Potentiometric map of the Paleozoic aquifer in northeastern Mississippi, November and December 1982

This potentiometric map is the second map of the Gordo aquifer in a series of maps prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Natural Resources , Bureau of Land and Water Resources, delineating the potentiometric surfaces of the major aquifers in Mississippi. The potentiometric surface of the Gordo aquifer slopes generally to the west away from the outcrop area and it is marked by large ground-water cones of depression in the Tupelo and Columbus areas. Water levels in or near the outcrop of the Gordo aquifer show little long-term change. Heavy withdrawals in the downdip area have caused water-level declines of about 2 feet per year since 1978 in much of the confined part of the aquifer. The water-level decline in the Tupelo area has averaged about 5 feet per year since 1966; however, there has been water-level rise at the center of the cone of depression as a result of a change in the distribution of pumping. (USGS)