Tuesday, April 1, 2008 : 11:20 a.m.

An Integrated Phased Approach for Mapping Salt Loading to the Rio Grande

Jim Stefanov, U.S. Geological Survey WRD

The U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Reclamation are using existing helicopter electromagnetic (HEM) data to conduct a proof-of-concept study to map losing and gaining reaches of the Rio Grande from a salt-load perspective. The proof-of-concept study is being conducted in the El Paso, Texas, region at locations of known high-salinity ground water. Combined HEM data, existing geologic data, and newly acquired borehole conductivity logs and continuous water-quality monitoring data provide a means to identify and map geologic sources of salt loading to the river at a reconnaissance level. After source areas are identified on a reconnaissance level, focused investigations can be conducted to identify accurate locations and magnitudes of high-salinity inflows. An added benefit of these studies is that they can provide insight into the location and degree of surface-water/ground-water interaction. Accurate delineation of high-salinity inflows will make possible future engineering controls of salt loading to the river from geologic sources. The presentation will focus on the integrated use of airborne geophysical data for reconnaissance-level mapping of salt loading and the phased approach needed to fully characterize a point source of high-salinity inflow.

Jim Stefanov, U.S. Geological Survey WRD Jim Stefanov is the Deputy Director of the USGS Texas Water Science Center in Austin, Texas. Prior to joining the USGS in 2004, he served as Chief of the Technical Planning Division for the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) in El Paso, Texas where he dealt extensively with U.S.-Mexico border transboundary issues. Jim is a Registered Professional Geologist and holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geology from Illinois State University and Fort Hays State University, respectively.


2008 Ground Water Summit