Maps showing altitude of the potentiometric surface and changes in water level of the Sparta sand and Memphis sand aquifers in Eastern Arkansas, spring 1983

The Sparta Sand and the Memphis Sand aquifers are a major source of industrial and public water supply and a minor but locally significant source of water for agricultural purposes in eastern and south-central Arkansas. The potentiometric surface map for this aquifer, compiled from water-level measurements made during the spring of 1983, indicates a generally southward potentiometric gradient. The potentiometric surface also illustrates the existence of three major cones of depression; one centered in Columbia County, one in Union County, and one in Jefferson County. Within the cones of depression, the majority of water withdrawn is utilized for industrial and public supply. The water-level change map for the Sparta Sand and the Memphis aquifer for the period between the springs of 1982 and 1983 shows overall a rise in water levels across the study area, including the cones of depression in Jefferson and Union Counties; however, water levels within the cone depression in Columbia County generally declined.