Ground water in the Ogallala formation in the southern high plains of Texas and New Mexico

Winter 2022�2023 Water-Level Elevation Map and Estimation of Water in Storage for a Region Northwest of Clovis, New Mexico

“…The present study area was targeted for cessation of groundwater pumping and banking of remaining water in storage based on previous hydrogeology studies. The geometry of the bedrock surface at the base of the Ogallala Formation was mapped in the 1960s by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS; Cronin, 1969). Numerous subsequent studies of the hydrogeology of the High Plains aquifer in eastern New Mexico and western Texas have used this bedrock surface map (Hart and McAda, 1985;Mulligan et al, 2008, Tillery, 2008a, 2008bRawling, 2016;Rawling and Rinehart, 2018).…”

“…The maps of Cronin (1969) do not show the wells used to map the base of the High Plains aquifer. Contour lines on his map are drawn as solid where they are "more reliable" and dashed where inferred; in the present study area, both types are present.…”

Mapping the altitude of the top of the Dockum Group and paleochannel analysis using surface geophysical methods on and near Cannon Air Force Base in Curry County, New Mexico, 2020

“…The Ogallala Formation lies unconformably atop the upper unit of the eastward-dipping Triassic-age Chinle Formation of the Dockum Group (Dutton and Simpkins, 1986;Lucas and others, 1987). The Southern High Plains aquifer is underlain in most of the area by relatively impermeable rocks equivalent to the Chinle Formation (Cronin, 1969;Gutentag and others, 1984). The rocks that compose the Chinle Formation consist mostly of clay with some intermixed shale and silt that serve as barriers to groundwater movement (Cronin, 1969).…”

“…The Southern High Plains aquifer is underlain in most of the area by relatively impermeable rocks equivalent to the Chinle Formation (Cronin, 1969;Gutentag and others, 1984). The rocks that compose the Chinle Formation consist mostly of clay with some intermixed shale and silt that serve as barriers to groundwater movement (Cronin, 1969). The Chinle Formation ranges in thickness from about 0 to 400 feet (ft) in eastern New Mexico (McGowen and others, 1977).…”

Hydrogeologic framework, geochemistry, groundwater-flow system, and aquifer hydraulic properties used in the development of a conceptual model of the Ogallala, Edwards-Trinity (High Plains), and Dockum aquifers in and near Gaines, Terry, and Yoakum Counties, Texas

“…4). Multiple studies describe the general structure of the Ogallala aquifer as featuring paleochannels eroded into the underlying hydrogeologic units; paleochannels are important conduits for groundwater flow and are filled with coarse gravel in the channel and often filled with sand and finer sediments in the interchannel areas (for example, Cronin, 1969;Seni, 1980;Gustavson, 1996). The variable distribution of coarse, permeable sediments affects the spatial differences in the water-storage capacity and water-availability characteristics (Seni, 1980;Texas Water Development Board, 2020b).…”