New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

Major aquifers in the Carrizo Wash basin are present in the Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone and the Mesaverde Group; the Tertiary Baca Formation and Datil Group; and the Quaternary alluvium. Water also occurs in the Permian Glorieta Sandstone and San Andres Limestone; the Triassic Chinle Formation; and the Cretaceous Mancos Shale.

The potentiometric surfaces of aquifers in several Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary units are controlled by the surfaceI water drainage systems. The direction of ground-water flow for these aquifers generally is toward Carrizo Wash and then west.

Water in aquifers in Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary units generally is fresh (dissolved-solids concentrations less than 1,000 to 10,000 milligrams per liter). Dissolved-solids concentrations of water in the Quaternary alluvium are usually less than 1,000 milligrams per liter, but can be greater than 1,000 milligrams per liter, especially near Chinle Formation outcrops. Water in the Glorieta Sandstone and San Andres Limestone generally is fresh to slightly brackish in the northwestern part of the basin; chemical analyses of samples were not available for other parts of the basin. Water in the Chinle Formation is brackish.