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Map of La Salle Parish, Louisiana, shaded by the depth of the base of fresh groundwater, with Catahoula Lake and the Little River in the east, towns such as Jena, Olla and Tullos, the line of the cross-section, and USGS wells and stream sites

La Salle Parish: depth to the base of fresh groundwater, and USGS monitoring sites. USGS.

Water use at a glance

In 2010 the parish withdrew about 2.40 million gallons a day (Mgal/d): 2.29 from groundwater and 0.10 from surface water. Measured every five years since 1960, withdrawals were highest in 1960.

UseGroundwaterSurface waterTotal (Mgal/d)
Public supply2.180.002.18
Rural domestic0.060.000.06
Livestock0.010.030.03
General irrigation0.000.080.08
Aquaculture0.060.000.06
Total2.290.102.40

Stacked bar chart of water withdrawals every five years from 1960 to 2010, mostly groundwater, highest in 1960 and lower in later years

Water withdrawals, 1960–2010. USGS.

Groundwater

Fresh groundwater (chloride 250 mg/L or less) is found along the northern parish line and in the central and southern parish, down to as deep as about 800 feet below sea level (NGVD 29). The main sources are the Mississippi River alluvial, Upland terrace, Catahoula and Cockfield aquifers. Recharge comes from rain, leakage between aquifers and seasonal streamflow.

In 2014 the state listed 168 active wells in these aquifers: 107 domestic, 35 public supply, 20 industrial and 6 irrigation.

Cross-section from northwest to southeast through La Salle Parish showing the Upland terrace aquifer at the surface, the Catahoula aquifer, the Vicksburg–Jackson confining layer, the Cockfield aquifer and the Cook Mountain confining layer dipping southeast, with saltwater in deeper aquifers

Generalized northwest-to-southeast section through the parish (modified from Fisk, 1938). USGS.

AquiferWhereActive wells (2014)Well depthsYields (gal/min)Pumped, 2010 (Mgal/d)
Mississippi River alluvialnear the surface from about 2 mi northwest of Catahoula Lake to the parish's southern tip; 150–200 ft of sand and gravel under silt and clay9 (5 domestic, 2 irrigation, 2 industrial)24–220 ft100–1,500<0.003
Upland terraceat the surface over much of the central parish; 30–50 ft thick in the north, 100–150 ft in the center82 (61 domestic, 17 public, 3 irrigation, 1 industrial)8–227 ft2–3501.28 (1.25 public supply)
Catahoulaat or near the surface across the central parish, southwest to northeast; fresh to about 800 ft below sea level in the south; salty in the southwest corner38 (25 domestic, 9 public, 3 industrial, 1 irrigation)21–873 ft24–3500.16
Cockfieldfresh only in a 3–7 mi band along the northern line; 400–800 ft thick there; surfaces near Olla39 (16 domestic, 14 industrial, 9 public)25–1,665 ft3–3350.86 (0.85 public supply)

Notes by aquifer:

  • Alluvial: unconfined or partly confined; water moves northeast toward a low near the east end of Catahoula Lake.
  • Upland terrace: fed by rain and flowing toward stream valleys; salty near Catahoula Lake. Water is soft and generally within secondary limits for color, iron, manganese and dissolved solids.
  • Catahoula: discharges mostly to nearby streams, with the rest moving south toward the Little River valley. Water levels changed little from 2002 to 2012.
  • Cockfield: dips southeast from about 400 ft above sea level in the northwest to more than 2,000 ft below it in the southeast, under the Vicksburg–Jackson clays. Clay above and below has kept saltwater from being flushed out downdip. Water levels in well La-254A have been fairly steady since 2001. Water generally met limits for chloride, iron and manganese but exceeded them for color and dissolved solids.

Line graph of water levels in three wells from 2000 to 2014: La-172 (Catahoula) highest and steady, La-254A (Cockfield) lower and steady, and La-124 (Catahoula) lowest and fluctuating

Water levels in Catahoula aquifer wells La-124 and La-172 and Cockfield aquifer well La-254A. USGS.

Groundwater quality

Medians; values in mg/L unless noted:

AquiferColor (PCU)pHHardnessChlorideIron (µg/L)Manganese (µg/L)Dissolved solids
Upland terrace, 1939–84 (72 wells)06.4159.8902574
Catahoula, 1945–83 (44 wells)57.6151012050268
Cockfield, 1939–85 (39 wells)1008.483511030622

Surface water

Only about 0.10 Mgal/d of surface water was used in 2010. The parish's waters include the Little River, Bayou Funny Louis, Chickasaw and Little Chickasaw Creeks, Hemphill Creek, Trout Creek, Saline Lake, Muddy Bayou, Big Saline Bayou, French Fork Little River and Catahoula Lake.

StreamPeriodAverage flowDrainage area
Hemphill Creek at Nebo1978–9563 cubic feet per second35 sq mi
Bayou Funny Louis near Trout1939–70123 cubic feet per second92 sq mi
Little River near Rochelle1958–96, 1998–20112,182 cubic feet per second1,899 sq mi
  • Little River near Rochelle (1964–86 samples): generally soft, within limits for pH, chloride and sulfate, with dissolved oxygen generally above 5 mg/L — the minimum for a diverse warmwater fish community, including sport fish.
  • Catahoula Lake, the largest natural inland freshwater lake in Louisiana at more than 46 square miles, lies on the Little River and is a key stopover and wintering area for hundreds of thousands of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. It is managed for high water in winter and spring and drawdown in summer and fall, mainly for bird habitat. Samples from 1976–78 showed soft water, dissolved oxygen generally above 5 mg/L, and median manganese of 90 µg/L.

Sources

Based on Vincent E. White and Lawrence B. Prakken, "Water resources of La Salle Parish, Louisiana," U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2014–3089 (2015), prepared with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The map, charts, section and tables are taken from the fact sheet's PDF. The text gives Catahoula Lake's median manganese as 90 mg/L; its table gives 90 µg/L, used here.

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