Conjunctive Availability of Surface and Ground Water in the Albuquerque Area, New Mexico: A Modelling Approach

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study is part of an interdisciplinary analysis of the economic evaluation of the water resources of the Rio Grande region of New Mexico. It was elemental in obtaining dynamic water availabilities in time and space.The relationship of dynamic ground‐water availability and aquifer behavior under projected stresses was modeled by a ground‐water system simulator based on a mass balance of the hydrologic basin. Conditions from extreme dry to extreme wet were modeled, combined with a range of different water demands. A vast amount of information was thus obtained in the form of aquifer responses for different conditions. An analogous relationship was constructed from these data by stepwise multiple regression analysis and was of the following formλd = f (dn, L)where λd = change in water‐table elevation for the time period considered, dn= water‐table elevation at the end of the previous time period, and L = a lump factor combining surface‐water inflow and outflow, precipitation, and beneficial and nonbeneficial water uses.Other results readily obtainable from the simulation runs are river accretion or depletion curves as a function of time. These curves show the diversion effects of groundwater pumping upon the river.