Mojave National Preserve—Management Plan for Developed Water Resources Ponds and Reservoirs Wet playa – a terminal basin playa with near-surface groundwater that becomes an ephemeral lake following heavy precipitation. Example: Soda Dry Lake. Ephemeral pond – a natural depression for runoff, often modified by earthwork to hold more water. Example: Ford Dry Lake. Pit lake (groundwater) – open pit mining excavation into a perched aquifer. A pond is formed in the bottom of the open pit after termination of mining and dewatering. Example: Morningstar Mine. Pit lake (surface water) – precipitation collected in the bottom of an open pit mine forming an ephemeral pond, typically with poor water quality. Example: Vulcan Mine. Excavated pond – a pond constructed by excavating into shallow groundwater that may need regular refilling by pumping water. Distinguished from a groundwater pit lake by intent and purpose. Distinguished from a stock pond by permanence. Example: Lake Tuendae. Stock pond – a basin excavated in sediments usually for livestock watering. Typically, these take advantage of natural drainage features and hold water only intermittently. Example: Lecyr stock pond. Ford Dry Lake following a rainy season Morningstar Mine groundwater pit lake Mojave National Preserve 78 Mojave National Preserve—Management Plan for Developed Water Resources Guzzlers Big game guzzler – a water collection system consisting of a check dam in a natural drainage piped to one or more storage tanks that supply water to a small drinker. In the Preserve, these were built for bighorn sheep but may be used by other animals. Example: Kerr guzzler. Small game guzzler – also known as gallinaceous guzzlers as they are intended for gallinaceous bird species. These guzzlers consist of a concrete apron leading to a subsurface concrete or fiberglass storage tank. Birds and small animals enter the storage tank through a small opening. Large tanks at a big game guzzler Small game guzzler with a concrete apron and underground tank Combinations Features can occur in various combinations, such as a verdant seep with a tunnel, or a bog plus a well. Features may also vary seasonally and may be described by combinations of terms, such as ephemeral excavated flowing spring (e.g., Mail Spring following a rainy season). Many features exist somewhere between definitions. For example, Ivanpah Spring could be either a tunnel or an adit, while Cane Spring could be either a bog or a pond. Mojave National Preserve 79 Figure 12 on the next page cannot be made 508 compliant. It is a map of Figure 12. Water Features in the Preserve. to Las Vegas to Las Vegas Kin Primm gsto E n S W E H G T G a I sh N G N A M Water Features in H R A L Y N R A I (! (!A A N )" H R Mojave National Preserve #T D N (! (! G # G (! U (! N R U U IO ") N A 95 O (! Y E Yates Well P O S (! A x N C C I L c M (! F IC G e U H IVANPAH R L l K A E Mojave National Preserve s IL L i R R U o # 15 O A (! LAKE (! C A r A Water Resources Management Plan and Environmental Assessment D M L (dry) c D C i n ash M 164 O e LL W HI n Searchlight R WK o MOHA at o Nipton W he a Mojave National Preserve Boundary W d )" P # Nipton Road I Salton # ### 164 U (! M ## # Spring E I T Sea G N h E s N E R Y a A A W # R L )" E s L S Small Game Guzzler ng A H V ri C IL ES L L p M N A S 127 ll # L L u CIMA ROAD Ivanpah Road I " Big Game Guzzler L B A )" (! A E V # )" V Y # S T Well T # ## A N (! (! S # L )" M # (!(! Halloran Springs # U N # L (! I National Park Service Wilderness # ## (! # H E # # O h ##(!# A ## s ## W (! )" A Y (! # T a H i # M (! CASTLE ## P l sh (!# Paved road lo a N W # A w W MOUNTAINS N Willow e U )" # P NATIONAL t SILVER A u Spring O i 15 N MONUMENT LAKE # V (! P Unpaved 2-wheel drive road I A (!# # # M (dry) (! # )" Morning Star Mine Road V (! I (! E Cal Nev Ari # L Kessler Unpaved 4-wheel drive road #(!# T # #### Spring K (!## S CIMA R (! (!# Mine Ro (! (! # rt a # A (! ! O # a d Mojave Road 4-wheel drive road #(!#(! ( Y C h DOME (! !( H # s Deer ( (! W (! a E (!(! Spring #(! N (! )" )" P W# (! Keystone Desert wash (! I NEVADA Baker Kelbaker Rd nk (! (! CALIFORNIA a (! (! U T (!(! # (! (! Spring ck ## # # T la (! # # )" )" (!(!(!(! B # ## (! (! )" # # E )" Cima# (! (!(! # rk M # # Yo ount)"ain !( w s # R !((!(!(! Ne# Road ( # !(! # A # )" ( (!# PINTO )" # # Ivanpah Rd CINDER CONE (!(! # # )" )" Palm )" N # (! VALLEY ") 163 # LAVA BEDS VE ROAD (! Gardens Zz JA (! G y O (! LANFAIR z SODA M x # (! E )" )" R LAKE (! # (! h HILLS (! # VALLEY )" o D s # #(! GROTTO # )" a (dry) Marl a # 95 # A Aiken Mine Rd # d O W ! HILLS E R MARL Spring (!( )" # AV o ## )" #(!## OJ s Rock # MOJAVE ROAD (!Zzyzx M MOUNTAINS l sh #(! # # # # )" e Wa # (!# Rasor R #(!(!Spring K edar # Spring! Cedar Canyon Road o (! C ROUND# ( # )" a ") (! # d )" )" (! # #VALLEY # # MOJAVE ROAD Zzyzx # (! # # )" (! MID # (!# (! (! (! # # Piute ") )" (! )" )" ") K # Spring # E M (! L A (! # N S C (! )" O O E Y D # P # # N Kelbaker Road ON # A N M IA YO # (!# I C # O CAN )" SS # # Hackberry U CKA U # # # W (! VONTRIGGER JA N (! # GOLD O (!(! HILLS T )" (! # (! O (! Spring ## T A D # (!# ") I N VALLEY S (! # Vontrigger # E S # M (! D # # O Spring Kelso Cima Road (! U E )" N V (! # (! # T W )" I (! A )" IN a F L t E (! S s V S o N Lanfair Road Kelso Depot n ## ## N A ## # Information Center #(! # W E P R L B a L (! (! (! )" l L D (! a s V A c h A A E ILRO # k C RA # C L I Y Y IF AC # a L P # n G UNION MOUNTAINS E y )" Co (!(! Y t o R to n Cornfield )" n w )" O (! Kel Spring W so Wash o U a o )" # s d (! h N )" # Black Canyon Road W (! # 95 D )" a )" s (! (!(! h )" (! )" MountainGoffs Springs Rd D S (!(! (! e E (! (!(! Foshay N Y v U ##(! E il D Spring# s s P O E )" s " layg ELS (!(!(! e ) ! L rou K (!( x nd (!(! S R L L )" W !# o L ash ( )" I a )" A H # d R V E B N 40 L N I PROVIDENCE N Quail E F (! # D (! (! (! (! # )" (! H Goffs Rd (! (!(! (!Spring R I (! H (!(! L E GRANITE (! L o (! )" S (! P m (!(! Fenner y (! P wa e (! r I h g MOUNTAINS )" i W (! Y H S ! L A (! (!(! !( ( # ils (! (!(! )" W a L a N O (! # C I r T I s L A l h D (! R na o A D E ti (! F A (! a T D N (! ## A (! T N M (! N O (!# (!(! (! (! (! A U S U N (! (!(! T (! A Budweiser O I N )" 40 S N R Spring )" E M H RT O E N # Essex N T Kelbaker Road CLIPPER MOUNTAINS O T U Ludlow # G IN I L R P U 40 B Na MIDDLE tio na HILLS l T N rai ls H ig hw 0 1 2 3 4 5 a Miles y to Barstow Mojave National Preserve—Management Plan for Developed Water Resources Springs The most numerous water features in the Preserve are springs and seeps. A spring has visible flow, while a seep occurs where the ground surface is occasionally wet and riparian vegetation is often present (NPS 1999). For the purposes of this plan, both types of water features are referred to as “springs.” Springs in the Preserve can be broadly classified by their topographic location as either montane or valley basin springs (Dekker and Hughson 2014). There are 238 recorded locations of springs and seeps in the Preserve (see Table 12 and Figure 14) (NPS 2010b, 2013b). While some provide reliable surface water all the time, others are reduced to a small muddy patch or even disappear during dry years. The NPS does not have uniform monitoring of all criteria at all springs, particularly the presence of surface water, which is evaluated by citizen-scientist volunteers on a sporadic basis for some springs. Table 12. Documented Springs in the Preserve Spring Characteristics Documented % of Total Notes Total known springs 238 n/a Current inventory; actual number is uncertain Located in wilderness 182 76 N/A Historic 85 36 Based on NPS field evaluation Prehistoric 47 20 Based on NPS field evaluation Less than 500 meters to road 120 50 Proximity of access for potential management Water observed 218 92 Based on volunteer monitoring of water presence Montane springs are most common and are typically found in canyons, ravines, arroyos, or other drainage features at the base of mountain ranges between 4,000 and 6,000 feet (1,219 and 1,829 meters) in elevation. Most of these springs are fed by a mountain watershed catchment area with the sediment and fractured bedrock capacity to store precipitation in a shallow aquifer (see Figure 13). Surface water expressions occur where shallow bedrock is exposed, subsurface drainage channels are constricted, or a geologic structure Natural Springs such as a fault, a dike; or contacts of different rock types intercepts subsurface “Natural” springs are those that are physically flows (Dekker and Hughson 2014). unaltered and surface water expressions occur without human intervention or development. Natural Springs that are caused exclusively by springs are rare since most water sources have been geological structures, such as those on manipulated by humans at some time.