A 350,000-year history of groundwater recharge in the southern Great Basin, USA

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | March 31st, 2023

Estimating groundwater recharge under various climate conditions is important for predicting future freshwater availability. This is especially true for the water-limited

Estimating groundwater recharge under various climate conditions is important for predicting future freshwater availability. This is especially true for the water-limited region of the southern Great Basin, USA. To investigate the response of groundwater recharge to different climate states, we calculate the paleo recharge to a groundwater basin in southern Nevada over the last 350,000 years. Our approach combines a groundwater model with paleo-water-table data from Devils Hole cave. The minimum water-table during peak interglacial conditions was more than 1.6 m below modern levels, representing a recharge decline of less than 17% from present-day conditions. During peak glacial conditions, the water-table elevation was at least 9.5 m above modern levels, representing a recharge increase of more than 233–244% compared to present-day conditions. The elevation of the Devils Hole water-table is 3–4 times more sensitive to groundwater recharge during dry interglacial periods, compared to wet glacial periods. This study can serve as a benchmark for understanding long-term effects of past and future climate change on groundwater resources.

Conceptual Model of the Great Basin Carbonate and Alluvial Aquifer System

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | September 20th, 2011

Data Measured on Water Collected from Eastern Mojave Desert, California

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) | August 18th, 2017

In March of 2000 field collection of water from the Eastern Mojave Desert resulted in the measurement of stable isotope, radiocarbon, tritium, and limited dissolved nobl

In March of 2000 field collection of water from the Eastern Mojave Desert resulted in the measurement of stable isotope, radiocarbon, tritium, and limited dissolved noble gases. This work was follow-on to previous studies on similar systems in southern Nevada associated with the Nevada Test Site (Davisson et al., 1999; Rose and Davisson, 2003). The data for groundwater from wells and springs was never formally published and is therefore tabulated in Table 1 in order to be recorded in public record. In addition 4 years of remote precipitation data was collected for stable isotopes and is included in Table 2. These studies, along with many parallel and subsequent ones using isotopes and elemental concentrations, are all related to the general research area of tracing sources and quantifying transport times of natural and man-made materials in the environment. This type of research has direct relevance in characterizing environmental contamination, understanding resource development and protection, designing early detection in WMD related terrorism, and application in forensics analysis.

Delineation of ground‐water flow systems in the southern Great Basin using aqueous rare earth element distributions

National Groundwater Association (NGWA) | January 1st, 1997

The rare earth element (REE) signature of ground waters from both felsic volcanic rocks on the Nevada Test Site and from the regional Paleozoic carbonate aquifer of south

The rare earth element (REE) signature of ground waters from both felsic volcanic rocks on the Nevada Test Site and from the regional Paleozoic carbonate aquifer of southern Nevada resemble the REE signature of the rocks through which they flow. Moreover, the REE signatures of Ash Meadows ground waters are similar to those of springs in the Furnace Creek region of Death Valley but different from shallow ground waters from predominantly tuffaceous alluvial deposits in the Amargosa Desert, perched ground waters from felsic volcanic rocks, and ground waters that have only flowed through the regional Paleozoic carbonate aquifer. The similar REE patterns of Ash Meadows and Furnace Creek ground waters support previous investigations that suggested ground waters discharging from the Furnace Creek springs are similar to the ground waters emerging from the Ash Meadows springs. The REE patterns indicate that the contribution of ground water from the Amargosa Desert to the Furnace Creek springs is of minor importance. Our REE analyses along with previous stable isotope, ground‐water potentiometric surface relationships, and geologic structure analyses support ground‐water flow from east to west in the fractured and faulted carbonate rocks beneath Ash Meadows, the Amargosa Desert, and the southern end of the Funeral Mountains. Our observations are contrary to some previous investigations that identified shallow ground waters from the central and northwestern Amargosa Desert as a substantial component of the ground water that discharges from the Furnace Creek springs.

Discussion Regarding Sources and Ages of Groundwater in Southeastern California

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) | March 3rd, 2000

A planned groundwater storage project for future drought relief has been assessed in the Fenner Gap area of the Fenner, Cadiz, and Bristol watershed region of southeaste

A planned groundwater storage project for future drought relief has been assessed in the Fenner Gap area of the Fenner, Cadiz, and Bristol watershed region of southeastern California. Questions regarding the source and age of groundwater beneath the proposed project area were resolved using natural isotope abundances measured at LLNL. The following presents data (Table 1), briefly summarizes conclusions of that data, and records correspondence with the sponsor Geosciences Support Services Inc.

Estimated Ground-Water Withdrawals from the Death Valley Regional Flow System

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 2003

Evaluating Micrometeorological Estimates of Groundwater Discharge from Great Basin Desert Playas

National Groundwater Association (NGWA) | March 6th, 2018

Groundwater availability studies in the arid southwestern United States traditionally have assumed that groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration (ETg) from desert play

Groundwater availability studies in the arid southwestern United States traditionally have assumed that groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration (ETg) from desert playas is a significant component of the groundwater budget. However, desert playa ETg rates are poorly constrained by Bowen ratio energy budget (BREB) and eddy‐covariance (EC) micrometeorological measurement approaches. Best attempts by previous studies to constrain ETg from desert playas have resulted in ETg rates that are within the measurement error of micrometeorological approaches. This study uses numerical models to further constrain desert playa ETg rates that are within the measurement error of BREB and EC approaches, and to evaluate the effect of hydraulic properties and salinity‐based groundwater density contrasts on desert playa ETg rates. Numerical models simulated ETg rates from desert playas in Death Valley, California and Dixie Valley, Nevada. Results indicate that actual ETg rates from desert playas are significantly below the uncertainty thresholds of BREB‐ and EC‐based micrometeorological measurements. Discharge from desert playas likely contributes less than 2% of total groundwater discharge from Dixie and Death Valleys, which suggests discharge from desert playas also is negligible in other basins. Simulation results also show that ETg from desert playas primarily is limited by differences in hydraulic properties between alluvial fan and playa sediments and, to a lesser extent, by salinity‐based groundwater density contrasts.

Evapotranspiration Rate Measurements of Vegetation Typical of Ground-Water Discharge Areas in the Basin and Range Carbonate-Rock Aquifer System, White Pine County, Nevada and Adjacent Areas in Nevada and Utah, September 2005–August 2006

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 2007

Focused groundwater recharge in the Amargosa Desert basin

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 2007

 The Amargosa River is an approximately 300-kilometer-long regional drainage connecting the northern highlands on the Nevada Test Site in Nye County, Nev., to the floor

 The Amargosa River is an approximately 300-kilometer-long regional drainage connecting the northern highlands on the Nevada Test Site in Nye County, Nev., to the floor of Death Valley in Inyo County, Calif. Streamflow analysis indicates that the Amargosa Desert portion of the river is dry more than 98 percent of the time. Infiltration losses during ephemeral flows of the Amargosa River and Fortymile Wash provide the main sources of ground-water recharge on the desert-basin floor. The primary use of ground water is for irrigated agriculture. The current study examined ground-water recharge from ephemeral flows in the Amargosa River by using streamflow data and environmental tracers. The USGS streamflow-gaging station at Beatty, Nev., provided high-frequency data on base flow and storm runoff entering the basin during water years 1998–2001. Discharge into the basin during the four-year period totaled 3.03 million cubic meters, three quarters of which was base flow. Streambed temperature anomalies indicated the distribution of ephemeral flows and infiltration losses within the basin. Major storms that produced regional flow during the four-year period occurred in February 1998, during a strong El Niño that more than doubled annual precipitation, and in July 1999. The study also quantified recharge beneath undisturbed native vegetation and irrigation return flow beneath irrigated fields. Vertical profiles of water potential and environmental tracers in the unsaturated zone provided estimates of recharge beneath the river channel (0.04–0.09 meter per year) and irrigated fields (0.1–0.5 meter per year). Chloride mass-balance estimates indicate that 12–15 percent of channel infiltration becomes ground-water recharge, together with 9–22 percent of infiltrated irrigation. Profiles of potential and chloride beneath the dominant desert-shrub vegetation suggest that ground-water recharge has been negligible throughout most of the basin since at least the early Holocene. Surface-based electrical-resistivity imaging provided areal extension of borehole information from sampled profiles. These images indicate narrowly focused recharge beneath the Amargosa River channel, flanked by large tracts of recharge-free basin floor.

Geochemistry and isotope hydrology of representative aquifers in the Great Basin region of Nevada, Utah, and adjacent States

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 1996