Groundwater Monitoring         A Primary YMD Activity for 25 Years

Since 1990, the Yazoo Mississippi Delta Joint Water Management District (YMD) has collected water level information from the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVA) twice each year, once in April and again in October. These months were chosen to allow staff to obtain water levels before and after the groundwater irrigation season.  Measurements are gathered from a network of 550 survey wells located throughout the entire Mississippi Delta (above map).  Tablet computers configured with custom software are used by field staff to assist with data entry and quality control.

Early results indicate that most sites measured in the spring of 2015 experienced a slight increase from the previous year.

The amount of water that is gained or lost from the alluvial aquifer is also calculated and used to monitor short and long term changes (above Graph).

The information gathered from each water level survey is incorporated annually into the YMD geographic information system (GIS).  YMD then uses GIS to create water level elevation maps (above map). These maps serve as the primary data used by YMD to create short and long term aquifer water level change maps.  These changes are calculated annually from Spring to Spring and Fall to Fall.

GIS is also used to answer other questions regarding groundwater resources like those described in the above figure.       Please check www.ymd.org for the latest available information on groundwater levels and other YMD activities.

May 21, 2015