Potential Groundwater Recharge from a Domestic Sewage Disposal Field in Eastern Bernalillo County, New Mexico

摘要

In semi-arid regions, the infiltration of effluent from domestic sewage disposal fields (disposal fields) canrnbe a significant contribution to groundwater recharge; however, limited data exist to quantify rechargernfrom disposal fields. Eastern Bernalillo County, New Mexico is part of the rapidly growing Albuquerquernmetropolitan area. Increasing water use in this semi-arid area has raised concerns about the effect ofrndevelopment on the availability of water resources. Quantifying the amount of recharge from disposal fieldsrnis critical to water resource planning and management. Information from this study will provide a betterrnunderstanding of the importance of recharge from disposal fields to hydrologic budgets in semi-arid climates.rnA water-balance approach was used to estimate the amount of potential groundwater recharge occurringrnfrom a disposal field in Eastern Bernalillo County during 2011. Potential groundwater recharge due torneffluent was estimated as the volume of effluent dosed to the disposal field in excess of the volume of effluentrnlost through evapotranspiration (ET) from the disposal field. The amount of effluent lost through ET from therndisposal field was estimated as the amount of potential ET loss on the disposal field in excess of potential ETrnloss off the disposal field in the surrounding terrain. Model calculations of potential ET were calibrated withrnactual ET measurements collected using a portable ET chamber. Preliminary results indicate that potentialrnrecharge from disposal-field effluent during 2011 was 75 to 87 percent of the volume of effluent dosed to therndisposal field.