Geology and Water Resources of Las Vegas, Pahrump, and Indian Spring Valleys, Clark and Nye Counties, Nevada

State of Nevada | July 1st, 1948

Ground water in Pahrump, Mesquite, and Ivanpah Valleys, Nevada and California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 1921

Ground Water in White River Valley, White Pine, Nye, and Lincoln Counties, Nevada

State of Nevada | July 1st, 1949

Ground-water flow to Death Valley, as inferred from the chemistry and geohydrology of selected springs in Death Valley National Park, California and Nevada

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 2001

Hydrologic and hydrochemical framework, south-central Great Basin, Nevada-California, with special reference to the Nevada Test Site

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 1975

Intensely fractured Precambrian and Paleozoic carbonate and clastic rocks and block-faulted Cenozoic volcanic and sedimentary strata in the Nevada Test Site are divided

Intensely fractured Precambrian and Paleozoic carbonate and clastic rocks and block-faulted Cenozoic volcanic and sedimentary strata in the Nevada Test Site are divided into 10 hydrogeologic units. Three of these the lower clastic aquitard, the lower carbonate aquifer, and the tuff aquitard control the regional movement of ground water. The coefficients of fracture transmissibility of these rocks are, respectively, less than 1,000, 1,000 to 900,000, and less than 200 gallons per day per foot; interstitial permeability is negligible. Solution caverns are locally present in the carbonate aquifer, but regional movement of water is controlled by variations in fracture transmissibility and by structural juxtaposition of the aquifer and the lower clastic aquitard. Water circulates freely to depths of at least 1,500 feet beneath the top of the aquifer and up to 4,200 feet below land surface. Synthesis of hydrogeologic, hydrochemical, and isotopic data suggests that an area of at least 4,500 square miles (including 10 intermontane valleys) is hydraulically integrated into one ground-water basin, the Ash Meadows basin, by interbasin movement of ground water through the widespread carbonate aquifer. Discharge from this basin a minimum of about 17,000 acre-feet annually occurs along a fault-controlled spring line at Ash Meadows in east-central Amargosa Desert. Intrabasin movement of water between Cenozoic aquifers and the lower carbonate aquifer is controlled by the tuff aquitard, the basal Cenozoic hydrogeologic unit. Such movement significantly influences the chemistry of water in the carbonate aquifer. Ground-water velocity through the tuff aquitard in Yucca Flat is less than 1 foot per year. Velocity through the lower carbonate aquifer ranges from an estimated 0.02 to 200 feet per day, depending upon geographic position within the flow system. Within the Nevada Test Site, ground water moves southward and southwestward toward Ash Meadows.

Hydrology of the Valley-Fill and Carbonate-Rock Reservoir, Pahrump Valley, Nevada-California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 1967

This is the second appraisal of the water supply of Pahrump Valley, made 15 years after the first cooperative study. In the first report the average recharge was estima

This is the second appraisal of the water supply of Pahrump Valley, made 15 years after the first cooperative study. In the first report the average recharge was estimated to be 23,000 acre-feet per year, only 1,000 acre-feet r^ore than the estimate made in this report. All this recharge was considered to be available for development. Because of the difficulty in salvaging the subsurface outflow from the deep carbonate-rock reservoil', this report concludes that the perennial yield may be only 12,000 acre-feet. In 1875, Bennetts and Manse Springs reportedly discharged a total of nearly 10,000 acre-feet of water from the valley-fill reservoir. After the construction of several flowing wells in 1910, the spring discharge began to decline. In the mid-1940's many irrigation wells were drilled, and large-capacity pumps were installed. During the 4-year period of this study (1959-62), the net pumping draft averaged about 25,000 acre-feet per year, or about twice the estimated yield. In 1962 Bennetts Spring was dry, and the discharge from Marse Spring was only 1,400 acre-feet. During the period February 1959-February 1962, pumping caused an estimated storage depletion of 45,000 acre-feet, or 15,000 acre-feet per year. If the overdraft is maintained, depletion of stored water will continue and pumping costs will increase. Water levels in the vicinity of the Pahrump, Manse, and Fowler Ranches declined more than 10 feet in response to the pumping during this period, and they can be expected to continue to decline at the projected rate of more than 3 feet per year. The chemical quality of the pumped water has been satisfactory for irrigation and domestic use. Recycling of water pumped for irrigation, however, could result in deterioration of the water quality with time.

Major ground-water flow systems in the Great Basin region of Nevada, Utah, and adjacent state

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 1988

Potential Effects of Groundwater Pumping on Water Levels, Phreatophytes, and Spring Discharges in Spring and Snake Valleys, White Pine County, Nevada, and Adjacent Areas in Nevada and Utah

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | March 18th, 2011

Quantifying the impacts of rainfall and evaporation on Lake Bonneville

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | January 1st, 2026

Improved understanding of hydroclimatic drivers in water-stressed regions enables more accurate forecasting of future climate change impacts. Lake Bonneville was the larg

Improved understanding of hydroclimatic drivers in water-stressed regions enables more accurate forecasting of future climate change impacts. Lake Bonneville was the largest Pleistocene lake in western North America, with a maximum surface area of ~52,000 km2, before shrinking markedly to become the modern Great Salt Lake. After more than a century of study, the balance between enhanced precipitation and reduced evaporation as drivers of lake growth continues to be debated. Multiple studies identify precipitation as the main factor associated with the highest lake levels, but most proxies provide an estimate of net evaporation and cannot independently resolve precipitation from evaporation. Therefore, factors associated with lake size, growth, and retreat remain uncertain. This study uses the thermodynamically based carbonate clumped isotope geothermometer to estimate temperature, evaporation, and precipitation at Lake Bonneville from 23 to 16 thousand years ago (ka). Clumped isotope derived constraints on hydroclimate are also applied to assess the accuracy of regional climate model outputs. During transgressive and open phases of the lake, we find that regional and large-scale precipitation delivery were the driving factors of lake expansion. In contrast, at its maximum extent (~17.5 ka), Lake Bonneville was maintained via suppressed evaporation rates at 50% relative to modern while precipitation rates were similar to modern levels.

Regional Ground-Water Evapotranspiration and Ground-Water Budgets, Great Basin, Nevada

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 2000