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January 29, 1968 /.) t?L/ ;=-.""'. ..<3. ~. ~o ."1 ,. IN REPLY REFER TO ~/I"L D' . . ...--' ~~RC50UrCeS 1V1S10n 1 ~olorado District J - -Building 25 ff-~ . //f/I (j6- L ,~J) ~ ~ )1 P -;',C) J-. ~ .,1' ;1(.H_T Or...... .. ""...., ----..,,.~,, '..'q.~..,~-\ Q....,~~..,,-' I:;'~'.'/ '.~;:,\ ~. ~. ". ~I III ",,' 0: "'?":':"_ ..:.n '~~..;~,. - ,..~ /!C:M-~. ,e . UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY/ FEDERAL CENTER. DENVER. COLORADO 80225 PRESS STATEMENT SUBJECT: ANALOG MODEL TO BE USED IN STUDY OF SAN LUIS VALLEY BY U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY RELEASE DATE: IMl>UJEDIATELY FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CALL: Edward A, Moulder, District Chief Water Resources Division 233-3611, Ext. 8621 or Philip A. Emery, Project Chief U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Division Alamosa, Colorado 589-4386 An electrical analog model or the San Luis Valley is under construction at the U,S. Geological Survey's Analog Model Unit in Phoenix, Arizona. Water data being collected by the Survey's project office in Alamosa, Colorado, will be fed into the complex computing device which can then' simulate changes in flow and storage in the Valley grotlnd-wiJtcr system. According to Phil Emery, Chief of the Survey's Alamosa office, "The analog model is a deceptively simple-looking apparatus. Its basic component is a large board showing a map of the San Luis Closed Basin and the Rio Grande Valley south to the New Mexico State line. Super- imposed on this m3p is a grid of electrical resistors wired together in I-inch squares, each square representing one square mile in the Valley. On the back of the board, an electrical capacitor is soldered to each corner of each square, and a great snarl of wires is connected to various points of tIle grid. These electrical components simulate the w<ltcr-bL~.:Jring prllpl'rti PH of the rocks underlying the Valley. The resistors impede the flow of electricity just as the rocks impede the flow of water. The capacitors store electricity just as the porous rocks store water, From well records provided by drillers and water users, and from measurements made by our hydrologists, we determine the ,f"l - ,.<) -/- ,;.