Salt Basin Assessment of Water Resources and Groundwater Withdrawal

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The primary objective is to address if this region can sustain groundwater withdrawals on the order of up to 100,000 acre-feet/year.  To address this objective, this study will evaluate the overall water resource availability and water quality, particularly the groundwater resources, in the Salt Basin region of southern New Mexico and southwestern Texas.  The study approach includes following activities: 1. Developing / improving a water budget to include estimation of groundwater storage, water withdrawals / use, evapotranspiration, recharge, and precipitation; 2. Assessing and filling data gaps with new data collection; 3. Updates to the hydrogeologic framework and hydrologic model using all compiled data; 4. Running and evaluating results of model scenarios to determine potential for sustained groundwater pumping.

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