Water Availability and Quality in the Arkansas-White-Red Basins

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N The Red River rises in eastern New Mexico and flows 1,300 miles in an easterly or southeasterly direction to the Mississippi River at Red River Landing, Louisiana. The total drainage area is 91,430 square miles with a range in elevation of 4,500 feet. The head -water stream of the Red River is Prairie Dog Town Fork; the Red River is formed by the junction of Prairie Dog Town Fork and North Fork, about 300 miles below the source of Prairie Dog Town Fork. The upper Red River Basin is considered to be the area drained by the Red River above Unison Dam (Lake Texoma). The Prairie Dog Town Fork area is generally semi -arid in charac- ter, with large undeveloped areas. The average rainfall varies from about 17 inches near the New Mexico -Texas State line to 26 inches at the mouth of North Fork. West of the Caprock Escarpment, which lies generally along the 101st meridian, the region is in the High Plains province. The High Plains are flat and almost level except near major stream sources. There are numerous shallow depressions that trap and hold much of the rainfall. The sands and gravels on or near the ground surface are permeable but are covered in most places by less permeable materials, so that ground -water recharge is not sub- stantial. However, large ground -water supplies, of fair to good quality, are used for a large irrigated acreage as well as municipal supplies. The source of this water is largely from storage in thick permeable deposits underlying the High Plains. Surface runoff from the High Plains is small, as much of the area is non - contributing. The runoff from the 275 square miles of Red River Basin in New Mexico probably is extremely small. In this head- waters area as well as in western Texas, the tributaries are intermittent dry channels and the main stream winds in a constantly shifting channel through a wide sand waste. Above Canyon, Texas, are two small reservoirs (Umbarger Reservoir and Amarillo City Lake) that trap flood flows. The mean annual flow past Canyon for the period 1939 -48 was 8,580 acre -feet, and the stream has been dry for as much as 12 months at a time. East of the Caprock Escarpment is an area of Permian redbeds which extend nearly to Terral, Oklahoma. Here the precipitation gradually increases to about 30 inches annually near Terral, and the topography becomes more rugged. The rock formations of the region are highly mineralized and runoff or stream flow that passes through the area becomes highly contaminated with dissolved salts, consist- ing of principally calcium sulphate and some chlorides. In scattered localities, salt springs discharge brine directly into the stream flow. In general, however, average water quality improves downstream as inflow of better quality occurs, although artificial pollution may be present in several areas. 2 -9