John Hoffmann

Introduction to USGS Arizona Program and Hydrology

USGSUSGSGeologyGeologyMappingMappingBiologyBiologyWaterWater

Water-Science CentersWater-Science Centers

USGS Water-Science Center

Physical Setting

Offices, staff, funding

Hydrology

Programs

Laws influencing programs

Example programs

AZWSC Organization and Staff

Program/ support group

AZWSC, main office Tucson (~70 total)

Tucson Field Office

Office for Northern AZ Programs

Tempe Field Office

Yuma Field Office

Hydrologic Data Program

6 7 8 9 8

Hydrologic Investigations & Research Programs

23 8

Administrative Services and Computer Support

8

AZWSC Funding, FY06

20%

11%

2%

15%

47%

3%

2% Federal NonMatchingFunds

Federal MatchingFunds

DOI Cost Share

Reimbursablematched

Reimbursableunmatched

Working CapitalFunds

FacilitiesAppropriationTotal Funding Estimate: $10 million

Cooperators}

The importance of understanding Arizona’s water resources

1990 20302000 2010 2020YEAR

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POPULATION INSOUTHWEST

PERCENT OF U.S.POPULATION

Importance of Ground-Water to the West

Percentage of drinking water supplied by ground water

Ground-water resources of Arizona

Alluvial basins (Basin and Range physiographic province)72 basins—primary source of ground water; 900 million acre-ft

Filled with sediments ranging from a few thousand to 10,000 ft thick

Basins categorized to allow transfer of information and allow investigators to make predictions about the impacts of future development within each group

Note:Mountain ranges surrounding the basins are crystalline and yield little to no water

SP

RIN

GS

Low-permeability

rocks

Flow system conceptual model:Colorado Plateau

SP

RIN

GS

Influence of Laws on USGS AzWSC Program(Melcher)

Colorado Rover Compact, 1922 CR Storage Project Act, 1956 Supreme Court Decree Act, 1956 Grand Canyon Protection Act, 1992; National Environmental Policy Act,

1969; 18 others Endangered Species Act, 1973 Arizona Groundwater Management

Act, 1980/Rural Watershed Initiative Nuclear Water Policy Act, 1982 Clean Water Act, 1989 Section 321 of the Defense

Authorization Bill, 2004 Title II of Yavapai County land

Exchange Bill, 2005 Transboundary Aquifer Bill, 2006

Lower Colorado River Decree Accounting Project

Grand Canyon Sediment transport Project,

C aquifer Project

Rural Watershed Investigations Aquifer Storage an Subsidence

Project Death Valley Regional GW Flow

Model Urban Runoff San Pedro River Verde River Watershed

Border aquifers

Law Program

Water-management related

Aquifer-Storage Change and Subsidence

Monitoring Stations in the TAMA

Directed by Arizona ground-water law (Arizona Groundwater Management Act, 1980) to attain an annual balance between ground-water withdrawals

(Qout) and recharge (Qin) by

the year 2025

Qin = Qout

ΔStorage = 0

Qin – Qout= ΔStorage

Original Water Table

Volume of Aquifer Drained

Aquifer Storage Change

Specific Yield

×Water Table After Pumping

Aquifer Storage Change

g = -kx/mass

x

GravityThe simplest type of gravimeter essentially measures the

extension of a spring attached to a control mass.

unconfined aquifer

Δ

water table before pumpingwater table after pumping

Δ

-60,000 acre-ft~0.4 ft per year

Storage Change in a portion of the Tucson

Basin

Spring 2005 – Summer 2006

Qin – Qout= ΔStorage

Determine the Effects of Ground-Water

Overdraft on:

Aquatic Communities

Riparian Areas

Endangered Species

Theoretical capture by pumping for 50 years

Upper San Pedro Basin in SE Arizona

Introduction to USGS Arizona Program and Hydrology

Questions?

Next up: Jim Leenhouts--San Pedro James Callagary—Geophysical tools