs using the geochemical code PHREEQC to predict solid phase As in the sediments of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in Arkansas. The SCM option of the double-layer model (DLM) was simulated using ferrihydrite and goethite as sorbents quantified from chemical extractions, calculated surface-site densities, published surface properties, and published laboratory-derived sorption constants for the sorbents. The model results are satisfactory for shallow wells (10.6 m below ground surface), where the redox condition is relatively oxic or mildly suboxic. However, for the deep alluvial aquifer (21-36.6 m below ground surface) where the redox condition is suboxic to anoxic, the model results are unsatisfactory.

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Status of Water Levels and Selected Water-Quality Conditions in the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer in Eastern Arkansas, 2004

Cited by 18 publications

References 7 publications

Groundwater depletion in the United States (1900−2008)

Groundwater depletion in the United States (1900−2008)

The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS): Documentation of a groundwater-flow model constructed to assess water availability in the Mississippi embayment

Surface complexation modeling for predicting solid phase arsenic concentrations in the sediments of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, Arkansas, USA

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