Challenges for creating a site-specific groundwater-use record for the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (central USA) from 1900 to 2010
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Abstract
Hydrologic budgets to determine groundwater availability are important tools for water-resource managers. One challenging component for developing hydrologic budgets is quantifying water use through time because historical and site-specific water-use data can be sparse or poorly documented. This research developed a groundwater-use record for the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (central USA) from 1900 to 2010 that related county-level aggregated water-use data to site-specific well locations and aquifer units. A simple population-based linear model, constrained to 0 million liters per day in 1900, provided the best means to extrapolate groundwater-withdrawal rates pre-1950s when there was a paucity of water-use data. To disaggregate county-level data to individual wells across a regional aquifer system, a programmatic hierarchical process was developed, based on the level of confidence that a well pumped groundwater for a specific use during a specific year. Statistical models tested on a subset of the best-available site-specific water-use data provided a mechanism to bracket historic groundwater use, such that groundwater-withdrawal rates ranged, on average, plus or minus 38% from modeled values. Groundwater withdrawn for public supply and domestic use accounted for between 48 and 74% of total groundwater use since 1901, highlighting that groundwater provides an important drinking-water resource. The compilation, analysis, and spatial and temporal extrapolation of water-use data remain a challenging task for water scientists, but is of paramount importance to better quantify groundwater use and availability.
Suggested Citation
Knierim, K.J., Nottmeier, A.M., Worland, S.C., Westerman, D.A., Clark, B.R., 2017, Challenges for creating a site-specific groundwater-use record for the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (central USA) from 1900 to 2010: Hydrogeology Journal, v. 25, no. 6, p. 1779-1793, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-017-1593-1.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Challenges for creating a site-specific groundwater-use record for the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (central USA) from 1900 to 2010 |
| Series title | Hydrogeology Journal |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10040-017-1593-1 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Publication Date | May 05, 2017 |
| Year Published | 2017 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Contributing office(s) | Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center |
| Description | 15 p. |
| First page | 1779 |
| Last page | 1793 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma |