Capital Area Groundwater Modeling

 

Project Sponsors: Louisiana Board of Regents-ITRS, Capital Area Ground Water Conservation Commission of Louisiana, ExxonMobil, Entergy, and Southern Ionics, Charles Lamar Family Foundation

Investigators: Frank Tsai (LSU), George Voyiadjis (LSU), Randy Osborne (LSU), Krishna Paudel (LSU AgCenter), Yi-Jun Xu (LSU AgCenter)

Graduate Student: Hamid Vahdat-Aboueshagh, Ye-Hong Chen

Award Length: 2017-2020 (BoR-ITRS, CAGWCC, Industries), 2017-2019 (CLFF)

 

 Project Summary: Groundwater plays a vital role in economy of Capital Area. Industry section as a major user benefits from freshwater resources extracted from aquifers in this region. Overdrafting groundwater has caused groundwater depletion and saltwater intrusion from adjacent saline sources. Hence, the sustainability of the available groundwater resources is of paramount importance. The study of geology and identifying the connections between surface water and groundwater are key components to management of groundwater sustainability. The Capital Area project aimed to develop a geological model which covers five parishes of East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, East Baton Rouge, and West Baton Rouge. More than 4,500 driller borehole data as well as 700 electrical logs were collected and processed to build stratigraphy model for the region. The results of the study reveal significant connections between Raccourci Old Lake, False River, and Mississippi River with the groundwater systems. The study also underlines the links between the aquifers and surficial sands through which surface water from streams and precipitation can percolate into groundwater systems. In addition to remarkable insights that stratigraphy model offers to better understand the geological complexities, it also founds the groundwater model and surface water model for the Capital Area. The details of stratigraphy model results can be accessed through the link below: