Water worries continue as Louisiana state officials are preparing a statewide ground water management plan.

The unpredictability of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer and what may be affecting its level was evident Friday when new measurements taken at one of two monitoring wells in south Caddo Parish showed a decline after two months of increases.

The Mayo Road well was down 3.11 feet after shooting upward 10 feet four weeks ago and 4 feet the previous month. The drop has Gary Hanson, Red River Watershed Management Institute director, wondering if the waning of the summer heat wave means some have forgotten the area is still under a temporary state conservation declaration.

In the same area of concern is Keithville. The well there was up 1.9 feet Friday. It, like the Mayo Road well, had been spiraling downward since the late spring. However, another well near there, at Hannah’s Park, had been in a steady decline but has leveled.  (Water Worries Continue, Shreveport Times, October 2011)

The state’s draft proposal notes “The most significant and fundamental groundwater resource management issue facing Louisiana is the lack of timely and continuous acquisition of comprehensive aquifer-wide groundwater level measurements, water well production and groundwater quality data. Although the state has implemented various methods of obtaining such information, it is clear that the current methods fall short of producing a continuing volume of data in a coordinated manner available in a time frame sufficient for implementing a more efficient and effective means of managing the state’s groundwater resources to ensure both short and long term aquifer sustainability. Establishing improvements in data acquisition and dissemination must be adequately addressed in order for the state to develop and implement a successful groundwater management strategy and therefore should be addressed as a matter of priority.”