Water-Resources Appraisal of Carson River Basin, Western Nevada
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
POOR LEGIBILITY ONE OR MORE PAGES IN THIS DOCUMENT ARE DIFFICULT TO READ DUE TO THE QUALITY OF THE ORIGINAL Fem^cc. c SFUND RECORDS CTR 3417-00043 f SFUND RECORDS CTR" i 88202267 WATER RESOURCES - RECONNAISSANCE SERIES REPORT 59 WATER-RESOURCES APPRAISAL OF THE CARSON RIVER BASIN, WESTERN NEVADA By Patrick A. Glancy and T. L. Katzer Prepared cooperatively by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey 1976 FOREWORD The program of reconnaissance water-resources studies was authorized by the 1960 Legislature to be carried on by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooper ation with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources. This report is the 59th report prepared by the staff of the Nevada District Office of the U.S. Geological Survey. These 59 reports describe the hydrology of 208 hydrographic areas. The reconnaissance surveys make available pertinent information of great and immediate value to many State and Federal agencies, the State cooperating agency, and the public. As development takes place in any area, demands for more detailed information will arise, and studies to supply such information will be undertaken. In the meantime, these timely reconnaissance-type studies meet the immediate needs for information of the water resources. Roland D. Westergard State Engineer 1976 * Division of Water Resources CONTENTS Page SUNMARY 1 INTRODUCTION ........ 4 Purpose and scope of the study .... 4 Location and general geographic features 6 Other studies and data 6 Acknowledgments • 7 GENERAL HYDRQLOGIC ENVIRONMENT 9 Physiographic features 9 Hydrogeologic units 11 Valley-fill reservoirs 13 Extent and boundaries 13 Occurrence and movement of ground water 14 Easalt in the Fallon area 16 INFLOW TO THE HYDROGRAPHIC AREAS 17 Precipitation 17 Surface water 17 Records available 19 Techniques of runoff deteimination 19 Measured runoff 19 Estimated runoff 32 Streamflow characteristics 32 Carson Valley . 32 Eagle Valley 36 Dayton Valley 36 Churchill Valley 36 Carson Desert 38 Packard Valley and White Plains 38 Floods . 42 Carson River floods ....'. 42 Local flash floods 46 Ground-water recharge 47 Natural subsurface inflow 49 Imported water 50 OUTFLOW FROM THE HYDROGRAPHIC AREAS 55 Surface and subsurface outflow 55 Public, domestic, and industrial supplies 55 Irrigation pumpage 58 Surface-water diversions 60 Livestock use 60 Recreation use 61 Springs 61 Natural evapotranspiration 62 iv Page WATER BUDGETS 65 Mains tem areas 65 Carson Valley (Nevada) 65 Dayton Valley 65 Churchill Valley 65 Carson Desert 67 Nonmainstem areas • 67 Eagle Valley 67 Packard Valley 67 White Plains 67 Entire Carson River Basin . 68 WATER QUALITY 69 General chemical character 69 Criteria for suitability 69 Suitability for domestic use and public supply 69 Suitability for agricultural use 76 Suitability for industrial use 77 Sewage 77 Carson River 79 j Mains tem 79 Tributaries 83 Newlands Reclamation Project irrigation water 86 Ground water 86 Carson Valley * 86 Eagle Valley 87 Dayton Valley 87 Churchill Valley 89 Carson Desert 89 White Plains and Packard Valley 90 Thermal water 91 Principal water-quality problems 91 AVAILABLE WATER SUPPLY . 97 Ground-water storage in the valley-fill reservoirs 97 Available supply, mains tem areas 98 Available supply, nonmainstem areas 98 GECHYDROLOGIC HAZARDS 99 i NUMBERING SYSTEM FOR HYDRDLOGIC SITES 101 REFERENCES CITED . 115 SELECTED REFERENCES 121 v ILLUSTRATIONS Page Plate 1. Generalized hydrogeologic map of the Carson River basin . Figure 1. Map showing areas described in previous reports of this series, and the area described in this report 5 2. Map showing weather stations and general physiographic features in study area 10 3-6 Graphs showing: 3a. Mean monthly flow of Carson River into and out of of Carson Valley, 1940-69 water years 35 3b. Average monthly flow distribution, Carson River near Fort Churchill, 1919-69 water years 35 4. Flow duration curves for East and West Forks Carson River 37 5,. Annual maximum and minimum stages and volume of stored water in Lahontan Reservoir, 1917-72 calendar years 39 6. Lahontan Reservoir releases to Carson River, 1917-72 calendar years 41 PHOTOGRAPHS 1. Lahontan Dam spillway in early summer of 1969 Front r ' ' . cover 2. Aerial view of Lahontan Dam in September 1974 *front cover vi TABLES Page Table 1. Hydrologic sunmary 2 2. Selected quantitative physiographic data . 11 3. Generalized lithologic units and their water-bearing properties 12 4. Average annual precipitation at weather stations 18 5. Selected surface-water records 20 ~6. Annual flows of Carson River, water years 1891-1969 ..... 22 7. Maximum and minimum recorded discharge at the principal Carson River measurement sites through 1969 water year 25 8. Average annual streamflow at Carson River gaging stations, for different reference periods 26 9. Annual flow at nonmainstem gaging stations 27 10. Maximum discharge at partial-record stations 28 11. Data for reservoirs and lakes in the Carson River basin ... 29 12. Estimates of average annual streamflow at hydrographic area boundaries, 1919-69 water years 31 13. Instantaneous measured flow of several Carson River basin tributaries ..... ^ 33 14. Estimated average annual runoff at the mountain front from ungaged tributary streams in Nevada 34 15. Measured Carson Desert streamflow, return flow from irrigated lands, and flow from reservoir spills 42 16. Sunmary of quantitative streamflow data for selected historic floods of the Carson River 43 17. Estimated potential ground-water recharge 48 18. Estimated ground-water inflow to valleys of the study area through alluvium 51 19. Water imported from the Marlette Water System 52 20. Estimated imports of waste water to Carson River basin .... 53 21. Estimates of public, domestic, and industrial water use during 1971 water year 56 vii Page I Table 22. Summary of estimated ground-water pumpage for public supply, domestic, and industrial purposes, 1971 water year 57 23. Water input to the Carson Water Conpany distribution system during the 1970 and 1971 calendar years 57 24. Pumpage of Fallon city wells and Fallon Naval Air Station wells during the 1966-71 water years 58 ' • / 25. Estimated annual irrigation pumpage 59 26. Estimated annual consumption of water by livestock, 1971 calendar year 60 27. Spring data 61 28. Estimated acreage of irrigated lands, phreatophytes, surface- water bodies, and discharging playas 63 29. Estimated average annual evaporation from surface-water bodies for mainstem hydrographic areas, 1919-69 ...... 64 30. Reconnaissance water budgets for mainstem hydrographic areas, ; 1919-69 66 t 31. Chemical analyses of well, spring, stream, and lake waters . 70 32. Estimated quantities of sewage processed by treatment plants within the Carson River basin 78 33. Summarized water-quality data for sites on Carson River, July 1966 to December 1971 80 34. Summarized water-quality data for Lahontan Reservoir, | July 1966 to July 1971 . 82 35. Summarized water-quality data for Daggett Creek, August 1966 to December 1971 84 i 36. Summarized water-quality data for some Carson River tributaries that convey treated sewage ... 85 37. Summary of presently recognized and possible future water- quality problems 92 38. Estimated quantity of ground water stored in the upper 100 feet of saturated valley fill 97 39. Well data 103 ' 40. Selected well logs 107 • • • Vlll CONVERSION FACTORS For those readers who may prefer to use metric units rather than English units, the conversion factors for terms in this report are listed below: Multiplication English unit Metric unit factor to convert from English to metric quantity Inches (in) Millimetres (mm) 25.4 Feet (ft) Metres (m) 0.305 Miles (mi) Kilometres (km) 1.61 Acres Square metres (m2) 4,050 Square miles (mi2) Square kilometres (Ion2) 2.59 Gallons (gal) Litres (1) 3.78 Acre-feet (acre-ft) Cubic metres (ms) 1,230 Cubic feet per second (ft'/s) Litres per second (1/s) 28.3 Do. Cubic metres per second (m'/s) 0.0283 Gallons per minute (gal/min) Litres per second (1/s) 0.0631 ix WATER RESOURCES APPRAISAL OF THE CARSON RIVER BASIN, WESTERN NEVADA By P. A. Glancy and T. L. Katzer SUMMARY The study area lies at the western edge of the Great Basin, and encompasses six major hydrographic areas and one hydrographic subarea, but.excludes most of the Carson River drainage in California. Five of the hydrographic areas are part of the Carson River drainage basin; the sixth, White Plains, is the terminus of the Humboldt River basin and connects that drainage to Carson Desert. Packard Valley is tributary to Carson Desert, but not directly to Carson River. Altitudes in the Carson River basin range from 11,005 feet in the Sierra Nevada to about 3,800 feet in Carson Sink. Precipitation averages less than 6 inches per year at low Carson Desert altitudes, and more than 30 inches at high Sierra Nevada altitudes. The study area is hydrologically dominated by Carson River, Lahontan Reservoir, and the Truckee Canal, which carries Truckee River water into the basin for irrigation use on the Newlands Irrigation Project. Table 1 summarizes selected quantitative hydrologic estimates of the study area, tost of the data of table 1 are described and, more importantly, qualified in the body of the text. Lithologic units delineated for their hydrologic characteristics include consolidated rocks, and valley-fill deposits made up of younger and older alluvium. The valley-fill deposits constitute the principal aquifer system, and the consolidated rocks form most of the hydrographic area boundaries. Estimates of average annual water inflow to the study area during the 1919-69 reference period are as follows: (1) precipitation (about 1% million acre-feet annually), (2) Carson River inflow (about 315,000 acre-feet annually), (3) Humboldt River tailwaste (about 6,000 acre-feet annually), (4) water imported from adjacent hydrographic areas (about 180,000 acre-feet annually), (5) natural subsurface inflow from adjacent hydrographic areas (about 8,200 acre-feet annually).