Print this page Groundwater Engineering for Water Supplies - The Mississippi Embayment Aquifer System
Conrad G. Leszkiewicz, PhD, PE, PG
Course Outline
The dominant application of groundwater engineering is the provision of water supplies for municipalities, agriculture, and industries. Sufficient groundwater supplies are essential for the health and economic well-being of the United States. With increasing demands for water from growing world populations, agriculture, and industry, as well as growing intermittent, if not long-term shortages of surface water due to droughts, groundwater is becoming an even more important source of fresh water for society.
This 6-hour course will provide an introduction to the Mississippi Embayment Aquifer system, which is the third largest principal water supply aquifer system in the United States. The aquifer system supplies water for agriculture, aquaculture, and substantial municipal water supply needs including all of the potable water for Memphis, Tennessee. The aquifer system includes two vitally important aquifers: the unconfined Mississippi River Valley Alluvial and the confined Middle Claiborne aquifers. This course will discuss the geohydrology, uses, and changes in the aquifer system, as well as present and future concerns for this resource.
This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to
enhance the understanding of the course materials.
Learning Objective
At the conclusion of this course, the student would have achieved an understanding of:
- The importance of the Mississippi Embayment Aquifer System;
- The areal extent and physiological setting of the aquifer system;
- The major hydrologic units of the aquifer system;
- The predevelopment geohydrology of the aquifer system;
- The history of groundwater development and usage in the aquifer system;
- Historic changes in groundwater levels in different areas of the aquifer system;
- The MERAS groundwater model used for aquifer assessments;
- The post-development geohydrology of the system; and
- The potential effects from future climate trends.
This course is intended for civil-environmental engineers, geohydrologists, municipal planners, manufacturers and other professionals concerned with groundwater resources.
Benefit to Attendees
The subject matter of this course will be of benefit to professionals involved in water resource development and management including civil-environmental engineers, geohydrologists, municipal planners, agricultural entities, manufacturers and others concerned with groundwater resources. It will also be of benefit to others concerned with protecting these valuable water resources. The course provides a broad understanding of the importance of groundwater resources to society.
Course Introduction
In this course you will learn about the third largest principal aquifer system in the United States, the Mississippi Embayment Aquifer System. This aquifer system contains the unconfined Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, which is vital to agriculture; and a critical municipal water supply aquifer, the confined Middle Claiborne aquifer that provides all of the potable water for Memphis, Tennessee, as well as water for other municipalities. You will also learn of the challenges facing users of the aquifer system.
Course Content
In this lesson, you are required to download and study the following documents: Pages 1-42 of USGS Professional Paper 1785, 2011: Groundwater Availability of the Mississippi Embayment, B.R. Clark, R.M. Hart, and J.J. Gurdak; and Pages D1-D44 of USGS Professional Paper 1416-D, 1996: Hydrology of the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer, South-Central United States, D.J. Ackerman.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1785/pdf/PP1785.pdf
http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1416d/report.pdfPlease click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.
Course Summary
The information provided in this course will detail the special importance of the third largest groundwater resource in the United States and concerns for its future.
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
