Amy Galanter (Former Employee)

Many communities along the U.S.-Mexico border have limited surface water supply and rely on transboundary aquifers for industry, agriculture, and drinking water; however, information on water needs, water quality, and the extent and functioning of these aquifers is incomplete. The Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP), established through a binational agreement between the United States...

Project Period: 2016-ongoing Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program Project Chiefs: Ryan McShane and Jeremy McDowell

The Anderson Ranch Wetlands (AR Wetlands), located in Taos County, north-central New Mexico, may be at risk from changes in climate patterns, from shifts in available water supply, and from agricultural groundwater pumping adjacent to the wetlands. To help guide management decisions, the USGS is completing an initial hydrologic characterization of the wetlands.

The Palomas Basin in New Mexico and the Mesilla Basin in New Mexico and Texas and northern Mexico (study area) compose a geologically and hydrologically complex region (figure 1). This region is characterized by conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater that takes place under a myriad of legal and operational constraints, including the Rio Grande Compact, an international treaty, and the...

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...

Historic and current groundwater data may be used to help guide water management in New Mexico. Groundwater levels measured by the USGS provide the public, State, and Federal agencies, and cooperators with reliable and impartial information.