Water table in the surficial aquifer and potentiometric surface of the Floridan Aquifer in selected well fields, west-central Florida, September 1977

The water table in the surficial aquifer and the potentiometric surface of the Floridan aquifer in a 1,200 square-mile area in west-central Florida are mapped semiannually by the U.S. Geological Survey. Maps are prepared on the basis of water levels measured in wells each May to coincide with seasonal low levels; and in September, when levels are high. The mapped area for this report contains nine producing wells fields which supplied 76.2 million gallons on September 21, 1977, to municipalities in the Tampa Bay area. The effect of localized withdrawal of groundwater from the Floridan aquifer is shown on the maps as cones of depression in both the potentiometric surface and water table. In September, water levels in observation wells in the Floridan aquifer were above those measured in May. These increases ranged from about 1 foot at the Eldridge-Wilde well field to about 25 feet at the Sun City well field. (Woodard-USGS)