Groundwater Management in El Paso, Texas
Groundwater Management in El Paso, Texas

Author: William Hutchuson

Publisher: Universal-Publishers

Published: 2006-06

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 1581123280

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Groundwater represents an important supply source for municipal and irrigation uses in Far West Texas. The City of El Paso receives about 50 percent of its municipal water supply from surface water and 50 percent from local groundwater. Groundwater pumping in El Paso is from the Hueco Bolson and the Mesilla Bolson. Historic groundwater pumping in the Texas portion of the Mesilla Bolson has not resulted in significant changes in groundwater levels or groundwater quality in existing wells. Historic pumping in the Hueco Bolson has resulted in lowered groundwater levels and brackish groundwater intrusion. The groundwater level declines have resulted in the intrusion of brackish groundwater into areas that historically pumped fresh groundwater. A 1979 assessment concluded that El Paso would deplete fresh groundwater in the Hueco Bolson by 2030 if groundwater pumping continued to increase. Partly as a result of the 1979 assessment, El Paso reduced its groundwater pumping from the Hueco Bolson by increasing surface water diversions from the Rio Grande, increasing conservation efforts, and increasing reclaimed water use. As a result, groundwater levels in many parts of the Hueco Bolson have stabilized. Brackish groundwater intrusion remains an issue, and is being addressed with a brackish groundwater desalination plant, currently under construction. The new wells and existing wells that will supply this desalination plant will also assist in the management of brackish groundwater intrusion by intercepting the brackish groundwater before it can flow towards existing fresh groundwater wells. The 2006 Far West Texas Regional Water Plan contemplates a groundwater transfer project to meet increasing demands in El Paso County beginning about 2030, mostly from the Dell City area in Hudspeth County, Texas. Groundwater management in the Dell City area is governed by a groundwater conservation district that has established limits on groundwater pumping based on existing and historic uses. Groundwater pumping for irrigation began in the Dell City area in 1948, and groundwater levels have been essentially stable for since the 1980s. Future planning for a groundwater transfer project will require a detailed understanding of the hydrogeology of the groundwater in the Dell City area.

Groundwater Management Practices
Groundwater Management Practices

Author: Angelos N. Findikakis

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2011-06-08

Total Pages: 438

ISBN-13: 0415619874

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Groundwater is an indispensable resource in many parts of the world, where it supports domestic water supply, irrigated agriculture and industry. Its increased, and often intensive, use during the last half century has created problems and raised concerns regarding the potential depletion of local aquifers, water quality degradation and various geologic hazards such as land subsidence and sinkholes. This volume includes contributions by experts from several countries who describe different groundwater management practices in their part of the world and discuss measures and actions in response to the challenges associated with the sustainability of groundwater use and the protection of the groundwater environment, as well as the evolution of legal and institutional framework needed for their implementation. It discusses past and present practices and various aspects of the regulatory and legal framework of groundwater management in Japan, China, India, Iran, Australia, the United States, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland and the European Union, and reviews recent efforts to improve the management of transboundary aquifer resources.

Texas Aquatic Science
Texas Aquatic Science

Author: Rudolph A. Rosen

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2014-11-19

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1623492270

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This classroom resource provides clear, concise scientific information in an understandable and enjoyable way about water and aquatic life. Spanning the hydrologic cycle from rain to watersheds, aquifers to springs, rivers to estuaries, ample illustrations promote understanding of important concepts and clarify major ideas. Aquatic science is covered comprehensively, with relevant principles of chemistry, physics, geology, geography, ecology, and biology included throughout the text. Emphasizing water sustainability and conservation, the book tells us what we can do personally to conserve for the future and presents job and volunteer opportunities in the hope that some students will pursue careers in aquatic science. Texas Aquatic Science, originally developed as part of a multi-faceted education project for middle and high school students, can also be used at the college level for non-science majors, in the home-school environment, and by anyone who educates kids about nature and water. To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.

Groundwater Management in the West
Groundwater Management in the West

Author: Jeffrey S. Ashley

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9780803242760

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One of the greatest conundrums facing the arid western United States is the availability, use, and quality of groundwater. In large sections of the West, groundwater is the only dependable source of water for agricultural production and home consumption. Yet many of the aquifers are being depleted at a rate that will suck them dry within a century. Furthermore, dependence upon groundwater in many areas will only increase in the future. This dependence is already having serious consequences for small towns on the Great Plains. Faced with growing costs associated with deeper wells and the need for ever more advanced technology for extracting water, these towns find they lack the resources to maintain current agricultural practices. ø In this timely assessment of the West?s groundwater resources, the authors provide a detailed overview of groundwater management in the Western states. The authors present for each state the various management strategies, laws, and political realities that have made groundwater appropriation such a volatile subject. They also suggest possible difficulties that states and regions might face under current groundwater policies. By examining separate cases and viewing the West as a whole, the authors are able to identify not only the most pressing problems but also the most appropriate management techniques for protecting water supplies for future use.

Arid Lands Water Evaluation and Management
Arid Lands Water Evaluation and Management

Author: Robert Maliva

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-06-09

Total Pages: 1068

ISBN-13: 364229104X

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A large part of the global population lives in arid lands which have low rainfall and often lack the water required for sustainable population and economic growth. This book presents a comprehensive description of the hydrogeology and hydrologic processes at work in arid lands. It describes the techniques that can be used to assess and manage the water resources of these areas with an emphasis on groundwater resources, including recent advances in hydrologic evaluation and the differences between how aquifer systems behave in arid lands versus more humid areas. Water management techniques are described and summarized to show how a more comprehensive approach to water management is required in these areas, including the need to be aware of cultural sensitivities and conditions unique to many arid regions. The integration of existing resources with the addition of new water sources, such as desalination of brackish water and seawater, along with reusing treated wastewater, will be required to meet future water supply needs. Also, changing climatic conditions will force water management systems to be more robust so that future water supply demands can be met as droughts become more intense and rainfall events become more intense. A range of water management techniques are described and discussed in order to illustrate the methods for integrating these measures within the context of arid lands conditions.

The State Water Plan
The State Water Plan

Author: Pennsylvania. Department of Environmental Resources. Bureau of Resources Programming

Publisher:

Published: 1983

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13:

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Groundwater Recharge and Wells
Groundwater Recharge and Wells

Author: R. David G. Pyne

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-11-13

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 1351443860

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Understanding the issues that have been encountered at other sites, and the steps that have led to successful resolution of these issues, can provide great help to those considering, planning, or implementing new groundwater recharge projects. Recent technical advances and operational experience have demonstrated that well recharge is a feasible and cost effective method of artificially recharging natural aquifers. This practical guide reviews the technical constraints and issues that have been addressed and resolved through research and experience at many sites. The book presents aquifer storage recovery (ASR) technology and traces its evolution over the past 25 years in the United States. Procedures for groundwater recharge are presented, and selected case studies are examined. Drinking water quality standards and conversion factors are provided in the appendix for easy reference.

GIS and Geocomputation for Water Resource Science and Engineering
GIS and Geocomputation for Water Resource Science and Engineering

Author: Barnali Dixon

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2016-02-08

Total Pages: 579

ISBN-13: 1118354133

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GIS and Geocomputation for Water Resource Science and Engineering not only provides a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of geographic information systems but also demonstrates how GIS and mathematical models can be integrated to develop spatial decision support systems to support water resources planning, management and engineering. The book uses a hands-on active learning approach to introduce fundamental concepts and numerous case-studies are provided to reinforce learning and demonstrate practical aspects. The benefits and challenges of using GIS in environmental and water resources fields are clearly tackled in this book, demonstrating how these technologies can be used to harness increasingly available digital data to develop spatially-oriented sustainable solutions. In addition to providing a strong grounding on fundamentals, the book also demonstrates how GIS can be combined with traditional physics-based and statistical models as well as information-theoretic tools like neural networks and fuzzy set theory.

Groundwater Exploitation in the High Plains
Groundwater Exploitation in the High Plains

Author: David E. Kromm

Publisher: University Press of Kansas

Published: 2021-10-08

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0700631623

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The High Plains region was once called the Great American Desert and thought to be, in the words of explorer Stephen Long, “wholly unfit for cultivation.” Now we know that beneath the surface, unbeknownst to the explorers and early settlers, lies the Ogallala aquifer, an underground formation that stretches for 800 miles from the Texas panhandle to South Dakota. It holds more water than Lake Huron. Indeed, the Ogallala has been referred to as the sixth Great Lake. It is the water pumped for irrigation from the Ogallala that has enabled a naturally dry region to produce up to 40 percent of America’s beef and 20 to 25 percent of its food and fiber, an output worth about $20 billion. In the forty years since the invention of center pivot irrigation, the High Plains aquifer system has been depleted at an astonishing rate. In 1978 the volume of water pumped from the aquifer exceeded the annual flow of the Colorado River. In Texas, water levels are down 200 feet in some areas. In Kansas, 700 miles of rivers that once flowed year round no longer flow at all. In short, the High Plains may be becoming the desert it was once thought to be. Is it too late to solve the problem? Geographers David Kromm and Stephen White assembled nine of the most knowledgeable scholars and water professionals in the Great Plains to help answer that question. The result is a collection of essays that insightfully examine the dilemmas of groundwater use. From a variety of perspectives they address both the technical problems and the politics of water management to provide a badly needed analysis of the implications of large-scale irrigation. They have included three case studies: the Nebraska Sand Hills, Northwestern Kansas, and West Texas. Kromm and White provide an introduction and conclusion to the volume.