Natalie Houston
Natalie Houston is a Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Austin, Texas. She has a B.S. in Geology from the University of Texas at Austin, and a M.A. in Applied Geography from Texas State University. She holds a professional geologist license in the state of Texas (number 3188). She has been a Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey since 1998.
Biography
Career Highlights:
Water-use specialist for the Texas Water Science Center since 2010
Science and Products
Pecos River Basin Salinity Assessment
The USGS Texas Water Science Center assesssed salinity of the Pecos River Basin from Santa Rosa Lake, New Mexico to the confluence of Pecos River and Rio Grande, Texas. This assessment included an extensive literature review, compilation of previously published salinity related data, data gap analysis, additional data collection to fill data gaps, and identification of potential areas of...
Upper Rio Grande Basin Focus Area Study
USGS is undertaking a 3-year study of water use, availability, and change in the Upper Rio Grande Basin in one of several national “Focus Area Studies” in the Department of Interior’s WaterSMART initiative. The Upper Rio Grande study area runs 670 miles from its headwaters in Colorado through New Mexico and northern Mexico to Ft....
Coastal Lowlands Regional Groundwater Availability Study
USGS is undertaking a 5-year study to assess groundwater availability for the aquifers proximal to the Gulf of Mexico from the Texas-Mexico border through the panhandle of Florida, known as the Coastal Lowlands Aquifer System (CLAS). This study is one of several within the Regional Groundwater Availability Studies of the ...
Water Budget Science in Texas
A water budget is an accounting of hydrologic components of the water cycle, transfers between the components, and their relative contributions within a water system. Water budgets help define how much water is available, how much water is used, where the water comes from, and at what rate water is replenished or consumed. In its simplest form, a water budget defines the amount of water...
Estimating National Water Use Associated with Continuous Oil and Gas Development
Project Period: 2016-ongoing
Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program
Project Chiefs: Joanna Thamke and Josh Valder
Estimates of water use associated with continuous oil and gas development in the Permian Basin, Texas and New Mexico, 2010–19
In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey started a topical study to quantify water use in areas of continuous oil and gas (COG) development. The first phase of the study was completed in 2019 and analyzed the Williston Basin. The second phase of the study analyzed the Permian Basin using the same techniques and approaches used for the Williston Basin...
Valder, Joshua F.; McShane, Ryan R.; Thamke, Joanna N.; McDowell, Jeremy S.; Ball, Grady P.; Houston, Natalie A.; Galanter, Amy E.
Hydrogeologic framework and groundwater characterization in selected alluvial basins in the upper Rio Grande basin, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, United States, and Chihuahua, Mexico, 1980 to 2015
Increasing demand for the limited water resources of the United States continues to put pressure on resource management agencies to balance the competing needs of ecosystem health with municipal, agricultural, and other uses. To meet these needs, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a multiyear study to evaluate water resources in the upper Rio...
Houston, Natalie A.; Thomas, Jonathan V.; Foster, Linzy K.; Pedraza, Diana E.; Welborn, Toby L.
Risk-based decision-support groundwater modeling for the lower San Antonio River Basin, Texas, USA
A numerical surface-water/groundwater model was developed for the lower San Antonio River Basin to evaluate the responses of low base flows and groundwater levels within the basin under conditions of reduced recharge and increased groundwater withdrawals. Batch data assimilation through history matching used a simulation of historical conditions (...
Foster, Linzy K.; White, Jeremy T.; Leaf, Andrew T.; Houston, Natalie A.; Teague, Aarin
Pecos River Basin salinity assessment, Santa Rosa Lake, New Mexico, to the confluence of the Pecos River and the Rio Grande, Texas, 2015
The elevated salinity of the Pecos River throughout much of its length is of paramount concern to water users and water managers. Dissolved-solids concentrations in the Pecos River exceed 3,000 milligrams per liter in many of its reaches in the study area, from Santa Rosa Lake, New Mexico, to the confluence of the Pecos River with the Rio Grande,...
Houston, Natalie A.; Thomas, Jonathan V.; Ging, Patricia B.; Teeple, Andrew P.; Pedraza, Diana E.; Wallace, David S.
Updated numerical model with uncertainty assessment of 1950-56 drought conditions on brackish-water movement within the Edwards aquifer, San Antonio, Texas
In 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio Water System, began a study to assess the brackish-water movement within the Edwards aquifer (more specifically the potential for brackish-water encroachment into wells near the interface between the freshwater and brackish-water transition zones, referred to in this report...
Brakefield, Linzy K.; White, Jeremy T.; Houston, Natalie A.; Thomas, Jonathan V.
Water-level altitudes 2015 and water-level changes in the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers and compaction 1973-2014 in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, Houston-Galveston region, Texas
Most of the land-surface subsidence in the Houston-Galveston region, Texas, has occurred as a direct result of groundwater withdrawals for municipal supply, commercial and industrial use, and irrigation that depressured and dewatered the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, thereby causing compaction of the aquifer sediments, mostly in the fine-grained...
Kasmarek, Mark C.; Ramage, Jason K.; Houston, Natalie A.; Johnson, Michaela R.; Schmidt, Tiffany S.
Simulation of groundwater flow in the Edwards-Trinity and related aquifers in the Pecos County region, Texas
The Edwards-Trinity aquifer is a vital groundwater resource for agricultural, industrial, and public supply uses in the Pecos County region of western Texas. The U.S. Geological Survey completed a comprehensive, integrated analysis of available hydrogeologic data to develop a numerical groundwater-flow model of the Edwards-Trinity and related...
Clark, Brian R.; Bumgarner, Johnathan R.; Houston, Natalie A.; Foster, Adam L.
Geodatabase compilation of hydrogeologic, remote sensing, and water-budget-component data for the High Plains aquifer, 2011
The High Plains aquifer underlies almost 112 million acres in the central United States. It is one of the largest aquifers in the Nation in terms of annual groundwater withdrawals and provides drinking water for 2.3 million people. The High Plains aquifer has gained national and international attention as a highly stressed groundwater supply...
Houston, Natalie A.; Gonzales-Bradford, Sophia L.; Flynn, Amanda T.; Qi, Sharon L.; Peterson, Steven M.; Stanton, Jennifer S.; Ryter, Derek W.; Sohl, Terry L.; Senay, Gabriel B.
A conceptual hydrogeologic model for the hydrogeologic framework, geochemistry, and groundwater-flow system of the Edwards-Trinity and related aquifers in the Pecos County region, Texas
The Edwards-Trinity aquifer is a vital groundwater resource for agricultural, industrial, and municipal uses in the Trans-Pecos region of west Texas. A conceptual model of the hydrogeologic framework, geochemistry, and groundwater-flow system in the 4,700 square-mile study area was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with...
Thomas, Jonathan V.; Stanton, Gregory P.; Bumgarner, Johnathan R.; Pearson, Daniel K.; Teeple, Andrew ; Houston, Natalie A.; Payne, Jason ; Musgrove, MaryLynn
A conceptual model of the hydrogeologic framework, geochemistry, and groundwater-flow system of the Edwards-Trinity and related aquifers in the Pecos County region, Texas
A conceptual model of the hydrogeologic framework, geochemistry, and groundwater-flow system of the Edwards-Trinity and related aquifers, which include the Pecos Valley, Igneous, Dockum, Rustler, and Capitan Reef aquifers, was developed as the second phase of a groundwater availability study in the Pecos County region in west Texas. The first...
Bumgarner, Johnathan R.; Stanton, Gregory P.; Teeple, Andrew ; Thomas, Jonathan V.; Houston, Natalie A.; Payne, Jason ; Musgrove, MaryLynn
Data collection and compilation for a geodatabase of groundwater, surface-water, water-quality, geophysical, and geologic data, Pecos County Region, Texas, 1930-2011
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District, Pecos County, City of Fort Stockton, Brewster County, and Pecos County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, compiled groundwater, surface-water, water-quality, geophysical, and geologic data for site locations in the Pecos County region, Texas...
Pearson, Daniel K.; Bumgarner, Johnathan R.; Houston, Natalie A.; Stanton, Gregory P.; Teeple, Andrew ; Thomas, Jonathan V.
Selected approaches to estimate water-budget components of the High Plains, 1940 through 1949 and 2000 through 2009
The High Plains aquifer, underlying almost 112 million acres in the central United States, is one of the largest aquifers in the Nation. It is the primary water supply for drinking water, irrigation, animal production, and industry in the region. Expansion of irrigated agriculture throughout the past 60 years has helped make the High Plains one of...
Stanton, Jennifer S.; Qi, Sharon L.; Ryter, Derek W.; Falk, Sarah E.; Houston, Natalie A.; Peterson, Steven M.; Westenbroek, Stephen M.; Christenson, Scott C.