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USGS · sim3031

Water-level altitudes 2008 and water-level changes in the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper Aquifers and compaction 1973-2007 in the Chicot and Evangeline Aquifers, Houston-Galveston Region, Texas

Abstract

This report, done in cooperation with the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, the City of Houston, the Fort Bend Subsidence District, and the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, is one in an annual series of reports that depicts water-level altitudes and water-level changes in the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers, and compaction in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers in the Houston-Galveston region, Texas. The report contains 17 sheets and 16 tables: 3 sheets are maps showing current-year (2008) water-level altitudes for each aquifer, respectively; 3 sheets are maps showing 1-year (2007-08) water-level changes for each aquifer, respectively; 3 sheets are maps showing 5-year (2003-08) water-level changes for each aquifer, respectively; 4 sheets are maps showing long-term (1990-2008 and 1977-2008) water-level changes for the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, respectively; 1 sheet is a map showing long-term (2000-2008) water-level change for the Jasper aquifer; 1 sheet is a revision of a previously published water-level-altitude map for the Jasper aquifer for 2003; 1 sheet is a map showing site locations of borehole extensometers; and 1 sheet comprises graphs showing measured compaction of subsurface material at the sites from 1973 or later through 2007, respectively. Tables listing the data used to construct the aquifer-data maps and the compaction graphs are included.

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90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 28.8831596093235° to 30.95876857077987° latitude; -96.3446044921875° to -94.3505859375° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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BibTeXRIS

Mark C. Kasmarek, Natalie A. Houston. 2008. Water-level altitudes 2008 and water-level changes in the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper Aquifers and compaction 1973-2007 in the Chicot and Evangeline Aquifers, Houston-Galveston Region, Texas. https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3031

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Map depicting locations susceptible to landslide hazards triggered by prolonged intense rainfall, Utuado Municipio, Puerto Rico

Introduction Landslides commonly occur in Puerto Rico during or soon after rainstorms with prolonged intense rainfall. Rainfall-triggered landslides present significant hazards to the built environment and human safety (for example, Jibson, 1986; Larsen and Torres Sanchez, 1992; Bessette-Kirton and others, 2019a). These hazards were illustrated during September 2017 (Hughes and others, 2019) when Hurricane María triggered more than 70,000 landslides across Puerto Rico (fig. 1), causing loss of life and widespread destruction (figs. 2–4). In Utuado Municipio, about 18,000 landslides were observed after Hurricane María (Hughes and others, 2019). Most intense rainfall-triggered landslides in Puerto Rico occur in soil overlying bedrock and travel downslope from where they initiate (for example, Jibson, 1986; Bessette-Kirton and others, 2019a, 2020). Hazards to human life and infrastructure can differ substantially between where landslides initiate and where they travel. At landslide initiation locations, the ground breaks up (fails) as it moves downslope, removing support for buildings, roadways, and other structures located upon the landslides (fig. 3A, B). This ground failure often causes structures to collapse and suffer severe damage or complete destruction, rendering building occupants at extreme risk. Roadways and other vital infrastructure, such as water, power, and communication lines, are often severed. During intense rainfall events, landslide initiation and movement downslope can occur in seconds to hours. Downslope from where they initiate, landslides in Puerto Rico often move very rapidly (faster than a person can walk or run) and can impact and destroy or fill structures with mud and debris (fig. 4) as well as bury roadways (fig. 3A, C). Moving landslides present extreme hazards to human safety; some fatalities during Hurricane María resulted from mud and debris that flowed through windows and doors of a home and buried occupants. Many landslides in Puerto Rico become fast-moving liquefied masses (debris flows), which are especially common in channels where they can quickly travel kilometers downstream. Multiple debris flows may occur in a channel during a single rainstorm (some channels experienced more than 50 debris flows during Hurricane María; Bessette-Kirton and others [2020] ). This hazard map separately depicts locations and the relative likelihood of where landslides may initiate, where they may move downslope, and where channelized debris flows may travel during or soon after intense rainfall like that during Hurricane María. An estimated average of 399 millimeters of rainfall fell across Utuado during September 19–21, 2017 (Ramos-Scharrón and Arima, 2019). Lower rainfall amounts, durations, and intensities also trigger landsliding in Puerto Rico, although landslides and debris flows become more numerous as rainfall intensities, durations, and cumulative amounts increase. The map does not show potential landslide locations in the karst terrain of northern Utuado (Bawiec, 1999) because Hurricane María-induced landslides were very sparse in this region (Hughes and others, 2019; Baxstrom and others, 2021a), even though rainfall amounts were similar to those in other parts of Utuado. Based on data from Hughes and others (2019), landslides were about 10 times more likely to occur outside of the karst terrane than within it, and our preliminary analyses indicated relatively low susceptibility to rainfall-induced landslide hazards within the karst. Landslide-prone soils appear to be poorly developed on the very steep slopes present in the karst region, where weathering by dissolution appears to dominate.

Puerto Rico, Utuado Municipio↗

Map depicting locations susceptible to landslide hazards triggered by prolonged intense rainfall, Naranjito Municipio, Puerto Rico

Introduction Landslides commonly occur in Puerto Rico during or soon after rainstorms with prolonged intense rainfall. Rainfall-triggered landslides present significant hazards to the built environment and human safety (for example, Jibson, 1986; Larsen and Torres Sanchez, 1992; Bessette-Kirton and others, 2019a). These hazards were illustrated during September 2017 (Hughes and others, 2019), when Hurricane María triggered more than 70,000 landslides across Puerto Rico (fig. 1), causing loss of life and widespread destruction (figs. 2–4). In Naranjito Municipio, about 2,000 landslides were observed after Hurricane María (Hughes and others, 2019). Most intense-rainfall-triggered landslides in Puerto Rico occur in soil overlying bedrock and travel downslope from where they initiated (for example, Jibson, 1986; Bessette-Kirton and others, 2019a; 2020). Hazards to human life and infrastructure can differ substantially between where landslides initiate and where they travel. At landslide initiation locations, the ground breaks up (fails) as it moves downslope, removing support for buildings, roadways, and other structures located upon the landslides (figs. 3B, 4A, B). This ground failure often causes structures to collapse and suffer severe damage or complete destruction, rendering building occupants at extreme risk. Roadways and other vital infrastructure, such as water, power, and communication lines are often severed. During intense rainfall events, landslide initiation and movement downslope can occur in seconds to hours. Downslope from where they initiate, landslides in Puerto Rico often move, or runout, very rapidly (faster than a person can walk or run) and can impact and destroy or fill structures with mud and debris (figs. 3A, 4A, C) as well as bury roadways (fig. 4A). Moving landslides present extreme hazards to human safety; some fatalities during Hurricane María resulted from mud and debris that flowed through windows and doors of a home and buried occupants. Many landslides in Puerto Rico become fast-moving debris flows, which are especially common in channels where they can quickly travel kilometers downstream. Multiple debris flows may occur in a channel during a single rainstorm (some channels experienced more than 50 debris flows during Hurricane María; Bessette-Kirton and others, 2020). This map separately depicts locations and the relative likelihood of where landslides may initiate, where they may move downslope, and where channelized debris flows may travel during or soon after intense rainfall like that during Hurricane María. An estimated average of 529 millimeters of rainfall fell across Naranjito during September 19–21, 2017 (Ramos-Scharrón and Arima, 2019). Lower rainfall amounts, durations, and intensities also trigger landsliding in Puerto Rico, although landslides and debris flows become more numerous as rainfall intensities, durations, and cumulative amounts increase.

Naranjito Municipio, Puerto Rico↗

Map depicting locations susceptible to landslide hazards triggered by prolonged intense rainfall, Lares Municipio, Puerto Rico

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Lares Municipio, Puerto Rico↗