McKee PW and Hays PD. The Sparta Aquifer: A Sustainable Water Resource? USGS Fact Sheet 111-02, Nov., 2004 http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-111-02 Author cites McWreath HC, Nelson JD, Fitzpatrick DJ, 1991 (Ref. 27b)
Meyer, Meyer, LeCroix, Hixson, Inc. with co-authors Lazenby and Associates, Louisiana Tech University School of Business, URS Corporation, Charles W. Smoot and Frye-Magee. Sparta Groundwater Study: A Study Commissioned by the Sparta Groundwater Conservation District Commission. 2002 Authors cite McWreath HC, Nelson JD, Fitzpatrick DJ, 1991 (Ref. 27b). http://spartaaquifer.com/docs/mmlh_sparta_study.pdf
Brantly, JA, Seanor RC, & McCoy, KL Louisiana Ground-Water Map No. 13: Hydrogeology and Potentiometric Surface of the Sparta Aquifer in Northern Louisiana, Oct. 1996, US Dept. Interior, USGS, in collaboration with LDOTD, published 2002 [USGS WRIR 02-4053] http://la.water.usgs.gov/pdfs/SpartaMap13.pdf
Fisher WL. Sedimentary Patterns in Eocene Cyclic Deposits, Northern Gulf Coast Region. Original published in Merriam DF, ed., 1964, Symposium on cyclic sedimentation: Kansas Geological Survey, Bulletin 169, pp. 151-170http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/169/Fisher/index.html
Clark BR and Hart RM. The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS): Documentation of a Groundwater-Flow Model Constructed to Assess Water Availability in the Mississippi Embayment. USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5172, 2009 http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2009/5172/pdf/SIR2009-5172.pdf
McKee, PW and Clark, BR. Development and Calibration of a Ground-Water Flow Model for the Sparta Aquifer of Southeastern Arkansas and North-Central Louisiana and Simulated Response to Withdrawals, 1998-2027 Pub. date: 2003 USGS WRIR 03-4132 http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri03-4132/pdf/WRIR03-4132.pdf
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). Estimates of Average Ground Water Velocities in Louisiana Aquifers and Delineation of Source Water Protection Areas. http://www.deq.state.la.us/portal/ default.aspx?tabid=2178 refers to: Louisiana Geological Survey (LGS) for LDEQ. Recharge Potential of Louisiana Aquifers, 1989
Water Quality of the Sparta Aquifer, Northern Louisiana. USGS PowerPoint Presentation in cooper-ation with Sparta Commission 2008. Inquire at Sparta Commission: http://spartaaquifer.com/docs/sgwcc1.ppt
Sargent PB (USGS) Louisiana Dept. of Transportation and Development. Water Use in Louisiana, 2005. Water Resources Special Report Number 16, 2007. (USGS in cooperation with LDOTD have published ‘Water Use in Louisiana’ every five years since 1960. Water use by water source is reported by parish, by type of use, and by major water users, including specific public water systems). http://la.water.usgs.gov/pdfs/WaterUse2005.pdf
Tomaszewski, DJ, Lovelace, JK, Ensminger PA. Water Withdrawals and Trends in Ground-Water Levels and Stream Discharge in Louisiana DOTD & USGS, Water Resources Technical Report No. 68, 2002. http://la.water.usgs.gov/pdfs/trends.pdf
USGS. Aquifers in North Louisiana. PowerPoint Presentation by Ben McGee to at La. Groundwater Resources Commission workshop in Baton Rouge, August 26, 2009. U.S.G.S., 3095 West California Ave.,Ruston, LA 71270
KSLA News12 Haynesville Shale Natural Gas Fracturing Job HVX200AP 16x9 at http://www.youtube.com/
Sparta Groundwater Conservation District Commission. Application for Portions of the Sparta Groundwater Aquifer to Be Declared a Critical Groundwater Area Submitted to the Louisiana Groundwater Management Com-mission, final revised version 8/15/2002. ApplicationAbout the ApplicationPublic Hearing on Application
Energy Ventures Analysis, Inc. Water Reuse and the West Monroe/Graphic Packaging Project 71st Annual Short Course on Water Supply, Update Presented to Sparta Commission, Apr. 10, 2008. In Commission Office.
Ouachita River Sparta Alternative Project – Union County Water Conservation Board
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Water. Cases in Water Conservation: How Efficiency Programs Can Help Water Utilities Save Water and Control Costs. (4204M) EPA832-B-02-003 July 2002http://www.epa.gov/watersense/docs/utilityconservation_508.pdf
Sparta Louisiana-south Arkansas Groundwater Models (summarized in USGS powerpoint presentation to Louisiana Groundwater Resources Commission at a workshop in Baton Rouge in August, 2009)
Fitzpatrick DJ, Kilpatrick JM, and McWreath H. (1988) Geohydrologic characteristics and simulated response to pumping stresses in the Sparta in east-central Arkansas. USGS WRIR 88-4201, 50p.
McWreath HC, Nelson JD, and Fitzpatrick DJ (1991). Simulated response to pumping stresses in Sparta northern La. and southern Arkansas (1889-1985). LDOTD Water Resources Technical Report No. 51, 51 p.
Kilpatrick, JM (1992). Simulated response to future pumping in the Sparta aquifer, Union County, Arkansas, 1990-2019. USGS WRIR 91-4161, 25 p. top
Hays PD, Lovelace JK, and Reed, TB (1998). Simulated response to pumping stress in the Sparta aquifer of southeastern Arkansas and north-central Louisiana, 1998-2027. USGS WRIR 98-4121, 25 p.
Hays, PD, 2000. Sustainable-yield estimation for the Sparta aquifer in Union County, AR. USGS WRIR 99-4274.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has been a principal source of data and modeling software used in investigations of the Sparta Aquifer in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. USGS works with DNR, the Department of Transportation and Development (LDOTD), the Capital Area Groundwater Conservation District Commission, Union County (Arkansas) Water Conservation Board, the Sparta Commission, and others.
Studies of Regional Geohydrologic Characteristics
Geohydrologic characteristics of the Sparta Aquifer in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana have been reported by, among others, Payne (1968), Hosman (1968, 1982), Broom et al (1984), Petersen et al (1985), Williamson et al (1990), Arthur and Taylor (1990, 1998), Fitzpatrick et al (1990), Brantly et al (1996), and Joseph (1998-2000). The reports by Payne, by Hosman, by Joseph, and by Brantly et al include potentiometric maps. Groundwater resources in specific areas of the Sparta region have been described by Sanford (1973-Morehouse, Ruston), Ryals (1982-Arcadia, Minden), and Trudeau and Buono (1985-West Monroe). References are provided by Brantly et al (3) and McKee and Clark (9). In 2002, Tomaszewski, Lovelace, and Ensminer published potentiometric maps constructed from USGS Sparta monitoring well water level data. (Ref. 15 and Figure 20)
Regional Ground-water Models as key water management tools
Water managers and users have been concerned about the ability of the Sparta aquifer to supply water for the long term in view of hydraulic head (well water level) decline greater than 1 foot per year for many years in many areas and hydraulic heads now below the top of the Sparta Sand in some areas. (8, 9)
In response to these concerns, in 1985, the USGS, with the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission (ASWCC) and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development began a project to study the hydrogeologic characteristics of the Sparta aquifer and evaluate the regional effects of increased pumpage. The primary product was a study using groundwater flow model MODFLOW88 software to simulate hydraulic heads in central and south Arkansas and north Louisiana from 1889 to 1985. (Fitzpatrick and others, 1990; McWreath and others, 1991; Kilpatrick, 1992) The researchers updated pumping data and predicted pumping scenarios on hydraulic heads in southern Arkansas from 1990-2019. Hays et al (1998) updated pumping data again and tested scenarios in south Arkansas and northern Louisiana, from 1998 to 2027. These studies are listed under Reference 27: 'Sparta Louisiana-south Arkansas Groundwater Models'.
In 2001, Meyer, Meyer, LeCroix, Hixson, with others, in a study for the Sparta Groundwater Conservation District Commission using MODFLOW software, optimized withdrawal rates to determine Sparta sustainable yields and to predict effects of different scenarios on hydraulic heads in Sparta wells in Louisiana from 2000 to 2025. (2)
In 2000 to 2002, USGS, ASWCC, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers worked cooperatively to modify and recalibrate the models of Fitzpatrick, McWreath and others for the purpose of evaluating potential pumping scenarios and optimizing withdrawal rates to determine sustainable yield for the Sparta aquifer in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. (8, 9) This is part of a continuing project to develop, maintain, and utilize numerical ground-water flow models as a water management tool.
