West Virginia University Alamosa Basin Hydrological Cycle Report

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Fhsl1996

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West Virginia University

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Answer the question in the outline based on maps, which I will provide. And do a little research about the wells in the Alamosa Basin in Colorado.

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REPORT OUTLINE Introduction Explain what the objectives of the project are and how the report will address those objectives. Write this section last. Geological Setting Describe the overall geological setting of the Alamosa basin based on the data provided. There is no need to conduct a lot of extra outside research. This section should be illustrated with a Location Map showing all of Colorado, and a Physiographic Map of the basin showing topography, streams and wells locations. All figures should be numbered (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.), referenced in the report text and have descriptive captions. Hydrogeology Describe the hydrogeology of the basin. This section should include the following items or answers to the questions: 1. Cross section with an explanation that justifies your interpretations and describes the geologic system. 2. Description of the aquifer(s): number, distribution, thickness, lithology. This should be accompanied by maps of the potentiometric surfaces of the aquifer(s) and an explanation of how you identified the aquifers. 3. Where does groundwater flow across the map area? What is the general flow direction in each aquifer? Draw several arrows on the final map to visually show these flow directions. 4. Locate and describe losing and gaining reaches of the Rio Grande. How does this change over the course of the year? Hint: the difference in flow between two adjacent stream gauges indicates a gain or loss of water between them (which could be recharge to or discharge from the aquifer). 5. What are the primary sources and sinks for each aquifer that you identified (sources of recharge and sinks where groundwater discharges to)? In which areas of the aquifer are each of these sources and sinks present/absent? 6. Describe the temporal nature of recharge to the aquifer(s) including any helpful plots. Note: to help you answer several of these questions it may be helpful to plot streamflow vs time, and also the difference in flow between stream gauges with time. 7. Describe the water budget for the basin: [water inputs] – [water loses] = Δ [water reserves] 8. Does the present irrigated acreage appear to suffer from a shortage of water? Support your answer. Summary and Conclusions 9. Briefly list the main conclusions from the sections above. 10. Describe future aquifer conditions in the basin if irrigation practices continue unchanged. This is the question that you were hired to answer, your answer should be detailed and convincing!! References List the data sources. Montly Stream flow in cubit feet per second Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Lat Lon Station 37.6094 -106.1483 Monte Vista 154 175 201 207 876 1054 390 176 167 162 157 157 37.4814 -105.8794 Alamosa 161 192 230 172 265 387 185 110 103 138 188 169 37.0786 -105.7569 Lobatos 233 300 417 417 739 937 416 213 135 191 363 247 Monthly Stream Flow (m^3/s) Lat Lon Station Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total 37.6094 4 5 6 6 25 30 11 5 5 5 4 4 288414860 -106.15 Monye Vista -105.88 Alamosa -105.76 Lobatos 5 11 3 3 37.4814 37.0786 4 5 8 7 12 5 12 8 21 5 12 5 10 5 7 171074312 342942471 7 27 6 4 5
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Running Head: ALAMOSA BASIN REPORT

Alamosa Basin Report
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ALAMOSA BASIN REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Basins play an essential role in maintaining the hydrological cycle. The San Luis Basin
plays an important role in draining the Southern Rocky Mountains and providing a rich
agricultural center in the Closed Basin Center. This project investigates the geological and
hydrological setting of the Alamosa Basin. However, the chronology of agricultural events has
affected the quality of water flow of surface flow in the basin. The project will also investigate
the effect of current irrigation practices in the future aquifer conditions in the desert.
GEOLOGICAL SETTING

The San Luis Valley (SLV) in southern Colorado is a major structural and physiographic
element of The Rio Grande Rift. The San Luis Valley (SLV) stretches 160km North-South and
75 km wide with an average floor elevation of ca. 2440m. The Alamosa Basin is a sub-basin of
the SLV, where the valley stretches 70km wide. The tectonic, strata, and structure are integrated
from the subsurface data that has been obtained from geophysical surveys and borehole samples
shown in Siebenthal’s work. From a standpoint, the physiographic consideration is justified to
define the Alamosa Basin from the principal central town, Alamosa. The Alamosa Basin is
roughly triangular-shaped, stretching between three geographical points bordering the San Juan
Mountains on the West and Sangre De Cristo range from the southeast; Monte Vista (37.6094, -

ALAMOSA BASIN REPORT
106.1483), Alamosa (37.4814, -105.8794) and Lobatos (37.0786, -105.7569).

Figure 1: general division of SLV obtained from Upson (1939).

Figure 2: geologic section of the Alamosa Basin

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ALAMOSA BASIN REPORT

Figure 3: physiographic subdivisions of San Luis Valley (Upson, 1939).
HYDROGEOLOGY
1. Cross section with an explanation that justifies your interpretations and describes
the geologic system.
The general of the Alamosa Basin can be understood from the discussions of Leonard and
Watts (1989), which provide the explanation of valley deposits. At the North end of the SLV, the
Alamosa Basin is divided into Eastern Western Basins, the Baca, and Monte Vista Grabens. The
maximum deposit is about 10,000ft in the Western sub-basin, about 5,400ft over Alamosa horst
and 19,000ft in the Eastern Sub Basin. The basin from the North is hydraulically separated from
Costilla plains by the San Luis Hills, which also acts as the barriers of the horizontal flow. The
basin full basin comprised of tertiary-volcanic rocks and alluvial sedimentary rocks obtained
from the oldest sequence of Eocene and Oligocene in Vallejo formation as shown by the basins
clay, sand, and gravel in the Western part. The basin-fill deposits of the Santa Fe and Los Pinos

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ALAMOSA BASIN REPORT
formations also range from Pliocene and Oligocene age ranges. The eastern border of the San
Juan Mountains also consists of tuffaceous material and embedded volcanistic sandstone that
consists of sandy gravel. The deposits of sand, clay, and silt of Fluvial, Lacustrine, and Eolian
origin generally form the topographic flow of the basin.

Figure4 (a): general cross section

ALAMOSA BASIN REPORT

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Figure 4 (a): Alamosa basin geology (Harmon, 1989).
2. Description of the aquifer(s): number, distribution, thickness, lithology. This should
be accompani...