Estimates of public-supply, domestic, and irrigation water withdrawal, use, and trends in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, 1985 to 2015

Ivahnenko, Tamara; Flickinger, Allison K.; Galanter, Amy E.; Douglas-Mankin, Kyle R.; Pedraza, Diana E.; Senay, Gabriel B.

doi:10.3133/sir20215036

Cited by 2 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Surface water was the dominant water source used in the URGB, averaging about 71% of total withdrawals in 2015. Total groundwater and surface water withdrawals were highest in the Colorado and New Mexico portions of the URGB FAS, 46% each compared to Texas (Ivahnenko et al, 2021). A comparison of 2015 water withdrawals (fig.…”

Section: Water Withdrawalsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Although consumptive use can be a primary focus of agricultural and regional water supply management strategies, there is a lack of spatially distributed ET or consumptive use data. The objective of this ET study was to apply and enhance the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) ET model (Senay et al, 2013) to produce monthly , Landsat-derived (100-m), gridded actual ET (ETa) datasets for the URGB (Senay et al, 2019;Ivahnenko et al, 2021).…”

Section: Evapotranspirationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Total withdrawals for the categories of public supply, self-supplied domestic, self-supplied industrial, thermoelectric, irrigation, livestock, mining, and aquaculture in 2015 for the URGB were 1.193 x10 7 m 3 /d (3,152.10 Mgal/d) (Ivahnenko et al, 2021). The population within the URGB (including the portion in Mexico) grew from an estimated 2.01 to 3.66 million people between 1985 and 2015 (Ivahnenko et al, 2021).…”

Section: Water Withdrawalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Total withdrawals for public supply in the U.S. portion of the URGB averaged 1.05 x10 6 m 3 /d from 1985 to 2015. Most of these public-supply withdrawals are in New Mexico (about 60% of the total; Ivahnenko et al, 2021) and averaged 643,450 m 3 /d. Groundwater provided 92% (1985) to 70% (2015) of the total withdrawals for public supply (table 6).…”

Section: Water Withdrawalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Basin features vary from alpine and forested mountains and river gorges in the Southern Rocky Mountains to riparian forests (bosque), broad valleys, and high desert of central New Mexico, to the Chihuahuan Desert along the boundary between Texas and Mexico (Llewellyn and Vaddey, 2013). From 1985 to 2015 in the URGB, population increased 82% from 2,013,917 to 3,658,237, irrigated area decreased 8% from 3,387 to 3,114 km 2 and total irrigation withdrawals (surface water plus groundwater) decreased 17% from 10.61 to 8.83 x10 6 m 3 /d (2,803 to 2,332 Mgal/d) (Ivahnenko et al, 2021). The Rio Grande serves as the primary source of irrigation water for agriculture throughout the basin, a minor source for municipal use by the major municipalities along the river corridor (including the cities of Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Las Cruces, New Mexico; El Paso, Texas; and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico), and environmental and recreational uses in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as in Mexico (Llewellyn and Vaddey, 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Upper Rio Grande Basin Water-Resource Status and Trends: Focus Area Study Review and Synthesis

Mankin¹,

Rumsey²,

Sexstone³

et al. 2022

Journal of the ASABE

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HighlightsUpper Rio Grande Basin increased population by 80% with flat public supply water withdrawals from 1980 to 2015.Significant decreasing trends in precipitation, snowmelt rate, streamflow, baseflow, and ET were observed.Simulated near-native streamflow was greater than previous estimates, particularly for higher flow years.More precipitation as rain, slower snowmelt, less streamflow, and greater baseflow fraction impact water security.Abstract. The Upper Rio Grande Basin (URGB) is a critical international water resource under pressure from a myriad of climatic, ecological, infrastructural, water-use, and legal constraints. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the spatial distribution and temporal trends of selected water-budget components (snow processes, evapotranspiration (ET), streamflow processes, and groundwater storage) using integrated analyses, such as watershed modeling and water availability and use data in the URGB over the past three decades. A spatially distributed snow evolution modeling system simulated snowpack processes over 34 years (1984–2017). It highlighted snow water equivalent declines from -35 to -77 mm/decade with widespread variability across elevation zones and land cover types. Gridded actual ET data from the SSEBop model were developed and tested for the URGB and demonstrated that all land-cover types had significant decreasing trends (1986-2015) ranging from -14 to -80 mm/decade. Conductivity-mass-balance (CMB) hydrograph separation results found that baseflow forms a large component of total streamflow, ranging from 29 to 69% (49% average) of total streamflow at 17 URGB sites upstream of Albuquerque, NM. Three of 4 graphical hydrograph separation methods in the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater Toolbox were found to be inappropriate for estimating baseflow in the URGB; the most promising method, baseflow index (BFI) Standard, was optimized using CMB data and tested at three URGB sites, with resulting overestimation of 0 to 47%. Simulated changes in groundwater storage were extracted from historical and recent groundwater-flow models of select alluvial basins (San Luis, Española, Middle Rio Grande, and Tularosa-Hueco). In general, decreases in groundwater storage were observed from 1903 to 2013 except for the San Luis alluvial basin (Colorado), where periods of recovery are observed. The PRMS hydrologic model was successfully calibrated for 9 near-native subbasins (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency 0.47 to 0.85) and parameters translated to the remaining subbasins; compared to simulated near-native flows (with minimal influence of reservoirs or diversions), observed Rio Grande streamgage flows demonstrated reductions of 40% or more for New Mexico and Texas areas of the basin. Significant decreasing trends (1980-2015) in precipitation, snowmelt rate, streamflow, and baseflow were observed at many of the 12 streamgage basins studied, which suggests that the decreasing trends for actual ET may be related to overall decreasing water availability in the basin, with negative implications for agricultural production and groundwater abstraction. Water security concerns arise from our findings of higher fraction precipitation as rain, slower snowmelt rates leading to decreasing streamflow production, and an increasing fraction of baseflow, all of which will affect the timing and magnitude of water available for human needs in the basin. Keywords: Baseflow, Evapotranspiration, Groundwater, Snow, Streamflow, Watershed model, Water supply.

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Section: Water Withdrawalsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Evapotranspirationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Water Withdrawalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Water Withdrawalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Upper Rio Grande Basin Water-Resource Status and Trends: Focus Area Study Review and Synthesis

Mankin¹,

Rumsey²,

Sexstone³

et al. 2022

Journal of the ASABE

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Evaluation of reported and unreported water uses in various sectors of the Potomac basin for the year 2017

Wallace,

Moltz,

Nagel

et al. 2024

J American Water Resour Assoc

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Water resource planners and managers in the Mid‐Atlantic United States typically determine the sufficiency of water supplies to meet demand by comparing (1) water use as reported to the state by individual water users to (2) metrics of water availability calculated from observed water monitoring networks. This paper focuses on determining whether this means of measuring water use is sufficient for proactive and sustainable management of water resources. The Potomac basin study area illustrates the point that, while state‐reported water use databases typically cover the largest individual water users, unreported water uses can cumulatively comprise a substantial portion of the overall water use. If left unaccounted for, the system is vulnerable to human demand exceeding supplies, with attendant detrimental effects to aquatic habitats and organisms, especially given the exacerbating effects of climate change on the variability of water supplies. Planners and managers are therefore encouraged to consider the full spectrum of water uses, regardless of state reporting requirements.

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Estimates of public-supply, domestic, and irrigation water withdrawal, use, and trends in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, 1985 to 2015

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

Upper Rio Grande Basin Water-Resource Status and Trends: Focus Area Study Review and Synthesis

Upper Rio Grande Basin Water-Resource Status and Trends: Focus Area Study Review and Synthesis

Evaluation of reported and unreported water uses in various sectors of the Potomac basin for the year 2017

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