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)
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MO
NO
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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)
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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)
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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)
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Geologic Setting of Selected Springs in the Nutria Area
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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.)
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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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Lower Pescado
• Spring in Qal + Qb,
• Contact spring (Qb overlying Qal)
• 120 gpm on 8/28/09
• 3H = 1.1 ± 0.25 T.U.
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Tb
SHD #13
• Contact/Rheocrene Spring
• Flow <1 gpm (10/8/08)
• 3H = 6.2 ± 0.4 T.U.
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Black Rock Spring
• Contact/ Rheocrene Spring
• Flow unknown; reported 50-75 gpm (1980)
• 3H = 3.1 ± 0.28 T.U.
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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
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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.
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Geochemistry
• Measurement of field parameters – temp, pH, cond.
• Laboratory analysis for cations and anions
• Isotopic analysis – δ2H, δ18O, 3H
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)
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*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
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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
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.
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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
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