Groundwater is a critical resource for farmers in the Arkansas Delta and last year the amount of water in those natural aquifers declined, according to the 2024 Arkansas Groundwater Protection and Management Report.
When a series of water wells were measured last year and compared to 2023, three-quarters of the wells, on average, had a more than one-foot drop in level.
“Water level data from the current year are compared with previous data on a well-to-well basis in one, five, and ten-year intervals to illustrate the water level change of the aquifer over time. For the one-year change comparison, 299 of the 467 wells measured in spring 2024 shared data with the spring 2023 dataset, and when compared, give a total average water level change of -1.35 feet with 223 wells (75%) showing a decline in level,” the report stated…