Groundwater salinity in the Wind River and Bighorn basins, Wyoming
Taboga, K.G. Stafford, J.E. Rodgers, J.R. Wittke, S.J.
Taboga, K.G.
Stafford, J.E.
Rodgers, J.R.
Wittke, S.J.
Abstract
Description
This study examines groundwater salinity in the deep (>1,000 feet below ground surface [bgs]) aquifers of the Wind River (WRB) and Bighorn (BHB) structural basins of northern Wyoming. This report focuses on saline groundwaters suited to industrial uses to encourage the conservation of higher-quality waters for municipal, domestic, and agricultural uses. In the WRB, industrial-grade waters (TDS>5,000 mg/L) comprise more than 50 percent of groundwaters at depths greater than 5,000 ft bgs but are less prevalent at shallower depths. Within the BHB, industrial-grade waters occur with 30–40 percent frequency at depths of 1,000–7,000 ft bgs and at more than 50 percent of samples at depths greater than 7,000 ft bgs. The report also includes estimations of the duration of groundwater recovery in some affected sandstone aquifers. The appendix contains monitoring well and water level statistics as well as time series graphs for all monitoring sites.
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Wyoming State Geological Survey
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Keywords
Water quality,salinity,Wind River Basin,Bighorn Basin,Wyoming,groundwater
Citation
Taboga, K.G., Stafford, J.E., Rodgers, J.R., and Wittke, S.J., 2022, Groundwater salinity in the Wind River and Bighorn basins, Wyoming: Wyoming State Geological Survey Open File Report 2022-2, 52 p.