Technical Report

Riparian Groundwater Models for the Middle Rio Grande: ESA Collaborative Program FY07

URL: https://webapps.usgs.gov/mrgescp/documents/S.S.%20Papadopulos%20%26%20Associates%2C%20Inc.%20and%20NMISC_2008_Riparian%20Groundwater%20Models%20for%20the%20MRG%20ESA%20Collaborative%20Program%20FY07.pdf

Date: 2008/04/01

Author(s): S.S. Papadopulos & Associates, Inc., NMISC

Publication: Report prepared for Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative Program, 39 p.

Abstract:

This report describes two shallow, riparian-zone groundwater models (riparian model), the Bosque del Apache and Fort Craig models, developed to represent the reach of the Rio Grande between the North Boundary of Bosque del Apache and the northern end of the Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico (Figure 1.1). These models join an existing suite of six riparian models developed to represent physical processes relevant to assessing shallow groundwater conditions and exchanges between surface water and shallow groundwater within the floodplain of the Rio Grande from Cochiti Dam to San Antonio, New Mexico (SSPA and NMISC, April 2005; SSPA and NMISC, March 2006; SSPA and NMISC, April 2007). The riparian models improve our ability to assess shallow groundwater conditions important to water supply reliability in specific river reaches and to evaluate the feasibility of habitat restoration strategies.

This work was performed under Fiscal Year 2007 (FY07) funding from the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Act Collaborative Program (ESA Collaborative Program) and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC), and represents the continuation of a project initiated under Fiscal Year 2003 and Fiscal Year 2004 funding from these entities. Cochiti reach model development, undertaken in 2005 and 2006, was funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission.