Surface-water altitude data, from streamgages, considered for the potentiometric surface map, Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, spring 2016

A potentiometric surface map for spring 2016 was created for the Mississippi River Valley alluvial (MRVA) aquifer, which was referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88), using most of the available groundwater-altitude data from wells and surface-water-altitude data from streamgages. Most of the wells were measured annually or one time, after installation, but some wells were measured more than one time in a year and a small number of wells were measured continually. Streamgages were typically operated continuously. The potentiometric surface map for 2016 was created as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Availability and Use Science Program to support investigations that characterize the MRVA aquifer. The potentiometric contours ranged from 10 feet to 340 feet above NAVD 88. The regional direction of groundwater flow was generally towards the south-southwest, except in areas of groundwater-altitude depressions, where groundwater flows into the depressions, and near rivers, where groundwater flow generally parallels the flow in the rivers. There are large depressions in the potentiometric surface in the lower half of the Cache region and in most of the Grand Prairie and Delta regions.