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<br />- 9 - <br /> <br />Flows during the two cycles were lower in each case than the lowest <br />mean discharge for August during the period of record. Flows in cycle II <br />have a wider range than those of cycle I and are 80 to 90 percent of the <br />lowest mean August discharge over the periods of record. August is usually <br />a low flow month in this area as weather is warm and much water is used for <br />irrigation upstream. <br /> <br />RESULTS ANJ DISCLSSION <br /> <br />Chemica.1 <br /> <br />Chemical analyses were performed by the laboratory of the Field <br />Operations Section, R. A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center, Cincinnati, <br />Ohio. Results are presented for the Slick Rock area in Table V and for <br />the Uravan area, including the Dolores River below the mouth of the San <br />Miguel River, in Table VI. <br /> <br />Dolores River - Slick Rock Area <br /> <br />Even in this period of low flow, sufficient dilution was provided by <br />the Dolores River to reduce concentrations of some constituents in Burro <br />Mine effluent and Slick Rock plant seepage to values within the limits <br />of the Public Health Service Drinking Water Standards (3). This was true <br />of selenium, arsenic, and iron in the mine effluent. According to present <br />knowledge, 'selenium is toxic both to humans and some animals in low <br />concentrations; in the Drinking Water Standards, a concentration of 0.01 <br />mg/1 is grounds for mandatory rejection of the source for public water <br />supply. Selenium in the stream was below limits at all river sampling <br />stations, but there is a danger of its being present in unsafe concentra- <br />tions for direct consumption at low flows if there should be any large <br />increase in concentration from either effluent. It may be pointed out <br />that the probability of direct human consumption at such times is remote. <br />There was an increase in average nitrate concentration from 0.14 to 2.5 <br />~g/l as the river passed from above Slick Rock to below the upgrading <br />plant. Sulfate and total dissolved solids concentrations were above <br />limits recommended in the Drinking Water Standards at all river stations <br />in the Slick Rock area. Sulfate values ranged from 680 to 3160 mg/l; <br />total dissolved solids concentrations as measured ranged from 1940 to <br />2240 mg/l (TDS values not reported for all stations). <br /> <br />During cycle II, the concentrations of sodium and chloride in the <br />Dolores River rose sharply between Slick Rock and the confluence of the <br />Dolores and the San Miguel Rivers. Below Slick Rock plant, t3ese concen- <br />trations were 400 and 93 mg/l respectively, whereas they were 5800 and <br />5100 mg/1 just above the entry of the San Miguel River. This rise was <br />even more marked during cycle I. A similar occurrence was noted in a <br />set of grab samples taken by the U. S. Geological Survey in August 1947 <br />(4). Sodium and chloride concentrations then at Slick Rock were 53 and <br />