Sparta Front Page
Panel to confront Sparta crisis
Laura Bond, Reporter
07-26-2009
A state commission with the power to make a difference in the long-standing north Louisiana water crisis will be in town Tuesday.
Members of the Louisiana Groundwater Resources Commission will converge at Louisiana Tech University’s Institute for Micromanufacturing to conduct their business, which is slated to include discussion of the declining Sparta Aquifer.
The aquifer — located hundreds of feet underground — serves as a source of potable water for 14 parishes in north Louisiana. The aquifer’s water levels have been declining for decades as water is utilized for residential, commercial and industrial use faster than it can be replenished. The situation has grown critical as water quality has been impacted in some parishes because of saltwater encroachment from the dropping aquifer levels.
As the Louisiana Police Jury Association’s representative, Lincoln Parish Police Juror Mickey Mays is one of two Lincoln Parish residents on the state Groundwater Resources Commission. He encouraged local residents to attend Tuesday’s meeting.
“It’s important that the general public have a say in what we do, and this is a good opportunity to hear from concerned citizens,” Mays said. “There are a number of issues we’re trying to plan statewide and trying to get a plan how to resolve some of the problems of the Sparta. It’s clear several of the state’s aquifers have problems, but the Sparta is the most critical.”
Ruston Mayor Dan Hollingsworth, who serves as the Louisiana Municipal Association’s appointee to the Groundwater Resources Commission, echoed Mays’ sentiments.
“There will be a point at the end of the meeting for brief public comments, and we encourage local residents, as well as those living all throughout the Sparta Aquifer area, to express their concerns to the commission,” Hollingsworth said. “I’m hopeful by having the meeting here in Ruston, people will take a genuine interest and encourage the state to make a concrete plan for the Sparta Aquifer and then implement the plan.”
The Groundwater Resources Commission, made up of representatives from throughout Louisiana, serves to monitor state water wells and develop the state’s groundwater resource management program. Hollingsworth said the commission is charged by state statute to manage and care for the state’s aquifers, but commission action regarding
the Sparta remains to be seen. So far, Hollingsworth said initiatives to reduce usage of the Sparta — such as the West Monroe Graphics Packaging Wastewater Recycling Project and Lincoln-Union Water Supply — have been proposed by individual communities. Ultimately, he said, action must come from the state if the region’s primary source of drinking water is to be saved.
“It should not be left to the discretion and initiative of local communities, but it has been because there has been no action on the part of the state,” Hollingsworth said. “Monroe, Farmerville and Ruston cannot afford to fix the Sparta by ourselves — we may have the will, but not the authority or finances. The whole state has to be involved. We need the state to coordinate these activities and to be out there pushing them. We’re trying to urge the Groundwater Commission to come up with a plan and take action.”
So far, Hollingsworth said the western parishes have not experienced the decline of the aquifer as much as parishes in this region, since the aquifer recharges from rainfall in the western parishes. However, he believes the west will feel the effects of the decline in the next couple of decades as well, if no action is taken. Limiting individual usage of the Sparta is only one part of the solution, and alternative sources of water must be tapped, Hollingsworth said. It would take millions of dollars to find and implement new water sources and get north Louisiana’s industries off the aquifer, he said, but the effort is critical to saving the Sparta.
The aquifer is being overused by about 15 million-17 million gallons per day, and industries use about 30 million of the 67 million gallons of water drawn from the Sparta daily.
__________
Business to be discussed
• Summary of existing groundwater statutes and 2009 state legislation impacting groundwater
• Commissioner’s semi-annual groundwater resources management report — Gary Snellgrove, DNR Office of Conservation.
• Sparta Aquifer update, discussion of request for cost-sharing by Union County Water Conservation Board of Sparta Aquifer monitoring wells sited in Louisiana and presentation on Sparta Commission outreach activities
• State water projects approved in session and update on the Sparta Recycle Project from West Monroe Mayor Dave Norris
• Progress on Statewide Groundwater Conservation Plan
• Upcoming Louisiana groundwater aquifer workshop
• Update on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water management resource study
Want to go?
The Department of Natural Resource’s Office of Conservation Louisiana Groundwater Resources Commission will meet at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Louisiana Tech University’s Institute for Micromanufacturing auditorium, located on Hergot Avenue in Ruston.
Other Sparta Headlines
