Simulation of ground-water flow and the movement of saline water in the Hueco Bolson aquifer, El Paso, Texas, and adjacent areas

TL;DRAbstract

The Hueco bolson aquifer is being pumped at increasing rates to supply water for El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Water-use projections for 1984-2000 indicate that the upward trend in pumping rates probably will continue, which will put an increasing burden on the limited freshwater resources of the aquifer. Near El Paso, saline water in the Rio Grande alluvium overlies freshwater in bolson deposits. Withdrawal of ground water has created a large cone of depression in the water table that is centered approximately under the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez urban area. The maximum depth of this cone in January 1984 was about 140 feet below the pre-development (before 1903) water table. The principal concern of the water-management agencies involved with the water supply for El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, and of the U.S. Department of Defense at Fort Bliss to the north of these cities is that the saline water underlying and surrounding the freshwater in the bolson deposits will begin to move

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