Groundwater
Groundwater
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Science in the Humboldt River Basin
The Humboldt River is in north-central Nevada. The river is about 330 miles long and provides water for mostly agricultural purposes. One of the largest industries in Nevada is gold mining and the majority of those mines are in the Humboldt River Basin on the Carlin Trend. Gold mines in Nevada produce 72 percent of all the gold in the U.S. and are the 5th largest in the world. In 2022, Nevada...
Measurements of Stream Discharge and Analysis of Surface Water/Groundwater Interactions in Las Vegas Wash, Las Vegas, NV
The Black Mountain Industrial (BMI) complex, in Henderson, Nevada, has been the site of industrial chemical production since 1942. Perchlorate contaminants, from activities at BMI, have moved through the groundwater system and have been discovered in the Las Vegas Wash, prompting water resource investigations and groundwater treatment by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP). The...
Evaluation of Black Rock Desert National Conservation Area
Minimal hydrologic data are available for the Black Rock National Conservation Area (BRNCA). USGS scientists collected baseline spring flow, groundwater level, and precipitation data to support concurrent ecological studies of perennial springs in the BRNCA by the Desert Research Institute. The collection of baseline hydrologic data is the initial step for determining how ecosystems in the BRNCA...
Evaluation of Groundwater Flow in the Middle Carson River Basin, Eagle, Dayton, and Churchill Valleys, Nevada
Demand for water resources in the Carson River basin is increasing due to steady population growth and the resulting development and changes in land and water use throughout the middle part of the basin. Agricultural land is being urbanized while land not previously irrigated may be converted for agricultural use.
Amargosa Integrated Monitoring Network
The National Park Service, Nye County, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and USGS Nevada Water Science Center (NVWSC) have established a water-level and spring discharge monitoring network in the southern Amargosa Desert to identify long-term trends and monitor potential impacts of activities on groundwater resources. The Amargosa Integrated Monitoring Network (AIMN) continues the long-term...
Estimating Annual Groundwater Discharge by Evapotranspiration Along the Wild and Scenic Portion of the Amargosa River
The USGS Nevada Water Science Center is refining estimates of annual groundwater discharge along the Wild and Scenic portion of the Amargosa River (AWSR) and adjacent spring discharge areas. Discharge estimates will be based on evapotranspiration (ET) measurements made along the Amargosa River during a 2-year period, previous estimates of evapotranspiration rates, and remote sensing techniques...
Budgets and Chemical Characterization of Groundwater for the Diamond Valley Flow System, Central Nevada
The Diamond Valley flow system (DVFS) consists of six basins or hydrographic areas (HAs) in central Nevada: southern and northern Monitor Valleys, Antelope Valley, Kobeh Valley, Stevens Basin, and Diamond Valley. The six basins are, in part, hydrologically connected by ephemeral streams, by groundwater flow in shallow basin-fill aquifers, and, possibly, by subsurface flow in deeper carbonate-rock...
Groundwater Discharge by Evapotranspiration, Flow of Water in Unsaturated Soil, and Stable Isotope Water Sourcing in Areas of Sparse Vegetation, Amargosa Desert, Nye County, Nevada
The USGS conducted a study to evaluate the potential for groundwater discharge from sparsely vegetated areas in the Amargosa Desert. The study objectives were to: (1) compute groundwater discharge based on evapotranspiration and precipitation measurements at instrumented sites, and (2) improve understanding of hydrologic-continuum processes controlling groundwater discharge through analysis of...
Evaluation of Groundwater Flow in the Southern Part of the Amargosa Desert, Nevada and California
Since the original publication of the Death Valley regional groundwater flow system (DVRFS) numerical model in 2004, more information on the regional groundwater flow system in the form of new data and interpretations has been compiled. Cooperators such as the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Energy, and Nye County, Nevada...
Monitoring Hydrogeologic Conditions in the Regional Carbonate Aquifer, Clark County, Nevada
The USGS Nevada Water Science Center is evaluating and enhancing our current understanding of the hydrologic condition of the regional groundwater flow system in Clark County, Nevada. In order to achieve this objective, monitoring wells were installed in consolidated bedrock in six select regions throughout Clark County. Water-level, elevation, and borehole geophysical data were synthesized and...
Hydraulic Characterization of Aquifers near Long Canyon, Nevada
USGS scientists are characterizing hydraulic connectivity and bulk hydraulic properties of carbonate-rock and basin-fill aquifers in the vicinity of and downgradient from the Long Canyon Mine Project area in Goshute Valley, Nev., to better understand groundwater-flow paths and evaluate pumping effects on the hydrologic system. The Long Canyon Mine Project requires groundwater pumping from the...
Effects of Groundwater Withdrawals, Tracy Segment
The USGS Nevada Water Science Center began an investigation in 2010 to quantify hydrologic effects of groundwater withdrawals on Truckee River streamflow in the Tracy Segment hydrographic area, Storey, Washoe and Lyon Counties, Nevada. Groundwater gradients have been monitored at sites near pumping wells and the river. Water-level fluctuations resulting from local pumping are interpreted with flow...