Water resources of Tensas Parish, Louisiana

Abstract

Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Tensas Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. In 2014, 38.01 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn in Tensas Parish, including about 33.02 Mgal/d from groundwater sources and about 4.99 Mgal/d from surface-water sources. Withdrawals for agricultural use, composed of general irrigation, rice irrigation, aquaculture, and livestock, accounted for about 97 percent (36.88 Mgal/d) of the total water withdrawn. Other use categories included public supply and rural domestic. Water-use data collected at 5-year intervals from 1960 to 2010 and again in 2014 indicated that water withdrawals peaked in 2014. The large increase in 1985 relative to 1980 and 1990 for groundwater usage is likely an outlier that is attributable to a change in methodology for estimating rice irrigation. A transition in available farm-by-farm data from 1980 to 1985 to 1990 resulted in three different methods being used for estimating groundwater withdrawals for rice irrigation.