Effects of Recreation on Water Quality in Guadalupe Mountains National Park Douglas H . Dasher, Lloyd V. Urban, Marvin J. Dvoracek, Ernest B. Fish MEMBER ASAE ABSTRACT ater quality, both surface and ground, changes Wwith recreational use of wildlands. Paper reports water quality characteristics in the Guadalupe Moun­ tains National Park, TX. Present status of water quality is reported as generally good; however, total develop­ ment of park is incomplete. Some changes are being TO noted in the McKittrick Canyon. TO CARLSBAD, NEW MEXICO INTRODUCTION Guadalupe Mountains National Park was authorized by Public Law 89-667, October 15,1966, "To preserve in public ownership an area in the State of Texas possessing 5 CITY outstanding geologic values of great significance" (Na­ tional Park Service, 1973). Formal dedication and establishment of the park occurred on September 30 , NEW MEXICO NEW MEXICO TEXAS ---·-TEXA-i - -- 1972, following the acquisition of all properties within the present boundaries. Located on the southern end of the Guadalupe Moun­ NORTH tains in the trans-Pecos region of Texas, the park is be­ tween EI Paso, Texas, and Carlsbad, New Mexico (Fig . 1). Land surrounding the park is used primarily for graz­ 12~ 6 0 12 24 36 11m ing. The Guadalupe Mountains are composed largely of limestone, a remnant of a huge reef called the Capitan Barrier Reef. The mountains have the form of a 'V' with the apex pointing south and culminating abruptly in EI FIG. 1 Location map. Capitan, a prominent scarp face. The park has the distinction of containing within its boundaries the entire gamut from xeric desert shrub to mesic coniferous forest and including animals as diverse as cottontails and Any development of any degree, including trail mountain lions, porcupines and elk (National Park Ser­ reconstruction will alter the ecosystems to some ex­ vice, 1973). tent. In addition, any visitor use of the park, includ­ With approximately 100,000 people visiting a portion ing hiker use, will also alter the ecosystem. Springs­ of Guadalupe Mountains National Park each year, the and seeps, if used for human water needs, would impact of each person is important in the protection of jeopardize water sources vital to wildlife and vegeta­ this unique ecosystem whether the visitor stops by the tion. Compaction of soil and erosion caused by foot roadside or engages in one of the various activities af­ and horse traffic is expected to contribute the largest forded by the park. element of environmental damage, though other factors associated with increased visitor use, such as littering, and some limited vandalism, will also pose Article was submitted for publication in July 1980; reviewed and ap· management problems. (National Park Service, proved for publication by the Soil and Water Division of ASAE in December 1980. Presented as ASAE Paper No. 80·2019. 1975). College of Agricultural Sciences Publication T-6-128. Research efforts were supported by Project B·206-TEX, Office of HISTORY OF WATER USE IN THE PARK Water Research and Technology, and Contract PX 7029-9-0338, Na­ tional Park Service. In the mid-1500's, the Spanish explorers may have The authors are: DOUGLAS H. DASHER, Research Associate, used some of the springs in the area. T heir use was small Civil Engineering Dept. , LLOYD V. URBAN, Associate Director, compared to that of the Mescalero Apache who fre­ Water Resources Center, MARVIN J. DVORACEK, Associate Pro­ quented springs in the area extensively. Evidence of fessor/ Chairman, Agricultural Engineering Dept., and ERNEST B. FISH, Associ ate Professor, Park Administration Dept. , Texas Tech agave-roasting pits near some springs can still be seen to­ University, Lubbock, TX. day (Kurtz and Goran, 1978). Environmental effects of 198 1-TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE © 1981 American Society of Agricultural Engineers 0001-2351181 12405-1181$02.00 1181 This articl e is reprinted from the TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE (Vol. 24, No . 5, pp. 1181-1187, 1981) Published by the A n. ' rican Society of Agricultural Engineers, St. Joseph , Michigan McJl(ltulck Can)' o n S IUI SPRlto GS Osmllh a IIhllu Qlh 0cl'l 01l (} FIII·1t o U"U Pi nt G CUJ 61Iu,. o Ion. I" -" .... - ".. - "'I'~ FIG. 2 Sample site locations. this early use of the springs and stream were apparently Smith, Manzanita, Choza and Upper Dog Canyon minimal and generally have been erased by the passage Springs have had minimal human use. Livestock and of time. wildlife have been the most frequent users of these After the defeat of the Mescalero Apache in the 1860's springs. ranchers started moving into the area. Frijole Spring Guadalupe Spring was developed as a major source of (Fig. 2) was the site of the first permanent house in the water for livestock as well as for the human needs of park area. Built in 1876, the house is presently used as a service personnel living below Guadalupe Pass. In 1979, ranger residence. The spring house, built in the 1870's, the spring flow was diverted to a natural water supply for still covers the spring and serves today's domestic water wildlife following the development of a deep well at the supply needs. park service housing site. Upper Pine Spring, or Bear Spring as it is sometimes McKittrick Canyon, which contains the only perennial called, was used for a unique and innovative livestock stream in the park, was certainly used by early man. In water distribution system which pumped water 762 ver­ the 1920's and 1930's, two areas in McKittrick Canyon tical meters (2500 ft) to a large storage tank at the head experienced limited development. The Hunter Lodge of Bear Canyon. Water was then distributed by gravity and Line Cabin were built in South McKittrick Canyon flow in pipes throughout the high country. while the Pratt Lodge and servants' quarters were built at Bone Spring on the arid west side of the park was the confluence of North and South McKittrick Canyons. possibly a Comanche campsite (Brunne, 1975). In the Sewage effluent from both areas was disposed of in early 1900's the Williams Ranch was built at the mouth cesspools on alluvial terraces near the channel. The of Bone Canyon. Water for the house was piped from cesspool at the Hunter location was closed in 1970. nearby Bone Spring. The Williams Ranch is a historical However, the Pratt cesspool continues in use for site in the park, but is not developed for park visitor use restroom facilities serving hikers and the lodge, which is and remains inaccessible to most park visitors. used as a ranger residence. 1182 TRANSACTIONS of th e ASA E-198 1 PREVIOUS WORK water in the Dell City area has been investigated by the Texas Water Commission (1964) and the State of New A majority of the studies of recreational land use and Mexico has studied the groundwater north of Dell City in its effects on water quality conclude that impacts are the Crow Flats area of New Mexico (Bjorkland, 1957). minimal. Carswell et al. (1969) reviewed five studies in­ dicating that recreational use has little effect on water Lind (1971 , 1979) studied the limnology of the McKit­ quality: California Department of Public Health (1961); trick Canyon stream and several of the major springs. Roseberry (1964); Karlekas and Lynch (1965); Minkos Unusually high levels of nitrate-nitrogen were found at (1965) and the Department of Health, Education and three springs. Levels of 10 mg/ L for Manzanita, 50 mg/ L Welfare (1966). The reviewers criticize these studies for for Choza and 50 mg/ L for Upper Pine were recorded. At such shortcomings as including no controls, i.e., failing the same time a level of 0.46 mg/ L was recorded for Smith to compare the water quality parameters at a similar site Spring. These results were derived from a single sample without recreational activities; and using total coliforms from each of the springs between the 8th and 10th of April as the only index of water's sanitary quality. 1971. The reason for these high levels was not stated in the Other studies, using controls, support the view that report. Concern was expressed in the report that park recreational use causes little adverse impact on water visitor overuse or misuse may damage the McKittrick quality. Lee et al. (1970) reported on a study dealing with Stream ecosystem. closed, minimal use and open watersheds located in The chemistry of the water resources in the Guadalupe Washington: They concluded that no measurable in­ Mountains National Park has a strong tendency to retlect fluence could be determined from microbiological in­ sedimentary geology. Lind (1979), in writing about the dicator populations or chemical water quality because of stream in McKittrick Canyon, states: "The water increased human use of the watersheds. chemistry retlects the limestone substrate of the region ... Bissonette (1971) , Stuart et al. (1971) and Walter and a well-buffered calcium carbonate-magnesium carbonate Bottman (1967) in studying two similar watersheds, one system ... bicarbonate being the principal anion." open and one closed to the public in Montana, arrived at Dick (1975) of the Texas Water Quality Board con­ an unexpected observation. Surprisingly, fecal coliform ducted a study concentrating on the chemical and concentrations in the closed watershed were generally bacteriological quality of Guadalupe, Upper Pine, Smith, higher than in the open watershed. The increased con­ Manzanita, Frijole and Choza Springs. The results of this centration of coliform in the water of the closed water­ study indicated a good chemical water quality with no in­ shed was probably due to wildlife populations in the dication of human contamination of the springs. area. After the closed watershed was opened for limited use in 1970, a significant drop in bacterial levels was METHODS recorded.