Stream and aquifer water exchange in Mississippi Embayment under intensive pumping and extreme climate: A century‐long assessment

Abstract

The Mississippi Embayment (ME) is one of the fastest groundwater depletion zones in the world. This study investigated stream-aquifer water exchange in the ME over a 115-year period (1900 to 2014) under normal and extreme climates (i.e., precipita-tion increased and decreased by 20%) with and without agricultural pumping for crop irrigation. The average daily water flow from the aquifer to the streams was always greater  than  vice  versa  under  all  climate  scenarios.  Under  normal  climate,  the  aver-age  daily  water  flow  from  the  aquifer  to  the  streams  was  2.52  times  larger  without  pumping than with pumping. While the extreme climate had discernable impacts, the groundwater  pumping,  but  not  extreme  climate,  was  the  major  factor  for  low  flows  and drying streams in the ME. These findings are essential to groundwater resource management in the region and provide a critical reference for other parts of the world with similar conditions.

Citation

Ouyang, Ying; Jin, Wei; Leininger, Theodor D. 2024. Stream and aquifer water exchange in Mississippi Embayment under intensive pumping and extreme climate: A century‐long assessment. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association. 606(1) https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13206.