Publications

Since 1992, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the City of Albuquerque, the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo and Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA), the New Mexico Highway Department (NMHD), and the University of New Mexico (UNM), has collected stormwater-quality data to meet regulatory requirements for the application phase of the National Pollutant Discharge...

This report, prepared in cooperation with El Paso Water Utilities, presents the results of an investigation to determine the chemistry and age of ground water on the southwestern side of the Hueco Bolson. The radioactive isotope carbon-14 was used to estimate the length of time that water from wells has been isolated from the atmosphere, which is the modern carbon-14 reservoir. Nine...

The neighboring cities of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, have historically relied on ground-water withdrawals from the Hueco Bolson, an alluvial-aquifer system, to supply water to their growing populations. By 1996, ground-water drawdown exceeded 60 meters in some areas under Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. A simulation of steady-state and transient ground-water flow in...

Chemical data from more than 400 ground-water sites in the Middle Rio Grande Basin of central New Mexico indicate that arsenic concentrations exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency drinking-water standard of 10 micrograms per liter across broad areas of the Santa Fe Group aquifer system, which is currently the almost exclusive source of drinking-water supply for residents of the...

Water-resources data for the 2002 water year for New Mexico consist of records of discharge and water quality of streams; stage, contents, and water quality of lakes and reservoirs; and water levels and water quality in wells and springs. This report contains discharge records for 176 gaging stations; stage and contents for 24 lakes and reservoirs; water quality for 42 gaging stations...

In June 1977, the La Mesa wildfire burned 15,270 acres in and near Frijoles Canyon in Bandelier National Monument (BNM) and the adjacent Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico. In April 1996, the Dome wildfire in BNM burned 16,516 acres in and near Capulin Canyon and the surrounding Dome Wilderness area. Both Frijoles and Capulin Canyon watersheds are characterized by archeological...

The upper middle Rio Grande Basin, as defined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, extends from the headwaters of the Rio Grande in southwestern Colorado to Fort Quitman, Texas. Most of the basin has a semiarid climate typical of the southwestern United States. This climate drives a highly variable streamflow regime that contributes to the complexity of water management in the basin...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requested that the Navajo Nation conduct an assessment of aquifer sensitivity on Navajo Nation lands and an assessment of ground-water vulnerability to pesticide contamination on the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project. Navajo Nation lands include about 17,000 square miles in northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The...

In June of 1977, the La Mesa wildfire burned 15,270 acres in and around Frijoles Canyon in Bandelier National Monument and the adjacent Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico. The Dome wildfire in April of 1996 in Bandelier National Monument burned 16,516 acres in Capulin Canyon and the surrounding Dome Wilderness area. Both watersheds are characterized by abundant and extensive...

Water-quality data for 93 City of Albuquerque drinking-water supply wells, 7 deep piezometer nests, and selected additional wells were examined to improve understanding of the regional ground-water system and its response to pumpage. Plots of median values of several major parameters showed discernible water-quality differences both areally and with depth in the aquifer. Areal...

Two regression equations were developed for estimating the 4-day, 3-year (4Q3) low-flow frequency at ungaged sites on unregulated streams in New Mexico. The first, a statewide equation for estimating the 4Q3 low-flow frequency from drainage area and average basin mean winter precipitation, was developed from the data for 50 streamflow-gaging stations that had non-zero 4Q3 low-flow...

The geologic structure of the Mimbres ground-water basin in southwest New Mexico is characterized by north- and northwest-trending structural subbasins. Sedimentation of Miocene and Pliocene age has filled and obscured the boundaries of these subbasins and formed potentially productive aquifers of varied thickness. The location and depth of the subbasins can be estimated from analysis of...