Salinity Effects and Salt Movement from Surface Applied Gray Water and Brackish Water

In this paper authors present results of a soil column experiment on salinity effects and salt movement from surface applied gray water and brackish water

Paso del Norte Watershed Council Coordinated Water Resources Database Project

The Paso del Norte Watershed Council (PDNWC) is a quasi-governmental organization that serves in an advisory capacity to the New Mexico-Texas Water Commission regarding the selection, planning, and implementation of environmental enhancements and mitigations associated with the El Paso-Las Cruces Regional Sustainable Water Project. The Council recommends policies for cooperation, coordination, and the sharing of information concerning planning and management activities of projects affecting the Paso del Norte Watershed, this being defined as the Rio Grande Basin between Elephant Butte Dam/Reservoir in southern New Mexico and Fort Quitman, Texas. In the last several years, the Watershed Council has discussed the development of a regional cooperative database project that would provide streamlined access to a range of water resource data in the Paso del Norte region. In August of 2002, the El Paso Water Utilities provided initial funding to the Paso del Norte Watershed Council to develop a pilot cooperative database project, and efforts toward the development of such a project have been ongoing. This document is the final report for this effort. In this report, we detail the following elements of the project, as specified in the initial Scope of Work: 1. The background, motivation, and intended outcomes of the project, 2. The specific tasks that were undertaken in project development efforts, 3. The specific insights that we have gained in this pilot effort, 4. Specific recommendations for new water quality monitoring sites and equipment, and 5. An outline of tasks that should be undertaken in future phases of the project. All deliverables specified in the project have been completed, and we also note the following recommendations for future project work, as detailed in the latter part of this report: * Complete migration of the Project website and related databases to the ArcIMS software, * Installation of new monitoring stations and equipment as detailed above, and inclusion of these monitoring sites in future ArcIMS map products, * Enhanced levels of funding to be directed to support more active participation of regional volunteer data providers and to bring new providers into the project, * Exploration of scripting and automated FTP routines or a batch mode of data transfer to allow progress on the "user interface plateau" discussed in the report, * Inclusion of groundwater data into future phases of the project, * Linking the EPWU-funded project to USACE-supported database efforts, and * Additional funding to be provided to lend institutional support to the Watershed Council and also to fund future Cooperative Database Project activities

Underground Storage of Recoverable Water Systems: A Management Tool for Conjunctive Uses of Surface Water and Groundwater in an Arid Region

Conjunctive use of surface and groundwater becomes one of important strategies of water supply management that should be considered to optimize the water resources development, management and conservation within a basin, especially in arid regions such as the southwestern United States. An underground storage of recoverable water system is certainly one of the tools to be used for that purpose. Several hydrologic aspects need to be carefully studied before implementing a program of conjunctive use of surface and groundwater: underground storage availability; production capacity of the aquifer in term of potential discharge; natural recharge of the aquifer; induced natural recharge of the aquifer; and potential for artificial recharge of the aquifer. In this paper, the authors presented the underground storage of recoverable water system as a framework that consists of subsystems: source of water, recharge venue or facilities, storage space, and recovery facilities depending on intended uses of water. All subsystems interact with each other and depend on each other. The sources of water include flood water and runoff. Excess surface water can be recharged by surface spreading, vadose zone wells, deep recharge wells or aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) wells. Storage capacities vary with hydrological properties of the geological formation and boundary conditions of the aquifer. Stored water can be recovered by production wells, an ASR well itself or simply by increasing baseflow of the neighboring streams. The stored water can be used for seasonal or long-term municipal and industrial supplies, supplemental agricultural applications or maintaining required environmental flows

Estimating the Spatial Distribution of Groundwater Demand In the Texas High Plains

Developing groundwater management plans requires a good understanding of the interdependence of groundwater hydrology and producer water use behavior. While state-of-the-art groundwater models require water demand data at highly disaggregated levels, the lack of producer water use data has held up the progress to meet that need. This paper proposes an econometric framework that links county-level crop acreage data to well-level hydrologic data to produce heterogeneous patterns of crop choice and irrigation practices within a county. Together with agronomic data on irrigation water requirements of various crops and irrigation practices, this model permits estimation of the water demand distribution within a county. We apply this model to a panel of 16 counties in the Southern Texas High Plains from 1972 to 2000. The results obtained not only are consistent with those from the traditional multinomial logit land use model, but also indicate the presence of large intra- and inter-county heterogeneity in producer water use behavior.Discrete Choice Model, Random-coefficients Discrete Choice Model, Crop Choice, BLP, Groundwater, Texas High Plains, Ogallala Aquifer, Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

El Paso Floods, Federal Agency Responses and Recommendations

Beginning in late July and continuing through mid September 2006 the Paso del Norte region, consisting of El Paso City and County, Texas, southern New Mexico and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, experienced a number of record high precipitation events and severe localized and widespread flooding. This paper focuses on federal agency and irrigation district experiences, observations, preliminary assessment of events and management responses and the recommendations arising from these floods

Phase II Final Project Report Paso del Norte Watershed Council Coordinated Water Resources Database and GIS Project

The Coordinated Water Resources Database and GIS Project (Project) was developed to provide improved access to regional water resources data in the Paso del Norte region for regional water stakeholders to make timely decisions in water operations and flood control. Tasks accomplished in Phase II include the complete migration of the Project Website and related databases to the ArcIMS software, which provides a better spatial query capacity. The database was enhanced by incorporating more gauge stations, limited groundwater data (well information, water levels, water quality, and pumpage) and other new data, and strengthened data sharing by implementing FGDC classic metadata. Protocols were explored for data sharing and spatial queries and opportunities for more active participation of volunteer regional data providers in the Project. The linkage of the PdNWC database with future groundwater and surface water model development was also assessed. Based on the experiences gained in the Project, the following recommendations for future Project work include: * Continued compilation of new data sources not yet included in the Project to enhance data sharing, * Installation of additional new monitoring stations and equipment and inclusion of these monitoring sites in future ArcIMS map products to fill data gaps and provide additional real-time data, * Strengthening the links with the Upper Rio Grande Water Operations Model (URGWOM) being advanced by the USACE. Special focus will be given to serving DEM and orthophoto data recently transferred from the USACE to NMWRRI and enhancing direct Web linkages with USACE and URGWOM project activities to improve model development capacity and enhance sharing of modeling results, * Development and implementation of a user needs survey focusing on new data sets of interest, enhanced access mechanisms, and other suggestions to improve the Project Website, * Development and making available online for download a Microsoft Access database of Project water resource data to provide search and query functions, * Development of an online help tutorial that would support online searches of the database, making the site easier for end users to navigate and utilize, and * Continuity in the exploration of future funding opportunities for Project activities, especially through linkages with other regional data compilation and modeling projects. Part I of this report presents major historical and technical components of the Phase II development of the Database and GIS prepared by C. Brown, Z. Sheng, and M. Bourdon. Groundwater elements of interest, relevant to the development of the coordinated database and to the integral comprehension of the watershed’s mission and planning are also included as Part II of this report. This part, prepared by Z. Sheng and others, presents the sources of regional groundwater resources data compiled by different federal and state entities and outlines suggestions for regional groundwater data to be implemented with an ArcIMS interface so that this data can be shared and accessed by all Paso del Norte Watershed Council stakeholders. Part III, prepared by R. Srinivasan, presents the technical challenges posed to data sharing by multiple data collectors and sources and summarizes the different protocols available for an effective transfer and sharing of data through a GIS ArcIMS interface. Part IV, prepared by Z. Sheng and D. Zhang, explores the possibility to link the Database Project to a comprehensive development of regional hydrological models within the Rio Grande reach between Elephant Butte Dam, in New Mexico, and Fort Quitman, Texas. Finally, Part V, prepared by C. Brown, Z. Sheng, and M. Bourdon, presents closing comments as well as a summary of the recommendations made throughout the document. Dr. Hanks provided assistance in summarizing preliminary user survey result

Drought Scenario Analysis Using RiverWare: A Case Study in Urumqi River Basin, China

In this study, we applied RiverWare modeling approach to evaluate the management decisions on surface water and groundwater diversions in the agricultural watershed of the Urumqi River Basin of Xinjiang in Northwestern China. A rule-based daily time step RiverWare model was developed to simulate the hydrologic effects of different water management alternatives considering irrigation and drainage systems, crop water use, and diversion rules at the diversion dams within the basin. Daily data period from 2005 to 2009 was used to calibrate the model and 2010-2012 was used to validate the model. A calibrated daily RiverWare model was then used to evaluate the management decisions under different drought scenarios that generated by using the snowmelt runoff model (SRM) that developed to simulate inflow from upstream of Yingxiongqiao gaging station. Two drought scenarios (reduced precipitation and increased temperature) analysis were performed, and the corresponding hydrological variables were compared to the baseline scenario. The results indicated that the model adequately reproduced the historical inflows for the Wulabo Reservoir. The scenario analysis results suggest that the reduced precipitation led to increased groundwater pumping for irrigation both in the spring and summer. The increased temperature induces a significant increase in surface runoff in the basin and leads to increased crop water demand within the irrigation district, and however does not necessarily reduce the groundwater pumpage. Water operation policies from RiverWare provide guidelines for conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water resources within the basin under different water supply scenarios in the future

Conceptual Model for Flood Control Planning in the Lower El Paso Valley

In this paper, the authors present a conceptual model for flood control planning in the Lower El Paso Valley. In the model, the river, canals and laterals and drains as well as underlying shallow groundwater aquifer are considered as integrated components. RiverWare was used to simulate the river flow. Return flows of drains and gains/losses of the river were estimated using time series transfer functions. Historic flow data was used to calibrate the numerical model. The river flow greatly depends on upper stream delivery and run-offs. Several flooding scenarios were evaluated under different delivery options

Evaluation of Irrigation Efficiency Strategies for Far West Texas: Feasibility, Water Savings And Cost Considerations

ABSTRACT Texas recently completed its second round of nationally recognized water planning. The Water Plan for the state addresses how each of 16 regions will supply projected water demands for the next 50 years. Water availability in these plans is based on supply conditions experienced during the drought of record, that is, the severe drought conditions in the 1950's. In arid Far West Texas, Region E in the State Plan, agriculture is projected to have the largest unmet demand for water during drought. This situation is similar to many other irrigated agricultural production regions in the U.S. and world that rely upon limited and variable water supplies. In the Far West Texas (Region E) 50-year Water Plan, the primary strategy proposed to mitigate the impact of insufficient water supplies for agriculture is implementation of water conservation best management practices. However, the conservation practices identified were generic and gave a wide range of potential water savings compiled from many other sources and for other locations and conditions. The feasibility and amount of water saved by any given conservation practice varies substantially across regions, specific location, type and quality of water supplies, delivery systems and operational considerations, crops produced, irrigation technologies in use, and location specific costs and returns of implementation. The applicability to and actual water savings of the proposed practices in Far West Texas were generally unknown. This report evaluates the applicability, water savings potential, implementation feasibility and cost effectiveness of seventeen irrigated agriculture water conservation practices in Far West Texas during both drought and full water supply conditions. Agricultural, hydrologic, engineering, economic, and institutional conditions are identified and examined for the three largest irrigated agricultural areas which account for over 90% of total irrigated agricultural acreage in Far West Texas. Factors considered in evaluating conservation strategies included water sources, use, water quality, cropping patterns, current irrigation practices, delivery systems, technological alternatives, market conditions and operational constraints. The overall conclusion is that very limited opportunities exist for significant additional water conservation in Far West Texas irrigated agriculture. The primary reasons can be summarized by: the most effective conservation practices have already been implemented and associated water savings realized throughout the region; reduced water quality and the physical nature of gravity flow delivery limit or prohibit implementation of higher efficiency pressurized irrigation systems; increased water use efficiency upstream has the net effect of reducing water supplies and production of downstream irrigators; and, water conservation implementation costs for a number of practices exceed the agricultural value and benefits of any water saved. Those practices that suggest economic efficient additional water conservation included lining or pipelining district canals and the very small potential for additional irrigation scheduling and tail water recovery systems. In nearly all cases, these practices have been adopted to a large extent if applicable, further emphasizing the very limited opportunities for additional conservation. If all of these strategies were implemented, the water conserved would satisfy less than 25% of the projected unmet agricultural water demand in 2060 during drought-of-record conditions Overall, there are no silver bullets for agricultural water conservation in Far West Texas short of taking irrigated land out of production when water supplies are limited