Water supply at Los Alamos during 1993. Progress report

Purtymun, W.D.; Stoker, A.K.; McLin, S.G.; Maes, M.N.; Glasco, T.A.

doi:10.2172/122285

Cited by 4 publications

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“…More than 50 active and inactive water‐supply and test wells intersect regional groundwater across the Pajarito Plateau (Griggs, 1955, 1964; Cushman, 1965; Cooper et al, 1965; Purtymun et al, 1990, 1995a, 1995b; Purtymun, 1995; Stoker et al, 1992; McLin et al, 1996, 1998; John Shoemaker, Inc., 1999; Koch and Rogers, 2003). Depth to water is greatest at mesa‐top locations in the western part of the plateau (e.g., 375 m, 1245 ft, at Well CdV‐R‐15‐3) and decreases eastward.…”

Section: Geologic Setting Of Groundwater Occurrencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geologic Framework of a Groundwater System on the Margin of a Rift Basin, Pajarito Plateau, North‐Central New Mexico

Broxton

Vaniman

2005

Vadose Zone Journal

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that includes the LANL and the adjacent communities of Los Alamos and White Rock, San Ildefonso Pueblo The Pajarito Plateau is an important source of abundant potable land west of the Rio Grande, and a northern outlying groundwater for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the part of Bandelier National Monument (Fig. 3). Areas communities of Los Alamos and White Rock. Geologic investigations were undertaken as part of a plateau-wide hydrogeological investiga-of the southern Pajarito Plateau in Bandelier National tion to develop conceptual models of the groundwater system as a Monument are not discussed because there are no hyframework for numerical simulations of groundwater flow. The Pajadrogeologic data from wells in this area. The northern rito Plateau is located in the western part of the Españ ola basin where plateau is not discussed because hydrogeologic data for rocks of the Jemez and Cerros del Rio volcanic fields overlie and the Santa Clara Pueblo is not available to the public. interfinger with Neogene basin-fill sedimentary rocks. The vadose Groundwater drawn from beneath the plateau is the zone is about 200 m (600 ft) thick beneath mesas on the east side of primary source of municipal and industrial water used the plateau and more than 375 m (1245 ft) thick on the west side. by LANL and by adjacent communities. Water supply Groundwater occurs as shallow groundwater in canyon-floor alluvium, wells on the plateau are 600 to 950 m (2000-3110 ft) moderately deep groundwater perched in bedrock units of the vadose zone, and groundwater associated with the regional saturated zone.deep (Purtymun, 1995;Koch and Rogers, 2003), andThe most productive rocks of the regional aquifer occur in a westward-they tap the western-central part of the Españ ola basin thickening wedge of coarse-grained, Miocene and Pliocene volcaregional aquifer in Miocene and Pliocene sedimentary niclastic rocks derived from the Jemez volcanic field. Eastern aquifer and volcanic rocks. Although numerous wells penetrate rocks consist of fine-grained, somewhat less productive Miocene sedithe upper part of the regional saturated zone, none fully mentary deposits derived from highland sources to the east and north.penetrate the aquifer. Intermediate and mafic lavas interbedded with the Miocene and Plio-Water quality is typically good, but the effects of cene sedimentary deposits are components of the regional aquifer LANL operations can be detected in parts of the locally. The hydrogeology of the Pajarito Plateau is probably typical groundwater system. Locally, shallow and intermediate of groundwater systems along the margins of the Rio Grande rift where arid to semiarid, sediment-filled basins receive most of their perched groundwater systems of the vadose zone conrecharge from adjacent mountainous areas.

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Section: Geologic Setting Of Groundwater Occurrencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geologic Framework of a Groundwater System on the Margin of a Rift Basin, Pajarito Plateau, North‐Central New Mexico

Broxton

Vaniman

2005

Vadose Zone Journal

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“…Both the Santa Fe Group and the Puye Formation are, at least locally, strongly anisotropic. Relatively short‐term pumping tests have confirmed that permeability normal to bedding is much lower than permeability parallel to bedding, both on the Pajarito Plateau (McLin et al, 2003; Purtymun et al, 1990, 1995b; Stoker et al, 1989) and elsewhere in the basin (Hearne, 1980). Estimates of anisotropy vary from 0.00005 (Hearne, 1980, pumping test analysis) to 0.04 (Hearne, 1980, hydraulic gradient analysis), to 0.01 (McAda and Wasiolek, 1988).…”

Section: Hydrogeologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent drilling has confirmed existence of water table conditions at many locations beneath the plateau. Pumping tests from water supply wells drilled to a depth of 609.6 m (2000 ft) below the water table have suggested that the deeper portions of the aquifer behave as “leaky confined.” Several estimates of specific storage ( S s ) have been derived from various pumping tests: 10 −4.8 m −1 in the Los Alamos Canyon well field (Theis and Conover, 1962) and 10 −5.5 and 10 −3.8 m −1 in the Otowi well field (Purtymun et al, 1990, 1995b). In the Los Alamos Canyon well field, Theis and Conover (1962) expanded on the “leaky confined” interpretation by stating that there are, in fact, several aquifers and several semiconfining beds in this well field.…”

Section: Hydrogeologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Application of Numerical Models to Estimate Fluxes through the Regional Aquifer beneath the Pajarito Plateau

Keating

Robinson

Vesselinov

2005

Vadose Zone Journal

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primarily agricultural) and decreased baseflow because of groundwater production. For example, in 2002 the Before recent drilling and characterization efforts in the vicinity State of New Mexico was unable to honor interstate of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), conceptual models had been developed for recharge and discharge in the regional aquifer on stream compacts for surface water delivery to Texas and the basis of sparse data. By integrating site-wide data into a numerical incurred substantial penalties. There are also concerns model of the aquifer beneath the plateau we provide new insight into about water quality at the regional scale because of a large-scale aquifer properties and fluxes. This model is useful for variety of contaminants, both nonanthropogenic and anunderstanding hydrologic mechanisms, assessing the magnitudes of thropogenic. Beneath the Pajarito Plateau, there is subdifferent terms in the overall water budget, and, through sampling, for stantial contamination from various LANL sources in interpreting contaminant migration velocities in the overlying vadose shallow groundwaters in some locations (primarily alluzone. Modeling results suggest that the majority of water produced vial aquifers), and it is unclear what the ultimate impact in well fields on the plateau, extracted at rates approaching 70% ofof this contamination will be on the regional aquifer in total annual recharge, is derived from storage. This result is insensitive the future. Some of the LANL-derived contamination to assumptions about the percentage of total recharge that occurs in the near vicinity of water supply wells, because of strong anisotropy has been observed in the regional aquifer at trace conin the aquifer that prevents fast transport of local recharge to deeper centrations much below the EPA drinking water stanunits from which production occurs. Robust estimates of fluxes in the dards. To assess the future water quality and quantity shallow portion of the aquifer immediately down gradient of LANL issues, 21 deep characterization wells have been drilled are important for contaminant transport simulations. Our model calsince 1995, and flow and transport models have been culations show that these fluxes have decreased in the past 50 years developed both at the site-and basin-scale.by approximately 10% because of production in water supply wells. Historical liquid effluent discharges in canyons areTo explore the role of parameter uncertainty in flux prediction, a the most likely sources of this deep groundwater conpredictive analysis method was applied. Results showed that predicted tamination. These contaminants must migrate through flux through older basalts in the aquifer can vary by a factor of three the unsaturated rocks of the vadose zone before reachbecause of uncertainty in aquifer properties and total recharge. We explored the impact of model parameter uncertainty on these results; ing the regional aquifer. Some of the most convenient however, the true uncertainty of our predictions, including the imp...

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“…(3) (4) ESH-18 published a compilation report of borehole and well completion records (Purtymun 1995). This includes an inventory of wells and borings drilled through 1992.…”

Section: Compliance Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…no major depletion of the resource as a result of pumping for the Los Alamos water supply (Purtymun 1995b). in shallow alluvial perched groundwater in Mortandad Canyon (downstream from the NPDES-permitted outfall for the radioactive waste treatment facility at TA-50) are depicted in Figure 5-6.…”

Section: Nonradioactive Constituents In Alluvial Groundwater Alluviamentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental surveillance at Los Alamos during 1995

1996

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Water supply at Los Alamos during 1993. Progress report

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Geologic Framework of a Groundwater System on the Margin of a Rift Basin, Pajarito Plateau, North‐Central New Mexico

Geologic Framework of a Groundwater System on the Margin of a Rift Basin, Pajarito Plateau, North‐Central New Mexico

Development and Application of Numerical Models to Estimate Fluxes through the Regional Aquifer beneath the Pajarito Plateau

Environmental surveillance at Los Alamos during 1995

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