Early Contributions to Arid-Zone Hydrogeology in the Eastern Basin and Range Region

The Basin and Range (B&R) physiographic province of the American West has been the center of major advances in arid-zone hydrogeology since the Civil War, with contributions from many early giants of North American geology. Emphasis here is on evolution of geology-based conceptual models of intermontane basin, river valley, and mountain block aquifer systems in the eastern B&R region through 1945. This area includes the B&R Mexican Highland and Sacramento sections, much of the Rio Grande rift tectonic province, and parts of the upper Pecos and Gila River basins in New Mexico, Trans-Pecos Texas, and Arizona (Gile et al. 1981; Mace et al. 2001; Connell et al. 2005; Hawley 2005). It is also in or adjacent to Ground Water Region 7-Central Alluvial Basins as defined by Heath (1988) and described by Anderson et al. (1988).