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<br />ro <br />co <br />r- <br />N <br />c.:) <br />c..> <br /> <br />those mountainous areas far outside of the Valley floor, but which are part of <br />" <br />the Rio Grande drainage system (including streams for which there exists no <br />surface-stream outlet for flow) are of primary importance to the aquifers of <br />the Valley as a source of recharge water, and thus were included in the <br />geographic area under study in Phase I. <br /> <br />DATABASE <br />Nearly all of the available subsurface information on the deep confined <br />aquifers below a depth even as shallow as 1500 to 2000 feet is indirect, and <br />consists primarily of geophysical logs, regional aeromagnetic and gravity <br />data, and seismic-reflection sections of certain areas in the Valley. <br />Virtually without exception, these data sources were from oil and gas <br />exploration efforts, with lesser amounts of data available from field training <br />programs of several academic institutions. <br /> <br />Data from water wells in the deep confined aquifer are sparse, and <br />therefore are highly site-specific. Most of the water well data found to be <br />applicable in these studies were from wells located on or near the deep- <br />seated, rift-related fault zones in the Alamosa and Hooper areas. In this <br />study, the Alamosa Geothermal Well was the only water well (if one may define <br />the term to include this non-producing test well) in the Valley deeper than <br />3000 feet which was successfully logged. An excellent suite of geophysical <br />logs from an oil and gas test well in the San Juan foothills, an important <br />recharge area to the deep confined aquifer, was obtained and analyzed for <br />these studies through a data-exchange agreement between the owner of the well <br />and the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority. Water wells <br />shallower than 2000 feet in the Valley yield usable information for <br />characterizing the upper confined aquifer, but the depths from which the wells <br />draw water are often not known. There are 11,881 wells in the Valley which <br />are registered with the State Engineer's Office, but only 28 were found to be <br />deeper than 2000 feet, a.n.douly6 were fo,\!J)..llJQ~t!.~..QJ~..!~J!.!:!Lt_~~-"_?Q9_q_!~_e,!_..~,.of <br />these, three were suitable for logg~nd/or aquifer testing. ~. <br />''''",,,,.,,,,...,,,"''''- --~-~----"._---~_.~-~-. - ,.,-...""---- > - ---.....,~~ ;;~/' <br />I <br /> <br />STUDY RESULTS <br />Increases in future demand for water in the Valley is expected to be <br /> <br />S-2 <br />