Award Date

1-1-2007

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Water Resource Management

First Committee Member

Zhongbo Yu

Second Committee Member

Jianting Zhu

Number of Pages

80

Abstract

The Lower Virgin Valley's water resources are increasingly vital to Southern Nevada. This study sought to answer three questions of relevance to local water managers: (1) What is the spatial distribution of recharge to groundwater in a basin divided between three states? (2) How do streamflow and evapotranspiration affect the water table in the Virgin River floodplain? (3) How would long-term pumping of the floodplain aquifer affect the water table and the dependent phreatophytic vegetation? A Maxey-Eakin analysis showed that nearly 48 percent of rainfall-induced recharge to groundwater occurs in Nevada while nearly 49 percent occurs in Utah and just over three percent occurs in Arizona. A MODLFOW-2000 model of the floodplain aquifer demonstrated the link between seasonal water table fluctuation and variation in streamflow and evapotranspiration rates. Finally, simulation of a production well on the Virgin River floodplain demonstrated the potential for continuous pumping to threaten phreatophytic vegetation.

Keywords

Hydrological; Interaction; Lower; Process; Subsurface; Surface; Valley; Virgin

Controlled Subject

Hydrology

File Format

pdf

File Size

3041.28 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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