Seeps, Springs and Streams

The Arbuckle Simpson aquifer lies beneath a surface area of about 500 square miles (320,000 acres) in south-central Oklahoma. Nobody knows how deep it really is, but the lower portions of the aquifer are more than 1,000 feet deep and it may be 4,000 feet deep in some places. It is estimated to contain around 9 million acre-feet of water (one acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated the aquifer's eastern portion as a Sole Source Aquifer, a mechanism to protect drinking water supplies in areas with limited water supply alternatives.

When the aquifer is full, excess water flows, or "seeps," out of the aquifer. This is referred to as "discharge". When the aquifer is less than full, water seeps into the aquifer. This is "recharge."

The recharge rate is far less than the average annual rainfall to the aquifer watershed. Although the aquifer watershed receives about 38 inches in a typical year, the recharge rate, the amount which seeps into the aquifer, is only 4.7 inches per year. This amount is equivalent to 128,000 acre-feet. The remainder of the rain either runs off into waterways, evaporates or is taken up by plants and trees which ultimately release it again to the atmosphere through transpiration.

Almost 100 springs are known to discharge water from the Arbuckle Simpson aquifer. The water comes out of the ground clear and chilled to about 54 to 57 degrees, year round. In turn, these springs create creeks and rivers which, without the springs, would stop flowing.

Several of the larger springs create streams with constant flow, such as the Blue River and Delaware Creek, which flow into the Red River, and Mill, Pennington, Honey, Hickory, and Oil Creeks, which flow into the Washita River. Numerous commercial, recreational, municipal and federal facilities rely on the waterways fed by spring flows of the Arbuckle Simpson aquifer.

Byrd's Mill Spring is the largest and best-known spring, located at the northern edge of the aquifer near Fittstown. It produces 11,000 acre-feet per year and . Twelve miles to the north, the City of Ada gets most of its municipal water from Byrd's Mill.

What Ada doesn't use drains into Clear Boggy Creek near Harden City and joins with other seeps and springs in that area to create Blue River, which accounts for 43,000 acre-feet per year of spring flow. The Blue River flows 134 miles before it joins the Red River, making it one of only 42 free-flowing rivers greater than 124 miles in the U.S. Its diverse fish population makes it especially popular to recreational users. It is stocked seasonally with trout near the Blue River Public Fishing and Hunting Area. The least darter is native to this stream. The Blue produces much of the water supply for the City of Durant.

Toward the west, Rock Creek forms north of the Lake of the Arbukcles. Its tributary, Travertine Creek, flows through the Chickasaw National Recreation Area and becomes the principal municipal water source for the City of Sulphur. The Vendome Well in Sulphur is one of several artesian wells known to emanate from the aquifer. Sadly, the height of the Vendome spout has reduced over the years from about 30 feet to a mere 8 feet maximum.

Between the Blue River and Rock Creek, Pilot Springs form Pennington Creek in central Johnston County. Flowing for 41 miles, Pennington passes through the City of Tishomingo (The creek is the city's only municipal water source.), the Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery, Slippery Falls Boy Scout Ranch and the Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge.

Honey Creek is a 13-mile long stream originating from springs in Murray County. It ends in a spectacular 77-foot waterfall at Oklahoma's oldest park, Turner Falls Park. The City of Davis operates the park, consisting of 1,500 acres. Falls Creek Baptist Church Camp is nearby.

Monitoring the Flow

Real time hydrologic data for both surface and groundwater can be viewed online from monitoring stations installed by USGS.

Sources:

Oklahoma Geological Survey
U.S. Geological Survey
Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB)
Mac Bentley, The Oklahoman
William L. Fisher, Oklahoma State University

For more stream monitoring, check out the US Army Corps of Engineers site. You can quick jump to the basin of interest, ordered from downstream to upstream.