Water-level and pumping data, water-level models, and estimated hydraulic properties for the Paradox Valley alluvial aquifer in Montrose County, Colorado, 2013

Aquifer testing was conducted in the Paradox Valley alluvial aquifer in Montrose County, Colorado, including short-term (slug tests) and long-term (pumping tests) stresses on the hydrologic system to determine hydraulic properties of the aquifer. Slug tests were conducted at four wells in March 2013, with only one well producing data that could be interpreted using analytical solutions. In the other three slug tests, water-level displacement was not instantaneous and displayed substantial noise meaning that the analytical solutions could not be applied. Pumping tests were conducted in March through June of 2013 by initiation of pumping at seven production wells screened in the aquifer and observation of water-level displacement at six observation wells. Because pumping wells are close to one another, interference among wells may complicate analysis and interpretation of hydrologic properties. To evaluate pumping interferences, a statistical transfer-function-noise model approach was used to determine primary stresses within each observation well and to indicate which production well(s) produced the majority of the observed water-level displacement. Following application of the transfer-function-noise model, the water-level displacement and pumping data were used to analytically derive hydraulic properties of the aquifer. This data release contains data on water-level elevations and pumping through time, as well as model files for transfer-function-noise and analytical solutions used to derive hydraulic properties. Within the "data_release_v3_FINAL.zip" folder, the folder "AQTESOLV" contains plots and tabulated analytical solutions for slug testing. The folder "data" contains the pumping and water-level displacement data for all wells and a shape file of well locations. The folder "paradox_model_archive" contains the transfer-function-noise model inputs, outputs, and model code (subfolder "water_level_model") and analytical hydraulic property model files and tabulated estimated hydraulic properties (subfolder "aquifer_parameter_analysis"). The folder "plots" contains a schematic of the wells and plots of water-level displacement through time at each location. The "Readme.txt" file contains a description of folder and file contents and instructions for running the water-level models and computation of hydraulic properties for the Paradox Valley alluvial aquifer. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed the aquifer testing in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation.