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Mississippi Embayment Aquifer System Regional Groundwater Availability Study

April 8, 2024
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The US Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting large scale multidisciplinary regional studies of groundwater availability for the Nation. Studies comprise individual assessments, like the Mississippi embayment, of regional groundwater flow systems that cover a variety of hydrogeologic terrains and are used to develop a comprehensive regional and national perspective.

Related Content

link
MAP study area

Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS)

Short Title: MERAS Model Project Chief: Brian Clark Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Office of Ground-Water Resources Program Project Time Frame: January 2006 - 2009 Fresh ground-water in the Mississippi embayment can be found in alternating formations of sand, silt and clay. Decades of pumping from the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer for irrigation and from the Sparta-Memphis aquifer...
By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center
link

Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS)

Short Title: MERAS Model Project Chief: Brian Clark Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Office of Ground-Water Resources Program Project Time Frame: January 2006 - 2009 Fresh ground-water in the Mississippi embayment can be found in alternating formations of sand, silt and clay. Decades of pumping from the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer for irrigation and from the Sparta-Memphis aquifer...
Learn More
link
Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study - Map

Digital Hydrogeologic Surface and Thickness of the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS)

Short Title: MERAS Framework Project Chief: Rheannon Hart Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Office of Ground-Water Resources Program Project Time Frame: January 2006 - 2009 A hydrogeologic framework for a ground-water flow model is under development as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Ground-Water Resources Program to aid in determining ground-water availability in selected areas of the...
By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center
link

Digital Hydrogeologic Surface and Thickness of the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS)

Short Title: MERAS Framework Project Chief: Rheannon Hart Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Office of Ground-Water Resources Program Project Time Frame: January 2006 - 2009 A hydrogeologic framework for a ground-water flow model is under development as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Ground-Water Resources Program to aid in determining ground-water availability in selected areas of the...
Learn More
Filter Total Items: 27

Potentiometric surfaces (2013, 2015), groundwater quality (2010–15), and water-level changes (2011–13, 2013–15) in the Sparta-Memphis aquifer in Arkansas

The Sparta-Memphis aquifer, present across much of eastern Arkansas, is the second most used groundwater resource in the State, with the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer being the primary groundwater resource. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Arkansas Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Division, Arkansas Geological Survey, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Un
Authors
Anna M. Nottmeier, Katherine J. Knierim, Phillip D. Hays
By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Initial estimates of net infiltration and irrigation from a soil-water-balance model of the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study Area

The Mississippi embayment encompasses about 100,000 square miles and covers parts of eight States. In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey began updating previous work for a part of the embayment known as the Mississippi Alluvial Plain to support informed water use and agricultural policy in the region. Groundwater, water use, economic, and other related models are being combined with field surveys an
Authors
Stephen, M. Westenbroek, Martha G. Nielsen, David E. Ladd
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Fraction of young water as an indicator of aquifer vulnerability along two regional flow paths in the Mississippi embayment aquifer system, southeastern USA

Wells along two regional flow paths were sampled to characterize changes in water quality and the vulnerability to contamination of the Memphis aquifer across a range of hydrologic and land-use conditions in the southeastern United States. The flow paths begin in the aquifer outcrop area and end at public supply wells in the confined parts of the aquifer at Memphis, Tennessee. Age-date tracer (e.g
Authors
James A. Kingsbury, Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Bryant C. Jurgens, Peter B. McMahon, John K. Carmichael
By
Water Resources Mission Area, California Water Science Center, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

The quality of our Nation's waters: water quality in the Mississippi embayment-Texas coastal uplands aquifer system and Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, south-central United States, 1994-2008

About 8 million people rely on groundwater from the Mississippi embayment—Texas coastal uplands aquifer system for drinking water. The Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer also provides drinking water for domestic use in rural areas but is of primary importance to the region as a source of water for irrigation. Irrigation withdrawals from this aquifer are among the largest in the Nation and p
Authors
James A. Kingsbury, Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Brian G. Katz, Heather L. Welch, Roland W. Tollett, Lynne S. Fahlquist
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Enhancements to the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS) groundwater-flow model and simulations of sustainable water-level scenarios

Arkansas continues to be one of the largest users of groundwater in the Nation. As such, long-term planning and management are essential to ensure continued availability of groundwater and surface water for years to come. The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS) model was developed previously as a tool to evaluate groundwater availability within the Mississippi embayment, which enc
Authors
Brian R. Clark, Drew A. Westerman, D. Todd Fugitt
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Effects of groundwater withdrawals associated with combined-cycle combustion turbine plants in west Tennessee and northern Mississippi

The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study groundwater-flow model was used to simulate the potential effects on future groundwater withdrawals at five powerplant sites-Gleason, Weakley County, Tennessee; Tenaska, Haywood County, Tennessee; Jackson, Madison County, Tennessee; Southaven, DeSoto County, Mississippi; and Magnolia, Benton County, Mississippi. The scenario used in the simulation c
Authors
Connor J. Haugh
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Processes affecting geochemistry and contaminant movement in the middle Claiborne aquifer of the Mississippi embayment aquifer system

Groundwater chemistry and tracer-based age data were used to assess contaminant movement and geochemical processes in the middle Claiborne aquifer (MCA) of the Mississippi embayment aquifer system. Water samples were collected from 30 drinking-water wells (mostly domestic and public supply) and analyzed for nutrients, major ions, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and transient age tra
Authors
Brian G. Katz, James A. Kingsbury, Heather L. Welch, Roland W. Tollett
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center (CFWSC)

A new tool to assess groundwater resources in the Mississippi embayment

What is the Mississippi Embayment? The Mississippi embayment study area encompasses approximately 78,000 square miles in eight States and includes large parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and smaller areas of Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri (fig. 1). The Mississippi embayment is essentially a basin that slopes toward the Gulf of Mexico and is filled with sediments
Authors
Brian R. Clark, David A. Freiwald
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Simulation of the effects of groundwater withdrawals on water-level altitudes in the Sparta aquifer in the Bayou Meto-Grand Prairie area of eastern Arkansas, 2007-37

A groundwater-flow model of the Mississippi embayment was used to evaluate changes in water-level altitudes before (scenario 1) and after (scenario 2) the addition of wells that simulate potential future pumping from the Sparta aquifer in the Bayou Meto-Grand Prairie area of eastern Arkansas for the 30-year period from 2007 through 2037. Water-level altitudes at six model cell locations from the t
Authors
Brian R. Clark, Drew A. Westerman, D. Todd Fugitt
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Groundwater availability of the Mississippi embayment

Groundwater is an important resource for agricultural and municipal uses in the Mississippi embayment. Arkansas ranks first in the Nation for rice and third for cotton production, with both crops dependent on groundwater as a major source of irrigation requirements. Multiple municipalities rely on the groundwater resources to provide water for industrial and public use, which includes the city of
Authors
Brian R. Clark, Rheannon M. Hart, Jason J. Gurdak
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Simulation of water-use conservation scenarios for the Mississippi Delta using an existing regional groundwater flow model

The Mississippi River alluvial plain in northwestern Mississippi (referred to as the Delta), once a floodplain to the Mississippi River covered with hardwoods and marshland, is now a highly productive agricultural region of large economic importance to Mississippi. Water for irrigation is supplied primarily by the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, and although the alluvial aquifer has a l
Authors
Jeannie R.B. Barlow, Brian R. Clark
By
Water Resources Mission Area

The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS): Documentation of a groundwater-flow model constructed to assess water availability in the Mississippi embayment

The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS) was conducted with support from the Groundwater Resources Program of the U.S. Geological Survey Office of Groundwater. This report documents the construction and calibration of a finite-difference groundwater model for use as a tool to quantify groundwater availability within the Mississippi embayment. To approximate the differential equatio
Authors
Brian R. Clark, Rheannon M. Hart
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Availability and Use Science Program, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) Regional Water Availability Study

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.

By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

GWWebFlow

GWWebFlow is a browser-based groundwater model viewer designed to allow users to easily explore model inputs and outputs for published and approved USGS models.

By
Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

Related Content

link
MAP study area

Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS)

Short Title: MERAS Model Project Chief: Brian Clark Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Office of Ground-Water Resources Program Project Time Frame: January 2006 - 2009 Fresh ground-water in the Mississippi embayment can be found in alternating formations of sand, silt and clay. Decades of pumping from the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer for irrigation and from the Sparta-Memphis aquifer...
By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center
link

Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS)

Short Title: MERAS Model Project Chief: Brian Clark Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Office of Ground-Water Resources Program Project Time Frame: January 2006 - 2009 Fresh ground-water in the Mississippi embayment can be found in alternating formations of sand, silt and clay. Decades of pumping from the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer for irrigation and from the Sparta-Memphis aquifer...
Learn More
link
Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study - Map

Digital Hydrogeologic Surface and Thickness of the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS)

Short Title: MERAS Framework Project Chief: Rheannon Hart Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Office of Ground-Water Resources Program Project Time Frame: January 2006 - 2009 A hydrogeologic framework for a ground-water flow model is under development as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Ground-Water Resources Program to aid in determining ground-water availability in selected areas of the...
By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center
link

Digital Hydrogeologic Surface and Thickness of the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS)

Short Title: MERAS Framework Project Chief: Rheannon Hart Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Office of Ground-Water Resources Program Project Time Frame: January 2006 - 2009 A hydrogeologic framework for a ground-water flow model is under development as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Ground-Water Resources Program to aid in determining ground-water availability in selected areas of the...
Learn More
Filter Total Items: 27

Potentiometric surfaces (2013, 2015), groundwater quality (2010–15), and water-level changes (2011–13, 2013–15) in the Sparta-Memphis aquifer in Arkansas

The Sparta-Memphis aquifer, present across much of eastern Arkansas, is the second most used groundwater resource in the State, with the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer being the primary groundwater resource. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Arkansas Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Division, Arkansas Geological Survey, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Un
Authors
Anna M. Nottmeier, Katherine J. Knierim, Phillip D. Hays
By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Initial estimates of net infiltration and irrigation from a soil-water-balance model of the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study Area

The Mississippi embayment encompasses about 100,000 square miles and covers parts of eight States. In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey began updating previous work for a part of the embayment known as the Mississippi Alluvial Plain to support informed water use and agricultural policy in the region. Groundwater, water use, economic, and other related models are being combined with field surveys an
Authors
Stephen, M. Westenbroek, Martha G. Nielsen, David E. Ladd
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Fraction of young water as an indicator of aquifer vulnerability along two regional flow paths in the Mississippi embayment aquifer system, southeastern USA

Wells along two regional flow paths were sampled to characterize changes in water quality and the vulnerability to contamination of the Memphis aquifer across a range of hydrologic and land-use conditions in the southeastern United States. The flow paths begin in the aquifer outcrop area and end at public supply wells in the confined parts of the aquifer at Memphis, Tennessee. Age-date tracer (e.g
Authors
James A. Kingsbury, Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Bryant C. Jurgens, Peter B. McMahon, John K. Carmichael
By
Water Resources Mission Area, California Water Science Center, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

The quality of our Nation's waters: water quality in the Mississippi embayment-Texas coastal uplands aquifer system and Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, south-central United States, 1994-2008

About 8 million people rely on groundwater from the Mississippi embayment—Texas coastal uplands aquifer system for drinking water. The Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer also provides drinking water for domestic use in rural areas but is of primary importance to the region as a source of water for irrigation. Irrigation withdrawals from this aquifer are among the largest in the Nation and p
Authors
James A. Kingsbury, Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Brian G. Katz, Heather L. Welch, Roland W. Tollett, Lynne S. Fahlquist
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Enhancements to the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS) groundwater-flow model and simulations of sustainable water-level scenarios

Arkansas continues to be one of the largest users of groundwater in the Nation. As such, long-term planning and management are essential to ensure continued availability of groundwater and surface water for years to come. The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS) model was developed previously as a tool to evaluate groundwater availability within the Mississippi embayment, which enc
Authors
Brian R. Clark, Drew A. Westerman, D. Todd Fugitt
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Effects of groundwater withdrawals associated with combined-cycle combustion turbine plants in west Tennessee and northern Mississippi

The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study groundwater-flow model was used to simulate the potential effects on future groundwater withdrawals at five powerplant sites-Gleason, Weakley County, Tennessee; Tenaska, Haywood County, Tennessee; Jackson, Madison County, Tennessee; Southaven, DeSoto County, Mississippi; and Magnolia, Benton County, Mississippi. The scenario used in the simulation c
Authors
Connor J. Haugh
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Processes affecting geochemistry and contaminant movement in the middle Claiborne aquifer of the Mississippi embayment aquifer system

Groundwater chemistry and tracer-based age data were used to assess contaminant movement and geochemical processes in the middle Claiborne aquifer (MCA) of the Mississippi embayment aquifer system. Water samples were collected from 30 drinking-water wells (mostly domestic and public supply) and analyzed for nutrients, major ions, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and transient age tra
Authors
Brian G. Katz, James A. Kingsbury, Heather L. Welch, Roland W. Tollett
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center (CFWSC)

A new tool to assess groundwater resources in the Mississippi embayment

What is the Mississippi Embayment? The Mississippi embayment study area encompasses approximately 78,000 square miles in eight States and includes large parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and smaller areas of Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri (fig. 1). The Mississippi embayment is essentially a basin that slopes toward the Gulf of Mexico and is filled with sediments
Authors
Brian R. Clark, David A. Freiwald
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Simulation of the effects of groundwater withdrawals on water-level altitudes in the Sparta aquifer in the Bayou Meto-Grand Prairie area of eastern Arkansas, 2007-37

A groundwater-flow model of the Mississippi embayment was used to evaluate changes in water-level altitudes before (scenario 1) and after (scenario 2) the addition of wells that simulate potential future pumping from the Sparta aquifer in the Bayou Meto-Grand Prairie area of eastern Arkansas for the 30-year period from 2007 through 2037. Water-level altitudes at six model cell locations from the t
Authors
Brian R. Clark, Drew A. Westerman, D. Todd Fugitt
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Groundwater availability of the Mississippi embayment

Groundwater is an important resource for agricultural and municipal uses in the Mississippi embayment. Arkansas ranks first in the Nation for rice and third for cotton production, with both crops dependent on groundwater as a major source of irrigation requirements. Multiple municipalities rely on the groundwater resources to provide water for industrial and public use, which includes the city of
Authors
Brian R. Clark, Rheannon M. Hart, Jason J. Gurdak
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Simulation of water-use conservation scenarios for the Mississippi Delta using an existing regional groundwater flow model

The Mississippi River alluvial plain in northwestern Mississippi (referred to as the Delta), once a floodplain to the Mississippi River covered with hardwoods and marshland, is now a highly productive agricultural region of large economic importance to Mississippi. Water for irrigation is supplied primarily by the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, and although the alluvial aquifer has a l
Authors
Jeannie R.B. Barlow, Brian R. Clark
By
Water Resources Mission Area

The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS): Documentation of a groundwater-flow model constructed to assess water availability in the Mississippi embayment

The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS) was conducted with support from the Groundwater Resources Program of the U.S. Geological Survey Office of Groundwater. This report documents the construction and calibration of a finite-difference groundwater model for use as a tool to quantify groundwater availability within the Mississippi embayment. To approximate the differential equatio
Authors
Brian R. Clark, Rheannon M. Hart
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Water Availability and Use Science Program, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) Regional Water Availability Study

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.

By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

GWWebFlow

GWWebFlow is a browser-based groundwater model viewer designed to allow users to easily explore model inputs and outputs for published and approved USGS models.

By
Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center