NE TEXAS GROUNDWATER SUPPLY
(There is not an underground water district in our NE Texas region, and as Texas landowners own the water underneath their property, a lot of water planners have their eyes cast enviously in our direction. And many are making guesses on what will happen in the future to influence, as much as possible, decisions being made today. Uncertainty causes conflict, which may account for all the various numbers on groundwater availability. One such estimate, by the Texas Water Development Board's Region D Water Planning Group, includes 55-million acre feet of "brackish" water - just in aquifer outcrop areas; water treatable to potable standards.)
Information and data herein are based on studies by The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, the Oklahoma Water Resource Board, the Texas Water Development Board, and the recent (2012) report, "Reorganizing Groundwater In Texas" by the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.
Supporting this information are two simple facts: (1) There has never been an aquifer go dry in Texas, and (2) as our NE Texas aquifers stay full, and there is no room for additional water, how can a rate of recharge be determined? You cannot add water to a full glass.
There is, however, a direct correlation of water in our NE Texas major and minor aquifers to the water in Arkansas and Oklahoma aquifers. Our aquifers are not only recharged by the infiltration of precipitation across outcrop areas, but by leakage flows from these and other aquifers within those two states.
The 16 aquifers of Arkansas are divided into two major regions of the state—the Coastal Plains of eastern Arkansas and the Interior Highlands of western Arkansas. These two regions are groundwater constituents for the Mississippi Embayment, which feeds 10 of the 16 primary aquifers, including the two primary aquifers in Arkansas—the Mississippi River Valley and the middle Claiborne (Sparta).
The Trinity Aquifer is the lowest-most Cretaceous aquifer in Arkansas (Nacatoch Sand, Ozan Formation, Tokio Formation, and the Trinity Group), and with a primary source of water coming from its relationship with the Woodbine Aquifer in our Northeast Texas region, it becomes a major aquifer in Texas.
The Red River is a major source of water for this area’s Woodbine Aquifer (a major source of water for the Trinity Aquifer). It also feeds water to the Blossom Sands, a recognized minor aquifer in our area, as well as to aquifers in Southwest Arkansas and Southeast Oklahoma.
In Oklahoma, and Arkansas, the Red River also feeds the Red River Alluvium Aquifer and the underlying Antlers Aquifer. Both act as a major source of water for the Woodbine, with the Antlers also being a major aquifer under several counties in our NE Texas area.
The Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer is an abundant groundwater source from overlying formations in NE Arkansas that become part of the Sparta Aquifer, then flows under NE Texas to South Central Texas. Groundwater extends appreciably at long distances from the outcrop area.
The Nacatoch Aquifer is one of the Cretaceous aquifers in Arkansas (Nacatoch Sand, Ozan Formation, Tokio Formation, and the Trinity Group). The Nacatoch Sand runs along a belt from the Northeast (Crowley’s Ridge) region of NE Arkansas to the Southwest part of Arkansas, and extending into NE Texas.
Aquifer discharge in our area is primarily through springs, limited withdrawals by wells, and inter-aquifer flow to the underlying and overlying aquifer systems.
The Trinity and the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifers (two of Texas’ largest), lie adjacent to the large population centers of Dallas and San Antonio, respectively; yet the study by the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, reports these aquifers have almost unlimited supplies of groundwater under both constant and historical consumption growth rate scenarios:
The report also states that "Our findings show there is a relative abundance of groundwater in all but two of the state's major aquifers. Furthermore, a review of the regulatory practices ... supported the conclusion that Texas has a regulation-induced shortage of groundwater."
Most of the debate about groundwater centers around the fact that it is the private property of the landowner, and estimates of availability may exist for many reasons, including unknown or unknowable complex factors in the aquifer under study: After all, it is underground and, as the Courts have stated, unseen. But since 1967, state water planners have known that East Texas was the "water rich" area of Texas. The coastal areas may have more rainfall and/or groundwater, but that region's supply is needed for the environmental health and productivity of the state's bays and estuaries.
For additional information: Groundwater@suddenlink.net
(There is not an underground water district in our NE Texas region, and as Texas landowners own the water underneath their property, a lot of water planners have their eyes cast enviously in our direction. And many are making guesses on what will happen in the future to influence, as much as possible, decisions being made today. Uncertainty causes conflict, which may account for all the various numbers on groundwater availability. One such estimate, by the Texas Water Development Board's Region D Water Planning Group, includes 55-million acre feet of "brackish" water - just in aquifer outcrop areas; water treatable to potable standards.)
Information and data herein are based on studies by The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, the Oklahoma Water Resource Board, the Texas Water Development Board, and the recent (2012) report, "Reorganizing Groundwater In Texas" by the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.
Supporting this information are two simple facts: (1) There has never been an aquifer go dry in Texas, and (2) as our NE Texas aquifers stay full, and there is no room for additional water, how can a rate of recharge be determined? You cannot add water to a full glass.
There is, however, a direct correlation of water in our NE Texas major and minor aquifers to the water in Arkansas and Oklahoma aquifers. Our aquifers are not only recharged by the infiltration of precipitation across outcrop areas, but by leakage flows from these and other aquifers within those two states.
The 16 aquifers of Arkansas are divided into two major regions of the state—the Coastal Plains of eastern Arkansas and the Interior Highlands of western Arkansas. These two regions are groundwater constituents for the Mississippi Embayment, which feeds 10 of the 16 primary aquifers, including the two primary aquifers in Arkansas—the Mississippi River Valley and the middle Claiborne (Sparta).
The Trinity Aquifer is the lowest-most Cretaceous aquifer in Arkansas (Nacatoch Sand, Ozan Formation, Tokio Formation, and the Trinity Group), and with a primary source of water coming from its relationship with the Woodbine Aquifer in our Northeast Texas region, it becomes a major aquifer in Texas.
The Red River is a major source of water for this area’s Woodbine Aquifer (a major source of water for the Trinity Aquifer). It also feeds water to the Blossom Sands, a recognized minor aquifer in our area, as well as to aquifers in Southwest Arkansas and Southeast Oklahoma.
In Oklahoma, and Arkansas, the Red River also feeds the Red River Alluvium Aquifer and the underlying Antlers Aquifer. Both act as a major source of water for the Woodbine, with the Antlers also being a major aquifer under several counties in our NE Texas area.
The Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer is an abundant groundwater source from overlying formations in NE Arkansas that become part of the Sparta Aquifer, then flows under NE Texas to South Central Texas. Groundwater extends appreciably at long distances from the outcrop area.
The Nacatoch Aquifer is one of the Cretaceous aquifers in Arkansas (Nacatoch Sand, Ozan Formation, Tokio Formation, and the Trinity Group). The Nacatoch Sand runs along a belt from the Northeast (Crowley’s Ridge) region of NE Arkansas to the Southwest part of Arkansas, and extending into NE Texas.
Aquifer discharge in our area is primarily through springs, limited withdrawals by wells, and inter-aquifer flow to the underlying and overlying aquifer systems.
The Trinity and the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifers (two of Texas’ largest), lie adjacent to the large population centers of Dallas and San Antonio, respectively; yet the study by the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, reports these aquifers have almost unlimited supplies of groundwater under both constant and historical consumption growth rate scenarios:
The report also states that "Our findings show there is a relative abundance of groundwater in all but two of the state's major aquifers. Furthermore, a review of the regulatory practices ... supported the conclusion that Texas has a regulation-induced shortage of groundwater."
Most of the debate about groundwater centers around the fact that it is the private property of the landowner, and estimates of availability may exist for many reasons, including unknown or unknowable complex factors in the aquifer under study: After all, it is underground and, as the Courts have stated, unseen. But since 1967, state water planners have known that East Texas was the "water rich" area of Texas. The coastal areas may have more rainfall and/or groundwater, but that region's supply is needed for the environmental health and productivity of the state's bays and estuaries.
For additional information: Groundwater@suddenlink.net