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Geology and Water Resources of Owens Valley, California

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Geology and Water Resources of Owens Valley, California Geology and Water Resources of Owens Valley, California United States Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2370-B Prepared in cooperation with lnyo County and the Los Angeles Department of Water and ·Power GEOLOGY AND WATER RESOURCES OF OWENS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA Owens Lake Vertically exaggerated perspective and oblique view of Owens Valley, California, showing th e dramatic change in topographic relief between the valley and surrounding mountains. 1 Chapter B Geology and Water Resources of Owens Valley, California By KENNETH J. HOLLETT, WESLEY R. DANSKIN, WILLIAM F. McCAFFREY, and CARYL L. WALTI Prepared m cooperation w1th lnyo County and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power U S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 2370 HYDROLOGY AND SOIL-WATER-PLANT RELATIONS IN OWENS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MANUEL LUJAN, jR., Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director Any use of trade, product, or f1rm names m th1s publication 1s for descnpt1ve purposes only and does not 1mply endorsement by the US Government UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON 1991 For sale by the Books and Open-F 1le Reports Sect1on U S Geolog1cal Survey Federal Center, Box 25425 Denver, CO 80225 L1brary of Congress Catalogmg-m-Pubhcatlon Data Geology and water resources of Owens Valley, Cal1forn1a I by Kenneth J Hollett [et all p em -(US Geolog1cal Survey water-supply paper, 2370-B) (Hydrology and sod-water-plant relations 1n Owens Valley, Cal1forn1a, ch B) Includes b1bllograph1cal references Supt of Docs no I 19 13 2370-B 1 Geology-Cal1forn1a-Owens R1ver Valley 2 Water, Underground­ CalifOrnia-Owens R1ver Valley I Hollett, Kenneth J II Senes Ill Senes Hydrology and sod-water-plant relat1ons 1n Owens Valley, Californ1a ch B QE90 09G46 1990 553 7'09794'87-dc20 90-13807 CIP CONTENTS Abstract Bl Introduction B2 Purpose and scope B3 Physical settmg B3 Physiography B3 Chmate BS Land and water use BS Previous mvestlgatwns BlO Acknowledgments B14 Geologic framework and Its relation to the hydrologic system B14 Regwnal geologic settmg B14 Structure of Owens Valley B20 Bishop Basm B21 Owens Lake Basm B25 Hydrologic charactenstlcs of geologic umts B27 Bedrock B27 Valley fill B29 DepositiOnal models B30 Alluvial fan deposits B31 TransitiOn-zone deposits B33 Glacial and talus deposits B33 Fluvial and lacustnne deposits B34 Ohvme basalt of Big Pme volcamc field B35 Bishop Tuff B35 Water resources B36 Surface water B36 Source, routmg, and discharge B36 Tnbutary streamflow B36 Owens River and Los Angeles Aqueduct system B38 Lower Owens River B40 Canals and ditches B40 Water quality B41 Ground water B41 Aqmfer system B42 Hydrogeologic framework B43 Source, occurrence, and movement of ground water B47 Hydraulic charactenstlcs of the hydrogeologic umts B47 Umt 1 charactenstlcs B48 Umt 2 charactenstlcs BSl Umt 3 charactenstlcs BSl Faults B52 Water quahty B53 Chemical quahty of ground water for IrrigatiOn use BSS Chemical quahty of ground water for pubhc supply B56 Water budget B56 Precipitation and evapotranspiratiOn B58 Tnbutary streams B59 Mountam-front recharge between tnbutary streams B61 Runoff from bedrock outcrops withm the valley fill B62 Owens River and Los Angeles Aqueduct system B62 Lower Owens River B63 Lakes and reservOirs B64 Canals, ditches, and ponds B64 Contents V Water resources-Contmued Ground water-Contmued Water budget-Contmued Irngation and watenng of livestock B66 Pumped and flowmg wells B66 Spnngs and seeps B66 Underflow B67 Summary B67 Selected references B70 FRONTISPIECE Vertically exaggerated perspective and oblique view of Owens Valley, California, showmg the dramatic change m topographic relief between the valley and surroundmg moun tams PLATES [Plates are m pocket] Gravity profiles and geologic sectiOns A-A' m Btshop, B-B' south of Btshop, C-C' near Btg Pme, D-D' south of Tmemaha Reservmr, E-E' m Independence, F -F' m Lone Pme, G-G' south across Btshop, and H -H' southwest across Tmemaha Reservmr m Owens Valley, California 2 Hydrogeologic sectiOns A-A' m Btshop, B-B' south of Btshop, C-C' near Btg Pme, D-D' south of Tmemaha Reservmr, E-E' m Independence, F-F' m Lone Pme, G-G' south across Btshop, and H-H' southwest across Tmemaha Reservmr m Owens Valley, California FIGURES Map showmg locatiOn of Owens Valley and Mono Basm dramage areas and physiOgraphic and cultural features B4 2 Photographs and computer-drawn vtews of landforms m Owens Valley, lookmg north along the ax1s, that emphastze the asymmetnc geomorphtc form of the valley B6 3 Map and graphs showmg average annual prectpttatwn for selected sttes m the Owens Valley dramage basm BS 4 Graph showmg average monthly air temperatures at Bishop and Independence NatiOnal Weather Bureau statiOns, 1931-85 BlO 5 Map showmg dtstnbutwn of land ownership m Owens Valley Bll 6 Map showmg dtstnbutwn and areal coverage of sources of geologtc, geophystc, and hydrologic data used m this report B12 7 Generalized geologtc map of the Owens Valley dramage basm B16 8 Dtagram showmg generalized geologtc column and hydrologtc charactensttcs of the valley ftll and bedrock umts withm the Btshop and Owens Lake Basms of the Owens Valley dramage basm area B18 9 Schematic block dtagram of Owens Valley that tllustrates the structural relatiOn between the mountam blocks (horsts) and the valley trough (graben) B21 10 Map showmg Isostatic residual gravtty anomalies, geologtc structure, and mferred position of the structurally lowest part of the Owens Valley graben B22 11 Map showmg structural divtston of Owens Valley mto Btshop and Owens Lake Basms B24 12 Borehole geophystcallogs of three wells m Btshop Basm and the geophystcal correlatiOn of maJor clay layers m the southern part of Btshop Basm B26 13 Photograph showmg onentatiOn of the Volcamc Tableland relative to the valley floor m the Btshop area B29 VI Contents 14 Schematic drawmgs of the generalized depositiOnal models m the valley fill m Owens Valley B32 15 Photograph showmg alignment of volcamc cones, rhyolitic dome, and spnngs along the faults m the Poverty Htlls area of Owens Valley B36 16 Map showmg Owens Valley dramage basm area and surface-dramage patterns for tnbutary streams, Owens Rtver, and Owens Rtver-Los Angeles Aqueduct system B37 17 Map showmg areal extent of defmed aqmfer system, occurrence of unconfined and confined conditions, boundary conditiOns, configuratiOn of potentiOmetnc surface m hydrogeologic umts 1 and 3, and directiOn of ground-water flow, spnng 1984 B44 18 Map showmg locatiOn of selected wells and spnngs sampled for water quality or used for analysts of aqmfer charactenstics, and approximate area of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power well ftelds 849 19 Graph showmg loganthmtc plot of drawdown compared to t/r for two observation wells south of Btg Pme B52 20 Graph showmg loganthmtc plot of drawdown compared to time for an observatiOn well south of Btg Pme usmg match pomt for leaky confmed matenal B53 21 Tnlinear dtagram showmg percentages of chemical constituents m well water and classificatiOn of maJor water types 855 22 Map showmg water gams and losses to lower Owens River 865 TABLES Approximate range of values of honzontal hydraulic conductivity and specific yield for subumts m the valley fill and bedrock m Owens Valley B30 2 Maximum, mmimum, and mean annual discharge measured at base-of-mountams and Owens River-Los Angeles Aqueduct system gagmg statiOns for tnbutary streams m Owens Valley, water years 1935-84 839 3 Maximum, mmimum, and mean annual discharge of the Owens River-Los Angeles Aqueduct system and lower Owens River for selected penods of record B40 4 Chemical constituents and physical properties of water m Owens River downstream from Tmemaha ReservOir, water years 1974-85 B42 5 Chemical analyses of water from selected wells m Owens Valley B54 6 Ground-water budget of the Owens Valley aqmfer system B58 7 Vegetation charactenstics, water-level and precipitatiOn data, and range m evapotranspiratiOn estimates for selected sites m Owens Valley B60 8 Average annual rate of recharge between base-of-mountams and nver-aqueduct gages for selected streams m Owens Valley B62 Contents VII CONVERSION FACTORS For readers who w1sh to convert measurements from the mch-pound system of un1ts to the metnc system of un1ts, the conversion factors are l1sted below Multiply mch-pound umt By To obtam metnc umt acre 0 405 square hectometer (hm2) 3 acre-foot (acre-ft) 0 001233 cubic hectometer (hm ) acre-foot per year (acre-ftJyr) 0 001233 cubic hectometer per year (hm3/yr) acre-foot per year per mile 0 0007663 cubic hectometer per year per kilometer [(acre-ftJyr)/mi] [(hm3/yr)/km] foot (ft) 0 3048 meter (m) foot per day (ftld) 0 3048 meter per day (m/d) foot per mile (ftlmi) 01895 meter per kilometer (m/km) foot per second (ftls) 0 3048 meter per second (m/s) foot per year (ftlyr) 0 3048 meter per year (m/yr) 2 2 square foot (ft ) 0 09294 square meter (m ) foot squared per day (ft2/d) 0 0929 meter squared per day (m2/d) 3 cubic foot (ft ) 0 02832 cubic meter (m3) cubic foot per second (ft3/s) 0 02832 cubic meter per second (m3/s) gallon(gal) 3 785 hter (L) gallon per mmute (gal/mm) 0 06308 hter per second (Us) mch (m) 25 4 millimeter (mm) mch per year (m/yr) 25 4 millimeter per year (mrnlyr) mile (mi) 1609 kilometer (km) 2 2 square mile (mi ) 2 590 square kilometer (km ) 2 2 pounds per square foot (lb/ft ) 4 882 kilograms per square meter (kg/m ) Temperature IS giVen m degrees Fahrenheit (°F), whiCh can be converted to degrees CelSIUS (°C) by the followmg equatiOn Temp °C=(temp °F-32)/1 8 Defimtwns Ram year July 1 through June 30 Runoff year Apnl 1 through March 31 Water year October 1 through September 30 Calendar year January 1 through December 31 Abbreviations used mg/L- milhgram per hter mL-milhhter mS/cm-microsiemen per centimeter at 25 °Celsms SEA LEVEL In th1s report, "sea level" refers to the Nat1onal Geodetic Vert1cal Datum of 1929 (NGVD of 1929)-a geodetiC datum denved from a general adjustment of the f1rst-order level nets of both the Un1ted States and Canada, formerly called Sea Level Datum of 1929 VIII Contents Geology and Water Resources of Owens Valley, California By Kenneth J.
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