Beginning in 2019, the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (NMBGMR) and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT) initiated research to assess the water resources of the Salt Basin region of southern New Mexico and westernmost Texas. This project was funded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and was conducted in coordination with two graduate students at NMT, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC), and consultants with the NMISC. The current study was initiated as a result of NMISC considering potential groundwater export from the New Mexico portion of the basin to other regions of New Mexico, particularly during times of reduced surface water availability. The purpose of this project was to assess the water resources and evaluate the sustainability of pumping 100,000 acre-ft/yr in the Salt Basin region. In particular, the project’s scope addressed the Salt Basin regional water availability by (1) identifying and attempting to address data gaps where there is currently little or no information about the groundwater system; (2) refining estimates of the regional water budget, including groundwater recharge, storage, evapotranspiration, and pumping; (3) building and updating the hydrogeologic framework and numerical hydrologic model; and (4) running specific pumping scenarios in the revised model. These efforts focus attention on the region’s capacity to sustain current groundwater withdrawals in the Salt Basin and implications for future development in New Mexico. Additional techniques applied in this study included electromagnetic geophysical measurements to better characterize the subsurface of the Salt Basin and to evaluate use of these methods in identifying saline or brackish aquifers.

GIS Shapefile with distance to shore and window width calculated for each US estuary and subestuary. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Schaeffer, B., and M. Myer. Resolvable estuaries for satellite derived water quality within the continental United States. Remote Sensing Letters. Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK, 11(6): 535-544, (2020).

Brackish groundwater (BGW), defined for this assessment as having a dissolved-solids concentration between 1,000 and 10,000 milligrams per liter is an unconventional source of water that may offer a partial solution to current (2016) and future water challenges. In support of the National Water Census, the U.S. Geological Survey has completed a BGW assessment to gain a better understanding of the occurrence and character of BGW resources of the United States as an alternative source of water. Analyses completed as part of this assessment relied on previously collected data from multiple sources, and no new data were collected. One of the most important contributions of this assessment is the creation of a database containing chemical data and aquifer information for the known quantities of BGW in the United States. Data were compiled from single publications to large datasets and from local studies to national assessments, and includes chemical data on the concentrations of dissolved solids, major ions, trace elements, nutrients, radionuclides, and physical properties of the resource (pH, temperature, specific conductance). This dataset represents major-ions data from a compilation of water-quality samples from 33 sources for almost 384,000 groundwater wells across the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. The data are published here as an ESRI geodatabase with a point feature class, and associated attribute table, and also as non-proprietary comma-separated value table. Dissolved-solids data include information for assessing the distribution of dissolved-solids concentrations and other chemical constituents that may limit the usability of brackish groundwater. It was not possible to compile all data available for the Nation, and data selected for this investigation were mostly limited to larger datasets that were available in a digital format. As a result, some data on a more local-scale may not be included.

Brackish groundwater (BGW), defined for this assessment as having a dissolved-solids concentration between 1,000 and 10,000 milligrams per liter is an unconventional source of water that may offer a partial solution to current (2016) and future water challenges. In support of the National Water Census, the U.S. Geological Survey has completed a BGW assessment to gain a better understanding of the occurrence and character of BGW resources of the United States as an alternative source of water. Analyses completed as part of this assessment relied on previously collected data from multiple sources, and no new data were collected. One of the most important contributions of this assessment was the creation of a database containing chemical data and aquifer information for the known quantities of BGW in the United States. Data were compiled from single publications to large datasets and from local studies to national assessments, and includes chemical data on the concentrations of dissolved solids, major ions, trace elements, nutrients, radionuclides, and physical properties of the resource (pH, temperature, specific conductance). This dataset represents major-ions data from a compilation of water-quality samples from 16 sources for about 124,000 groundwater wells across the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. The data are published here as an ESRI geodatabase with a point feature class, and associated attribute table, and also as non-proprietary comma-separated value table. Major-ions data include information for assessing the geochemical-water type, saturation indices, and potential for mineral scaling. It was not possible to compile all data available for the Nation, and data selected for this investigation were mostly limited to larger datasets that were available in a digital format. As a result, some data on a more local-scale may not be included.

This folder contains the input data for the WaterTAP3 model that was used for the eight NAWI (National Alliance for Water Innovation) source water baselines studies published in the Environmental Science and Technology special issue: Technology Baselines and Innovation Priorities for Water Treatment and Supply. There are also eight other separate DAMS submissions, one per source water, that include the model results for the published studies. In this data submission, all model inputs across the eight baselines are included. The data structure and content are described in a README.txt file. For more details on how to use the data in WaterTAP3 please refer to the model documentation and GitHub site found at "WaterTAP3 Github" linked in the submission resources.

Description: This folder contains the results for the WaterTAP3 model that was used for the eight NAWI (National Alliance for Water Innovation) baseline studies published in the Environmental Science and Technology special issue: Technology Baselines and Innovation Priorities for Water Treatment and Supply. The data structure and content are described in a README.txt file. For more details on how to use the data and interpret the results please refer to the model documentation and GitHub site linked in the submission.