Potentiometric Surface of the Ozark Aquifer in Northern Arkansas, 2007

The Ozark aquifer in northern Arkansas is composed of dolomite, limestone, sandstone, and shale of Late Cambrian to Middle Devonian age, and ranges in thickness from approximately 1,100 feet to more than 4,000 feet. Hydrologically, the aquifer is complex, characterized by discrete and discontinuous flow components with large variations in permeability.

The potentiometric-surface map, based on 58 well and 5 spring water-level measurements collected in 2007 in Arkansas and Missouri, has a maximum water-level altitude measurement of 1,169 feet in Carroll County and a minimum water-level altitude measurement of 118 feet in Randolph County. Regionally, the flow within the aquifer is to the south and southeast in the eastern and central part of the study area and to the west, northwest, and north in the western part of the study area. Comparing the 2007 potentiometric-surface map with a predevelopment potentiometric-surface map indicates general agreement between the two surfaces except in the northwestern part of the study area. Potentiometric-surface differences can be attributed to withdrawals related to increasing population, changes in public-supply sources, processes or water withdrawals outside the study area, or differences in data-collection or map-construction methods.

The rapidly increasing population within the study area appears to have some effect on ground-water levels. Although, the effect appears to have been minimized by the development and use of surface-water distribution infrastructure, suggesting most of the incoming populations are fulfilling their water needs from surface-water sources. The conversion of some users from ground water to surface water may be allowing water levels in wells to recover (rise) or decline at a slower rate, such as in Benton, Carroll, and Washington Counties.