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Predicted effects on ground water of construction of Divide Cut section, Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, northeastern Mississippi, using a digital model

Open-File Report 81-649
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https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr81649

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Abstract

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, connecting the Tennessee River in northeastern Mississippi with the Gulf of Mexico, is currently (1980) under construction. The Divide Section, the northernmost 39 miles of the Waterway, will consist, from north to south, of (1) a dredged channel, (2) the Divide Cut, and (3) an artifical lake impounded by the Bay Springs Dam. In all three , water will be at Tennessee River level. A three-dimensional digital model covering 3,273 square miles was constructed to simulate ground-water flow in the Gordo and Eutaw Formations and the Coffee Sand in the vicinity of the Divide Section. The model was calibrated to preconstruction water levels, then used to simulate the effects of stresses imposed by the construction of the Divide Section. The model indicates that the system stabilizes after major changes in conditions within a few months. The Divide Cut acts as a drain, lowering water levels as much as 55 feet. Drawdowns of 5 feet occur as much as 8 miles from the Cut. The 80-foot-high Bay Springs Dam raises ground-water levels by 5 feet as far as 6 miles from its impoundment. Drawdown is not likely to affect public water supplies significantly, but probably will adversely affect a relatively small number of private wells. (USGS)
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Predicted effects on ground water of construction of Divide Cut section, Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, northeastern Mississippi, using a digital model
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 81-649
DOI 10.3133/ofr81649
Edition -
Year Published 1981
Language ENGLISH
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey,
Description iv, 54 p. ill., maps ;28 cm.
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