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<br />nr' ',' "8~",' <br />u iJ dl " <br /> <br />Grande Compact, is based on the flow at Otowi gage on the main <br />stem of the river in north-central New Mexico, over 200 miles <br />upstream of Elephant Butte, The delivery is measured as the <br /> <br />{~~i <br /> <br />amount released from Elephant Butte Reservoir plus any increase <br /> <br />in the amount in storage or minus any decrease in the amount in <br /> <br />storage; that is, reservoir evaporation or other losses are not <br /> <br />a part of the delivery, The compact also limits the use of <br /> <br />storage facilities in the entire watershed above Elephant Butte <br /> <br />dam, <br /> <br />Geologic and hydrologic investigations have long since <br /> <br />established that there is intimate hydraulic communication <br /> <br />between the Rio Grande and adjacent groundwater reservoirs or <br /> <br />aquifers, The Rio Grande flows through New Mexico along a <br />structural and erosional trough which is filled with soft <br /> <br />~~It <br /> <br />sedimentary rocks and resistant lava interbeds that were <br /> <br />deposited from Miocene time to about middle Pleistocene time. <br /> <br />These rocks are referred to collectively as the Santa Fe group <br /> <br />and form the principal aquifer adjacent to the main stem of the <br /> <br />Rio Grande, <br /> <br />While the Rio Grande Compact at no point mentions <br /> <br />groundwater, the delivery schedule of Article IV makes clear <br />that any depletion of the flow of the river or its tributaries <br />between Otowi gage and Elephant Butte Dam as a result of <br /> <br />withdrawals from the stream related aquifers requires an <br /> <br />:;~~~.i~ig~ <br /> <br />4 <br />