Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Document Type

Technical Report

Publication Date

7-1-2008

Abstract

This report addresses one of four tasks outlined in the Urban Flood Demonstration Programs (UFDP) 'Investigating Groundwater-Surface Water Interaction Above and Below the Albuquerque Drinking Water Diversion Dam. The UFDP is a project initiated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) with a focus on urban flood damage reduction, river channel restoration, and development of technologies to address these actions in the Middle Rio Grande of central New Mexico (USACE, 2006). The project involves collaboration between the USACE Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC), the Desert Research Institute of Nevada (DRI), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and the University of New Mexico's Civil Engineering, Earth and Planetary Sciences, and Biology Departments. More specifically, this report concerns hydrological monitoring of groundwater wells installed with pressure transducers at four Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program (BEMP) sites which bracket the Albuquerque Drinking Water Diversion Dam (DWD). The data obtained from these pressure transducers are coupled with river discharge and stage data from the USGS #08329918 (at Alameda Bridge) river gauge located approximately 450 meters north of the DWD, to provide a database for the purpose of estimating the interaction between groundwater and surface water, as well as the potential effects of the DWD in this urban stretch of the Rio Grande. Also included in this report is a description of the monitoring sites, the techniques used to install shallow groundwater wells and manage pressure transducers, and a presentation and analysis of groundwater data results from before, during and after DWD construction, with a focus on the first year of baseline data covering the period of October 2006 — September 2007. This data is used to perform a variety of analyses which assist in understanding how groundwater levels are influenced by river discharge, rain events, DWD trial operations, and soil properties. Key findings of this study indicate that soils within the study reach are conductive, with groundwater responding quickly to river stage changes. Ground water levels are mainly a function of the boundary conditions (river and riverside drains), and become deeper towards the levees. Lateral hydraulic gradients are less than one percent between wells, with no major changes during the study period. Effects of DWD construction produced about a 9-month disruption in water tables mainly at the Diversion (ED10) site. Water tables then returned to pre-construction values.

Language (ISO)

English

Keywords

Urban Flood Demonstration Program, Hydrological monitoring, Groundwater well monitoring, Urban flood damage reduction, Education outreach, Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program (BEMP)

Comments

A Professional Project Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Water Resources, Water Resources Program, University of New Mexico.

Download

Share

COinS