Ground-Water Resources of Upton County, Texas
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T E XAS WATE R oEVEl 0 PMEN T BOA R0 REP 0 RT 78 GROUND-WATER RESOURCES OF UPTON COUNTY, TEXAS MAY 1968 TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD REPORT 78 GROUND-WATER RESOURCES OF UPTON COUNTY, TEXAS By D. E. White United States Geological Survey Prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Texas Water Development Board and the Commissioners Court of Upton County May 1968 TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD Mills Cox, Chairman Marvin Shurbet, Vice Chairman Robert B. Gilmore Groner A. Pitts Milton T. Potts W. E. Tinsley Howard B. Boswell, Executive Director Authorization for use or reproduction ofany material contained in this publication, I~e., not obtained from other sources, is freely granted without the necessity of securing permission therefor. The Board would appreciate acknowledgement of the source of original material so utilized. Published and distributed by the Texas Water Development Board Post Office Box 12386 .A,ustin, Texas 78711 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ...................................................•...................... INTRODUCTION ..................................................•.................. 3 Purpose and Scope of Investigation ,, , , . 3 Methods of Investigation .. ,,, , .. ,,.,, .. ,,,... 3 Location and Extent of Area ." "" " " .. "....... 4 Previous Investigations """ " "" ". 4 Economic Development .. "" "" " "" " " "....... 4 Topography and Drainage. , ' ,....................................... 4 Climate" ,,,," ,...... 6 Well-Numbering System "" "" "" " .. " .. ". 6 Acknowledgments .. ,,,, , , .. ,,.. 6 GEOLOGY AS RELATED TO THE OCCURRENCE OF GROUND WATER. ... .. ... .. .•. .. ... .. .. 6 General Stratigraphy and Structure .. , ,, .. , .. ,, 6 Physical Characteristics and Water-Bearing Properties of the Geologic Units "" .. " "" 12 Triassic System .. "" "" "................. 12 Dockum Group " " ". 12 Tecovas Formation , , ,........... 12 Santa Rosa Sandstone ,........ 12 Chinle Formation Equivalent " "" .. " .. " .. " "" .. ".. 14 Cretaceous System ,, .. ,,, , ,........ 14 Trinity Sand ,,., .. , , .. , ,.,,. 14 Fredericksburg Group "."" "" "." .. "." "" .. " .. """ 19 Washita Group .", ,.,,,, , .. ,,. 19 Quaternary System " " "" .. "..... 19 Pleistocene and Recent Series" , .. ,......... 19 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont'd.) Page Alluvium and Eolian Deposits . 19 Aquifers 19 GROUND-WATER HYDROLOGY . 20 Source and Occurence of Ground Water . 20 Recharge, Movement, and Discharge . 20 Hydraulic Properties of the Aquifers . 21 Use of Ground "'later . 25 Public Supply . 25 City of Rankin . 28 City of McCamey . 28 Industrial Supply . 28 Waterflooding . 28 Gasol ine Plants and Compressor Stations . 32 Other Industrial Uses . 32 Irrigation " . 32 Domestic and Livestock " . 32 Fluctuations of VVater Levels . 32 Well Constructioll . 35 CHEMICAL QUALITY OF GROUND WATER . 35 Trinity Sand . 39 Santa Rosa Sandstone . 40 Other Aqu ifers . 40 GROUND-WATER PROBLEMS . 41 Contamination from Disposal of Oil-Field Brines . 41 Contamination from Improperly Cased Wells . 48 Declines of Water Levels and Well Yields . 48 AVAILABILITY OF GROUND WATER ..........•...................•....•................ 48 CONC LUSI ONS .................................................•.......•...•......... 49 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont'd.) Page REFERENCES CI1'ED ..................................•..•............................ 53 TABLES 1. Geologic Units and Their Water-Bearing Characteristics 10 2. Coefficients of Permeability and Transmissibility Determined From Pumping Tests of Selected Wells .. ............................................... 22 3. Source and Significance of Dissolved-Mineral Constituents and Properties of Water. ............................................................ 36 4. Reported Brine Production and Disposal in 1961 42 5. Records of Wells and Test Holes ........................................................ 55 6. Chemical Analys.es of Water from Wells. .................................................. 123 7. Chemical Analyses of Oil-Field Brine and Industrial Waste Water. ..................................................................... 131 FIGURES 1. Map Showing the Location of Upton County. ............................................. 5 2. Graph Showing Annual Precipitation at McCamey, 1933-65 7 3. Graph Showing Average Monthly Temperature and Precipitation at McCamey and Gross Lake Evaporation in Upton County. .................................. 8 4. Diagram Showing Well-Numbering System. ............................................... 9 5. Map of Parts of West Texas and New Mexico Showing Permian Structural Features 13 6. Map Showing Approximate Altitude of the Top of the Trinity Sand. ........................... 15 7. Map Showing Approximate Altitude of the Base of the Trinity Sand , .. .. .. .. .. 17 8. Map Showing Approximate Altitude of Water Levels in Wells 23 9. Graph Showing Relation of Drawdown to Distance from the Center of Pumping with Different Discharges and Coefficients of Transmissibility. ..................... 26 10. Graph Showing Relation of Drawdown 0 Distance from the Center of Pumping and Time for an Aquifer Having the Characteristics of the Trinity Sand. .............. 27 11. Graph Showing Ground-Water Use, 1951-65 .............................................. 29 12. Graph Showing Quantity, Quality, and Source of Ground Water Pumped for Waterflooding, 1955-65 :............................................. 31 13. Hydrographs of Three Wells in the Trinity Sand 33 v TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont'd.) Page 14. Hydrograph of WHII YL-44-49-301, Pumpage from Wells in the Upton County Well Field, and Precipitation at Rankin, May 1964-September 1966 ................... 34 15. Map Showing the Chemical Quality of the Ground Water from Wells in Upton County and Adjacent Areas. ................................................ 37 16. Map Showing Location of Brine Producing Areas in 1961, and the Chloride and Sulfate Contents of Water from Selected Wells. ........................ 45 17. Graph Showing Relation of Chloride and Sulfate Concentrations to Discharge of Wf~1I YL-44-26-513. ...... .. ............................................. 47 18. Map Showing Estimated Potential Yields of Wells Tapping the Trinity Sand and Alluvium. .......... 51 19. Geologic Map Showing Well Locations 133 20. Generalized Geologic Section A-A' 135 21. Generalized Geologic Section B-B' 137 vi GROUND-WATER RESOURCES OF UPTON COUNTY, TEXAS ABSTRACT Upton County, 1,312 square miles in area, is in The water from the Trinity Sand is of the calcium west Texas. The water needs of the county are supplied magnesium sulfate type; few wells yield water containing entirely from ground water, the Trinity Sand being the less than 1,000 ppm (parts per million) dissolved solids. principal source. Rocks older than the Trinity Sand-principally the Santa Rosa Sandstone of Triassic age and San Andres Lime Water used n the county during 1965 was 6,781 stone of Permian age-contain water too highly miner acre-feet, of which 2,887 acre-feet, or 42 percent, was alized for uses other than livestock watering and oil-field supplied by wells in adjacent counties. Of the 3,928 waterflooding. acre-feet of water pumped from wells in Upton County, 3,590 acre-feet, or 91 percent, was from the Trinity Because of the low rate of recharge, present Sand. By far the qreatest use of ground water pumped pumping from the Trinity Sand is, in effect, a mining from wells in the county is for irrigation. operation. Additional development of the aquifer is expected, with the water being obtained from the 8 Recharge to the Trinity Sand of Cretaceous age is million acre-feet of water estimated to be available to small. The amount being transmitted through the aquifer wells in the Trinity Sand. The percentage of this water at the present hy'draulic gradient, which is roughly that can be developed is not known; it will depend on equ ivalent to the annual recharge, is about 1 mgd the construction, spacing, and discharge rates of the (million gallons per day), or about 1,100 acre-feet per wells. Because of the low transmissibility of the aquifer, year, considerably less than was pumped from the many low-yield and adequately spaced wells will be aquifer in 1965. required for maximum development of the water in storage. Contamination of the water in the Trinity Sand by the disposal of oil-field brines in unlined surface pits also may reduce the amount of water that can be developed for purposes other than waterflooding. GROUND-WATER RESOURCES OF UPTON COUNTY, TEXAS INTRODUCTION 4. The results of 21 pumping tests (Table 2) were used to determine the hydraulic characteristics of the water-bearing sands. Purpose and Scope of Investigation 5. Water levels were measured and available The investigation of the ground-water resources of records of past fluctuations of water levels were com Upton County began in September 1965 as a coopera piled (Figures 13 and 14; Table 5). tive project of thH U.S. Geological Survey, the Texas Water Development Board, and the Commissioners 6. Climatological records were compiled (Figures Court of Upton County. The purpose of the investi 2 and 3). gation was to determine and evaluate the ground-water resources of the county. The results of the investigation 7. Water samples were collected from wells to are presented in this report, which includes an analytical determine the chemical quality of water (Table 6 and discussion of the occurrence and availability of ground Figure 15). water and a tabulation of basic data obtained