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ODE TO THE SAN LUIS DRAIN
Author(s) -
Thomas Harold E.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1986.tb01462.x
Subject(s) - drainage , environmental science , irrigation , soil water , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental engineering , biology , ecology , geology , geotechnical engineering , soil science
. The San Luis Drain (SLD) has enabled us to learn quickly the facts and effects of irrigating only 8,000 acres of seleniferous soils: the dissolving and organic uptake of selenium, its dissemination from ponds, entry into food chains, and accumulation in a wide variety of biota and detritus. If deprived access to SLD, the Westlands Water District (WWD) could direct their toxic wastes down natural slopes by trickling or sumps and drain ditches, but this means toward the Mendota Pool and the Main Canal and Outside Canal which carry water for irrigation and domestic wells; that is more ominous to Merced County than the SLD ever was. The WWD needs detailed testing and mapping of its irrigable lands to discriminate the areas of seleniferous soils from those which are safe for irrigation. In the meantime, in irrigated lands above the Delta‐Mendota Canal, all sumps and drains should be monitored for selenium in toxic concentrations, and irrigation should cease in the areas producing the excessive selenium. Monitors along the Outside and Main Canals (below drainage from known seleniferous areas) might be needed for preservation of good quality, perhaps by dilution with CVP water.