Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Document Type

Other

Publication Date

5-4-2009

Abstract

The development of water resources is the most important issue facing water resource managers today, particularly in the U. S. southwest, where demand is far greater than water ground-water replenishment. Conjunctive-use strategies for water resource development, or the integration of surface and ground-water uses towards developing one or both of these reserves, were simulated in a static water balance model identifies strategies would increase annual changes in water storage hydrologic system by increasing the amount of water available for aquifer recharge in the South Valley Area (SVA) of Bernalillo County. The evaluation was accomplished by simulating increases and decreases in water inputs and outputs from existing infrastructure and land uses in the SV A, a subsection of the Middle Rio Grande Basin (MRGB). Average annual quantities were used to simulate current conditions in the MRGB. Projections for water demand for the next forty years were based on population growth estimates and previous demand projection studies. Strategies that increased the amount of ground-water recharge in the SVA and MRGB, include the City of Albuquerque's (COA) switch to surface water for its primary supply, the enhancement of seepage along Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) conveyance canals, and the transfer of 25 percent (not including the consumptive-use of vegetation) of ground-water withdrawals for irrigation to surface diversion ditches. Management components of the conjunctive-use strategies were examined, providing examples of possible mechanisms that would promote the reallocation of surface water, requiring the transfer of water rights, to ensure that the water is allocated to the appropriate facilities and at the appropriate level to recharge the regional aquifer.

Language (ISO)

English

Keywords

Middle Rio Grande Basin (MRGB), South Valley area, Conjunctive-use, Aquifer recharge, Conveyance canals, Static water balance model

Comments

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Water Resources, University of New Mexico July 15, 2002.

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