Jack Frost
New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, jack.frost@state.nm.us
Although the potential for deep groundwater production in the Espanola basin is a popular topic, very little is known. No one doubts the presence of groundwater saturation. I would rather talk about what we know and how it affects anticipating a realistic economic floor to groundwater production. Topics to be discussed include: What is deep, and isn’t 2000 feet deep enough? What we don’t know about the pre-consolidation of the Tesuque formation, and the corresponding increase in density, decrease in permeability and diminishing yield with depth. What about flow barriers? To what degree are the deeper section and the upper, known water bearing strata connected? What are water quality expectations and how does TDS affect a “deep aquifer” designation by the Office of the State Engineer? Which hydrologist will be the first to promote and drill the first really deep well based on these considerations?
13th Annual Espanola Basin Technical Advisory Group Workshop and Field Trip
May 13, 2014, Santa Fe Community College, in the Jemez Rooms of the Main Administration Building