A generalized potentiometric-surface map defines the altitude of water levels for 1980 in wells in the Evangeline aquifer in southwestern Louisiana and stratigraphically equivalent aquifers in southeastern Louisiana. The Evangeline and equivalent aquifers increase in thickness from zero at the northern edge of the outcrop/subcrop belt to more than 2,000 feet along the southern limit of fresh water. The aquifers are recharged by rainfall on the overlying upland terrace deposits of south-central Louisiana, southeastern Louisiana, and southwestern Mississippi. The aquifers are under artesian conditions except locally in the recharge areas. The regional flow direction is primarily southward. Water levels in wells in the Evangeline aquifer are lowered by heavy pumping from the overlying Chicot aquifer in Evangeline and Acadia Parishes. Areally definable cones of depression result from pumpage from the Evangeline and equivalent aquifers in and near Baton Rouge, Eunice, and Ville Platte. Water levels may differ vertically within the aquifer near pumping centers. The map does not account for localized distortion of the regional flow pattern near these centers.
