WSP10994 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

001545 Water quality The downstream ,effects, of stock ponds on water quality may per- tain to sediment concentrations, pollution by livestock, or other ,contam- inants, changes i,n water temperature, frequency of overflow, etc. Whether or not. the presence of stock ponds would,havea detrimental or benefLcial effect on water qualitydepe'nds onthe uses to which,the water supply may 'be put. Their influence on sediment concentration as a fai::tor in wate.r qualityhas,bee'n discussed in the preceding section. , Stock ponds can be detrimental to water last used fo,r domestic consumption within the bas in. Costs of purification may increase greatly when ponds used by 1 ivestock ax,'; flushed out by high flows. Other water uses may not be adversely affected. However, waters used below stock ponds for aquatic and wildlife habitat might be advers ely affected by the increased temperatures of retention storage. On the other hand, improve- ment in qual ity for this use may be der ived through reduction in sediment load in the ponds. Effects of Alternative Methods of Meeting Needs Use of alternative methods of supplying stock water could have the effect of reducing predicted water depletions due to stock pond devel- opments. As was stated in an earlier chapter, most perennial streams in the Southwest are fully appropriated. This situation, coupled with the opportunities which exist to utilize springs, wells, or developed runoff areas better (Lauritzen), indicate that increasing emphasis will likely be given toward developing alternative methods of supplying stock water. Since alternative methods are generally more expensive than diverting from a live stream, from a first cost standpoint, the future trend will likely be to develop stock watering facilities of minimum size to satisfy consumptive needs. Storage of stock water in tanks, troughs, or other facility so as to reduce evaporation and seepage to a practical mihimum will be des irable for this type of development. The effe ct of futu re stock ponds on regional water supply is expected to be nominal according to the Senate Select Committee report. Table 4 indicates that even, assuming future sizes of stock ponds will be similar to those built in the past, the regional effect on water supply will be small, and since the trend of future developments may be from sou rces which do not now materially contr ibute to downstream suppl ies, future development will, in many cases, constitute little additional deple- tion. 55