Challenges for creating a site-specific groundwater-use record for the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (central USA) from 1900 to 2010

Knierim, Katherine J.; Nottmeier, Anna M.; Worland, Scott; Westerman, Drew A.; Clark, Brian R.

Challenges for creating a site-specific groundwater-use record for the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (central USA) from 1900 to 2010 | Les défis pour créer un relevé d’utilisation des eaux souterraines pour le système aquifère des Plateaux Ozark (Centre des Etats-Unis d’Amérique) de 1900 à 2010 Desafíos para la creación de un registro específico de sitios de uso de agua subterránea para el sistema acuífero de Ozark Plateaus (EEUU central) de 1900 a 2010 创建1900年到2010年(美国中部)Ozark高原含水层系统特定场地地下水利用记录的挑战 Desafios para criação de um registro do uso das águas subterrâneas em um sítio específico para o sitema aquífero dos Platôs Ozark (EUA central) de 1900 a 2010

2017

Knierim, Katherine J. | Nottmeier, Anna M. | Worland, Scott | Westerman, Drew A. | Clark, Brian R.

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 Groundwater withdrawn for public supply and domestic use accounted for between 48 and 74% of total groundwater use since 1901, highlighting that groundwater provides an important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.

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