In protecting our rivers and watersheds, the quantity and quality of ground and surface water are of concern. The US Geological Survey (USGS) does much of the aquifer assessment and have recently completed a study of the Ozark Aquifer in the Southwest Missouri area. http://ks.water.usgs.gov/pubs/press/ozarkgroundwaterflowmodel.html Water levels have dropped as much as 400 to 500 feet in some areas. At Carthage and Noel even a 1% increase in pumping would be unsustainable over time and the aquifer would go dry in 50 years. 

Open quarry frac sand mines that are coming to Izard County will use significant amounts of water. For instance, the current water usage in Izard County (2005) is 1.3 million gallons. One company, Evergreen, would increase that amount by 22%, withdrawing 390,000 gallons a day.

What will be the effect of several companies pumping from the same aquifer?  Will this compete with private wells and municipal water supplies? How would we know when the aquifer is being depleted? What do we do then? What will be the consequences of moving all that water to the surface where it will warm and evaporate or flow into trout streams where cold water is essential?

A study should be done to evaluate these questions so informed decisions can be made. Learn more about aquifers, how they work and how USGS uses groundwater flow models to study these questions. http://water.usgs.gov/ogw/