Variability of surface-water quantity and quality and shallow groundwater levels and quality within the Rio Grande Project Area, New Mexico and Texas, 2009–13

Abstract

Drought conditions during the study period of January 1, 2009, to September 30, 2013, caused a reduction in surfacewater releases from water-supply storage infrastructure of the Rio Grande Project, which led to changes in surfacewater and groundwater (conjunctive) use in downstream agricultural alluvial valleys. Surface water and groundwater Valley whereas there is an increasing sink of salt in the Mesilla Valley. Daily groundwater-level and water-quality data from shallow wells within the two alluvial valleys show spatial heterogeneity of water quality over the study period. Mass-balance salt-loading trends during the study period are similar to previous trends during the 1950s drought as well as a wet period in the 1980s. The similarity of salt-loading trends from the 1950s, 1980s, and 2000s independent of the climate indicates salt loading in this hydrologic setting may be driven by water-use practices rather than a single climatic variable. Rincon Valley Mesilla Valley Figure 2. Location of the Rincon and Mesilla Valleys within the Rio Grande Project area, New Mexico and Texas.

Rio Grande transboundary integrated hydrologic model and water-availability analysis, New Mexico and Texas, United States, and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico

“…Hueco (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Palomas (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Jornada del Muerto (after Witcher and others, 2004) Mesilla and Conejos-Médanos (after Sheng and others, 2013) Selden The RGTIHM was constructed, in cooperation with Reclamation, using a refined three-dimensional interpretation of the geology (Sweetkind, 2017), new estimates of water inflows to the system, and a refined representation of the conjunctive use and movement of water. The RGTIHM was calibrated to quantify the use and movement of water and water availability for historical conditions from 1940-2014.…”

“…Hueco (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Palomas (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Jornada del Muerto (after Witcher and others, 2004) Mesilla and Conejos-Médanos (after Sheng and others, 2013) Hueco (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Palomas (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Jornada del Muerto (after Witcher and others, 2004) Mesilla and Conejos-Médanos Basins (after Sheng and others, 2013) Hueco (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Palomas (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Jornada del Muerto (after Witcher and others, 2004) Mesilla and Conejos-Médanos Basins (after Sheng and others, 2013) Groundwater The LRG_2007 and LRG_FMP2011 models subdivided the TRG into six agricultural units for water supply-anddemand analysis (SSPA, 2007;Hanson and others, 2013). The RMBHM model further subdivided these 6 agricultural units into a total of 57 hydrologic WBSs (Ferguson and others, 2015).…”

Rio Grande transboundary integrated hydrologic model and water-availability analysis, New Mexico and Texas, United States, and northern Chihuahua, Mexico

“…Groundwater basins Hueco (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Palomas (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Jornada del Muerto (after Witcher and others, 2004) Mimbres (Hanson and others, 1994) Mesilla and Conejos-Médanos (after Sheng and others, 2013) El Paso narrows…”

“…Hueco (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Palomas (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Jornada del Muerto (after Witcher and others, 2004) Mesilla and Conejos-Médanos (after Sheng and others, 2013) Hueco (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Palomas (Driscoll and Sherson, 2016) Jornada del Muerto (after Witcher and others, 2004) Mesilla and Conejos-Médanos Basins (after Sheng and others, 2013) [Unit Number, Irrigation units as originally defined in LRG_2007 model (S.S. Papadopulos and Associates, Inc., 2007). Abbreviations: GW, groundwater; ID, identification; NM, New Mexico; RIP, riparian; SW, surface water; TX, Texas; WBS, water-balance subregions; -, not applicable] 4,6,8,10,12 Arrey Canal 1 (Arrey Canal) 2 GW only 13,15,17,19,21,23,25,27,29,31 Leasburg Canal 2 (Leasburg Canal) 3 SW/GW 14, 16,18,20,22,24,26,28,30,32…”

“…Base modified from U.S. Geological Survey and other Federal and State digital data, various scales; Universal Transverse Mercator projection, zone 13; North AmericanDatum of 1983 andSherson, 2016) Jornada del Muerto (afterWitcher and others, 2004) Mesilla and Conejos-Médanos (afterSheng and others, 2013) …”