San Agustin and Alamosa Creek Study
The AMP initiated a regional hydrogeologic study of the Plains of San Agustin and the Alamosa Creek Valley in October 2009 in response to questions and data needs from state agencies (NM OSE/ISC, NM EMNRD Mining and Minerals Division, and NMED). The issues relate to groundwater availability in the San Agustin basin and possible effects of mineral resource development on water quality in ecologically and culturally sensitive Warm Spring and Alamosa Creek near Monticello. The project will provide impartial hydrologic information to the State’s regulatory agencies, industry and public about the aquifers and possible hydrologic interconnection with Alamosa Creek and adjacent aquifers in the Rio Grande Valley.
Funded by the Aquifer Mapping Program,
the Bureau of Geology STATEMAP program,
the Healy Foundation and the NMOSE.
For more information, please contact:
Stacy Timmons
Senior Geologist, Assistant Program Manager
NM Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources
NM Tech, 801 Leroy Place
Socorro, NM 87801
stacy@nmbg.nmt.edu
Selected References
- Blodgett, D. D., and F. B. Titus. 1973, Hydrogeology of the San Augustin Plains, New Mexico. Independent study submitted for M.S. degree to NMIMT, Open File Report 51, New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Socorro, New Mexico.
- Foreman, F., Clisby, K. H., and Sears, P. B., 1959, Plio-Pleistocene sediments and climates of the San Agustin Plains, New Mexico, New Mexico Geological Society, 10th Field Conference, Guidebook, p. 117-120.
- Hawley, J.W. 1993. Geomorphic setting and late Quaternary history of pluvial-lake basins in the southern New Mexico region. Open-File Report 391, New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Socorro, New Mexico.
- Markgraf, V., Bradbury, J. P., Forester, R. M., McCoy, W., Singh, G., and Sternberg, R. S., 1983, Paleoenvironmental reassessment of the 1.6 million-year-old record from San Agustin Basin, New Mexico, New Mexico Geological Society, 34th Annual Field Conference.
- Markgraf, V., Bradbury, J. P., Forester, R. M., Singh, G., and Sternberg, R. S., 1984, San Agustin Plains, New Mexico: Age and Paleoenvironmental potential reassessed. Quaternary Research, v. 22, p. 336-343.
- Myers, R. G., 1988, Hydrogeology of the San Agustin Basin, the Alamosa Creek basin upstream from Monticello Box, and the upper Gila Basin, west-central New Mexico (abs.), New Mexico Geology, 10 (3): 67.
- Myers, R. G., J. T. Everheart, and C. A. Wilson. 1994, Geohydrology of the San Agustin Basin, Alamosa Creek Basin upstream from Monticello Box, and upper Gila Basin in parts of Catron, Socorro, and Sierra Counties, New Mexico. Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4125, U.S. Geological Survey, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- Powers, W. E., 1939, Basin and shore features of extinct Lake San Agustin, New Mexico, Journal of Geomorphology, v. 2, p. 345-356.
- Stearns, C. E., 1962, Geology of the North Half of the Pelona Quadrangle, Catron County, New Mexico, New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Bulletin 78, 46 p.
- Phillips, F. M., Campbell A. R., Kruger, C., Johnson, P. S., Roberts, R., and Keyes, E., 1992, A reconstruction of the response of the water balance in western United States lake basins to climate change, New Mexico Water Resources Research Institiute, Technical Completion Report (Volume 1) on Project Nos. 11345662 and 1423687, WRRI Report No. 269, 167 p.
- Weber, R. H., 1982, Quaternary geology of the Plains of San Agustin (abs.), New Mexico Journal of Science, v. 22, p. 77.
New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources
New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology
801 Leroy Place
Socorro, NM 87801-4796
information: (575) 835-5420
fax: (575) 835-6333
http://geoinfo.nmt.edu
The New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources is a research and service division of:
