Helicopter to collect data on alluvial aquifer
Greenwood Commonwealth
By KATHRYN EASTBURN
A helicopter towing a 30-foot-long torpedo-shaped instrument will fly near Money in northern Leflore County next week. The instrument will collect data for the U.S. Geological Survey about water levels in the alluvial aquifer here and throughout the Mississippi Delta.
It’s a bird! It’s a plane!
It’s a U.S. Geological Survey water-monitoring device.
Next week, skywatchers in northern Leflore County around Money will likely notice a helicopter in the sky with a 30-foot-long torpedo-shaped tube dangling 100 feet below it, flying at an altitude of 200 feet.
What they’ll be seeing is a data collection tool designed to collect information on the alluvial aquifer that supplies most water for agricultural irrigation, aquaculture and wildlife habitat in the Delta.
The equipment will be on display for the curious next Tuesday at Provine Helicopter Service at Greenwood-Leflore Airport, with USGS staff on hand to describe their data collection project and answer questions.
Flights will begin next Wednesday, weather permitting.
Scientists at USGS have developed this instrument to aid them in studying declining water levels in the aquifer, a concern of the Delta Sustainable Water Resources Task Force, led by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to develop sustainable strategies for the future.
The helicopter-based survey will begin north of Greenwood and will eventually survey the entire Mississippi Alluvial Plain that includes portions of Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee and Missouri. Data will be used to improve computer models measuring regional water availability and guiding efforts at conservation and redistribution.
Last year, the USGS — working with the Agricultural Research Service, the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Joint Water Management District and MDEQ — installed groundwater monitoring wells at the Bush farm near Money to begin collecting data for the project.
“In collecting and analyzing the data on our farm, the USGS team was easy to work with and careful not to disturb our operations,” John Bush said in an MDEQ press release. “I am confident that this helicopter-based data collection will go smoothly, and I am convinced that the work is important to the future of agriculture in the Delta.”
Kate Whittington, director of MDEQ’s Office of Land and Water Resources, said Mississippi is
fortunate that the work is beginning in the state.
“The data collected will help us better understand the alluvial aquifer. Accurate information is critical for the evaluation of alternatives to provide sustainable water resources for irrigation, aquaculture and wildlife enhancement.”
