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<br />-UOTJl7S <br /> <br />63 <br /> <br />aquifers is notrull~~ df'veloJlN!, and relatively large additional supplies <br />of wuter ('I'Ul lw withdrawn. Dut' to the danger of mutunl interference <br />of wells, howen'f, reg:nnl should l>t' given to their propt'f ~paeing. <br />4. Artesillll wat.er is g:eIlPfll.lly of SiltisraelOf;." qunlity {or irrigation, <br />nit-hough Ol'l'IL.",iOIlUI wells han' produced unSUItable wutef. <br />5. The shnllow ullconfirwd water gl'nerully is of suitnble quality fol' <br />irrigation, ('Xt't'pt in the sump fl.l'en of the Closed Busin where the <br />pf'l'ccnt of sodium ion concentration gt.nerally is greater than allO\\'able <br />for t'fcdit UTHlf'r the Rio Grande compact. <br />6. The bt'!l('f thitt the shullow ground Wilt-PI' is l'ontnminllted by <br />upward mon'ment, of u.rtesinn water into the shallow llqllifer is false <br />lw('uuse the artesian wnh'r is l;{'nerlllly of better quality thlln the <br />uIlconfined wlitrr. The shullow ground water lI.ppenrs to obt.ain the <br />bulk of it.s milleralcoIlstittH'llbi bv solution during its lateral movement <br />from thl' sides of tIll' \"illl!')" townrtl the sump arrll of the Closed Basin. <br />7. The amount of grolllltl \\"Iltt'r thnt CUll be salvaged by a sump <br />drnin is lirnit!'d to tilt' rNllIction ill e\"i\potrullspirat.ioll losses thut <br />would O(TUr within the zOlle of influell('(' of the drain due to lowering <br />of the water tl\blt,. <br /> <br />SU~IP DRAI:-; <br /> <br />Tht' further detail('d investigations of the Closed Basin drnin re- <br />quin'd by the project ulIthorizution as a pr('requisite to cOllstruction <br />of thut <lrnin wen' initiated concurrently wit.h rc\.iew of till' uuthorized <br />Rio Grande and \"'eminucht' Pass d(visions following- the close of <br />\VorId \Vur If. How('\,('r, the priority of lldions in connection with <br />thos(' di\'isions, until !l.bout 1952, limited considerntion of the drain <br />largely to nccornplishment of the cooperuti\'e ground-water studiel'3 sum- <br />murized nbo\.p, to field obsPf\ontions of the surfnce inflows to the Slimp, <br />IUHI to gTound-wutpr conditions outside of the Uf('a." being studied by <br />the Geologieul SlIfn'y. In 1952, tentntive CV!l.lulltions for drain :yields <br />WCft:> ('.om\Hltf'd on the basis of grollnd-wntel' dflta furnished bv the <br />Geologicn Survt'Y; nnd rf'connRis~llllCe npprui~llls of the potentialities <br />of n g-rnvity sump drain, IO(,Rted ns shown on drn\dngs 253-504-1759 <br />nnd 1768, wpre completed. Drnwin~ 253-504-1768 shows the ground <br />profile nud npproximl\te grnde line ror the drnin. This drn.in would be <br />about 43 miles long and would ('xtend from where Colorado Highwav <br />17 crosses Sng'uache Creek, nort h of Hoopf'r, gouth to the contluenc"'c <br />of Trinchern Cre(,k with the Rio Grande. It would follow the bottom <br />of the ~tlmp, as ncnrly ns prncticnbl('. Except for a few years of high <br />surfuce rUlloff, the only water that could b(' sal\"l\1!ed by this plnn <br />would be the reduced consumptivc use within the flrC!l. of influence of <br />the dmin. The findings of the Geolo~,;cnl Suryey cstublished that the <br />ground waters ulong the dr!l.in were too high in sodium ion concentra~ <br />tTfilion to meet compact requirements; und, unless such waters could <br />be dilllu'd s.ufficientI~' with good qualit.y waters, the clrnin discharges <br />intD the Rio Grande would not result in compact credits tD Colorado. <br />:\0 practicable meang were de,oeloped for llchie\;ng such dilution. <br />Two plnns for the drain were in\"estignted. The first involved simply <br />the drnin itsr1f; the second included several laterals running both <br />past and w('st from the drain. The studies recognized thnt limited <br />5urfn('e flows1 consisting of irrigation wnst<,s, irrigation return flows, <br />and strel1mflow:"l could reach tIlt' drain from adjoining IUCI\...<; nnd be <br />subject lo snh-ng'e by the drnino The potential yields of the dmin were <br />