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Ground-water resources of Honey Lake Valley, Lassen County, California, and Washoe County, Nevada

January 1, 1990

Honey Lake Valley is a 2,200 sq-mi, topographically closed basin about 35 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada. Unconsolidated basin-fill deposits on the valley floor and fractured volcanic rocks in northern and eastern uplands are the principal aquifers. In the study area, about 130,000 acre- ft of water recharges the aquifer system annually, about 40% by direct infiltration of precipitation and about 60% by infiltration of streamflow and irrigation water. Balancing this is an equal amount of groundwater discharge, of which about 65% evaporates from the water table or is transpired by phreatophytes, about 30 % is withdrawn from wells, and about 5% leaves the basin as subsurface outflow to the east. Results of a groundwater flow model of the eastern part of the basin, where withdrawals for public supply have been proposed, indicate that if 15,000 acre-ft of water were withdrawn annually, a new equilibrium would eventually be established by a reduction of about 60% in both evapotranspiration and subsurface outflow to the east. Hydrologic effects would be minimal at the western boundary of the flow-model area. Within the modeled area, the increased withdrawals cause an increase in the simulated net flow of groundwater eastward across the California-Nevada State line from about 670 acre-ft/yr to about 2,300 acre-ft/yr. (USGS)

Publication Year 1990
Title Ground-water resources of Honey Lake Valley, Lassen County, California, and Washoe County, Nevada
DOI 10.3133/wri904050
Authors Elinor H. Handman, Clark J. Londquist, Douglas K. Maurer
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series Number 90-4050
Index ID wri904050
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse