The NMBGMR is working with the Ogallala Land & Water Conservancy to measure water levels in the High Plains Aquifer system near Clovis, New Mexico. The study area (Figure 1) consists of two paleochannels in the Miocene- to Pliocene-age Ogallala Formation. The Ogallala Formation is much thicker in these areas because the streams that deposited it had eroded the underlying bedrock more deeply than in adjacent areas (Figure 2). The High Plains Aquifer, which occurs within the Ogallala Formation, thus has a greater potential saturated thickness in the paleochannel areas. In addition, the sediments of the Ogallala Formation tend to be coarser-grained in the paleochannel areas (coarse sand and gravel) than in the intervening paleo-upland areas (silt and sand; Pazzaglia and Hawley, 2004). This results in higher permeability and a higher-quality aquifer.