zuni spring inventory presentation

INVENTORY OF SPRINGS ON ZUNI TRIBAL LANDS IN WEST-CENTRAL NEW MEXICO: IMPLICATIONS FOR AQUIFER RECHARGE IN THE ZUNI MOUNTAINS

AND NORTH PLAINS DRAKOS, P.1, RIESTERER, J.1, and BEMIS, K.2

GLORIETA GEOSCIENCE, INC.

1Glorieta Geoscience, Inc., PO Box 5727, Santa Fe, NM

2Zuni Conservation Program, PO Box 339, Zuni, NM

Location of the Zuni

Reservation and major structural features

(Orr, 1987)


MO

NO

CLINE

Project Overview• Twenty nine springs on

main Reservation• Four aquifers• For each site:

– Geologic/geomorphic map

- Photo documentation

Project Overview• Twenty nine springs on main Reservation• Four separate aquifers• For each site:

– Geologic/ geomorphic map– Discharge measurement (if possible)

Glorieta Geoscience, Inc.Glorieta Geoscience, Inc.

Project Overview• Twenty nine springs on main Reservation• Four separate aquifers• For each site:

– Geologic/geomorphic map– Discharge measurement (if possible)– Water quality (field parameters plus variable analyte suites)– Classification (after Springer et al., 2008)


Nutria Area


View along Nutria Monocline, view looking NW

KdJz

Trw

Trc

Nutria Area

• Nine springs• 4 dry, 4 flowing, 1 intermittent at time of

visits (2008-2009)– 4 dry springs have historically been perennial– 3 flowing from Psg, 1 from Zuni-Wingate

(2008-2009)


KdKg

Geologic Setting of Selected Springs in the Nutria Area


Nutria Main Spring

• Discharges from Psa into concrete spring box

• Rheocrene Spring• Measured Q≈35-90 gpm

(head dependant flow; Q at top of manhole = 50 gpm)

• 3H < 1.1, apparent value 0.6 T.U.

Beaver pondBeaver pond

Spring box manholeSpring box manhole

North (approx.)

North (approx.)


Nutria Canyon Wall• ‘Hanging Garden’

spring• Estimated flow =

1-5 gpm• Series of seeps in

Pg• 3H = 2.5 ± 0.27

T.U.

Lonjose SW Spring• Dry Spring

(hypocrene/fen)• Flowing in 1990s• Hand auger

DTW = 4.32 ft bgs• Shallow MW

installed • 3H = 2.3 ± 2.7 T.U.• Spring discharges

from Psg through overlying Chinle confining bed (e.g. fenn-type spring)

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PescadoArea

Springs• 6 springs, all

flowing in 2008-09

• Qb/Qal contact springs

Lower Pescado

• Spring in Qal + Qb,

• Contact spring (Qb overlying Qal)

• 120 gpm on 8/28/09

• 3H = 1.1 ± 0.25 T.U.


Tb

Spring House Draw

• 4 Springs visited

• Interconnected Jz-Qal system

SHD #13

• Contact/Rheocrene Spring

• Flow <1 gpm (10/8/08)

• 3H = 6.2 ± 0.4 T.U.


Black Rock

• 3 Springs• Qal + Qb• Chinle Fm is

underlying bedrock unit

Black Rock Spring

• Contact/ Rheocrene Spring

• Flow unknown; reported 50-75 gpm (1980)

• 3H = 3.1 ± 0.28 T.U.


Dowa Yalanne

• 2 Springs

• At or near contact between Wingate / Chinle

Kd

Jz

Trw

Trc

DY North• Contact/ hanging

garden• Jz + Wingate• Estimated Q =

0.25 – 1 gpm• 3H < 0.5 T.U.• Low Q is typical of

Jz/Trw/Trc springs on Zuni Reservation


Ojo Caliente

• 3 large Psg springs• Psg seeps• 1 Chinle spring + seep

Tt TbTrc

Rainbow Spring

40

~12

N

S

Sacred Spring• Fen/limnocrene• Psg source• Q=125-130 gpm,

5/7/08• 3H < 0.7, apparent

value 0.3 T.U.


Geochemistry

• Measurement of field parameters – temp, pH, cond.

• Laboratory analysis for cations and anions

• Isotopic analysis – δ2H, δ18O, 3H

Major Cations & Anions

Interpretation of Tritium Results

Tritium decay curve based on an initial concentration of 10 TU in 1992. Modified from Eastoe (Personal Communication, 2009*).

Tritium Concentration InterpretationNon-detectable tritium, <0.5 to <1.1 TU Predominantly or entirely pre-1952 rechargeDetectable tritium, < 1.5 TU Predominantly pre-1952 rechargeDetectable tritium, 1.5 TU to > 4 TU Mixture of pre-1952 and modern rechargeDetectable tritium, 4 TU to 10 TU Modern (< 5-10 yr old recharge)Detectable tritium, > 10 TU Some bomb tritium present

Tritium concentration in precipitation in Albuquerque, 1950-1997 (Plummer et al., 2004)


*Prior to 1992, according to the model of Doney et al. (1992), the decline of tritium in rainfall was a close approximation to a decay curve after 1970. Therefore, all rain that fell during the 1970s and 1980s would also have had about 10 TU in Albuquerque in 1992

Psg Isotopic Data

• Nutria area springs show high-elevation, mixed modern and pre-1952, or predom. pre-1952 recharge

• Ojo Caliente area springs show lower-elevation older (predom. or entirely pre-1952) recharge

• Zuni Mtn recharge ~ 2500-2600 m, North Plains recharge ~ 2200 m

• Slope of oxygen isotope recharge relationship is ~0.5 o/oo /100 m?

2.1 o/oo

Qal/Qb Isotopic Data

• Pescado area springs show higher-elevation, older (predom pre-1952) recharge; 0.5-1.1 TU

• Black Rock area springs show lower-elevation younger (modern-mixed) recharge; 3.1-5.9 TU

• Pescado springs recharge in Zuni Mtns, Black Rock Spr recharge from local sources - SHD, BR Reservoir?

Evaporative trend

DY Tritium Data – Jz/Trw/Trc aquifer

• DYN = <0.5 TU • DYS = 0.8 TU• Predominantly

pre-1952 recharge

• Recharge takes more than 55 yrs to travel < 1 mile to DYN

Spring Discharge• Measured flow at 14

springs using a variety of methods


Spring Discharge1

Area Summers Q (1972)

Orr Q (1979-1980)

GGI-Zuni Q (2007-2009)

Ojo Caliente comb. flow (Psg)

500-1500 545 (mean May flow)

365 (single May msmt)

Pescado comb. flow (Qal/Qb)

N/D 470 (August)

305 (August)

Nutria Main (Psg) N/D 502 35-903

Nutria – Other (Psg)

Numerous currently dry springs have flowed until relatively recently (1990s)

DYS (Trw/Trc) N/D 452 2

1All discharge (Q) measurements are gpm2Data on time and method of measurement not provided, direct comparison may not be accurate.3Head-dependant flow measurement

Groundwater Development

Wells drilled over time within 10 miles of dry springs in Nutria area

918 23 27

54

148

276

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Year

Cu

mu

lati

ve

nu

mb

er

of

we

lls

• Number of wells within 10 miles of Nutria area has increased more than 5x since 1990

• 129 additional wells in OSE database with no completion date provided

Some Nutriasprings dry upIn 1990s-2007

Precipitation vs Spring Discharge

Spring Discharge Summary• Measurements suggest

spring flow has declined in past 40 years

• Incomplete description of data collection time and methods for some historic measurements make direct comparison difficult

• Recent and continued measurements will allow establishment of baseline and changing conditions.


Conclusions• Springs with higher flow rates (>100 gpm)

discharge from the Psg and Qal/Qb aquifers• Springs with lower flow rates (<1-2 gpm)

discharge from the Jz/Trw/Trc aquifers• Geochemistry data from the spring inventory

allow for a determination of timing and relative elevation of recharge, demonstrate multiple recharge sources for each aquifer

• This study helps to establish baseline spring discharge data

• Continued monitoring of spring discharge can be used to evaluate the effect of precipitation fluctuations and on-going groundwater development in the region on spring flow


Acknowledgments/Questions

Sheldon Lalio and

Roman Pawluk – Zuni DNR

Bureau of Reclamation

Chris Eastoe – U of A Isotope Geochem Lab


zuni spring inventory presentation

Education

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dry springs

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pescadoareasprings6

typical of jztrwtrc

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nutria main springdischarges