A Regional Interbasin Groundwater System in the White River Area, Southeastern Nevada

A regional interbasin groundwater system including thirteen valleys in southeastern Nevada is generally identified on the basis of preliminary appraisals of the distribution and quantities of the estimated groundwater recharge and discharge within the region, the uniformity of discharge of the principal springs, the compatibility of the potential hydraulic gradient with regional groundwater movement, the relative hydrologic properties of the major rock groups in the region, and, to a limited extent, the chemical character of water issuing from the principal springs. The principal findings are: (1) Paleozoic carbonate rocks are the principal means of transmitting groundwater in the interbasin regional system—the regional transmissibility provisionally is estimated to be about 200,000 gal/day/ft; (2) estimates of recharge and discharge show wide discrepancies in individual valleys, but hydrologic balance with recharge and discharge estimates of about 100,000 acre-ft/yr obtains within the thirteen-valley region; and (3) the discharge of the Muddy River Springs, the lowest of the three principal spring groups, is shown to be highly uniform, which is consistent with their being supplied from a large regional groundwater System. The relation between this regional system and others in eastern and southern Nevada is now under study by the Geological Survey. (Key words: Hydrologic systems; hydrology (limestone); springs; groundwater.)