Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5305
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5305
Table 22. Annual ground-water budget for basin-fill aquifer, Carson Valley, Nevada and California, water years 1990–2005.
[Abbreviations: acre-ft/yr, acre-feet per year; ft/d, feet per day; ft2, square feet]
Source of recharge and discharge | Estimated average volume (acre-ft/yr) |
Estimated low- and high-range volume (acre-ft/yr) |
---|---|---|
Ground-water recharge | ||
Ground-water inflow1 and recharge from precipitation on Quaternary eolian sand and gravel deposits2 | 22,000 – 40,000 | 15,000 – 58,000 |
Ground-water recharge from streamflow3 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
Secondary recharge of pumped ground water 4 | 3,000 – 6,000 | 3,000 – 6,000 |
Total | 35,000 – 56,000 | 28,000 – 74,000 |
Ground-water discharge | ||
Ground-water ET from phreatophytic and riparian vegetation and non-irrigated pasture grasses5 | 11,000 | |
Ground-water discharge to streamflow6 | 15,000 | |
Net ground-water pumping4 | 15,000 – 18,000 | |
Total | 41,000 – 44,000 |
1 From table 15.
2 From table 6.
3 Estimated from annual streamflow loss during summer months for water years 1990–2005, determined from the difference between mean daily inflow to and outflow from Carson Valley during summer months; 89,000 acre-ft/yr, minus the combined ET loss from streamflow and ground water, 79,000 acre-ft/yr (table 20). The volume of 10,000 acre-ft/yr represents a minimum value assuming minor ground-water contribution to ET.
4 From table 18.
5 From table 20.
6 Estimated as the average of streamflow gain during winter months for water years 1990–2005 determined from difference between mean daily inflow to and outflow from Carson Valley; 16,000 acre-ft/yr, and streamflow gain estimated from application of a gain rate of 0.3 ft/day (Maurer and others, 2006, p. 43) to the area of the West Fork and Carson River north of Muller Lane to the study area boundary, 5,65 million ft2; 14,000 acre-ft/yr.