HR: 1340h
AN: H23B-1428    [Abstracts]
TI: Quantification and Characterization of Chloride Sources in the Rio Grande, Southwestern United States
AU: * Lacey, H F
EM: HLacey@nmt.edu
AF: New Mexico Tech, Department of Hydrology, 801 Leroy Pl., Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AU: Phillips, F M
H23B-1428 AF: New Mexico Tech, Department of Hydrology, 801 Leroy Pl., Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AU: Tidwell, V
H23B-1428 AF: Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico, PO Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM 87185-0735 United States
AU: Hogan, J
H23B-1428 AF: University of Arizona, Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, 1133 E North Campus Dr. Harshbarger Building P. O. Box 210011, Tucson, AZ 85721 United States
AU: Bastien, E
H23B-1428 AF: New Mexico Tech, Department of Hydrology, 801 Leroy Pl., Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AU: Oelsner, G
H23B-1428 AF: University of Arizona, Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, 1133 E North Campus Dr. Harshbarger Building P. O. Box 210011, Tucson, AZ 85721 United States
AB: Salinization of rivers is a problem in the southwestern United States as well as in other semiarid and arid regions of the world. Arid and semiarid rivers including the Rio Grande often exhibit increasing salinity with distance downstream, which is commonly attributed to irrigated agriculture. Increased river salinity causes economic losses by reducing crop productivity, rendering the water unsuitable for many municipal and industrial uses, and corroding or plugging pipes. Although most salinization of the Rio Grande takes place in the United States, many of the effects are felt in Mexico. Recent studies have found that salinization of the Rio Grande is geologically controlled by the addition of deep saline brines at several distinct locations. However, these additions of deep brine have not been well quantified. We have designed a model using a system dynamics software program to analyze Rio Grande chloride data. The model uses historical chloride and gaging station data and high-resolution synoptic chloride samples collected between 2000 and 2005 to characterize and quantify additions of deep brine to the river. The model has also been used to evaluate the effect of the construction of Elephant Butte Reservoir on the chloride balance of the river using chloride concentration data from 1905-1907. The model can also be used to evaluate future climatic and management scenarios in order to plan for the future water needs of the basin.
DE: 1009 Geochemical modeling (3610, 8410)
DE: 1806 Chemistry of fresh water
DE: 1847 Modeling
DE: 1857 Reservoirs (surface)
DE: 1871 Surface water quality
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005