Estimated natural ground-water recharge, discharge, and budget for the Dixie Valley area, west-central Nevada

Water-Resources Investigations Report 95-4052
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Abstract

The Dixie Valley area includes seven valleys in west-central Nevada (Dixie, Fairview, Stingaree, Cowkick, Eastgate, Pleasant, and Jersey Valleys; total, 2,380 square miles). Dixie Valley receives surface-water and ground-water flow from Stingaree, Cowkick, Eastgate, Pleasant, and Jersey Valleys and subsurface flow from Fairview Valley, which is a topographically closed basin. The relation between precipitation and altitude was re-evaluated for the Dixie Valley area using new data, and empirical estimates of recharge were revised accordingly. The revised estimate of total recharge is 23,000 acre-feet per Re-evaluation of ground-water discharge focused on Dixie Valley as the largest basin in the study area. Phreatophytic vegetation was mapped and partitioned into nine zones on the basis of species composition and foliage density. For woody phreatophytes, annual evapotranspiration rates of 0.7 cubic feet of water per cubic foot of foliage for greasewood and 1.1 cubic feet of water per cubic foot of foliage for rabbitbrush were adapted from lysimeter studies near Winnemucca, Nevada. These rates were multiplied by the foliage density of the respective phreatophytes in each zone to estimate a specific rate for that zone. Rates for salt-grass (0.5 to 0.8 foot per year) and the playa surface (0.1 to 0.3 foot per year) were based on a range of rates. used in other recent studies in western and central Nevada. These rates were multiplied by the areas of the zones to produce estimates of the annual volume of ground water discharged. The discharge estimated for Dixie Valley is between 17,000 and 28,000 acre-feet per year. The revised discharge estimate for the entire Dixie Valley area is between 20,000 and 31,000 acre-feet per year. The revised ground-water budget for the entire Dixie Valley study area has a total recharge of about 23,000 acre-feet per year. This is within the range of estimates of natural discharge--from 20,000 to 31,000 acre-feet per year. For Dixie Valley alone, the total recharge of about 8,900 acre-feet per year and the estimated subsurface inflow from tributary areas of about 11,000 acre-feet per year produce an estimated total inflow of about 20,000 acre-feet per year. This compares with the discharge estimate of 17,000 to 28,000 acre-feet per year.
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Estimated natural ground-water recharge, discharge, and budget for the Dixie Valley area, west-central Nevada
Series title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series number 95-4052
DOI 10.3133/wri954052
Edition -
Year Published 1995
Language ENGLISH
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey ; U.S. Geological Survey, Information Services [distributor],
Description iv, 12 p. :ill., col. map ;28 cm.
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