Application of a ground-water flow model to the Mesilla Basin, New Mexico and Texas Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Hamilton, Susan Lynne, 1964- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 26/09/2021 10:15:39 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278362 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 1353852 Application of a ground-water flow model to the Mesilla Basin, New Mexico and Texas Hamilton, Susan Lynne, M.S. The University of Arizona, 1993 Copyright ©1993 by Hamilton, Susan Lynne. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. ZeebRd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 1 APPLICATION OF A GROUND-WATER FLOW MODEL TO THE MESILLA BASIN, NEW MEXICO AND TEXAS by Susan Lynne Hamilton Copyright © Susan Lynne Hamilton 1993 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HYDROLOGY AND WATER RESOURCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE WITH A MAJOR IN WATER RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1993 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: '•'uuQ-fi, ix rwm APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: Thomas Maddock III Date Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources Administration 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Research and development was supported in part by the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, under grant provided by them. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the author and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Elephant Butte Irrigation District. I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Maddock III for his insight, encouragement, and patience. Dr. L.G. Wilson and Dr. Martha Conklin gave me kind encouragement. I would also like to thank the members of the Elephant Butte Irrigation District for their input. Special thanks to Michael Riley for his unending patience and data collection abilities, to Peter Frenzel whose previous studies and instruction were invaluable, to Russ Livingston for encouraging Peter Frenzel's input, to all the public and private water entities in New Mexico and Texas who contributed data and knowledge, and to Mike Jones for his help in modifying the existing U.S.G.S. Streamflow-Routing package by D.E. Prudic. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES 6 LIST OF TABLES 10 ABSTRACT 12 1. PROJECT OVERVIEW 13 1.1 INTRODUCTION 13 1.2 STUDY AREA 18 1.3 OVERVIEW OF PREVIOUS GROUND-WATER MODELING INVESTIGATIONS 20 1.4 BRIEF OVERVIEW OF GENERAL INVESTIGATIONS 23 1.5 SCOPE OF WORK 25 1.6 REPORT ORGANIZATION 26 2. DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA 27 2.1 LOCATION AND PHYSIOGRAPHY 27 2.2 AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 30 2.3 CLIMATE 32 2.4 GEOLOGY 36 2.5 WELL-NUMBERING SYSTEM 41 2.6 CONVERSION FACTORS 45 3. SURFACE-WATER AND GROUND-WATER SYSTEMS 46 3.1 SURFACE-WATER SYSTEM 46 3.2 GROUND-WATER SYSTEM 63 3.2.1 Rio Grande Alluvial Aquifer System 64 3.2.2 Santa Fe Group Aquifer System 65 3.2.3 Water Use and the Aquifer's Response 3.3 GROUND-WATER/SURFAC^WATER INTERACTION 72 4. HYDROLOGIC MODEL AND SIMULATION 83 4.1 INTRODUCTION 83 4.2 THEORETICAL REPRESENTATION OF GROUND-WATER FLOW 86 4.3 MODFLOW 86 4.3.1 The Streamflow-Routing Package 87 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS- Continued 4.4 FINITE DIFFERENCE GRID 91 4.5 AQUIFER CHARACTERISTICS 95 4.5.1 Layer 1 95 4.5.2 Layer 2 96 4.5.3 Layer 3 96 4.5.4 Layer 4 100 4.6 BOUNDARY CONDITIONS 102 4.7 INITIAL CONDITIONS AND STRESS PERIODS 106 4.8 STEADY STATE 106 4.8.1 Stream Simulation 107 4.8.2 Stream Adjustment 112 4.8.3 Water Levels 114 4.9 TRANSIENT .. 117 4.9.1 Original Mesilla Valley Boundary Condition and Modifications 117 4.9.2 Pumping Stresses Designated in the Model 121 4.9.3 River, Canal, and Drain Simulation 126 4.9.4 • Stream and Canal Adjustment 137 4.9.5 Water Levels 141 4.9.6 Water Budget 152 4.10 SENSITIVITY.. 152 4.10.1 Vertical Hydraulic Conductivity of the Canals 154 4.10.2 River-bed Elevation 154 4.10.3 Canal-bed Elevation 156 5. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 158 5.1 SUMMARY 1 158 5.2 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 164 APPENDIX A: Head Residuals for Select Layers and Select Years 174 APPENDIX B: Total Canal Diversions at Diversion Dams and Wasteway Discharge 186 APPENDIX C: Rio Grande Discharge at Cable Section below Leasburg and Mesilla Diversion Dams 249 APPENDIX D: Records of Selected Wells in the Mesilla Ground-Water Basin 264 REFERENCES 287 6 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1, Rio Grande Basin physiographic province and Basin divisions (modified after Frenzel and Kaehler, 1990) 14 FIGURE 2, Mesilla Basin boundary and study axea (Hawley and Lozinsky, 1992) 19 FIGURE 3, Physiography of the study axea (Peterson et al., 1984) 28 FIGURE 4, Irrigated acres in the Mesilla Valley for 1880-1980 (Frenzel and Kaehler, 1990) 31 FIGURE 5, Monthly mean averages of precipitation, pan evaporation, computed potential evapotranspiration, and soil-moisture deficiency at New Mexico State University (Wilson et al., 1981) 35 FIGURE 6, Major faults within the Mesilla Basin (Hawley and Lozinsky, 1992) 37 FIGURE 7, Stratigraphic column of the Santa Fe Group, Mesilla Basin, New Mexico and Texas (Frenzel and Kaehler, 1990) 39 FIGURE 8, Geologic cross sections of the Mesilla Basin (Hawley and Lozinsky, 1992) 40 FIGURE 9, New Mexico well-numbering system (Wilson et al., 1981) 42 FIGURE 10, Texas well-numbering system (Wilson et al., 1981) 44 FIGURE 11, Elephant Butte Reservoir operations, inflows and outflows for 1915-1989 50 FIGURE 12, Caballo Reservoir operations, inflows and outflows for 1938-1989 51 FIGURE 13, Map showing locations of Caballo and Elephant Butte Reservoirs (modified after Myers and Orr, 1985) 53 FIGURE 14, Map showing locations of Leasburg and Mesilla Diversion Dams (modified after the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Project Data Book Excerpt, 1983?) 54 FIGURE 15, Leasburg Canal diversions, 1920-1990 57 FIGURE 16, Eastside Canal diversions, 1920-1990 58 7 LIST OF FIGURES - Continued FIGURE 17, Westside Canal diversions, 1920-1990 59 FIGURE 18, Historic drain flow, Mesilla Valley 60 FIGURE 19, Annual discharge of the Rio Grande at Leasburg and El Paso Narrows (Frenzel, 1992) 62 FIGURE 20, Depth to water table, Mesilla Valley (Maddock and Wright Water Engineers, Inc., 1987) 70 FIGURE 21, Approximate altitude of the water table in the flood-plain alluvium in the vicinity of the Mesilla Diversion Dam, January and February 1976 (Wilson and White, 1984) 73 FIGURE 22, Location of control wells and observation-well groups at the aquifer-test site (Nickerson, 1989) 75 FIGURE 23, Aquifer zones and aquifer-test wells at the Canutillo Well Field hydrologic section (Nickerson, 1989) 76 FIGURE 24, Rio Grande stage and water levels in observation wells CWF-la, CWF-2a, CWF-3a, January 10-22, 1986 (Nickerson, 1989) 77 FIGURE 25, Canal losses versus gross diversions (1947-1976) 80 FIGURE 26, Diagram showing part of an aquifer with a stream over it depicting how conductance of the streambed is calculated for a reach (Prudic, 1989) 89 FIGURE 27, Leakage, QSTR, through a streambed into an aquifer as a function of head, h, in a model cell where SBOT is the streambed bottom, and HSTR is the stream stage. Slope is dependent on streambed conductance, CSTR (Prudic, 1989) 90 FIGURE 28, Model grid and Mesilla boundary (Frenzel and Kaehler, 1990) 92 FIGURE 29, Contour