By TOM KELLY
Editor and Publisher

When the annual area rainfall is running 50-percent and better above average, mounting up to approach 90 inches, streams are bank-full, logging woods are boggy and boggier, and clouds still crowd the area skies, it is difficult to take seriously a discussion about a potential shortage of water.

Looking beyond the soggy skies in Ruston, Louisiana on Friday, December 14, the Sparta Groundwater Conservation District Commission rolled out an engineering study showing historic and long-range projections of the regional underground aquifer, anticipating future consumption based on population growth, commercial and industrial needs, conservation measures and alternative sources of water to preserve the aquifer.

The Sparta study is the first of what likely will be several in various parts of the State, to form the basis for recommending legislation in the 2003 session of the Louisiana Legislature, which is mandated to adopt a state water policy at that time.

The 2001 Legislature created the Groundwater Management Commission, with an advisory task force, to make a comprehensive study of the State's water resources and uses, as the basis for a set of state laws regulating water uses.

Karen Gautreaux, who represents the Governor's office on the Groundwater Management Commission, spoke briefly at the Ruston meeting last month. Ms. Gautreaux said that recommendations of the Sparta Commission will be reviewed by the State organization, which will authorize any specific actions on groundwater regulations.

@Firstpar = The Sparta study was done by the engineering firm of Meyer, Meyer, LaCroix & Hixson, Inc., of Alexandria as the first step in defining a long-range plan for use of the regional aquifer which serves most of North Louisiana, southeastern Arkansas, and portions of southwestern Tennessee and western Mississippi.

The Sparta groundwater study is a step in a years-long discussion of the declining underground water level in the Sparta formation from which industrial, residential, and other water consumption draws in a 16-parish area of North Louisiana. As early as the late 1960s, the Ruston City Council began discussing the need for an alternative source of municipal water because of the potential for over-use of the Sparta underground supply. Within the recent past, efforts by the Ruston municipal government and the Lincoln Parish Police Jury brought together representatives from the 16-parish North Louisiana region which uses the Sparta as its primary water source, to begin long-range planning for conservation and alternative sources. As a result of the regional effort, the Legislature created the Sparta Groundwater Conservation District Commission, with representatives from public bodies in the region serving as commissioners.

The Commission's work is funded by State appropriations and contributions from the Parish governing bodies.

According to the study presented by Meyer, Meyer, LaCroix & Hixson last month, areas of greatest drawdown from the Sparta aquifer are in Ouachita, Union, Jackson, and Lincoln parishes in North Louisiana, as a result of residential and industrial uses. Largest users of water are paper mills located in West Monroe and Hodge, Louisiana, with other industrial and residential uses in the four parishes resulting in decline of over two feet per year in the Sparta beneath their boundaries.
Parishes with annual declines between one and two feet include Caddo, Bienville, and Claiborne.
Parishes with annual declines of less than one foot per year include Morehouse, Webster, Winn, Bossier, Sabine, Caldwell, LaSalle, Natchitoches, and Richland.

The Sparta underground water resource is re-supplied through two lines of outcropping Sparta sands, one running from northeast to southwest, beginning in western Tennessee, running through southeast Arkansas, and northwest Louisiana, the other running north to south thorough northern Mississippi. (See graphic, Page One). Water from rainfall enters the ground through the porous surface along those outcrop zones, then seeps downward in curving planes through the Sparta sands to levels up to 1,000 feet deep at the lower limits.

Thomas D. Hixson, senior consultant with the engineering company, said, "We're not about to run out of water this year or next year, but over time, without conservation and alternative sources, there will be a problem."
To arrive at its projections, the engineers pulled together historic data on drawdown from the U.S. Geological Survey, on current industrial, commercial, and residential uses, on population projections from the Louisiana Tech School of Business, on employment levels from various estimates, and created a computer model to predict the level of drawdown based on several sets of assumptions.

Projections out to the year 2025 show three North Louisiana parishes - Lincoln, Ouachita, and Bossier - expected to gain significantly.

Greatest population face is forecast for Bossier parish, at 30.841 gain, from 98,310 in 2000 up 128,630 in 2025.
Lincoln Parish is forecast at 25.4%, from 42,609 in 2000 up to 53,313 in 2025.
Ouachita is forecast at 22.34% gain, from 147,250 in 2000 to 180,151 in 2025.
Eight parishes are forecast to lose population and employment during the period - including Bienvile, Claiborne, Jackson, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Richland, Webster, and Winn.

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