Springfield Plateau Groundwater Province

The Springfield Plateau groundwater province occupies the southwestern part of the state and a small region of central Missouri south of the Missouri River. Thick Mississippian-age limestones and cherty limestones form the bedrock surface in the region and overlie the same Ordovician and Cambrian strata found in the Salem Plateau.

The Mississippian strata comprise the Springfield Plateau aquifer that is widely used as a private water supply source in this province. Yields of wells producing from the Springfield Plateau aquifer are typically less than about 20 gallons per minute. Wells fully penetrating the deeper Ozark and St. Francois aquifers can yield more than 1,000 gallons per minute. Groundwater in storage in this province is estimated to be about 122.5 trillion gallons, or about 24.5 percent of the usable groundwater in Missouri.

Like in the Salem Plateau, weathering of the limestone bedrock in the Springfield Plateau has created pathways for rapid groundwater recharge such as losing streams and sinkholes. These features are particularly well developed in parts of Greene and Christian counties, so much so that wells constructed in Greene and northern Christian counties since 1987 must be constructed to exclude production from the Springfield Plateau aquifer. A low-permeability shale unit between the shallow Springfield Plateau aquifer and the deeper Ozark aquifer greatly limits the vertical interchange of water between the two units and helps to protect the Ozark aquifer from contamination.