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Sandia Technology logo A quarterly research and development magazine

Summer 2007
Volume 9, No. 2

SANDIA TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE

What to do about water, cont.

graph
Acequia, or ditch, on the lower Rio Mimbres
The model incorporates a four-mile stretch of the Rio Mimbres, the associated groundwater system, nine acequias, a reservoir, and adjudicated water rights for the basin. In times of drought, the Mimbres water bank would allow users to trade credits equitably by a set of defined rules and, thus, with minimal conflict, says Tidwell.

“It has allowed people to play a water trading game in a virtual environment to find out what will work and what won’t work without losing any real water,” he says.

Partners in the project include the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, Mimbres Water Users Group, and the University of New Mexico.

Near Austin, Texas, as part of a cooperative project with the University of Texas funded by the LDRD program, Sandia researchers helped couple system-level models, which allow for rapid analysis, with a spatially detailed USGS MODFLOW groundwater model to study part of a major aquifer. Joining the modeling platforms allowed for greater flexibility in the simulations performed and helped engage stakeholders in the decision process, says Tidwell.

The water modeling work has an international component to it as well. Howard Passell and a team of Sandia researchers are using common water concerns to foster cooperation among governments at international borders, particularly in the Middle East.

Technical contact: Vince Tidwell, (505) 844-6025, vctidwe@sandia.gov
Media contact: John German, (505) 844-5199, jdgerma@sandia.gov