Water-level data for the Albuquerque Basin and adjacent areas, central New Mexico, period of record through September 30, 2017

Abstract

The Albuquerque Basin, located in central New Mexico, is about 100 miles long and 25–40 miles wide. The basin is hydrologically defined as the extent of consolidated and unconsolidated deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age that encompasses the structural Rio Grande Rift between San Acacia to the south and Cochiti Lake to the north. A 20-percent population increase in the basin from 1990 to 2000 and a 22-percent population increase from 2000 to 2010 resulted in an increased demand for water in areas within the basin. Drinking-water supplies throughout the basin were obtained solely from groundwater resources until December 2008, when the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) began treatment and distribution of surface water from the Rio Grande through the San JuanChama Drinking Water Project. An initial network of wells was established by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the City of Albuquerque from April 1982 through September 1983 to monitor changes in groundwater levels throughout the Albuquerque Basin. In 1983, this network consisted of 6 wells with analog-to-digital recorders and 27 wells where water levels were measured monthly. The network currently (2017) consists of 122 wells and piezometers. (A piezometer is a specialized well open to a specific depth in the aquifer, often of small diameter and nested with other piezometers open to different depths.) The USGS, in cooperation with the ABCWUA and the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, currently (2017) measures and reports water levels from the 122 wells and piezometers in the network; this report presents water-level data collected by USGS personnel at those 122 sites through water years 2016 and 2017 (October 1, 2015, through September 30, 2017). Water levels that were collected from wells in previous water years were published in previous USGS reports. Introduction The Albuquerque Basin, located in central New Mexico, is about 100 miles long and 25–40 miles wide (fig. 1). The basin is defined as the extent of consolidated and unconsolidated deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age that encompasses the structural Rio Grande Rift within the basin (Thorn and others, 1993). The basin is approximately bisected by the southward-flowing Rio Grande, the only perennial stream extending through the length of it. The study area, which includes the Albuquerque Basin and adjacent areas, extends from just upstream of Cochiti Lake south to San Acacia and from Tijeras Canyon west to near the intersection of Interstate 40 and the Bernalillo-Cibola County line. In 2000, the population of the Albuquerque Basin was about 690,000 (Bartolino and Cole, 2002). According to 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data, the 2010 population was about 840,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011; calculated as sum of population for census tract centers within the basin). The basin population increased about 20 percent from 1990 to 2000 (Thorn and others, 1993; Bartolino and Cole, 2002) and about 22 percent from 2000 to 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). The majority of the population is concentrated within the city limits of Albuquerque, which had a population of 448,607 in 2000 and 545,852 in 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). Prior to 2008, demand for groundwater increased as population increased because drinking-water supplies throughout the Albuquerque Basin were obtained solely from groundwater sources. In December 2008, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) began treatment and distribution of surface water from the Rio Grande to their customers through the San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project. 2 Water-Level Data for the Albuquerque Basin and Adjacent Areas, Central New Mexico, Period of Record Through September 30, 2017 laf18-0871_fig 01 40 25