Estimation of hydraulic characteristics in the Santa Fe Group aquifer system using computer simulations of river and drain pulses in the Rio Bravo study area, near Albuquerque, New Mexico

In 1997, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a hydrologic
investigation of the surface-water/ground-water interaction of
the Rio Grande and the surrounding alluvium and the Santa Fe Group
aquifer system in an area near the Rio Bravo Bridge, south of Albu-
querque, New Mexico. A set of existing wells and new wells were
instrumented to monitor water levels in a section perpendicular to
the Rio Grande on the east side of the river. Equipment to measure
stream stage was installed at two sites--on the Albuquerque Riverside
Drain and on the Rio Grande. A short-duration river pulse and a
long-duration river pulse were used to stress the ground-water
system while the changes in water levels were monitored. A ground-
water flow-model simulation using the principle of superposition was
used to estimate the hydraulic characteristics of the local
ground-water system. Simulated horizontal hydraulic conductivities
varied from 0.03 to 100 feet per day, and vertical hydraulic
conductivities varied from 1.5 x 10-6 to 0.01 foot per day. The
specific yield of layer 1 was estimated to be 0.3. Specific storage
for layers 2 through 11 was 1.0 x 10-6. Water entering the model from
the river along a 300-foot-wide cross section during simulation of
the short-duration pulse averaged 7.46 x 10-3 cubic foot per second
and during the long-duration pulse was 1.66 x 10-3 cubic foot per
second. The average flux from the model to the drain during the
short-duration pulse was 3.18 x 10-3 cubic foot per second. The
average flux for the long-duration pulse was 7.14 x 10-3 cubic foot
per second from the drain to the model.