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At least 793 records · Page 44Linked to original sources
USGS1961

Ground-water potentialities in the Crescent Valley, Eureka and Lander Counties, Nevada

The Crescent Valley is an intermontane basin in Eureka and Lander Counties, just south of the Humboldt River in north-central Nevada. The valley floor, with an area of about 150 square miles, has a shape that more nearly resembles a Y than a crescent, although the valley apparently was named after the arc described by its southern part and northeastern arm. The northwestern arm of the Y extends northward to the small railroad town of Beowawe on the Humboldt River; the northeastern arm lies east of the low Dry Hills. The leg of the Y extends southwestward toward a narrow gap which separates the Crescent Valley from the Carico Lake Valley. The total drainage area of the Crescent Valley-about 700 square miles--includes also the slopes of the bordering mountain ranges: the Shoshone Range to the west, the Cortez Mountains to the east, and the Toiyabe Range to the south. The early history of the Crescent Valley was dominated by mining of silver and gold, centered at Lander in the Shoshone Range and at Cortez and Mill Canyon in the Cortez Mountains, but in recent years the only major mining activity has been at Gold Acres; there open-pit mining of low-grade gold ore has supported a community of about 200. For many years the only agricultural enterprises in the valley were two cattle ranches, but recently addition lands have been developed for the raising of crops in the west-central part of the valley. The average annual precipitation upon the floor of the Crescent Valley is probably less than 7 inches, of which only a little more than 1 inch formally falls during the growing season (from June through September). This is far less than the requirement of any plants of economic value, and irrigation is essential to agricultural development. Small perennial streams rising in the mountains have long been utilized for domestic supply, mining and milling activities of the past, and irrigation, and recently some large wells have been developed for irrigation. In 1956 the total pumpage from wells in the valley was 2,300 acre-feet. The Crescent Valley is a basin in which has accumulated a large volume of sediments that had been eroded and transported by streams from the surrounding mountains. The deepest wells have penetrated only the upper 350 feet of these sediments, which on the basis of the known thickness of sediments in other intermontane basins in central Nevada may be as much as several thousand feet thick. Because this valley fill is saturated practically to the level of the valley floor, the total volume of ground water in storage amounts to millions of acre-feet. In practically all wells drilled to date, the water has been of a quality satisfactory for irrigation and domestic use. The amount of water that can be developed and used perennially is far smaller than the total in storage and is dependent upon the average annual recharge to the ground-water reservoir. This recharge comes principally from streams, fed largely by snowmelt, that drain the higher mountains. The average annum recharge to the valley fill is estimated to be about 13,000 acre-feet. This natural supply, which is largely consumed by native vegetation on the valley floor, constitutes a perennial supply for beneficial use only to the extent that the natural discharge can be reduced. In time, much of the natural discharge, can probably be salvaged, if it is economically feasible to pump ground water after water levels have been lowered as much as 100 feet in the areas that now appear to be favorable for the development of irrigation supplies. In 5 wells in the phreatophyte area, where the water table is within 3-8 feet of the land surface, the trends in water level have paralleled those, in precipitation-downward during the dry years 1952-55, upward in wetter 1956 and 1957, and as high in 1957 as at any time since 1948. In most wells there is also a seasonal fluctuation of 1-3 feet, from a high in the spring to a low in the fall. There is no evi

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1964

Ground water in Fountain and Jimmy Camp Valleys, El Paso County, Colorado

The part of Fountain Valley considered in this report extends from Colorado Springs to the Pueblo County line. It is 23 miles long and has an area of 26 square miles. The part of Jimmy Camp Valley discussed is 11 miles long and has an area of 9 square miles. The topography is characterized by level flood plains and alluvial terraces that parallel the valley and by rather steep hills along the valley sides. The climate is semiarid, average annual precipitation being about 13 inches. Farming and stock raising are the principal occupations in the valleys; however, some of the agricultural land near Colorado Springs is being used for housing developments. The Pierre Shale and alluvium underlie most of the area, and mesa gravel caps the shale hills adjacent to Fountain Valley. The alluvium yields water to domestic, stock, irrigation, and public-supply wells and is capable of yielding large quantities of water for intermittent periods. Several springs issue along the sides of the valley at the contact of the mesa gravel and the underlying Pierre Shale. The water table ranges in depth from less than 10 feet along the bottom lands to about 80 feet along the sides of the valleys; the saturated thickness ranges from less than a foot to about 50 feet. The ground-water reservoir in Fountain Valley is recharged by precipitation that falls within the area, by percolation from Fountain Creek, which originates in the Pikes Peak, Monument Valley, and Rampart Range areas, and by seepage from irrigation water. This reservoir contains about 70,000 acre-feet of ground water in storage. The ground-water reservoir in Jimmy Camp Valley is recharged from precipitation that falls within the area, by percolation from Jimmy Camp Creek during periods of streamflow, and by seepage from irrigation water. The Jimmy Camp ground-water reservoir contains about 25,000 acre-feet of water in storage. Ground water is discharged from the area by movement to the south, by evaporation and transpiration in areas of shallow water table, by seepage into Fountain and Jimmy Camp Creeks, and through wells. About 3 to 4 mgd (million gallons per day) of ground water moves through the Fountain Valley alluvium at a velocity of about 15 feet per day. About 1 mgd of ground water moves through the Jimmy Camp Valley alluvium at a velocity of about 6 feet per day. Most of the wells in the area are drilled, but a few are dug. Many large-diameter wells are used for irrigation and public supply: one of the wells

Colorado↗
USGS1962

Salinity of the Delaware Estuary

The purpose of this investigation was to obtain data on and study the factors affecting the salinity of the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pa., to the Appoquinimink River, Del. The general chemical quality of water in the estuary is described, including changes in salinity in the river cross section and profile, diurnal and seasonal changes, and the effects of rainfall, sea level, and winds on salinity. Relationships are established of the concentrations of chloride and dissolved solids to specific conductance. In addition to chloride profiles and isochlor plots, time series are plotted for salinity or some quantity representing salinity, fresh-water discharge, mean river level, and mean sea level. The two major variables which appear to have the greatest effect on the salinity of the estuary are the fresh-water flow of the river and sea level. The most favorable combination of these variables for salt-water encroachment occurs from August to early October and the least favorable combination occurs between December and May.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1966

Fresh-water discharge salinity relations in the tidal Delaware River

Sustained flows of fresh water greater than 3,500, 4,400, and 5,300 cubic feet per second into the Delaware River estuary at Trenton, NJ assure low salinity at League Island, Eddystone, and Marcus Hook, respectively. When the discharge at Trenton is less than these critical values, salinity is very sensitive to change in discharge, so that a relatively small decrease in fresh-water discharge results in a relatively great increase in salinity. Comparison of the discharge-salinity relations observed for the 14-year period August 1949-December 1963 with relations proposed by other workers but based on other time periods indicate that such relations change with time and that salinity is affected not only by discharge but also by dredging; construction of breakwater, dikes, and tidal barriers; changing sea level; tidal elevation; tidal range; and wind intensity and direction.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1968

Water-discharge determinations for the tidal reach of the Willamette River from Ross Island Bridge to Mile 10.3, Portland, Oregon

Water-discharge, velocity, and slope variations for a 3.7-mile-Iong tidal reach of the Willamette River at Portland, Oreg., were defined from discharge measurements and river stage data collected between July 1962 and January 1965. Observed water discharge during tide-affected flows, during floods, and during backwater from the Columbia River and recorded stages at each end of the river reach were used to determine water discharge from two mathematical models. These models use a finite-difference method to solve the equations of moderately unsteady open-channel streamflow, and discharges are computed by an electronic digital computer. Discharges computed by using the mathematical models compare satisfactorily with observed discharges, except during the period of backwater from the annual flood of the Columbia River. The flow resistance coefficients used in the models vary with discharge; for one model, the coefficients for discharges above 30,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) are 12 and 24 percent less than the coefficient used for discharges below 30,000 cfs. Daily mean discharges were determined by use of one mathematical model for approximately two-thirds of the water year, October 1963 through September 1964. Agreement of computed with routed daily mean discharges is fair; above 30,000 cfs, average differences between the two discharges are about 10 percent, and below 30,000 cfs, computed daily discharges are consistently greater (by as much as 25 percent) than routed discharges. The other model was used to compute discharges for the unusually high flood flows of December 1964.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1972

Tracer simulation study of potential solute movement in Port Royal Sound, South Carolina

A tracer study was conducted in Port Royal Sound to simulate the movement and ultimate pattern of concentration of a solute continuously injected into the flow. A total of 750 pounds of Rhodamine WT dye was injected by boat during a period of 24.8 hours in a line across the Colleton River. During the following 43 days, samples of water were taken at selected points in the sound, and the concentration of dye in the samples was determined by fluorometric analysis. The data obtained in the field study were used with theoretical models to compute the ultimate pattern of concentration of nonconservative and conservative solutes for a hypothetical continuous injection at the site on the Colleton River.

South Carolina↗
USGS1961

Water resources of the Raft River basin, Idaho-Utah

Much arable land in the Raft River basin of Idaho lacks water for irrigation, and the potentially irrigable acreage far exceeds the amount that could be irrigated with the estimated total supply of water. Therefore, the amount of uncommitted water that could be intercepted and used within the basin is the limiting factor in further development of its native water supply. Water for additional irrigation might be obtained by constructing surface-storage works, by pumping ground water, or by importing surface water. Additional groundwater development is feasible. As an aid to orderly development and use of the water supplies, the report summarizes available geologic and hydrologic data and, by analysis and interpretation, derives an estimate of the recoverable water yield of the basin.

Idaho, Utah↗
USGS1963

Ground-water geology of Bexar County, Texas

The investigation in Bexar County was part of a comprehensive study of a large area in south-central Texas underlain by the Edwards and associated limestones (Comanche Peak and Georgetown) of Cretaceous age. The limestones form an aquifer which supplies water to the city of San Antonio, several military installations, many industrial plants, and many irrigated farms. The geologic formations that yield water to wells in Bexar County are sedimentary rocks of Mesozoic and Cenozoic age. The rocks strike northeastward and dip southeastward toward the Gulf of Mexico. In the northern part of the county, in an erosional remnant of the Edwards Plateau, the rocks are nearly flat and free from faulting. In the central and southern parts of the county, however, the rocks dip gulfward at gentle to moderately steep angles and are extensively faulted in the Balcones and Mexia fault zones. Individual faults or shatter zones were traced as much as 25 miles; the maximum displacement is at least 600 feet. In general, the formations are either monoclinal or slightly folded; in the western part of the county the broad Culebra anticline plunges southwestward. Most of the large-capacity wells in Bexar County draw water from the Edwards and associated limestones, but a few draw from the Glen Rose limestone, the Austin chalk, and surficial sand and gravel. The Hosston formation, Glen Rose limestone, Buda limestone, and Austin chalk, all of Cretaceous age, generally yield small to large supplies of water; the Wilcox group and Carrizo sand of Tertiary age yield moderate supplies and alluvium of Pleistocene and Recent age generally yield small supplies. The Edwards and associated limestones are recharged primarily by groundwater underflow into Bexar County from the west, and secondarily by seepage from streams that cross the outcrop of the aquifer in Bexar County. During the period 1934-47 the recharge to the aquifer in Bexar County is estimated to have averaged between 400,000 and 430,000 acre-feet per year. Discharge from the aquifer takes place by means of wells and springs and by underflow into Comal and Guadalupe Counties on the northeast. During the period 1934-47 the estimated average discharge from wells and springs was about 174,000 acre-feet per year. The discharge by underflow out of the county during the same period is estimated to have averaged between 220,000 and 260,000 acre-feet per year. Probably only a small amount of water moves downdip southeast of San Antonio. The presence of highly mineralized water in that area suggests that the circulation of water is poor because of the low permeability of the aquifer. During the period 1934-56 the discharge from the Edwards and associated limestones greatly exceeded the recharge; consequently, water levels in wells declined. The decline was greatest in the northwestern part of the county, where the water levels in wells dropped as much as 100 feet. The decline was progressively less toward the east, averaging 40 feet along the Bexar-Comal County line. The area of the greatest concentration of discharge, which includes San Antonio and extends to the southwest and northeast, coincides with the area of maximum faulting and maximum recorded yields from wells and is not the area of greatest decline. The ability of the Edwards and associated limestones to transmit and store water in the San Antonio area apparently is so great that the discharge from wells results in much smaller declines of water level than do similar or even smaller discharges in other areas. The water from the Edwards is almost uniformly a calcium bicarbonate water of good quality, although hard. In the southern part of the San Antonio area the water is charged with hydrogen sulfide; farther downdip it becomes highly mineralized.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1961

Urban growth and the water regimen

The continuing growth and concentration of population and industry in urban and suburban areas in recent decades has caused a complex merging of social, economic, and physical problems, The interrelationships of man and his use and development of the land and water resources is a particularly significant aspect of urbanization, but there has been relatively little study to date of the effect of urban man upon natural hydrologic conditions. As urban man changes an area from one of field and forest to one of buildings and streets, he covers land where water once entered the soil, and thus creates or aggravates problems of drainage, including storm-water runoff. As he requires increasing amounts of water for home and factory, he drills deeper wells, and builds longer aqueducts and larger dams and reservoirs. As he disposes of un- wanted waste materials, he either treats them by using water or pollutes the receiving body of water. As he dredges and deepens coastal streams carrying salt water, and he pumps greater quantities of water from wells in coastal areas, he increases the likelihood of salt-water contamination. These and many other urban effects upon hydrology deserve increasing study if we are to provide for the best use of the water and land resources available to the Nation's urban centers.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1964

Effect of urban growth on streamflow regimen of Permanente Creek, Santa Clara County, California

This report presents the results of an investigation of the effect of urban growth on the streamflow regimen of Permanente Creek in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, Calif. The data available did not permit a complete study of all hydrologic aspects, but there is conclusive evidence that the volume of storm runoff produced by rainfall on the valley floor has increased substantially as a result of urbanization. In 1945, storm runoff from the 5.12-square mile project area was insufficient to balance channel losses, and the streamflow entering the project area in the Permanente Creek channel was greater than that leaving the area. If, however, total outflow from the project area is considered to be the sum of the streamflow leaving the area plus channel seepage in the area, the ratio of total outflow to inflow was 1:18. By 1958, storm runoff from the project area was far in excess of channel losses and the ratio of total outflow to inflow was 1:70. This increase in outflow is attributed to the fact that urban development during the period 1945 to 1958 increased the extent of impervious surface in the project area from about 4 percent to 19 percent. The effect of urban growth in other basins in Santa Clara County should be investigated before any attempt is made to project the quantitative results of this study to other areas in the county.

Water Supply Paper↗