The future of the primary water supply in Webster Parish will be the focus of a Tuesday meeting. Set for 6 p.m. at the Minden Civic Center, the meeting is being held by the Sparta Groundwater Commission.
“The Sparta aquifer is currently at risk for depletion and permanent loss of capacity,” Rick Buckner, executive director of the Sparta Groundwater Commission, said. “We have a growing need for more water but the aquifer will not withstand future demands for more water.”
U.S. Geological Survey figures for 2014 show the Sparta Aquifer, for a second consecutive year, has had between 52 to 56 million gallons of water pumped out per day.
The current condition of the aquifer, along with a three-phase plan to relieve the problems, will be presented.
Hydrologist Ben McGee with the U.S. Geological Service will be the headline speaker.
The Sparta aquifer serves nearly 250,000 Louisianans in all or part of 16 parishes in the region. It stretches across south Arkansas and extends into the outcrop area in parts of Bossier, Webster, Claiborne, Bienville, Jackson, and Winn Parishes to the approximate limit of freshwater, which reaches from Morehouse Parish south to Caldwell Parish, then southwest to Sabine Parish.