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Research about Honey Lake Valley

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Honey Lake Valley.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1990

Surface-water hydrology of Honey Lake Valley, Lassen County, California, and Washoe County, Nevada

Honey Lake Valley straddles the state line of California and Nevada, about 35 miles north of Reno; about three-fourths of the area is in California. In this report, Honey Lake Valley (also referred to as the "basin") includes the entire area within the hydrographic boundary (fig. 1). Susanville, Calif., in the northwest part of the basin, is the largest town. Population is increasing rapidly both in the Susanville area and in the Reno area of adjacent Washoe County, Nev. Both Lassen and Washoe Counties have identified water resources in Honey Lake Valley as a possible source to meet their needs for future development. An important component of an assessment of the availability of additional long-term supply is an appraisal of surface-water resources. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the California Department of Water Resources and the Nevada Division of Water Resources, began a hydrologic assessment of the area in 1987. The study was primarily an appraisal of ground-water resources, but it also included an assessment of surface-water resources. The purpose of this map report is to present the results of the surface-water assessment, including (1) a broad overview of surface-water conditions in the basin, (2) an estimate of mean annual streamflow to the valley floor, and (3) an evaluation of the characteristics of Honey Lake. This report will be republished by the U.S. Geological Survey as a Hydrologic-Investigations Atlas. Results of this study related to ground-water resources of the basin are discussed in a separate report (Handman and others, 1990) and are summarized in a short "Water Fact Sheet" by Handman (1990).

California, Nevada↗
USGS1990

Ground-water resources of Honey Lake Valley, Lassen County, California, and Washoe County, Nevada

Honey Lake Valley is a 2,200 sq-mi, topographically closed basin about 35 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada. Unconsolidated basin-fill deposits on the valley floor and fractured volcanic rocks in northern and eastern uplands are the principal aquifers. In the study area, about 130,000 acre- ft of water recharges the aquifer system annually, about 40% by direct infiltration of precipitation and about 60% by infiltration of streamflow and irrigation water. Balancing this is an equal amount of groundwater discharge, of which about 65% evaporates from the water table or is transpired by phreatophytes, about 30 % is withdrawn from wells, and about 5% leaves the basin as subsurface outflow to the east. Results of a groundwater flow model of the eastern part of the basin, where withdrawals for public supply have been proposed, indicate that if 15,000 acre-ft of water were withdrawn annually, a new equilibrium would eventually be established by a reduction of about 60% in both evapotranspiration and subsurface outflow to the east. Hydrologic effects would be minimal at the western boundary of the flow-model area. Within the modeled area, the increased withdrawals cause an increase in the simulated net flow of groundwater eastward across the California-Nevada State line from about 670 acre-ft/yr to about 2,300 acre-ft/yr. (USGS)

California, Nevada↗