Exploration and Groundwater Development from the DEEP Regional Carbonate Aquifer (RDCA) of Southeastern Nevada
All of the tools at hand were used to explore and develop the groundwater resources of several basins in southeastern Nevada by the Lincoln County Water District and Vidler Water Co. (Lincoln/Vidler). The groundwater basins of interest that were explored extensively included the Tule Desert, Kane Springs Valley, Clover Valley, and Dry Lake Valley. Exploration tools used included the drilling and testing of monitor wells and test wells that ranged in depths from 815 feet below land surface (bls) to more than 3800 feet bls. Production wells range in depths from 1810 to 2732 feet bls that yield from 600 up to 2000 gallons per minute (gpm) on a sustainable basis. To gain knowledge of aquifer characteristics, lithologic samples were collected along with down-hole geophysics. Water quality sampling was completed in all wells during aquifer testing, and in some cases zonal water quality sampling was conducted. Water sampled was analyzed for cations, anions, total dissolved solids, Oxygen-18, Deuterium, Carbon-13 and -14, as well as field parameters. Test pumps used included a lineshaft vertical turbine driven pump with bowls set to a depth of 1200 feet bls, to a submersible pump set at a depth of 1800 feet bls for a production rate of approximately 2000 gpm.
Other exploration techniques used included Natural Source Audio-Frequency Magnetotulluric (NSAMT) and Controlled Source Audio-Frequency Magnetotulluric (CSAMT) geophysical surveys that were used in combination with the down-hole geophysical data from each well to better understand the subsurface geology for siting new wells and understanding the RDCA in each basin. All of this information was used to develop a conceptual model and a numerical groundwater flow model in support of new groundwater appropriations from these basins. Efforts by Lincoln/Vidler to develop these water resources are entirely on federal lands with approvals for groundwater appropriations under the purview of the Nevada State Engineer.