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Glenn T. Malmberg

Publications and source records attributed to Glenn T. Malmberg.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1975

Reclamation by tubewell drainage in Rechna Doab and adjacent areas, Punjab region, Pakistan

Around the turn of the century, a network of more than 40,000 miles of canals was constructed to divert water from the Indus River and its tributaries to about 23 million acres of largely unused desert in the Punjab region of Pakistan. The favorable climate and the perennial supply of irrigation water made available through the canals instituted the beginning of intensive farming. However, because of generally poor drainage and the high rate of canal leakage, the water table began to rise. As the population increased and agriculture expanded, the demand for irrigation water soon exceeded the available supply. Spreading of the canal supply to meet the expanded needs locally created shortages that prevented adequate leaching. Increased evaporation from the rising water table further contributed to the progressive accumulation of soluble salts in the soil. By the late 1930's the combined effect of waterlogging and salinity had reduced the agricultural productivity of the region to one of the lowest in the world. In 1954, after several unsuccessful projects were undertaken to reclaim affected areas and to stop the progressive encroachment of waterlogging and salinization, the Government of Pakistan in cooperation with the U.S. International Cooperation Administration undertook a study of the geology and hydrology of the Indus Plain that ultimately resulted in the formulation of a ground-water reclamation program. The principal feature of the program is the utilization of a network of deep wells spaced about a mile apart for the dual purpose of lowering the water table and for providing supplemental irrigation water. Through financial assistance and technical and engineering support principally from the United States, construction began in 1960 on the first of 18 proposed reclamation projects that eventually will include 21 million acres and more than 28,000 wells having an installed capacity of more than 100,000 cubic feet per second. An area of about 1.3 million acres a few miles west of the City of Lahore was selected for the pilot project. The first Salinity Control and Reclamation Project (SCARP-l) was completed in 1962. Within the project area about 2,000 wells were drilled as deep as 350 feet and equipped with turbine pumps having a capacity of up to 5 cubic feet per second each and a combined operating capacity of about 3.5 million acre-feet per year. To July 1968 pumping from project wells and from private and other governmental agency wells supplied about 12 million acre-feet of water. This pumping more than doubled the available irrigation supply and lowered the water table to a depth of 10 feet or more below most of the project area. As a result, approximately 66 percent of the 400,000 acres of land damaged by waterlogging and accumulation of excessive salt was wholly or partially reclaimed. The cropping intensity was increased from about 77 percent in 1962 to 101 percent in July 1968, and the annual value of crops increased 186 percent over 1962. Annual water budgets for the first 6 years of project operation indicate that pumping caused a decrease in annual ground-water outflow from the project area from about 57,000 acre-feet to 32,000 acre-feet, caused an increase in annual ground-water inflow to the project area from 35,0'00 acre-feet to 52,000 acre-feet, and depleted about 1.71 million acre-.feet of groundwater storage. Net annual recharge to the ground-water reservoir during this same period ranged from a high of slightly more than 2 million acre-feet in 1964 to a low of about 1 million acre-feet in 1965. The budgets suggest that perhaps as much as half the net canal' inflow to the project area is lost through leakage. This leakage is the principal source of recharge to the ground-water reservoir. Pumping has caused widespread changes in the chemical quality of ground water by chanelling the rate and direction of flow, inducing infiltration from canals, and mixing of indigenous waters of dif

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1974

Availability of ground water in the lower Pawcatuck River basin, Rhode Island

The lower Pawcatuck River basin in southwestern Rhode Island is an area of about 169 square miles underlain by crystalline bedrock over which lies a relatively thin mantle of glacial till and stratified drift. Stratified drift, consisting dominantly of sand and gravel, occurs in irregularly shaped linear deposits that are generally less than a mile wide and less than 125 feet thick; these deposits are found along the Pawcatuck River, its tributaries, and abandoned preglacial channels. Deposits of stratified sand and gravel constitute the principal aquifer in the lower Pawcatuck basin and the only one capable of sustaining yields of 100 gallons per minute or more to individual wells. Water available for development in this aquifer consists of water in storage--potential ground-water runoff to streams--plus infiltration that can be induced from streams. Minimum annual ground-water runoff from the sand and gravel aquifer is calculated to be at least 1.17 cubic feet per second per square mile, or 0.76 million gallons per day per square mile. Potential recharge by induced infiltration is estimated to range from about 250 to 600 gallons per day per linear foot of streambed for the principal streams. In most areas, induced infiltration from streams constitutes the major source of water potentially available for development by wells. Because subsurface hydraulic connection in the sand and gravel aquifer is poor in several places, the deposits are conveniently divisible into several ground-water reservoirs. The potential yield from five of the most promising ground-water reservoirs is evaluated by means of mathematical models. Results indicate that continuous withdrawals ranging from 1.3 to 10.3 million gallons per day, and totaling 31 million gallons per day, are obtainable from these reservoirs. Larger yields may be recovered by different well placement, spacing, construction and development, pumping practice, and so forth. Withdrawals at the rates indicated will reduce streamflow downstream from pumping centers but generally will not result in streams going dry, provided the water is returned to the basin. Export of water from the basin will require careful consideration of the effects of such withdrawals on low streamflow. Export from the Pawcatuck basin of 27 million gallons per day, estimated to be available from ground-water reservoirs in the upper Pawcatuck basin, in addition to 37.5 million gallons per day available in the lower Pawcatuck basin, will markedly reduce low streamflow. The 90-percent duration flow of the Pawcatuck River at Westerly would be reduced from 75 million gallons per day to perhaps as little as 21 million gallons per day. The chemical quality of water from both the sand and gravel aquifer and associated streams is suitable for most purposes. The water is soft, slightly acidic, and typically has a dissolved-solids content of less than 75 milligrams per liter. Some treatment may be required locally for removal of iron and manganese to meet recommended standards of the U.S. Public Health Service for drinking water.

Rhode Island↗
USGS1967

Hydrology of the Valley-fill and carbonate-rock reservoirs, Pahrump Valley, Nevada-California

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 more 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 reservoir, this report concludes that the perennial yield may be only 25,000 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 ]0 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 or irrigation, however, could result in deterioration of the water quality with time.

California, Nevada↗