Aquifer Compaction and Subsidence, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

By 2008, groundwater pumping in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area had resulted in water table declines of up to 120 feet. In 2008 the water table began to rebound after Albuquerque increased its use of surface water from the Rio Grande and decreased its use of groundwater.

A previous study by Heywood and others (2002) using SAR showed that elastic ground displacements from 1993 to 1999 corresponded to water-table fluctuations. The current study will investigate whether rebound of the land surface has accompanied the rebound in groundwater levels since 2008.

http://nm.water.usgs.gov/publications/abstracts/wrir02-4235.html

Ground displacement in the Albuquerque area (figure from USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 02-4235, Heywood (2002)).

Ground displacement in the Albuquerque area (figure from USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 02-4235, Heywood (2002)).

Platform
Author Name
Nathan Myers
Author Email
nmyers@usgs.gov