Estimated 2016 groundwater level and drawdown from predevelopment to 2016 in the Santa Fe Group Aquifer System in the Albuquerque Area, Central New Mexico

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA), has developed a series of maps and associated reports to document changes in the groundwater level in the production zone of the Santa Fe Group aquifer system in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area. The current map and associated report document the construction of contours representing the groundwater-level surface of winter (November to March) conditions for water year 2016 and estimated net groundwater-level declines (called drawdown) since widespread groundwater pumping began in the early 1960s (called predevelopment conditions).

Prior to 2008, groundwater withdrawal from the Santa Fe Group aquifer system was the principal water supply for the study area. The large quantity of withdrawal relative to recharge resulted in drawdown throughout the Albuquerque area. In response, the ABCWUA implemented a strategy for sustainable development of its water resources, including the diversion of surface water as part of the San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project in 2008. The 2016 groundwater-level contours indicate that the general direction of groundwater flow is towards clusters of production wells in the eastern and northwestern parts of the study area. Drawdown from predevelopment to 2016 is greatest along the eastern margin of the study area and in the northwestern part of the study area, likely correlated with groundwater withdrawals and potentially compounded by proximity to faults. Comparing drawdown in water year 2016 to that of water years 2002, 2008, and 2012 shows a reduction in drawdown (groundwater-level rebound) in the study area since 2008, which corresponds with the timing of reductions in groundwater withdrawals as a result of the ABCWUA’s San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project. Time-series analysis of groundwater-level measurements in piezometers within the study area also indicates the recent groundwater-level rebound since 2008.