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
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.
Simulations of groundwater flow and particle-tracking analysis in the zone of contribution to a public-supply well in San Antonio, Texas
In 2006, a public-supply well in San Antonio, Texas, was selected for intensive study to assess the vulnerability of public-supply wells in the Edwards aquifer to contamination by a variety of compounds. A local-scale, steady-state, three-dimensional numerical groundwater-flow model was developed and used in this study to evaluate the movement of...
Lindgren, Richard L.; Houston, Natalie A.; Musgrove, MaryLynn; Fahlquist, Lynne S.; Kauffman, Leon J.
Hydrogeology, chemical characteristics, and water sources and pathways in the zone of contribution of a public-supply well in San Antonio, Texas
In 2001, the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey initiated a series of studies on the transport of anthropogenic and natural contaminants (TANC) to public-supply wells (PSWs). The main goal of the TANC project was to better understand the source, transport, and receptor factors that control contaminant...
Musgrove, MaryLynn; Fahlquist, Lynne; Stanton, Gregory P.; Houston, Natalie A.; Lindgren, Richard J.
Geochemical evolution processes and water-quality observations based on results of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program in the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer, 1996-2006
As part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program, the U.S. Geological Survey collected and analyzed groundwater samples during 1996-2006 from the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer of central Texas, a productive karst aquifer developed in Cretaceous-age carbonate rocks. These National Water-Quality Assessment Program studies...
Musgrove, MaryLynn; Fahlquist, Lynne; Houston, Natalie A.; Lindgren, Richard J.; Ging, Patricia B.