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<br />w <br />o <br />to <br />C.j( <br /> <br />Salinity in the Navajo aquifer may have been derived from upward movement of saline water from <br />the upper Paleozoic aquifer or possible from localized dissolution: of evaporates that were present <br />in the Navajo aquifer. Apparent increases and decreases in salinity of water from selected wells <br />could be caused by pumping or wellbore effects. Potential upward movement of water from the <br />upper Paleozoic aquifer into the Navajo aquifer may take place in an area near Aneth where the <br />hydraulic head in the upper Paleozoic aquifer exceeds that in the Navajo aquifer. <br /> <br />Mixing model results indicate that the bromide-and iodide-to-chloride weight ratios characteristic <br />of oil-field brine in the study area decrease with increasing chloride concentration in water from <br />the Navajo aquifer, and generally follow the end-member mixing lines constnlcted with the mean <br />non-oil field brine and the upper Paleozoic aq\lifer end"member water compositions. Neither oil- <br />field brine nor comingled injection water is the source of salinity to the Navajo aquifer. <br /> <br />The del oxygen-I 8 (0"0) and del deuterium (oD) values of water samples from the Navajo aquifer <br />north of the San Juan River are distinctly lighter than the 0"0 and oD values of water samples from <br />the Navajo aquifer east and south of the San Juan River. This difference is possible caused by <br />geographic segregation of water in the aquifer and not by mixing with oil-field brine. The del <br />Strontium-87 (o"Sr) values of oil-field brine samples are substantially. smaller than the values of <br />water samples from the Navajo aquifer, indicating that oil field brine is nota source of salinity. <br />The 087Sr values of 'water samples from the upper Paleozoic aquifer are similar to the mean isotopic <br />composition of the more saline water from the Navajo aquifer and indicate that the upper Paleozoic <br />aquifer is a possible source of salinity. Hierarchical cluster analysis using chemical constituents in <br />43 water samples from the Navajo aquifer, 4 water samples from the upper Paleozoic aquifer, and <br />5 oil-field brine samples indicates that oil-field brine is not the salinity source to the Navajo aquifer <br />and that water from the upper Paleozoic aquifer may be a source of salinity. <br /> <br />Irrigation Drainage and Selenium--Middle Green River Basin <br /> <br />Detailed study of wildlife areas in the middle Green River Basin of Utah during 1986-1990 has <br />shown that concentrations of selenium in water and biologic tissues were harmful to wildlife at the <br />Ste)Vart Lake Waterfowl Management Area, lower Ashley Creek, and the Ouray National Wildlife <br />Refuge.. The sources of seleniumat Stewan Lake is irrigation drainage from the Bureau of <br />. Reclamation Jensen Unit which drains sedimentary deposits of marine and nonmarine origin. <br /> <br />A significant linear reiation (R2 of 0.65) exists between concentrations of dissolved selenium. <br />discharge to Ashley creek and concentrations of dissolved solids, but no relation (R2 <0.01) exists <br />between loads of selenium and loads of dissolved solids. This indicates that salinity controls that <br />are chosen only to treat large sources of salt loading may fail to control loads of selenium. <br /> <br />The largest source of selenium contamination in the area is seepage originating from the Ashley <br />Valley sewage lagoons. Water in the lagoons is free of selenium, but passes through fractured <br />Mancos shale and discharges to Ashley Creek carrying selenium load in excess of I kilogram per <br />day. Seepage from the sewage lagoons also contribute about 9,000 tons per year of salt to Ashley <br />Creek. There is no direct involvement of a Department of the Interior (DOl) selenium project <br />associated with the sewage lagoons. Currently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is <br />preparing litigation under "take" provisions of the Endangered Species Act against the local sewer <br />board, State of Utah, and possible the Environmental Protection Agency. <br /> <br />11 <br /> <br />