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Seasonally snow‐covered catchments in the western United States supply water to growing populations as both annual snowmelt‐driven streamflow and multi‐year groundwater recharge. Although interannual variability in streamflow is driven largely by precipitation, runoff efficiency (the ratio of streamflow to precipitation) in individual catchments varies by 50% or more. Recent work suggests that interannual variability in groundwater storage, inferred from winter baseflow, is a primary control on runoff efficiency, highlighting a need to quantify both the time scales on which groundwater storage varies and the hydro‐climatic drivers of storage. Using over a century of daily stream discharge data from 10 seasonally snow‐covered catchments in northern Utah, we find that temporal variability in winter baseflow, an index of groundwater storage, measured from mean daily January discharge, exhibits a 2–5‐ and 12–15‐year periodicity, driven by regional precipitation patterns and snowmelt dynamics. Specifically, multiple linear regression (MLR) modeling using antecedent hydro‐climatic variables demonstrates that winter baseflow (groundwater storage) was positively related to 3–4 years of antecedent annual precipitation, negatively related to the previous year's mean annual temperature, and positively related to 1–4 antecedent years of snowmelt rate and duration. Because antecedent baseflow (groundwater storage) is strongly related to runoff efficiency, these results suggest that more frequent and longer droughts in a future climate will reduce surface water supplies faster than otherwise expected. More broadly, these results highlight the importance of including the influence of antecedent climate on groundwater storage when modeling and managing water supplies from seasonally snow‐covered catchments. Key Points: Interannual changes in groundwater storage inferred from baseflow in 10 headwater catchments exhibit coherent 2–5 and 12–15 year periodicityInterannual variability in groundwater storage is related to 1–4 years of antecedent precipitation (+) snowmelt rate (+) and temperature (−)Groundwater storage in warmer/drier catchments is related to longer periods of antecedent climate than cooler/wetter catchments [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative evaluation of groundwater/surface water exchange dynamics is universally challenging in large river systems, because existing methodology often does not yield spatially‐distributed data and is difficult to apply in deeper water. Here we apply a combined near‐surface geophysical and direct groundwater chemical toolkit to refine fresh groundwater discharge estimates to the Colorado River through a 4‐km2 wetland that borders the town of Moab, Utah, USA. Preliminary characterization of raw electromagnetic imaging (EMI) data, collected by kayak and by walking, was used to guide additional direct‐contact electrical measurements and installation of new monitoring wells. Chemical data from the wells strongly supported the EMI spatial characterization of preferential fresh groundwater discharge embedded in natural brine groundwaters and weighted to the southern wetland section. Inversion of the EMI data revealed sub‐meter scale detail regarding bulk electrical conductivity zonation across approximately 15.5 km of transects, collected in only 3 days. This electrical detail indicates processes such as salinization of the unsaturated zone and direct discharge through the Colorado River sediments and a tributary creek bed. Overall, the study contributed to a substantial reduction in fresh groundwater discharge estimates previously made using sparse existing well data and a simplified assumption of diffuse fresh groundwater discharge below the entire wetland. EMI will likely become a widely used tool in systems with natural electrical contrast as groundwater/surface water hydrogeologists continue to recognize the prevalence of preferential groundwater discharge processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noble gases are useful tracers for constraining groundwater recharge temperature and elevation, critical in determining source areas of groundwater recharge in mountainous terrain. A monitoring network in the alpine Brighton Basin in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah, USA, was established to examine the relationship between air temperatures, ground temperatures, and noble gas groundwater recharge temperatures. Maximum noble gas groundwater recharge temperatures computed using the closed-system equilibration model from 25 samples collected over the 2 year period 2007 to 2009 averaged 2.9 ± 1.2°C, within the experimental error of the mean ground temperature of 2.3°C measured within the probable recharge area. Maximum noble gas recharge temperatures vary from 0 to 7°C, also comparable to ground temperature variations in the region. Groundwater ages in the collected samples vary from 0 to 7 years indicating changing flow paths to the collection site during the experiment. Mean ground temperatures in the upper 1m of soil over the 2 year time period is 2.3°C, which is 1°C cooler than the mean surface air temperature extrapolated from a nearby meteorological station. This comparison contradicts an earlier observation that mean annual ground temperatures in central Utah are generally warmer than air temperatures. The offset in the Brighton Basin is explained by modeling a snow effect on ground temperature. This detailed study suggests that interpretation of groundwater recharge temperatures derived from noble gases should be attentive to the complex local ground temperature effects in the recharge areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Sustainable management depends on accurate concepts and water budgets. • Tracers and geochemistry yield conceptual revision of vital groundwater resource. • Water-budget estimates verified using lumped-parameter model of groundwater age. The Glen Canyon Group Aquifer (GCGA) is the sole source of public water supply for the city of Moab, Utah, a domestic and international tourist destination. Population and tourism growth are likely to target the GCGA for future water resources, but our analysis indicates that additional withdrawals would likely be sourced from groundwater storage and not be sustained by recharge. A quantitative estimate of groundwater discharge from the GCGA is problematic because the downgradient aquifer boundary is the Colorado River, and groundwater discharge to the river is very small compared to the river flow. A water budget based on a conceptual model of GCGA discharging into an adjacent alluvial Valley-Fill Aquifer (VFA) was reported by Sumsion (1971) and numerous subsequent studies have repeated and utilized this water budget. The GCGA contains stable isotopes, tritium, 3He/4He ratios, dissolved solids, and sulfate concentrations that contrast with the VFA, indicating it is instead recharged by local streams rather than from the GCGA. Water-budget calculations, based on: (1) measured spring discharge and streamflow gains, (2) horizontal gradients in VFA groundwater age, and (3) GCGA outcrop area vadose-zone pore waters are all less than previously thought. Using a lumped parameter model and 14C groundwater ages, we estimate recharge to the deeper GCGA (DGCGA) to be 4.2 ± 2.3 × 106 m3/yr, which is approximately equal to the measured discharge from wells and springs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water in Utah and Nevada is important for agriculture, municipal use, solute transport, and ecosystem preservation. Large spring wetland systems occur on the playa margin of the Bonneville basin, including Blue Lake, 15 km south of the Bonneville Salt Flats on the Utah-Nevada state border. Large spring systems have historically been studied as water budgets don't apparently balance from direct mountain front recharge (Nelson and Mayo, 2014; Gardner and Heilweil, 2014; and others). Blue Lake is no exception; prior studies here have suggested discharge rates 0.04 - 0.05 km3/yr (Louderback and Rhode, 2009), greater than expected for modelled recharge in the surrounding mountain range (0.03 km3/yr). Three hypothesized recharge mechanisms for Blue Lake are tested: mountain-front recharge, interbasinal groundwater flow, and infiltration from historic Lake Bonneville. Remote sensing suggests that a conservative estimate of Blue Lake discharge constitutes 50-64% of modelled mountain-front recharge (Flint et al., 2011). Major ions, δ18O, δ2H, dissolved gases (14C, 3He, 4He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) and trace elements (Sr and 87Sr/86Sr isotopes) comprehensively constrain recharge conditions, water-rock interactions, flowpaths, and groundwater provenance of this large spring system. 14C signatures suggest that Blue Lake discharge has a transit time between 5,600 and 12,200 years, older than that of Fish Springs. Noble gas concentrations in Blue Lake water suggest an elevated recharge temperature greater than 19°C and low salinity, indicating a deep water table and high geothermal gradient in the recharge area. 87Sr/86Sr ratios of playa-margin springs are elevated from that of mid-playa groundwaters, springwaters from the adjacent mountain range, and alluvial fill groundwater from the valley directly south of Blue Lake. Playa-margin spring Sr isotope values (0.713-0.714) are most similar to direct runoff from the Deep Creek Range granodiorite outcrop (>0.713). Interbasinal groundwater flow in combination with mountain-front recharge is best supported by chemical data rather than mountain-front recharge alone or the slow discharge of regional aquifers recharged by lacustrine infiltration from Lake Bonneville. • Spring water geochemistry indicative of a large, stable, regional groundwater flow system • Discharge budget approximated for desert spring in salt playa using LANDSAT 8 imagery • Noble Gasses were evaluated for both recharge temperature and recharge salinity. • 87Sr/86Sr ratios of playa-margin springs are distinguished from regional groundwaters, brines, and surface waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]