Laserfiche WebLink
streamflow is at its minimum, the predominant ions are <br />sodium and sulfate. The predominant ions are calcium and <br />bicarbonate during the high streamflow months, April-July. <br />Annual monotonic-trend analysis for 1951-83 indicated <br />a significant increase in median annual streamflow of 6,440 <br />acre-ft/yr and a marginally significant increase in median <br />annual dissolved-solids load of 1,310 tons/yr (table 8). <br />During the 33 years of record, these increases represent a <br />71-percent change in median annual streamflow and a <br />50-percent change in median annual load. <br />Green River near Jensen, Utah (site 41) <br />Streamflow at site 41 (table 3, pl. 1) is a mixture of <br />water released from Flaming Gorge Reservoir and water <br />from the Yampa River. The decreased seasonal variability <br />and enhanced low flows since 1962 are shown in figure 18D, <br />but the figure also shows the substantial input from the <br />(Yampa River during the snowmelt-runoff season. Mean <br />annual streamflow averages about 3.2 million acre-ft, and <br />mean annual flow-weighted dissolved-solids concentration <br />is 341 mg/L (table 7). The Yampa River dilutes the dissolved- <br />solids concentration of the Green River by about 150 mg/L. <br />Calcium, bicarbonate, and sulfate are the predominant ions <br />during the high-flow season. Calcium, sodium, and sulfate <br />predominate during the low-flow season. The period of <br />record (1962-83) for dissolved solids coincides with the <br />period following completion of Flaming Gorge Reservoir. <br />No statistically significant trends were detected for this <br />postintervention period. <br />Duchesne River at Duchesne, Utah (site 42) <br />Site 42 (table 3, pl. 1) is upstream from most of the <br />irrigated land in the Duchesne River basin. Streamflow is <br />depleted by the Duchesne Tunnel and by the diversions to <br />Starvation Reservoir, which was completed in 1970, a few <br />months before water-quality sampling was discontinued at <br />the site. Mean annual flow-weighted dissolved-solids con- <br />centrations were not large, averaging 189 mg/L during water <br />years 1962-69 (table 7). Calcium and bicarbonate are the <br />predominant ions throughout the year. Streamflow at site 42 <br />probably has decreased since 1970, because of offstream <br />storage in Starvation Reservoir. <br />Duchesne River near Randlett, Utah (site 43) <br />Streamflow at site 43 (table 3, pl. 1) near the mouth <br />of the Duchesne River is greatly depleted by transbasin ex- <br />ports and by consumptive use for irrigation. A considerable <br />part of the base flow comes from agricultural return flows <br />(fig. 18E). Mean annual streamflow is about 43 percent <br />greater than at site 42, but mean annual dissolved-solids load <br />increases fivefold, averaging 351,000 tons during 1957-83 <br />(table 7). Streamflow is lowest and dissolved-solids concen- <br />tration is highest during August through October. The mean <br />annual flow-weighted dissolved-solids concentration at site <br />43 is 650 mg/L (table 7). Sodium and sulfate are the predomi- <br />nant ions most of the year; calcium and bicarbonate also <br />become predominant during the high flow months (May- <br />July). Most of the dissolved-solids load, especially dissolved <br />sodium and sulfate, may be from irrigation-return flow <br />through the Tertiary Uinta and Duchesne River Formations, <br />which contain gypsum and other evaporites (Mundorff, <br />1977). Excess salinity in poorly drained agricultural soils <br />has been increasing in magnitude in the basin. The dissolved- <br />solids load at site 43 is the largest source of dissolved solids <br />in the Green region. Furthermore, a large but unquantified <br />dissolved-solids load from the lower Duchesne River basin <br />enters the Green River by means other than the Duchesne <br />River (Mundorff, 1977). <br />Because the enlarged part of Strawberry Reservoir <br />had not been filled by 1983, annual step-trend analyses did <br />not indicate any statistically significant trends. Annual <br />monotonic-trend analyses for the entire period of record <br />(1957-83) also did not indicate any statistically significant <br />trends. <br />White Subregion <br />The White subregion includes a drainage area of about <br />5,000 mil. The headwaters of the White River are in the <br />White River uplift, which is composed primarily of relatively <br />insoluble Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks. The lower parts <br />of the White subregion have abundant outcrops of relatively <br />soluble Cretaceous and Tertiary sedimentary rocks, but <br />dissolved-solids load is not large because little runoff is <br />generated. About 33,000 acres is irrigated, including large <br />tracts near the river upstream from Meeker, Colo., that are <br />underlain by Mancos Shale. No transbasin exports occur <br />from the White subregion, and no large reservoirs exist in <br />the subregion. <br />Many drilling operations for oil and gas have occurred <br />throughout the subregion. A major point source of dissolved <br />solids existed in the Meeker Dome area, just north of the <br />White River upstream from Meeker, Colo. Highly saline <br />water from deep aquifers was seeping upward through aban- <br />doned and improperly plugged oil exploration wells drilled <br />during the 1920's. Water from the Pennsylvanian and Per- <br />mian Weber Formation was postulated to be rising through <br />the deeper wells and discharging through the relatively <br />shallow Meeker well (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 1983). <br />Flow of about 3.2 ft3/s that had a dissolved-solids concen- <br />tration of 19,200 mg/L was measured at the Meeker well. <br />The dissolved-solids load was 57,000 tons/yr, mostly as <br />dissolved sodium and chloride (U. S. Department of the <br />Interior, 1985). The well was plugged in October 1968. The <br />next year, seepage again occurred in the area and had an <br />estimated dissolved-solids load of 27,000 tons/yr. In 1980 <br />and 1981, three more abandoned wells were plugged. Water <br />levels in observation wells declined, and the resulting <br />decrease in dissolved-solids load was estimated to be 18,000 <br />tons/yr. <br />White Subregion 43