Refined Hydrologic Simulation Model: Rincon and Mesilla Basins in New Mexico, Texas, and Northern Mexico
Wednesday, February 26, 2014: 10:40 a.m.
Ballroom 2 (Crowne Plaza Albuquerque)
Randall Hanson, Ms in Hydrology
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Water Resources Discipline, US Geological Survey, San Diego, CA
Ian Ferguson, PhD
,
Technical Service Center - Water Resources Operations and Planning Support Group, US Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, CO
Sarah E. Falk, MSE in Civil Engineering
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Water Resources Discipline, US Geological Survey, Albuquerque, NM
Dagmar Llewellyn
,
Albuquerque Area Office, US Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque, NM
The Rincon and Mesilla Basins in New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico comprise a complex hydrologic system characterized by transboundary conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater. This conjunctive use takes place under a myriad of legal constraints, including an international treaty, an interstate compact (the Rio Grande Compact), and a federal water project (the Rio Grande Project). New demands are being placed on the basins’ water resources and infrastructure, while an extended drought is contributing to diminished supplies within the basins. The resulting gap between supply and demand is exacerbating conflicts over water in the region. Analysis of water supply and uses within these basins requires an integrated hydrologic model capable of representing complex interactions between groundwater and surface water in both space and time within the contexts of changing land and water uses and hydroclimatic variability and change. The U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation are collaborating to develop an updated and expanded hydrologic model of the region. The objective of the model is to improve the understanding of the hydrology of the basins with respect to the effects of overlapping cones of depression formed by wellfields in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico; groundwater-surface water interactions, including interaction between Rio Grande Project surface water operations and groundwater recharge and use within the basin; effects of changing land and water use practices on basin hydrology, including effects of changes in cropping and irrigation practices; and sources and movement of saline waters within the groundwater system. The refined model, based on the MODFLOW One-Water Integrated Hydrologic Model (MF-OWHM), will be an integrated tool for assessing the variety of water uses and the surface water–groundwater interactions in this complex region. Work is ongoing to complete development of the conceptual model and construction of the hydrologic model using MF-OWHM.
Randall Hanson, Ms in Hydrology, Water Resources Discipline, US Geological Survey, San Diego, CA
He is a lead research hydrologist in the USGS for over 33 years developing hydrologic modeling methods and water-supply analysis of regional watersheds nationally and internationally. He received B.S. degrees in mathematics and in geology from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and an M.S. in Hydrology from the University of Arizona. His research includes developing new modeling, analysis and observation methods for integrated hydrologic models of regional-flow, conjunctive-use, climate-change adaptation, and sustainability analysis. He is helping with water-supply issues and applications of new modeling methods internationally, and is the USGS representative for UNESCO/OAS ISARM of the Americas.
Ian Ferguson, PhD, Technical Service Center - Water Resources Operations and Planning Support Group, US Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, CO
Ian Ferguson is a hydrologic engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Princeton University and a doctorate in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California Berkeley. Ferguson has led research and applied projects on a variety of hydrology and water resources topics, including surface water operations; groundwater-surface water interaction; hydroclimatic variability and change; integrated hydrologic modeling; and interaction between natural and engineered systems. His current work supports the Bureau of Reclamation’s near-term and long-term planning and decision making in basins across the western United States.
Sarah E. Falk, MSE in Civil Engineering, Water Resources Discipline, US Geological Survey, Albuquerque, NM
Sarah Falk is a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. She has a Master of Science in Engineering in Civil Engineering.
Dagmar Llewellyn, Albuquerque Area Office, US Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque, NM
Dagmar Llewellyn is a hydrologist with an educational background in geosciences and civil engineering. After 25 years in environmental and water-resource consulting, she moved to the Bureau of Reclamation in response to the passage of the SECURE Water Act, which assigned to Reclamation evaluation of the potential implications of climate change for water supply and demand in the western United States. Since 2010, Llewellyn has worked at Reclamation on programs authorized under the SECURE Water Act, including the West Wide Climate Risk Assessment and Basin Studies Program, as well as on Rio Grande water management and endangered species issues.
