Groundwater Studies

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widespread anthropogenic chemicals that have been in use for the past 70 years. This class of compounds comprises thousands of chemicals including perfluorosulfonates (PFSAs) such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). As the use of these chemicals has grown so has their ubiquity in...

The groundwater resources of the Plains of San Agustin basin are largely undeveloped, though recent interest in pumping and exporting some of these resources to the Albuquerque metropolitan area has caused uneasiness among some water-resources managers and the public. Protest and concern regarding this appropriation of water resources have been expressed by private, Federal, State, and Tribal...

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) New Mexico Water Science Center (NM WSC), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA), and Bernalillo County (BERNCO), will measure and analyze...

As part of an environmental investigation at Fort Wingate Depot Activity, New Mexico, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, interpreted aqueous geochemical concentrations to better understand the groundwater flow paths and the fate and transport of constituents of concern in the alluvial aquifer underlying the study area. The fine-grained nature of the...

In order to provide long-term storage of diverted surface water from the Rio Grande as part of the Aamodt water rights settlement, managed aquifer recharge by surface infiltration in Pojoaque River Basin arroyos was proposed as an option. The initial hydrogeologic and geochemical characterization of two arroyos located within the Pojoaque River Basin was performed in 2014 and 2015 in cooperation...

The Shiprock Disposal Site is the location of the former Navajo Mill, a uranium ore-processing facility, located on a terrace overlooking the San Juan River in the town of Shiprock, New Mexico.The milling operations, conducted at the site from 1954 to 1968, created radioactive tailings and constituents of concern that are now found in the groundwater beneath the Mill. Elevated concentrations of...

The Palomas, Mesilla, and Conejos-Médanos Basins in New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico compose a geologically and hydrologically complex region. The conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater takes place under a myriad of legal and operational constraints, including the Rio Grande Compact, an international treaty, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Rio Grande Project. New demands are...

The Upper Rio Grande Basin (URGB) of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico was chosen as a focus area study (FAS) for the USGS National Water Census. The conjunctive use of water in the URGB takes place under a myriad of legal constraints including the Rio Grande Compact agreement between the States, an international treaty with Mexico, and several federal water projects. Development of...

The New Mexico Water Science Center (NMWSC) has historically conducted NAWQA data collection of groundwater and surface water-data within the former Rio Grande Valley (RIOG) study unit, which covers about 45,700 square miles in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.

Declining water levels and a history of high nitrate concentrations in groundwater near and on Cannon Air Force Base (CAFB) necessitated a more detailed assessment of groundwater flow directions than has been done in the past. Previous potentiometric-surface maps were sufficient for showing regional directions of groundwater flow, but more detailed seasonal (summer high-pumping and winter low...

The San Juan Coal Mine, an underground mine located about 12 miles west-northwest of Farmington, NM, supplies coal to the adjacent San Juan Generating Station.

In the past, groundwater pumped from the Santa Fe Group aquifer system was the principal source of water for the Albuquerque metropolitan area of central New Mexico. The large quantity of groundwater pumping relative to recharge resulted in substantial drawdown in the aquifer system. In 2008 the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority began diverting water from the San Juan-Chama...