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C01GvU U.S. Bureau of Census (1970, 1980, 1990), and average number of persons per household by area as well as other census information is available from the U.S. Department of Commerce (1991). Average depth of withdrawal can be estimated in particular areas using well-completion records (New Mexico State Engineer Office files, Albuquerque). . Santa Fe Group Aquifer System Water removed from storage in the Santa Fe Group aquifer system in the Albuquerque area is a source of water to the flow system. Withdrawal of ground water from storage in the Albuquerque area was estimated using the Kernodle and others (1995) model to be about 72,000 acre-feet for the year ending in March 1994. This volume is about 46 percent of the 157,000 acre- feet per year withdrawn by wells in the Albuquerque area. Because withdrawal from storage is a large component of the water budget, documenting changes in the volume of water in storage in relation to the volume withdrawn is essential. Essential information needed to document changes in storage are the hydraulic-head and aquifer-compaction measurements described previously (see" Aquifer storage" section of this report) and measurements that would indicate changes in aquifer storage, such as measurement of hydraulic heads in piezometers and temporal gravity surveys (discussed in the "Plan of study" section of this report). Ground water moving into the Albuquerque area from other parts of the aquifer system is also a source of water to the flow system. Based on the Kernodle and others (1995) model this was estimated to be about 20,000 acre-feet for the year ending in March 1994. Yapp (1985) and Logan (1990) have used ground-water-chemistry information, including environmental isotopes, to identify possible pathways for ground-water flow within and into the Albuquerque area. Continuing the collection of information on the chemical composition (including environmental isotope concentrations) of ground water in various parts of the aquifer would be useful, particularly if this information is collected from the proposed additional observation wells described previously. These observation wells would enable water-sample collection from particular depths in the aquifer, which would provide information on changes in chemical composition vertically within the aquifer. Many ground-water samples collected previously have been from production wells and are, therefore, composite samples over a vertical section of the aquifer. Existing and additional ground-water chemical analyses would then be useful in conceptualizing the ground-water flow system and in refining a ground-water-flow model of the Albuquerque Basin. Rio Grande, Canal, and Drain Seepage Rio Grande and canal seepage to the aquifer system in the Albuquerque area was estimated by Kernodle and others (1995) to be about 79,000 acre-feet for the year ending in March 1994, and seepage from the aquifer to the drains was estimated to be about 43,000 acre- feet for the year ending in March 1994. The estimated net seepage from the Rio Grande surface- water system to the aquifer system was 36,000 acre-feet per year (79,000 minus 43,000), or about 23 percent of the withdrawal by wells. Seepage between the Rio Grande, canals and drains, and the aquifer system has been estimated by the Bureau of Reclamation in various investigations. Hansen (in press) estimated that 33,000 acre-feet of water per year seeps from the Rio Grande channel and riverside drain system to the aquifer system and about 34,000 acre-feet per year seeps from the canals and applied irrigation water to the aquifer system between Bernalillo and Isleta Pueblo. Gould and Hansen (1994, p. 17-18) calculated seepage rates for five selected canals in the Albuquerque area to average from 0.38 to 0.42 foot per day at normal water-surface elevations and from 0.21 to 0.22 foot per day below normal water-surface elevations. The water table was below the bottom of 24