After 30 years of working for the USGS in various capacities, 5 years as Scientist Emeritus, Nathan is back -- as a rehired annuitant working through database issues and providing project advice and assistance.
Nathan received his B.S. degree in Geology from the University of Missouri, Rolla and his M.A. Degree in Geology (Antarctic Geoscience) from Rice University. Subsequently Nathan spent a short stint working for Amoco Production Co. in Houston before starting with the USGS in Lawrence KS (now the KS Water Science Center). Nathan worked for the KS office for 12 years before moving to New Mexico in 2000. Nathan's work in NM has included overseeing groundwater projects at military installations, groundwater-surface water investigations in the Hondo Basin, and development of a child model to evaluate potential impacts of a Kirtland Air Force Base fuel plume on municipal supply wells. Since retiring in 2018 Nathan has been very involved in updating the groundwater database for NM, coordinated and led a geohydrologic field trip of the Albuquerque basin, and has been active in the Tijeras Creek Collaborative group that is seeking to make watershed improvements. In 2022 Nathan published a statewide assessment of groundwater levels in New Mexico using a series of composite hydrographs to characterize water-level changes over the past 40 years.
Science and Products
Cannon Air Force Base: Seasonal Potentiometric Surfaces and Groundwater-Level Trends
Potentiometric Surfaces and Groundwater-Level Changes
USGS Post-Wildfire Hydrologic Monitoring in New Mexico
Chemical Modeling of Acid Waters Questa Baseline and Pre-Mining Ground-Water Quality Investigation, Red River Valley Basin, New Mexico
Science and Products
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Cannon Air Force Base: Seasonal Potentiometric Surfaces and Groundwater-Level Trends
Declining water levels and a history of high nitrate concentrations in groundwater near and on Cannon Air Force Base (CAFB) necessitated a more detailed assessment of groundwater flow directions than has been done in the past. Previous potentiometric-surface maps were sufficient for showing regional directions of groundwater flow, but more detailed seasonal (summer high-pumping and winter low...Potentiometric Surfaces and Groundwater-Level Changes
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...USGS Post-Wildfire Hydrologic Monitoring in New Mexico
USGS Gages in New Mexico Wildfire AreasChemical Modeling of Acid Waters Questa Baseline and Pre-Mining Ground-Water Quality Investigation, Red River Valley Basin, New Mexico
The US Geological Survey and the New Mexico Environment Department entered into a Joint Powers Agreement as of April 30, 2001 to execute an investigation of baseline and pre-mining ground-water quality in the Red River Basin, New Mexico. The main objective is to infer the pre-mining ground-water quality at the Questa Molycorp mine site. This study was formulated because New Mexico law states that... - Data
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