Geologic framework and hydrogeologic properties of the Seco Creek Watershed, Texas

Abstract

In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, began a study to evaluate the effects of agricultural best-management practices on surface- and ground-water quantity and quality in the Seco Creek watershed. The USGS study is part of a larger study known as the Seco Creek Water-Quality Demonstration Project, which is intended to demonstrate to urban and rural land and water users the potential to reduce transport of agricultural chemicals and sediment, improve groundwater and downstream surface-water quality, and improve the quality and abundance of vegetative cover. The Seco Creek watershed is approximately 50 miles (mi) west of San Antonio (fig. 1) and has a drainage area of approximately 255 square miles (mi2). Agricultural activities account for more than 99 percent of the land use in the watershed (Steffens and Wright, 1996). The purpose of this fact sheet is to describe the geologic framework and hydrogeologic properties of the Seco Creek watershed.