2007 Ground Water Summit

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 : 11:00 a.m.

Natural and Induced Transboundary Ground Water Flow: Hueco Bolson Aquifer, El Paso/Juarez Area

Barry Hibbs, Ph.D., California State University, Los Angeles, William R. Hutchison, Ph.D., P.E., P.G, El Paso Water Utilities, Christopher J. Eastoe, Ph.D., University of Arizona and Alfredo Granados, Ph.D., Universidad Autonoma de Cd. Juarez

Water supply and water quality problems facing the City of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez are complex and interrelated.  The twin-cities share the water resources of the Hueco Bolson, a Tertiary and Quaternary basin fill aquifer that spans the international border between the United States and Mexico.  Over-pumping of the Hueco Bolson aquifer has resulted in drawdown of the water table and encroachment of brackish groundwater.  Several Mexican and American universities formed a partnership in this study to investigate the surface and ground-water resources of the El Paso/Juarez area.  The research team applied a suite of stable and radioisotope tracers (18O, 2H, 3H, 34S, 36Cl, 14C, 13C) to understand the spatial dynamics of the aquifers by tracing water from areas of recharge to regions of discharge.  The new isotope and hydrochemical data indicates areas of natural and pumping-derived transboundary groundwater flow.  Natural groundwater flow across the international border occurs in a deeper, undeveloped aquifer system that is not influenced by the Rio Grande hydrological (and international) boundary.  Movement of groundwater across the border is relevant to issues of contaminant migration from one country into the other country.  The geochemical and isotopic information is also being used by  municipal entities to constrain physical and management models of groundwater to utilize the fresh and saline water resources of the Hueco Bolson.

William R. Hutchison, Ph.D., P.E., P.G, El Paso Water Utilities Bill Hutchison has over 25 years of experience as a hydrogeologist, and is licensed as a Professional Engineer and Professional Geoscientist in Texas. He has been at El Paso Water Utilities since 2001, and currently serves as the Water Resources Manager. He has a BS from the University of California, Davis, an MS from the University of Arizona, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Alfredo Granados, Ph.D., Universidad Autonoma de Cd. Juarez Alfredo Granados has more than 20 years of experience at the Paso del Norte region on GW research. He is a professor since 1986 at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Engineering and Technology of the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez. Leader for the Academic Group on Geosciences at UACJ and recently appointed to the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores by the Mexican Government. Alfredo earned his Ph.D. from New Mexico State University in 2000; and has a M.S. in Groundwater Hydrology form the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez, and a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering from the School of Agriculture “Hermanos Escobar”. Alfredo is member of the Mexican Society Of Hydrology; the National Ground Water Association; the International Association for Environmental Hydrology; and the Association of Photogrametry and Remote Sensing.


The 2007 Ground Water Summit