<br />N aftz and Spangler
<br />
<br />. l\:) facility are sufficient; th,erefore, make-up water is not
<br />l'..) needed for injection op4rations. In contrast, varying
<br /><=> amounts of make-up water from the alluvial aquifer
<br />.....' have been used in the past as well as currently
<br />(1993), for injection operations at the Aneth, Rather-
<br />ford, White Mesa Unit, land McElmo Creek injection
<br />facilities. The mixing and continued recycling of the
<br />injection water at the i"iiection facilities has impart-
<br />ed a unique isotopic signature to these OFB waters
<br />that must be considered In the isotopic mixing modeL
<br />In order to consider, the effects of mixing, the
<br />isotopic composition of an injection water was approx-
<br />imated along the OFB mixing line in graph B (Fig-
<br />ure 9), mixing an equ41 volume of OFB from the
<br />Aneth, Ratherford, and McElmo Creek facilities with
<br />an equal volume of water from the alluvial aquifer.
<br />The isotopic compositio~ or this simulated injection
<br />water plots very close to' the mixing line constructed
<br />through the isotopically Ejnriched water-sample values
<br />from the Navajo aquifer'(graph C, Figure 9). On the
<br />basis of the isotopic composition of the simulated
<br />injection water (graph cj Figure 9), it is plausible to
<br />assume that this water could be the source of isotopi-
<br />cally enriched water in tJ-(e Navajo aquifer.
<br />The mixing line shoWl) in graph C (Figure 9) was
<br />used to estimate the proportion of isotopically
<br />enriched injection water ithat theoretically may have
<br />mixed with isotopically ijght water from the Navajo
<br />aquifer to produce the isbtopically enriched water in
<br />the Navajo aquifer. For illustration purposes, sample
<br />N40 (graph C, Figure 9)'was used as an example of
<br />water from the Navajo $quifer affected by isotopic
<br />enrichment, and sample :N1~ was used to represent
<br />isotopically light watet from the Navajo aquifer
<br />(graph C, Figure 9). On the basis of only the isotopic
<br />mixing model, sample N40 appears to be a mixture of
<br />
<br />64 percent N12 water and 36 percent injectiCln water.
<br />The mixing proportions for sample N40 and other
<br />samples plotted along the mixing line in graph C (Fig,
<br />ure 9) are listed in Table 2.
<br />The mixing proportions calculated from the isotopic
<br />mixing model predict that significant volumes of
<br />injection water are mixing with water from the Nava-
<br />jo aquifer; however, the bromide-to-chloride ratio mix-
<br />ing model (Figure 6) and the iodide-to-chloride ratio
<br />trend line (Figure 7) indicate that even small volumes
<br />(less than one percent) of injection water have not
<br />mixed with water from the Navajo aquifer. Achloride
<br />mass balance was applied to the mixing proportions
<br />determined from the isotopic mixing model to resolve
<br />these conflicting results (Table 2). The chlodde c.on-
<br />centrations predicted by the isotopic mixing model are
<br />up to 13.4 times larger than the measured chloride
<br />concentrations in isotopically enriched samples from
<br />the Navajo aquifer (Table 2). Although the isotopic
<br />results indicate that water from an isot<ipically
<br />enriched end member is mixing with water from the
<br />Navajo aquifer, results of the chloride mass balance
<br />indicate that the injection water cannot be the source.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />IMPLICATIONS OF' RESULTS
<br />AND FUTURE STUDY NEEDS
<br />
<br />i
<br />
<br />Bromide, iodide, chloride, and stable isotope data
<br />collected to date (1993) consistently indicate that OFB .
<br />and injection waters are not causing the oQserved
<br />salinity increases in some parts of the Navajo aquifer.
<br />It is unclear at this time what the altemative~alinity
<br />source or the hydrologic mechanism causing the salin-
<br />ity increase might be.
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<br />TABLE 2. ProportHm of Injection Waler Determined from the Isotopic Mixing Model Compared with Mea-sured and
<br />Calcul~ted Chloride Concentrations in Water from Selected Wells from the Navajo Aquifer
<br />{chloride concentration in milligrams per kilogram].
<br />
<br /> Calculated
<br /> CWoride
<br /> Percent Percent Measured Concentration
<br />Sample Injection Freshwater CWoride from Isotopic
<br />Site Water from N12 Concentration Mixing Model
<br />N40 36 64 1,700 8,300
<br />N33 38 62 2,800 8,700
<br />N19 47 53 2,600 11,000
<br />N35 50 50 3,600 11,000
<br />N32 53 47 3,500 12,000
<br />N42 53 47 890 12,000
<br />N46 58 42 1,100 13,000
<br />N23 58 42 1,300 13,000
<br />N36 59 41 4,200 13,000
<br />N25 62 38 1,600 14,000
<br />N2l 75 25 1,900 17,000
<br />WATER RESOURCES BULI,.ETIN 1132
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