The Mississippi Alluvial Plain is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the Nation and depends on groundwater for irrigation. The MAP area constitutes the third largest area of irrigated cropland in the United States. The area is approximately 29,000 square miles (19 million acres) and includes parts of the States of Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Availability and Use Science Program (WAUSP) is supporting a regional groundwater availability study of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) to provide stakeholders and managers information and tools to better understand and manage groundwater resources. The study focus is on quantifying the status of the groundwater system in the MAP and determining how groundwater resources respond to development. Advanced characterization of the MAP, synthesis of field data, and numerical modeling will be used in the study as described on these web pages.
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) has become one of the most important agricultural regions in the US, and it relies heavily on a groundwater system that is poorly understood and shows signs of substantial change. The heavy use of the available groundwater resources has resulted in significant groundwater-level declines and reductions in base flow in streams within the MAP. These impacts are limiting well production and threatening future water-availability for the region. Over 9 billion gallons per day of groundwater are withdrawn for irrigation, supporting agricultural production. Agricultural interests in the region are aware to the economic and environmental costs that may come from declining water supplies but lack the basic resource description and analytical tools necessary for effective decision making at a regional scale. Technical specialists working in various Federal and State agencies and universities have worked individually and in partnership over many years to address aspects of particular water issues in the MAP, but no single agency or group has had the resources to support a broad-based and comprehensive scientific effort.
Accurate and ongoing assessments of water availability in the MAP region are critically important for making well-informed management decisions about resource allocation and sustainability, establishing best practices for water use, and dealing with predicted additional changes to the regional water cycle over the next 50-100 years. The goal of the MAP water use and availability project is to improve estimates of water availability for the present, past, and future in the MAP region, to aid water resource managers in making decisions that can help to sustain key agricultural and industrial practices
Project Scope and Objectives
The specific objectives of this program task, over the course of five years, will be study the following topics (each of the topics are covered in more detail within the “Related” tab):
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Enhanced Characterization of the MAP Groundwater Sytem- refine aquifer characteristics and improve the three-dimensional framework through the use of geophysical methods.
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Status of water resources within the MAP- Improve recharge, enhance simulated stream network, and simulated stream.
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Water Budget for the MAP- Improve ability to estimate recharge, streamflow in ungaged basins, and related the effects of water-use to to surface and groundwater availability.
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Mississippi Alluvial Plain Management and Environmental Support System- The Mississippi Alluvial Plain Aquifers study is designed to improve previous simulations of groundwater flow and provide a more accurate management tool for water resource sustainability.
Each focus area of FY16 is designed with an emphasis on improved simulation of the MRVA within the MERAS model. Through each component, stakeholders can be expected to gain a refined understanding of the groundwater system and how to manage the resource, and allow a more robust tool in the groundwater-flow model that integrates all available knowledge of the system to provide better estimates of projected future conditions.
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For more information on the USGS Regional Groundwater Studies, please visit the USGS Water Availability and Use Science Resources Program.
Send Us a Message to Get Involved
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Status of water resources within the Mississippi Alluvial Plain
Water Budget for the Mississippi Alluvial Plain
Mississippi Alluvial Plain Management and Environmental Support System
Enhanced Characterization of the MAP Groundwater System
- Overview
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the Nation and depends on groundwater for irrigation. The MAP area constitutes the third largest area of irrigated cropland in the United States. The area is approximately 29,000 square miles (19 million acres) and includes parts of the States of Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Availability and Use Science Program (WAUSP) is supporting a regional groundwater availability study of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) to provide stakeholders and managers information and tools to better understand and manage groundwater resources. The study focus is on quantifying the status of the groundwater system in the MAP and determining how groundwater resources respond to development. Advanced characterization of the MAP, synthesis of field data, and numerical modeling will be used in the study as described on these web pages.
The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer highlighted within the larger Mississippi Alluvial Plain The Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) has become one of the most important agricultural regions in the US, and it relies heavily on a groundwater system that is poorly understood and shows signs of substantial change. The heavy use of the available groundwater resources has resulted in significant groundwater-level declines and reductions in base flow in streams within the MAP. These impacts are limiting well production and threatening future water-availability for the region. Over 9 billion gallons per day of groundwater are withdrawn for irrigation, supporting agricultural production. Agricultural interests in the region are aware to the economic and environmental costs that may come from declining water supplies but lack the basic resource description and analytical tools necessary for effective decision making at a regional scale. Technical specialists working in various Federal and State agencies and universities have worked individually and in partnership over many years to address aspects of particular water issues in the MAP, but no single agency or group has had the resources to support a broad-based and comprehensive scientific effort.
Accurate and ongoing assessments of water availability in the MAP region are critically important for making well-informed management decisions about resource allocation and sustainability, establishing best practices for water use, and dealing with predicted additional changes to the regional water cycle over the next 50-100 years. The goal of the MAP water use and availability project is to improve estimates of water availability for the present, past, and future in the MAP region, to aid water resource managers in making decisions that can help to sustain key agricultural and industrial practices
The USGS recently constructed a computer model of groundwater in the Mississippi embayment. This model was used to simulate the rise or decline of water level in a shallow aquifer. Water from this shallow aquifer is utilized by the agricultural based economy in the area. In the animation, groundwater levels decline more than 100 feet from 1870 to 2007 in some areas of the shallow Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in Arkansas. When pumping is forecast to 2038, based on trends of past pumping amounts and climatic variations, areas with water level declines of more than 100 feet expand, extending into Missouri and Mississippi. Brian Clark, U.S. Geological Survey. Public domain Project Scope and Objectives
The specific objectives of this program task, over the course of five years, will be study the following topics (each of the topics are covered in more detail within the “Related” tab):
-
Enhanced Characterization of the MAP Groundwater Sytem- refine aquifer characteristics and improve the three-dimensional framework through the use of geophysical methods.
-
Status of water resources within the MAP- Improve recharge, enhance simulated stream network, and simulated stream.
-
Water Budget for the MAP- Improve ability to estimate recharge, streamflow in ungaged basins, and related the effects of water-use to to surface and groundwater availability.
-
Mississippi Alluvial Plain Management and Environmental Support System- The Mississippi Alluvial Plain Aquifers study is designed to improve previous simulations of groundwater flow and provide a more accurate management tool for water resource sustainability.
Each focus area of FY16 is designed with an emphasis on improved simulation of the MRVA within the MERAS model. Through each component, stakeholders can be expected to gain a refined understanding of the groundwater system and how to manage the resource, and allow a more robust tool in the groundwater-flow model that integrates all available knowledge of the system to provide better estimates of projected future conditions.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For more information on the USGS Regional Groundwater Studies, please visit the USGS Water Availability and Use Science Resources Program.
Send Us a Message to Get Involved
-
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Status of water resources within the Mississippi Alluvial Plain
The MAP area constitutes the third largest area of irrigated cropland in the United States. The area is approximately 29,000 square miles (19 million acres) and includes the States of Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The MAP is primarily relied upon for agriculture with irrigation use increasing several-fold beginning from about 1965. Water-level declines began in parts...Water Budget for the Mississippi Alluvial Plain
Water is a critical resource for the agricultural and industrial practices in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP). The heavy use of this water, however, is gradually depleting groundwater resources and altering the availability of water for future use. Accurate and ongoing assessments of water availability in the MAP region are critically important for making well-informed management decisions...Mississippi Alluvial Plain Management and Environmental Support System
Providing reliable hydrologic understanding of a system as inherently complex as the MAP will require a numerical groundwater simulation model capable of simulating stream/aquifer interaction, updated and recalibrated over time and supported by a continuing program of data collection and evaluation. The US Geological Survey (USGS) has produced such a model for the larger Mississippi embayment...Enhanced Characterization of the MAP Groundwater System
The current characterization of the MAP groundwater system relies on information gained through various methods at individual well locations. To complete a full picture of the system, the information between these points are assumed to continue over large areas. As a result, a detailed characterization of the MAP groundwater system suitable to evaluate water sustainability at the scales now... - Publications
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