Western Tennessee Water Resources: Leveraging High Resolution Remotely Sensed Data to Assess Water Availability and Vulnerability in the Memphis Aquifer Area in West Tennessee
The West TN portion of the Memphis aquifer, located within the Hatchie-Obion watershed is experiencing increased urban development, especially with the construction of "Blue Oval City", a battery manufacturing site for Ford's new electric trucks. Hayfood and Fayette counties fall within the sensitive recharge zone of the aquifer, and also contain the manufacturing megasite, making this an area of interest to highlight the consequences of increased urbanization to the aquifer. To understand the aquifers health, we averaged aquifer recharge factors seasonally to assess relationships from 2019-2022. Seasonal relationships were considered to highlight the hydrological factors that contribute to recharge, such as water balance, runoff, and evaporative stress that flux season to season (i.e. less precipitation in summer).