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Seepage investigation of the Rio Grande from below Leasburg Dam, Leasburg, New Mexico, to above American Dam, El Paso, Texas, 2014

Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5010
By: , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165010

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Abstract

Seepage investigations have been conducted annually by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1988 to 1998 and from 2004 to the present (2014) along a 64-mile reach of the Rio Grande from below Leasburg Dam, Leasburg, New Mexico, to above American Dam, El Paso, Texas, as part of the Mesilla Basin monitoring program. Results of the investigation conducted in 2014 are presented in this report. The 2014 seepage investigation was conducted on February 11, 2014, during the low-flow conditions of the non-irrigation season. During the 2014 investigation, discharge was measured at 23 sites along the main-stem Rio Grande and 19 inflow sites within the study reach. Because of extended drought conditions affecting the basin, many sites along the Rio Grande (17 main-stem and 9 inflow) were observed to be dry in February 2014. Water-quality samples were collected during the seepage investigation at sites with flowing water as part of a long-term monitoring effort in the region.

Net seepage gain or loss was computed for each subreach (the interval between two adjacent measurement locations along the river) by subtracting the discharge measured at the upstream location from the discharge measured at the closest downstream location along the river and then subtracting any inflow to the river within the subreach. An estimated gain or loss was determined to be meaningful when it exceeded the cumulative measurement uncertainty associated with the net seepage computation. The cumulative seepage loss in the 64-mile study reach in 2014 was 16.0 plus or minus 2.9 cubic feet per second.

Suggested Citation

Briody, A.C., Robertson, A.J., and Thomas, Nicole, 2016, Seepage investigation of the Rio Grande from below Leasburg Dam, Leasburg, New Mexico, to above American Dam, El Paso, Texas, 2014: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5010, 15 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20165010.

ISSN: 2328-0328 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Methods
  • Seepage Investigation
  • Summary
  • References Cited
  • Appendix 1. Select field measurements and observations, Rio Grande seepage investigation, 2014
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Seepage investigation of the Rio Grande from below Leasburg Dam, Leasburg, New Mexico, to above American Dam, El Paso, Texas, 2014
Series title Scientific Investigations Report
Series number 2016-5010
DOI 10.3133/sir20165010
Year Published 2016
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) New Mexico Water Science Center
Description Report: vi, 12 p., Appendix: 3 p.
Country United States
State New Mexico, Texas
Other Geospatial Rio Grande
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details