HYDROLOGY AND ADMINISTRATION OF DOMESTIC WELLS IN NEW MEXICO

Transcription

1 HYDROLOGY AND ADMINISTRATION OF DOMESTIC WELLS IN NEW MEXICO by W. Peter Balleau and Steven E. Silver Submitted to Natural Resources Journal January 00

2 CONCLUSIONS The recurring concern about domestic well permitting and management in New Mexico involves effects on water resource sustainability, the balance of water rights, and state obligations to deliver water to downstream states. The hydrological aspects are amenable to quantification. Other aspects involving administrative duties, legal standing, private rights, government supervision and compact obligations are aided by the hydrologic information, but are not resolved thereby. Groundwater modeling of the local, regional and statewide aquifer systems illustrates that individual well performance, adjacent well impacts, and collective regional domestic well impacts are invariably sustainable in properly-constructed domestic wells for 40 year futures. Drawdown in the range of tens of feet is acceptable by reasonable standards because the yield of properly-constructed wells is not affected. Critical management areas requiring heightened protection due to domestic wells cannot be identified in any part of the state whether stream related, closed basin, or in major or minor aquifers. Exceptions to the characteristically sustainable well pattern are explained by improper well construction, not by domestic well mutual interference. Due to the physical limits on hydrologic performance of aquifers, domestic well interference cannot be extensive in minor aquifers, and cannot be of significant magnitude in major aquifers. Domestic well use, the smallest category of groundwater use, is the most sustainable of water uses, with the least impact on the water resource and the interrelated streams. The New Mexico practice of granting domestic water without administrative review is compatible with the

3 view that domestic water is a human right. Domestic wells support a persistent non-decreasing aggregate economic activity by households. Domestic wells serve more than 36,000 households in New Mexico, about 0 percent of total households in the state. Domestic wells are growing toward 00,000 by year 040. Domestic well density is subject to land use standards. A well density greater than one per five acres or 8 wells per square mile may be excessive in poor aquifers. Most domestic wells are properly constructed for an economic life of 40 years with an expectation of full service from the well. About a third of existing wells do not have adequate water column upon initial construction to expect a full service life from the well. The typical domestic well utilizes ten percent of its three AFY permitted right and consumes less. Use in excess of three AFY has been documented, but is expected in less than 0.0 percent of households unless they utilize the New Mexico irrigation allowance. OSE inspection and enforcement could constrain over-use of the irrigation provision. Some New Mexico households merit the three AFY provision for subsistence. The cost and benefit of domestic-well water service is comparable to that from public water systems except in remote areas where domestic wells are less costly. Curtailing homeowner access to domestic wells would convert the family use into consequent increased public system demand with greater resource impacts. Population growth is assumed to be served with household water from one or another source. The resource base, service life, and interstate obligations are affected similarly by domestic well sources and by alternative public water supply sources. One distinction is in the management level of the household well operator compared to the certified public water system operator. Nevertheless, management failures of quantity or quality of water affect more households when connected to public supply.

4 The set of management actions proposed to intervene in the growth of domestic well permits is, for the most part, counterproductive or of little foreseeable benefit to the objectives. Limiting permit amounts would alter the behavior of few households. Mandating indoor use would save about half of household water at the cost of a large loss of consumer utility. Metering adds millions of cost annually with little foreseeable saving of water. One apparent beneficial intervention is to mandate proper construction, testing and certification of domestic wells when drilled or sold. Sub-standard sanitation, reliability and service life in the case of domestic wells can be addressed by construction standards and adequate water column, rather than by limiting access to the opportunity for self service. 3

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7 OKLAHOMA DOMESTIC WELLS AND AQUIFERS IN NEW MEXICO C O L O R A D O S A N Farmington JUA N Navajo El Vado Chama Heron Taos Raton Clayton Cuba R I O CHAMA Abiquiu Española Wagon Mound Roy Santa Fe A R I Z O N A Gallup Reserve Grants Elephant Butte Jemez Canyon Rio Rancho Albuquerque Belen R I O Socorro Moriarty Carrizozo Ruidoso Las Vegas Vaughn Santa Rosa Roswell Conchas Sumner PECO S C A N A DI AN Fort Sumner Ute Tucumcari Clovis Portales G I L A Lordsburg Silver City Caballo Deming Truth or Consequences RIO Las Cruces Alamogordo Artesia Brantley Avalon Carlsbad Hobbs M E X I C O MAP PROJECTION: UTM ZONE 3, NAD83 Legend Domestic Wells Aquifer Systems Basin Fill and Alluvial Aquifers San Juan Basin Aquifers (Minor) Roswell Basin Artesian Aquifer Minor Aquifer Systems Miles

8 OKLAHOMA WATER TABLE ELEVATION AND DEPTH IN NEW MEXICO C O L O R A D O S A N Farmington JUA N 600 Navajo El Vado Chama Heron A R I Z O N A G I L A RIO R I O R I O CHAMA Taos Raton Clayton Reserve Gallup Lordsburg Silver City Grants Caballo Deming Elephant Butte Cuba Abiquiu Jemez Canyon Rio Rancho Albuquerque Belen Truth or Consequences Socorro 600 Las Cruces Española Santa Fe Alamogordo Moriarty Carrizozo Ruidoso Las Vegas Vaughn Santa Rosa Wagon Mound Roswell PECO S Conchas Artesia Sumner Roy 400 C A N A DI AN Fort Sumner Brantley Avalon Carlsbad Ute 4000 Tucumcari Clovis Portales Hobbs M E X I C O MAP PROJECTION: UTM ZONE 3, NAD83 Legend Water Table Depth (feet) < 0 feet Water Table Contours (feet) Miles

9 GROWTH OF DOMESTIC WELL PERMITS AND POPULATION IN NEW MEXICO 0,000,000,000,000 New Mexico Historic Population and Projection (UNM Bureau of Business and Economic Research). % Growth Rate High Projection PERSONS / WELL PERMITS 00,000 0,000,000 OSE Domestic Wells (Declared & Permitted) Low Projection DATE DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERLY CONSTRUCTED WELLS IN NEW MEXICO FEET Total Depth Water Columns Screen Length 64% of wells with more than 60 feet of Water Column % 0% 0% 30% 40% 0% 60% 70% 80% 90% 00% PERCENT OF WELLS

10 MAXIMUM POSSIBLE DRAWDOWN FROM PUMPING Adapted from: Robinson G.M. and Skibitzke, H.E., 96, A Formula For Computing Transmissivity Causing Maximum Possible Drawdown due to Pumping. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 36-F, Figure 46. HYDROLOGIC LIMIT ON MAXIMUM INTERFERENCE BETWEEN DOMESTIC WELLS RADIAL DISTANCE (FEET) T = 0. ft /day 0 T = ft /day T = ft /day T = 0 ft /day T = 00 ft /day Transmissivities associated with maximum drawdown MAXIMUM POSSIBLE DRAWDOWN (FEET) S = 0. t=40 Years S = 0.0 t = 40 Years Q = 0.3 AFY 0 Note: Curves based on Robinson and Skibitzke, 96 formula s max = (0.647)(Q/4piT), T= (.3r^S)/(4t) 60

11 ... [_. Domestic Wells OSE Middle Rio Grande Model Boundary Water Level Change Contours (FT) BGW Placitas Model Boundary OSE Estancia Model Boundary 48 Domestic Wells at 0.3 AFY Each 733 Domestic & Stock Wells Each Domestic Well at 0. AFY 64,000 Domestic Wells at 0. AFY Each Rio Grande Rio Puerco Jemez River Rio Salado Belen Socorro Santa Fe Bernalillo Albuquerque [ Projection: UTM Zone 3, NAD Miles YEAR WATER TABLE DRAWDOWN IMPACT OF DOMESTIC WELLS IN THREE MODELED BASINS Water Level Change (Feet)

12 OKLAHOMA LAYOUT OF PERENNIAL STREAMS AND GROWTH OF DOMESTIC WELL DENSITY TO YEAR 040 IN STATEWIDE MODEL C O L O R A D O S A N Farmington JUA N Navajo El Vado Chama Heron Taos Raton Clayton Cuba R I O CHAMA Abiquiu Española Wagon Mound Roy 397 Rows A R I Z O N A Gallup Reserve Grants Elephant Butte Cochiti Jemez Canyon Rio Rancho Albuquerque R I O Belen Socorro Santa Fe Moriarty Carrizozo Ruidoso Las Vegas Vaughn Santa Rosa Roswell Conchas Sumner PECO S Fort Sumner C A N ADI AN Ute Tucumcari Clovis Portales G I L A Lordsburg Silver City Caballo Deming Truth or Consequences RIO Las Cruces Alamogordo Artesia Brantley Avalon Carlsbad Hobbs M E X I C O 363 Columns Model Cells Representing Perennial Water Features Simulated Growth of Domestic Well Density to Year Wells/Sq-Mi - 0 Wells/Sq-Mi - Wells/Sq-Mi No Growth Simulated Miles

13 OKLAHOMA 40-YEAR FUTURE DRAWDOWN IMPACT OF CURTAILING GROWTH OF WELLS IN NEW MEXICO C O L O R A D O S A N Farmington JUA N San Juan Navajo El Vado Rio Arriba Chama Heron Taos Taos Colfax Raton Union A R I Z O N A Gallup Reserve G I L A Lordsburg Mc Kinley Catron Grant Silver City Cibola Grants Deming Luna Socorro Elephant Butte Caballo Cuba Sandoval Jemez Canyon Rio Rancho Albuquerque Bernalillo Valencia Belen R I O Socorro Sierra Truth or Consequences RIO Las Cruces Dona Ana R I O CHAMA Clayton 0 0 Abiquiu Española Los Alamos Santa Fe Santa Fe Carrizozo Alamogordo Moriarty Torrance Ruidoso Otero Las Vegas 40 Lincoln Mora Vaughn Wagon Mound San Miguel Santa Rosa Guadalupe De Baca Roswell Artesia Eddy Conchas PECO S Roy Sumner Fort Sumner Chaves Avalon Carlsbad Harding C A N ADI AN Brantley Tucumcari Quay Ute Curry Clovis Portales Roosevelt Lea Hobbs Hidalgo M E X I C O Water Level Change (Feet) < Miles