Aquifers in the United States

Withdrawal rates from the Ogallala Aquifer.

Aquifers in the United States

An example of a significant and sustainable carbonate aquifer is the Edwards Aquifer^[1] in central Texas. This carbonate aquifer has historically been providing high quality water for nearly 2 million people, and even today, is completely full because of tremendous recharge from a number of area streams, rivers and lakes. The primary risk to this resource is human development over the recharge areas.

List of notable aquifers

Wetlands contrast the arid landscape around Middle Spring, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Utah.

• The Ogallala Aquifer of the central United States is one of the world's great aquifers, but in places it is being rapidly depleted by growing municipal use, and continuing agricultural use. This huge aquifer, which underlies portions of eight states, contains primarily fossil water from the time of the last glaciation. Annual recharge, in the more arid parts of the aquifer, is estimated to total only about 10 percent of annual withdrawals.

• The Floridan Aquifer underlies the entire state of Florida as well as southern portions of Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, and covers an area of 100,000 square miles. It developed millions of years ago during the late Paleocene to early Miocene periods, when Florida was underwater, and is one of the world's most productive aquifers.

• The Edwards Aquifer in Texas is important as a water supply aquifer and the source of major springs.

• Known by many names, The Basin and Range Carbonate Aquifer is an important and unique aquifer in that it covers several western states and basins. Groundwater flows through fractured carbonate rock beneath basins and leads to many regional springs and water features, like Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge and the springs at Death Valley. This has been studied in extensive projects like the USGS BARCASS report^[2] and is controversial due to water issues like that in Snake Valley, Utah.

• The Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer, located under the Pine Barrens (New Jersey) of southern New Jersey, contains 17 trillion US gallons (64 km³) of some of the purest water in the United States.

• The Mahomet Aquifer supplies water to some 800,000 people in central Illinois and contains approximately four trillion US gallons (15 km³) of water. The Mahomet Aquifer Consortium^[3] was formed in 1998 to study the aquifer with hopes of ensuring the water supply and reducing potential user conflicts.

• The Spokane Valley - Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer^[4] covers 325 square miles (842 km²) in eastern Washington and Idaho. It provides drinking water for some 400,000 people.

• The state of Washington has numerous large aquifers, as shown in this map of the Hydrogeology of Washington State.

• The San Diego Formation is a water aquifer for San Diego, California ^[5] and Los Angeles, California.

• The San Joaquin River is underlain by one of the largest aquifers in the Western United States.

References

External links

• Map Aquifers in the United States