Desalination of Brackish Water in the Southern Mesilla Valley: - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

All About Discovery! ™ New Mexico State University nmsu.edu Desalination of Brackish Water in the Southern Mesilla Valley: Preliminary Planning J. Phillip King, PE, Ph.D. Professor and Associate Department Head, Department of Civil Engineering October 18, 2018

The Lower Rio Grande Dilemma • Persistent drought and a permanent shift to a more arid climate; • Highly interactive surface water and groundwater; • Long-term water policy issues; • Water is necessary for economic development. • Litigation: Texas and US v. New Mexico on the Rio Grande Project.

Desalination of Brackish Water • US Bureau of Reclamation funding $400k + $478k cost share (NMWRRI), Jan 2019 – Dec 2020 • Co-PIs: Dr. Pei Xu, Dr. Sam Fernald, Dr. KC Carroll • Geohydrology: Dr. John Hawley, PG • Consultant: Ed Archuleta, PE

Project Objectives: • Assess potential for brackish water desalination in the Santa Teresa area; • Characterize source water and geohydrology, treatment technologies, and disposal alternatives; • Integrate with prior and ongoing planning efforts; • Explore binational potential for water supply to San Jeronimo in Mexico; • Produce a Preliminary Engineering report and plan path forward.

The Santa Teresa/San Jeronimo Border Region Monument Santa Teresa LPOE San Jeronimo EBID, based on Hawley

Rincon on (beige) ge), Souther hern n Jornada nada Interlinked (light ht green) een), Cedar ar- Hydro-geologic Corral alitos os (gr green) een), Tular aros osa a (brow own) n), Basins and Hueco o (light ght brown) n), Subbasins of Malpai pais (pur urpl ple) e), El Parabi abien en (viol olet et), the Mesilla Bedr edrock Highl ghlan ands Basin Region (tan) an), and Int nter er-bas basin Under erflow ow Corridor dors (lig light blu lue) Mesill silla Basin in- Subba ubbasin Area ea with h thick ick zones s of satur urat ated ed Santa a Fe Group oup Basin n Fill (blues ues). Rio Grande ande Valley floo oor (da dark bl blue) ue) Haw awley ey et et al al., 2018 2018

Mesilla Basin Trans- Boundar y Sector X-Section Base: MSL; Vertical Exaggeration: 5x Haw awley ey et et al al., 2018 2018

Haw awley ey et et al al., 2018 2018

What’s Next? • Stakeholders meeting, project implementation; • Pilot testing, demonstration of concept • Student Capstone treatment plant design projects • Explore binational potential: USIBWC, Mexican partners • Note to self: Get quarterly report to Cathy Reference: Hawley, J.W., B.H. Swanson, J.S. Walker, S.H. Glaze, 2018. Hydrologic Framework of the Mesilla Basin Region of New Mexico, Texas, and Chihuahua (Mexico) – Advances in Conceptual and Digital Model Development. NM Water Resources Research Institute Technical Completion Report 363. Publication pending.