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<br />Reuse of surface water is on a downstream basis, each succeeding user <br />receiving a supply diminished in quantity and lese acceptable in <br />quality. Recirculation of ground water, though it may take place on <br />the same property, likewise diJniniBhes the quantity and deteriorates, <br />the quality. In an aquifer, the continued recirculation of water <br />results in an accUllll1lation of dissolved salts, whereas in a stream the <br />water of diminished quality is flushed downstream. Thus, in many areas <br />of ground-water development, the accwuule.tion of salts in the water <br />poses a more serious threat to the life of the resource than does the <br />decrease of supply. The Wellton-Hohawk area of the Gila River basin <br />in Arizona illustrates such deterioration through recirculation. In <br />20 years the concentration of ealts in the ground water there increased <br />from 7,000 to as much as 16,000 ppm (Thomae, 1951, p. 59). <br /> <br />'- <br /> <br />Development am management of ground-water resources, to provide <br />the optimum use of the water for the benefit of a large se~ent of the <br />population and for the greatest period of time, therefore should be <br />based upon scientific hydrology and tailored to the geohydrologic <br />characteristics of the particular aquifer in question. <br /> <br />Many aquifeI'lS may be classified, with respect to developnent and <br />management, into two broed categories: those which have large storage <br />but negligible recharge and Which are not intimately related to streams, <br />and those associated with streams. By proper management, a dependable <br />supply of water of acceptable Quality can be developed on a virtually <br />perennial basis from aquifers of the second class -- that ill, tbOe8 <br />associated with streams. Aquifere of the first class can yield only a <br />small perennial supply once their storage is depleted. <br /> <br />Aquifers under the first category - those having large storage <br />and little recharge - correspond generally to those having "reservoir" <br />problems as discussed by Thomas (1951, p. 35). In such aquifere to <br />limit the use of water to the rate of recharge is not feasible because <br />of (a) the large demand, (b) the very small recharge, or (c) aquifer <br />characteristics such that natural discharge cannot be diverted or <br />stopped feasibly by developnent. These are the aquifers where water <br />is being mined, and must be mined, if the water resource 111 to serve <br />a useful purpose. The problem is to recognize the mining situation <br />and to manage the resource for the greatest good over the longest <br />possible time. A large number of developed aquifere in the West fall <br />into this category. Included in the areas of current or potential <br />ground-water mining are the southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico; <br />the northsrn High Plains in Oklahoma, Colorado, and Nebrasks, and many <br />of the intennontane valleys of New Mexico, Arizona, CalifOrnia, Nevada, <br />and utah. <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />Consider the southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico as an <br />example of a problem of developnent and management of an aquifer <br />having a large volume of water in storage, but only a small unit rate <br />of replenishment. <br /> <br />4 <br />