The Mississippi Embayment - Declining Water Levels in a Shallow Aquifer

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.