Salt Basin Watershed (HUC8 13050004) Rapid Watershed Assessment Salt Basin Watershed 1 Salt Basin Watershed (HUC8 13050004) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). 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USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 2 Salt Basin Watershed (HUC8 13050004) Table of Contents Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Physical Setting ............................................................................................................................ 7 Precipitation .............................................................................................................................. 111 Land Ownership ........................................................................................................................ 122 Land Use / Land Cover ............................................................................................................. 144 Hydrology .................................................................................................................................... 18 Threatened and Endangered Species ........................................................................................ 24 Invasive Species ......................................................................................................................... 25 Common Resource Areas ......................................................................................................... 266 Conservation ............................................................................................................................... 28 Soil Resource Inventory ............................................................................................................ 291 Socioeconomic Data ................................................................................................................. 355 References .................................................................................................................................. 36 List of Tables Table 1. Salt Basin watershed acreage distribution. ..................................................................... 6 Table 2. Land ownership in the Salt Basin watershed. ............................................................... 13 Table 3. Extent of NLCD classes in the Salt Basin watershed. .................................................. 15 Table 4. SW Region Gap analysis ecosystem acreages. ........................................................... 17 Table 5. NHD Water Course Type and Extents ......................................................................... 19 Table 6. Threatened and Endanged Plant and Animal Species. ............................................... 24 Table 7 Invasive Species Recognized by the SWEMP and TPWD. ........................................ ..25 Table 8. 5 year Trends in Applied Conservation Practices. Reported in Acres........................ 28 Table 9. 5 Year Trends in Location Specific Applied Conservation Practices. Reported in Feet if Linear (i.e. Fence) ....................................................................................................................... 29 Table 10. Criteria Used for Soil Erosion Susceptibility Model. ................................................... 32 Table 11. Soil Erosion Potential Model Results. A greater rank indicates greater potential for erosion. ....................................................................................................................................... 34 Table 12. Socioeconomic Data of the Counties in the Watershed(2000)....................................35 Salt Basin Watershed (HUC8 13050004) List of Figures Figure 1. Salt Basin Watershed Overview ..................................................................................... 5 Figure 2. Hydrologic Soil Groups .................................................................................................. 9 Figure 3. Salt Basin Watershed Shaded Relief ............................................................................ 10 Figure 4. Salt Basin Watershed Annual Precipitation. ................................................................ 11 Figure 5. Salt Basin Watershed Land Ownership. ....................................................................... 12 Figure 6. Subset of the National Land Cover Dataset over the Salt Basin Watershed. ............... 14 Figure 7. Subset of the SWREGAP over the Salt Basin Watershed. The 12 dominant ecosystems are displayed in the legend. ....................................................................................... 16 Figure 8. National Hydrologic Dataset (NHD) of the Salt Basin Watershed . ............................ 18 Figure 9. Gauging Stations in the Salt Basin Watershed ............................................................. 20 Figure 10. Monthly Average of Mean Daily Flow on the Sacramento River near Sunspot, NM. Period of observation: 1984-1989. ............................................................................................... 21 Figure 11. Declared Groundwater Basins of the Salt Basin. ....................................................... 23 Figure 12. Common Resource Areas of the Salt Basin. .............................................................. 26 Figure 13. National Cooperative Soil Survey coverage of the Salt Basin Watershed. ................ 31 Figure 14. Salt Basin Watershed Erosion Potential……………………………………………..33 Salt Basin Watershed (HUC8 13050004) Overview Figure 1. Salt Basin Watershed Overview. 5 Salt Basin Watershed (HUC8 13050004) Overview The Salt Basin Watershed is located in south central New Mexico and in northwestern part of Texas. It covers 5,065,629 total acres (20,500 sq. km). Portions of the Salt Basin Watershed are in Chaves, Eddy, and Otero counties in New Mexico and Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio counties in Texas. Table 1 summarizes the distribution of the Salt Basin Watershed. County Acres Acres in % of HUC in % of County in County Total HUC County HUC Chaves , NM 3,885,365 79,963 2 2 Eddy , NM 2,684,688 15,162 0 1 Otero, NM 4,238,818 1,415,569 28 33 Culberson, TX 2,439,575 984,780 19 40 Hudspeth, TX 2,922,491 1,721,199 34 59 Jeff Davis, TX 1,447,630 487,819 10 34 Presidio,TX 2,466,257 361,134 7 15 Sum (∑) -- 5,065,629 100 -- Table 1. Salt Basin Watershed acreage distribution. Salt Basin Watershed (HUC8 13050004) Physical Setting Geology: The HUC has a northwest boundary at Sacramento Peak in the Lincoln National Forest. The boundary proceeds southward to Culp Peak; then to Otero Mesa; southward to Red Hill in the Hueco Mountains; Cerro Alto Mountain; Naville Mountain; Deer Mountain; crosses U.S. Highway 180 and 280 just east of Panther Tank; south southeastward to Shakespeare Tanks; Smith Mesa; Gunsight Hills; crosses Farm to Market Road 1111 northeast of Mile High and proceeds eastward to Round Mountain; Dome Peak; Streeruwitz Hills; crosses Interstate 10 heading southward just west of Eagle Flat; Little Hills; Eagle Peak in the Eagle Mountains; heading eastward crosses Green River Road near the Plata Verde Mines; down the Van Horn Mountains to North Mesa; Newton Mesa; Star Mesa; down the Sierra Vieja; Capote Peak; El Macho; Cleveland Peak; crosses Pinto Canyon Road nears its junction with Farm to Market Road 2810; heads northeastward to the Oak Hills; crosses U.S. Highway 90 about halfway between Ryan and Marfa; Mine Mountain in the Davis Mountains; Brown Mountain; Paradise Mountain; Mount Livermore; Baldy Peak; Sawtooth Mountain; crossing State Route 166 at H O Hill; Bear Mountain; Geronomo Mountain; crosses Broken Tank Road at South Tank; heading northward between Rock and Fish Tanks; Horse Camp Peak; crosses Interstate 10 near Tepee Tank; east of W D Tank in the Apache Mountains; through Seven Heart Gap; crosses Farm to Market Road 2185 near Johnson Tank into the Delaware Mountains; Cooky Hat Point; to Guadalupe Peak in the Guadalupe Peak Mountains. The northern boundary passes through Jefferies Peak; Chimney Peak; Lewis Peak; southward to Russell Gap; along the spine of the Guadalupe Mountains to Pickett Hill; Deer Hill; Bush Mountain; Bartlett Peak; and Guadalupe Peak. The bedrock in the New Mexico portion of the watershed is predominantly Pennsylvanian to Permian Period limestones, dolomite and sandstone. The limestone is porous and has many sinkholes. Caliche also forms on the ground surface. These slope eastward down into the Pecos River Valley. The valleys contain Quaternary Period alluvium deposits and older alluvial deposits of the piedmont and upland plains. The Apache Mountains, Delaware