U. S. Geological Survey Middle Rio Grande basin study: Proceedings of the Fourth annual workshop, Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 15-16, 2000

Abstract

The Setting The Middle Rio Grande Basin study is a 6-year effort by the U.S. Geological Survey and partner agencies to improve knowledge and understanding of the hydrology, geology, landforms, and land-use characteristics of this region of central New Mexico. The significance of these investigations stems from the geography and demography of this region, and from its features common to populated areas across the southwestern United States. The southwest's moderate climate, expanding employment opportunities, and abundant recreation activities have stimulated in-migration and population growth. However, these desert environments contain fragile landscapes and finite water resources that limit growth. Making room for more people poses difficult choices among competing options for undeveloped land. In today's world, those land-use choices are increasingly restricted by recognition of natural hazard potential (flood, subsidence, earthquakes, volcanic eruption, wildfire, etc.), encroachment on wildlife habitat, and the growing demands for construction materials and space to improve the urban infrastructure. Water, the most critical factor for the prosperity of the Middle Rio Grande Basin, remains the key focus of our studies. Surface flow of the Rio Grande was fully appropriated in the early 1900's to meet needs of irrigation agriculture, Indian tribal lands, and required deliveries to Texas and Mexico. Most residential, industrial, and municipal water needs in the basin today are met by extraction of ground water. Our studies have explored hydrogeological conditions in the urban areas where extraction is currently occurring, and have used diverse methods to infer these conditions elsewhere in the basin that might support future groundwater development. This broad valley through which the Rio Grande flows, and the mountain ranges that border it, are reflections of a geological rift that has formed over during the last 25 million years. This natural history largely determines the availability and quality of water, mineral, and land resources. The main goal of these long-term multidisciplinary studies has been to document surface and subsurface characteristics of the critical geologic and hydrologic systems and to conduct historical and process studies that evaluate relationships between the natural environment and human impacts. Our intent has been to provide credible science-based information to governmental managers and planners, and to the general public, for consideration in the critical choices that lie ahead.

Preliminary study of the geologic framework of the Colorado Plateau-Middle Rio Grande Basin transition, New Mexico.

“…Subbasin boundaries are not universally accepted and are difficult to determine, but are thought to influence the distribution of facies in the basin (Cole et al, 1999). The lack of strong structural and topographic expression of these subbasin boundaries suggests that these northwest-trending structures may represent older boundaries that have been concealed by younger basin fill (Maldonado et al, 1999).…”

Simulation-optimization approach to management of ground-water resources in the Albuquerque area, New Mexico, 2006 through 2040

“…Studies associated with this 6-year effort included geologic mapping to improve knowledge of the structural and stratigraphic framework of the Santa Fe Group sediments, airborne geophysical surveys to identify detailed fault patterns and better characterize hydrologic properties of geologic units, use of environmental tracers to better estimate mountain-front recharge and streamflow loss, and investigation of ground-water flow using chemical and isotopic data (Slate, 1998). Information on the design and results of these studies can be found in Bartolino and Cole (2002), as well as in collections of extended abstracts edited by Bartolino (1997), Slate (1998), Bartolino (1999), and Cole (2001). In addition, ongoing study of the stratigraphy of the MRGB is described in Connell (2001).…”