Quantity and location of groundwater recharge in the Sacramento Mountains, south-central New Mexico (USA), and their relation to the adjacent Roswell Artesian Basin

Rawling, Geoffrey C.; Newton, B Talon

Quantity and location of groundwater recharge in the Sacramento Mountains, south-central New Mexico (USA), and their relation to the adjacent Roswell Artesian Basin | Quantité et emplacement de la recharge des eaux souterraines dans les montagnes de Sacramento, centre sud du Nouveau Mexique (Etats-Unis d’Amérique), et leur relation avec le bassin adjacent artésien de Roswell Cantidad y ubicación de LA recarga de agua subterránea en las Sacramento Mountains, centro-sur de Nuevo México (EE.UU.), y su relación con la adyacente cuenca artesiana de Roswell (美国)新墨西哥州中南部沙加缅度山脉地下水补给的量和位置 Quantidade e localização de recarga das águas subterrâneas nas Montanhas de Sacramento, centro-sul de Novo México (EUA), e sua relação com a adjacente Bacia Artesiana de Roswell

2016

Rawling, Geoffrey C. | Newton, B Talon

The Sacramento Mountains and the adjacent Roswell Artesian Basin, in south-central New Mexico (USA), comprise a regional hydrologic system, wherein recharge in the mountains ultimately supplies water to the confined basin aquifer. Geologic, hydrologic, geochemical, and climatologic data were used to delineate the area of recharge in the southern Sacramento Mountains. The water-table fluctuation and chloride mass-balance methods were used to quantify recharge over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Extrapolation of the quantitative recharge estimates to the entire Sacramento Mountains region allowed comparison with previous recharge estimates for the northern Sacramento Mountains and the Roswell Artesian Basin. Recharge in the Sacramento Mountains is estimated to range from 159.86 × 10⁶ to 209.42 × 10⁶ m³/year. Both the location of recharge and range in estimates is consistent with previous work that suggests that ~75 % of the recharge to the confined aquifer in the Roswell Artesian Basin has moved downgradient through the Yeso Formation from distal recharge areas in the Sacramento Mountains. A smaller recharge component is derived from infiltration of streamflow beneath the major drainages that cross the Pecos Slope, but in the southern Sacramento Mountains much of this water is ultimately derived from spring discharge. Direct recharge across the Pecos Slope between the mountains and the confined basin aquifer is much smaller than either of the other two components.

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