Water Resource Studies

HISTORY OF PROJECTS ADDRESSING
WATER RESOURCE NEEDS IN SOUTHEAST ALABAMA

(Many of the studies are available in GIS format)

• 1994 - 1996       “Hydrologic Characterization of the Water Resources of the Choctawhatchee-Pea Rivers Watershed”.  Multi-year study conducted by the Geological Survey of Alabama (GSA), co-sponsored by the Authority, for the development of a predictive model to facilitate long-term planning for floods, droughts, and water-supply needs.  The models incorporated interrelationships among groundwater storage, surface water storage, precipitation, stream flow, overland runoff, recharge, evaporation, aquifer characteristics and properties, ground and surface water use, and future water-use demands.

• 1997 - 2001  “Implementation Assessment for Water Resource Availability, Protection, and Utilization for the Choctawhatchee, Pea and Yellow Rivers Watersheds”.  Multi-year study conducted by the GSA, co-sponsored by the Authority, for the establishment of watershed-wide data set of pertinent geologic information for groundwater exploration and development of water supplies from five streams.  The groundwater portion of the study was one of the most comprehensive and detailed geologic investigations ever conducted in the history of the State of Alabama.  The study evaluated 203,000 feet of subsurface geology from 317 water wells and deep oil and gas wells which constituted the data from which the 638 miles of cross section was developed.  The study mapped the geological history for the ten-county area for the last 100 million years.

• 2001  -  2002   “Surface Water Assessment for the Yellow River Watershed”  A study conducted by the GSA, co-sponsored by the Authority, to establish a comprehensive data base of water quality, water quantity, and biological data that may be utilized to evaluate the hydrologic and geochemical characteristics of the Yellow River watershed and the viability of Five Runs Creek and the Yellow River as potential public-water supply sources.  The data will be necessary to Alabama officials who are considering possible cooperative water source development projects with northwest Florida.

• 2002    “An Isotopic and Geochemical Assessment of Water from the Aquifers of Cretaceous Age”.  A study conducted by the GSA, co-sponsored by the Authority, to determine the possibility for good quality groundwater from the deep Tuscaloosa Group aquifers to exist along strike and downgradient from deep (more than 1,500 feet) water production in Pike, Dale, Coffee, and Henry counties.  The study also determined the age and recharge history of sampled waters in the aquifers by isotopic analyses.

• 2001  -  2002  “Needs Assessment”.  A study conducted by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, co-sponsored by the Authority, to assess historical and existing water demand for the ten southeastern counties and make long-range forecasts of population growth and water demand for the next 50 years.  Municipal and industrial water demand forecasts were developed for the ten southeastern counties.

• 2001 – 2002  “Wetlands Assessment for Proposed Water Supply Reservoirs”  A study conducted by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, co-sponsored by the Authority, to determine the approximate area of wetlands, by type, that would be affected by the five potential  water supply impoundment areas and to determine the range of probably mitigation requirements for each.

• 2001  -  2002 “Agricultural Water Demand”.   A study conducted by Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), co-sponsored by the Authority, to determine historical agricultural water use and to project water demand for all agricultural activities within the ten-county watershed management area for the next 50 years.

• 2003  -  2004  “Surface Water Assessment for Lightwood Knot Creek and Lake Frank Jackson, Northern Covington County”.  A multi-year study conducted by the GSA, co-sponsored by the Authority, to evaluate Lake Frank Jackson at Opp and its primary tributary, Lightwood Knot Creek, to determine the initial viability of this water source as a potential future public water supply.

• 2002  -  2004   “Water Supply Alternatives Study for Southeast Alabama”.  Multi-year study conducted by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District,  co-sponsored by the Authority, to determine future water demands for the regions, assess the capacity of existing sources to satisfy future demands, and to evaluate alternative sources for future water supply.

• 2004    “Water Quality Assessment for Little Choctawhatchee River and Blackwood Creek”.  A study conducted by the GSA, co-sponsored by the Authority, to verify the presence of lead and mercury in the water and sediments from Little Choctawhatchee River and to perform an initial evaluation of toxic contaminates in water and sediments downstream from the Super Fund site in Dunham and Blackwood Creeks.

• 2004  -  2005  “Determination of Stress on Southeast Alabama Aquifers and Estimation of Adequacy of Groundwater Sources”.  A multi-year study conducted by the GSA, co-sponsored by the Authority, the City of Dothan, Alabama and the City of Enterprise, Alabama to perform a recharge estimate and determination of stress placed on aquifers by water production in southeast Alabama.

• 2004 – 2005  “Lake Jackson Hydrogeologic Assessment”  A study conducted by the GSA, co-sponsored by the Authority, the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, the Covington County Commission, and the Florala Water and Sewer Board, to conduct a hydrogeologic assessment of the Lake Jackson area of southern Covington County, Alabama.  The study will include collection of geologic, hydrologic, groundwater recharge, and lake structure data to determine if Lake Jackson at Florala, an ancient Pleistocene sinkhole, might be developed as a significant source of potable water for southern Alabama and possibly northwest Florida.

• 2005 – 2006  “Study of Direct Withdrawal for Water Supply, Choctawhatchee River Near Bellwood, Alabama”  A study being conducted by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, co-sponsored by the Authority, to investigate the option of direct withdrawal from the Choctawhatchee River with off-stream storage near Bellwood, AL in northern Geneva County and southern Dale County to accomplish the water supply needs of the area.