Numerical Simulation of Groundwater Withdrawal from Proposed Pumping Near the Southeastern Nevada Test Site

Current modeling of the southeastern portion of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) with a refined U.S. Geological Survey Death Valley regional groundwater flow system model shows that impacts from pumping by proposed Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) and Vidler Water Company (VWC) wells can be substantial over 75 years of operation. Results suggest that significant drawdown at proposed well sites will occur with depths of drawdown ranging from 8 m to nearly 1,600 m. The areal extent of 0.5 m of drawdown is also significant, impacting Mercury Valley, Amargosa, Indian Springs, Three Lakes, and Frenchman Flat basins. Drawdown will impact Army No.1 Water Well in Mercury Valley by lowering water levels 2.1 m but will not impact other NTS production wells. It is also predicted that flowpaths from detonation sites within the NTS will be altered with the potential to move material out of the NTS. Impacts to both springs and regions of groundwater evapotranspiration (modeled as MODFLOW drain cells) appear very minimal, with an estimated 0.2-percent reduction in flow to these regions. This amounts to a loss of more that 55,000 m3/year (45 acre-ft/year), or more than 4,000,000 m3 (3,400 acre-ft) during 75 years of groundwater withdrawal by pumping at proposed SNWA and VWC wells. Whether the reduced flow will impact specific springs more than any others, or if the reduction in flow is enough to have significant ecological implications, was not addressed in this study