--> Abstract: Response of Aquifers to Ground-Water Pumping Increases and Decreases in the Houston, Texas Metropolitan Area, by John W. Nelson; #90085 (2008)
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Response of Aquifers to Ground-Previous HitWaterNext Hit Pumping Increases and Decreases in the Houston, Texas Metropolitan Area

John W. Nelson
Houston, TX

The Houston metropolitan region has plentiful Previous HitwaterNext Hit supplies available from several ground-Previous HitwaterNext Hit aquifers and surface Previous HitwaterNext Hit reservoirs. Domestic, public supply, industrial and irrigation Previous HitwaterNext Hit wells are completed in fresh Previous HitwaterNext Hit sands in the Chicot and/or Evangeline aquifer or the deeper Jasper aquifer. Dams and reservoirs have been constructed to provide surface Previous HitwaterNext Hit supplies to the region.

The hydrologic response of the aquifers to moderate to large ground-Previous HitwaterNext Hit withdrawals is a reduction in the hydrostatic head in the aquifers and a decline in the static Previous HitwaterNext Hit level in wells. Large static Previous HitwaterNext Hit-level declines of about 130 to 300 feet were observed in some wells completed in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers in east and southeast Harris County. Ground-Previous HitwaterNext Hit pumping also has resulted in the compaction of subsurface clays and land subsidence of approximately 1 foot to as much as 10 feet.

Regulations by the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District have reduced ground-Previous HitwaterNext Hit pumping in the east, southeast and central parts of the Houston metropolitan region. The hydrostatic heads in the aquifers have recovered in these same areas and the static Previous HitwaterNext Hit levels in some wells in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers in east and southeast Harris County have risen about 160 to 230 feet. Ground-Previous HitwaterNext Hit reductions are required in the future in the north and west parts of the region and aquifer Previous HitwaterNext Hit levels will rise in response.

The major Previous HitwaterNext Hit users, regulatory entities and Previous HitwaterNext Hit planners should not fixate solely on developing and distributing surface Previous HitwaterNext Hit supplies to areas presently served only by Previous HitwaterNext Hit wells. Regulators may need to refine their ground-Previous HitwaterNext Hit usage restrictions as more ground-Previous HitwaterNext Hit pumping and aquifer response data are evaluated in the future. The ground-Previous HitwaterNext Hit aquifers are an essential resource that should be utilized sufficiently to help meet future Previous HitwaterTop demands.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90085 © 2008 GCAGS 58th Annual Meeting, Houston, Texas