Refining the Water Budget of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo
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Page 1 Refining the Water Budget of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Panel 3: Data Sharing and Understanding Groundwater: What is working? What is missing? Binational Summit on Groundwater at the U.S.-Mexico Border El Paso, Texas April 10-11, 2019 Ronald T. Green, Ph.D., P.G. Earth Science Section Southwest Research Institute ®
Transcript of Refining the Water Budget of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo
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Refining the Water Budget of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo
Panel 3: Data Sharing and Understanding Groundwater:
What is working? What is missing?
Binational Summit on Groundwater at the U.S.-Mexico Border
El Paso, Texas
April 10-11, 2019
Ronald T. Green, Ph.D., P.G.
Earth Science Section
Southwest Research Institute®
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Two examples where data sharing and groundwater understanding are lacking:
1) Goodenough Spring catchment area: not characterized, data lacking
2) Extension of Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Mexico: data lacking
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1) Goodenough Spring catchment area: not characterized, data lacking
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Major Watersheds that Discharge tothe Lower Rio Grande/Rio Bravo
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Focus on Amistad Reservoir Area
Page 6(Sanchez et al., 2018)
Edwards-Trinity
Aquifer
Page 7Edwards-Trinity Aquifer GAM (Jones et al., 2009)
Typical Mapping of the Edwards-Trinity Aquifer
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Rio Grande Water Budgetin Val Verde County (acre-ft/yr)
AmistadReservoir
Devils
River
263,000
Pecos
River
197,000
Rio Grande at Langtry
1,071,000
San Felipe
Creek
65,000
Rio Grande below Amistad Dam
1,659,000
Rio Grande at Del Rio
1,659,000
Cienegas
Creek
8,700
Gauging Station
Goodenough
Spring 103,000
1/3 of flow to Rio Grande/Rio Bravo below Amistad Reservoir is from
Goodenough Spring, Pecos River, and Devils River
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Major contributors (fairly) well characterized,with the exception of Goodenough Springs
Pecos River
197,000 ac-ft/yr
Devils River
263,000 ac-ft/yr
Goodenough Springs
103,000 ac-ft/yr
Rio Grande Water Budgetin Val Verde County
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Goodenough Spring WatershedNot Well Characterized, Data Lacking
Goodenough
Spring
Pre-1968
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2) Extension of Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Mexico: data lacking
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Groundwater Basins Are Not Defined by the Rio
Grande/Rio Bravo
Sanchez et al., 2018
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Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer as mapped
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Transboundary extent of
Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer
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Acquire appropriate data of the Mexican equivalent formations.
These data include:
Well data (well depth, pumping data, water-quality data, etc.)
Geophysical logs and stratigraphic data (e.g., “stratpicks”)
Water chemistry data
Streamflow and springflow data
GIS files
Data Needs:
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Servicio Geológico Mexicano/Mexican Geological Service (SGM) GeoInfoMex portal includes lithologic data, watershed boundaries, land use, magnetic/geophysical surveys, and geochemical data; downloadable as GIS shapefiles
CONAGUA’s SIGA and SINA GIS portals – permitted volumes of water use, watershed boundaries, and water-quality data
SGM and CONAGUA have relevant reports/documents
Registro Público de Derechos de Agua (REPDA) – state-level water volume measurements
Successes – Data we successfully obtained or appear to be available
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Contacting CONAGUA is difficult – phone calls get cut; contact by email to CONAGUA and specific individuals (listed on GIS portals) are unsuccessful
Not all data are readily downloadable
Well coordinates unknown or uncertain
Shape files not accessible
Water-quality data not found
Limited geophysical data or structural data
Water use/pumping data at regional/state resolution only
Not sure if the “missing” data are simply nonexistent or if data are available at other agencies
Challenges:(External to TAAP)
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Contact Information
Ronald T. Green, Ph.D., P.G.
Institute Scientist
Space Science and Engineering
Division
Southwest Research Institute
6220 Culebra
San Antonio, Texas 78238
1.210.522.5305 (office)
1.210.316.9242 (cell)
Mauricio Flores, G.I.T.
Scientist
Space Science and Engineering
Division
Southwest Research Institute
6220 Culebra
San Antonio, Texas 78238
1.210.522.5502 (office)
