Hydrogeology of Spring, Cave, Dry Lake, and Delamar Valleys Impacts
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
HYDROGEOLOGY OF SPRING, CAVE, DRY LAKE, AND DELAMAR VALLEYS IMPACTS OF DEVELOPING SOUTHERN NEVADA WATER AUTHORITY’S CLARK, LINCOLN, AND WHITE PINE COUNTIES GROUNDWATER DEVELOPMENT PROJECT Presented to the Office of the Nevada State Engineer on behalf of Protestants White Pine County, Great Basin Water Network, et al. June, 2017 Prepared by: _______________________________________________________________ Thomas Myers, Ph.D. Hydrologic Consultant Reno, NV June 28, 2017 Date Table of Contents Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Method of Analysis .................................................................................................................................. 3 Study Area ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Water Rights Applications and Proposed Pumping Scenarios ............................................................... 8 Conceptual Flow Model ..................................................................................................................... 10 White River Flow System ................................................................................................................... 25 Hydrogeologic Properties of Aquifer Systems .................................................................................... 31 Perennial yield ....................................................................................................................................... 33 Lag in Recharge ................................................................................................................................. 34 Central Carbonate Flow System Numerical modeling ............................................................................. 37 Spring Valley ...................................................................................................................................... 45 White River Flow System: Cave, Dry Lake, and Delamar Valleys ......................................................... 49 Cave Valley .................................................................................................................................... 51 Dry Lake Valley .............................................................................................................................. 54 Delamar Valley .............................................................................................................................. 55 Muddy River Springs ...................................................................................................................... 57 Further Pumping to Equilibrium Considerations ................................................................................. 65 Monitoring, Management and Mitigation Plans ..................................................................................... 66 Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems ................................................................................................ 67 Monitoring, Management, and Mitigation Plan Basics ....................................................................... 68 Spring Valley ...................................................................................................................................... 71 Cave, Dry Lake, and Delamar Valleys .................................................................................................. 74 Management and Mitigation ............................................................................................................. 78 CCFS Model Updates ......................................................................................................................... 79 Numerical Model ................................................................................................................................... 80 Model Domain and Discretization ...................................................................................................... 80 Vertical Layers and Layer Manipulation ............................................................................................. 81 Model Calibration .............................................................................................................................. 87 Transient Calibration ......................................................................................................................... 89 Water Balance in the Numerical Model ............................................................................................. 92 Gandy Warm Springs ......................................................................................................................... 95 ii Myers: Evidence Report – Spring, Cave, Dry Lake, and Delamar Valleys Lack of Verification ............................................................................................................................ 97 Specific Comments on the Numerical Model and Report ................................................................... 97 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 99 References .......................................................................................................................................... 100 Figures Figure 1: Portion of Figure 1-2 (SNWA 2010b) showing proposed project wells in the target basins as well as in Snake Valley. ................................................................................................................................... 6 Figure 2: Figure 2-2 from SNWA (2009a) showing the overall Central Carbonate Rock System, regional flow systems and individual basins. ......................................................................................................... 7 Figure 3: Figure 3-8 from the FEIS numerical modeling report (SNWA 2010b) showing pumping locations and amounts for Alternative E. .............................................................................................................. 10 Figure 4: Figure 16 from Welch et al (2008) showing conceptual flow systems for the Great Basin. ....... 11 Figure 5: Figure 9 from Myers (2011b). Hydrogeology of Spring and Snake Valley study area. See Table 1 for a description of the hydrogeology. Geology base prepared from Crafford (2007) and Hintze et al (2000).................................................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 6: Figure 6 from Flint et al (2007) showing the distribution of potential in-place recharge around many of the basins in the CCFS, including Spring and Snake Valleys. Recharge is based on the basin characterization method. ...................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 7: Snapshot of portion of Plate 2 (Welch et al 2008) showing basin fill water levels for Spring and Cave Valleys, and adjoining valleys including Snake Valley and White River Valley. ................................ 15 Figure 8: Snapshot of Figure 69 (Prudic et al 2015) showing a groundwater ridge in the southern third of Spring Valley and the conceptualization of groundwater flow from Spring Valley to Snake Valley and from Big Springs. ................................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 9: Snapshot of portion of Plate 3 (Welch et al 2008) showing carbonate water levels for Spring and Cave Valleys, and adjoining valleys including Snake Valley and White River Valley. ......................... 17 Figure 10: Figure 8 from Welch et al (2008) showing the depth to bedrock, or thickness of basin fill, through the valleys of eastern Nevada................................................................................................... 18 Figure 11: Snapshot of Welch et al (2008), Plate 4, showing distribution of evapotranspiration ............. 20 Figure 12: Snapshot of portion of Plate 1 (SNWA 2009a) centered on Spring Valley with portions of surrounding valleys. See Figure 13 for a copy of the legend. ................................................................. 23 Figure 13: Snapshot of the legend from Plate 1 (SNWA 2009a). Use with Figures 12 and 16. ................. 24 Figure 14: Snapshot of BARCASS Figure 41 showing estimated interbasin flow for basins in the northern portion of the study area (from Welch et al (2008)) ............................................................................... 24 Figure 15: Hydrogeology of Cave, Dry Lake, and Delamar Valleys, Basin #s 180, 181, and 182, and surrounding basins. ............................................................................................................................... 27 Figure 16: Snapshot of portion of Plate 1 (SNWA 2009a) centered on Cave, Dry Lake and Delamar Valleys with portions of surrounding valleys. See Figure 13 for a copy of the legend. ....................................... 28 Figure 17: Water balance fluxes for White River Valley snipped from Welch et al (2008) Plate 4 ............ 29 Figure 18: Phreatophytes