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2007 Ground Water Summit |
Tuesday, May 1, 2007 : 10:20 a.m.
Estimating Recharge in New Mexico Water Planning Regions
In developing estimates of water supply availability and water budgets for several water planning regions in New Mexico, recharge to groundwater has been estimated using a Maxey-Eakin (1949) technique modified based on published recharge estimates and groundwater models that are often available only for small areas within each planning area. Maxey and Eakin (1949) developed an empirical relationship between recharge and precipitation based on 200 basins in Nevada , which has groundwater basins and climate conditions similar to those in New Mexico. The Maxey-Eakin technique can be applied to large areas after calibrating to smaller areas within a planning region. For the New Mexico estimates, recharge estimates gathered through literature review, primarily modeling studies, were used to develop the percentage of precipitation that recharges the ground water basins within each water planning region. The volume of recharge was estimated by calculating the area of each precipitation contour within each basin and multiplying the results by the calibrated percentage ranges. In New Mexico, like Nevada, as precipitation increases recharge also increases. However, in five New Mexico water planning regions, the percentage of precipitation that results in recharge is generally much less than the rates developed for Nevada.
Amy C. Lewis, PG, Consulting Hydrologist Masters in Hydrology from NM Tech, Socorro, NM; BS in Geology from Boise State University, Idaho. Worked as a hydrologist for 21 years in Santa Fe in the public and private sectors.
Joanne Hilton, PG, Daniel B. Stephens & Associates Inc. Masters Hydrology Colorado State University, BS Hydrology University of Arizona; worked as a hydrologist for over 20 years in New Mexico and the Southwest.