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7582749 
Journal Article 
Detailed Study of Selenium in Soil, Representative Plants, Water, Bottom Sediment, and Biota in the Kendrick Reclamation Project Area, Wyoming, 1988-90 
See, RB; Naftz, DL; Peterson, DA; Crock, JG; Erdman, JA 
1992 
English 
In response to increasing concern about the quality of irrigation drainage and its potential effects on fish, wildlife, and human health, the US Department of the Interior formed an interbureau group to address related water quality problems. The Kendrick Reclamation Project area (Kendrick area) was one of nine areas in the western United States that were assigned the highest priority for investigation. A geochemical survey of the rangeland to assess the importance of geological formations as a selenium source indicated that none of the native soil samples exceeded the 3.3 microgm/gm maximum baseline for total Se established in previous studies for soils from the Northern Great Plains. In a separate survey of the irrigated land, significant differences in concentrations of total Se were detected in soil samples collected from the fields sampled, but only 2 of the approximately 200 soil samples contained Se concentrations larger than the baseline. Alfalfa samples from about 15% of the irrigated fields contained Se in excess of the 4 microgm/gm threshold, which is potentially hazardous to livestock if consumed over prolonged periods. Most of the alfalfa samples with large Se concentrations were grouped in an area of 11 contiguous sections where there was Se-enriched surface water and drainwater. The major tributaries draining the Kendrick area account for an average of 52% of the total Se discharge measured in the North Platte River downstream of Casper, WY. Based on Se/chloride ratios, 18-O/16-O, and deuterium/hydrogen ratios in water from Rasmus Lee and Goose Lakes (closed basin systems), observed Se concentrations could have been derived by natural evaporation of irrigation water without leaching of soluble forms of Se from soil or rocks. Large Se concentrations in water samples from wetland sites in the Kendrick area were reflected in the aquatic food chain. (Lantz-PTT) 
Water Resources Abstracts; Irrigation effects; Sediment contamination; Path of pollutants; Water pollution sources; Selenium; Soil contamination; Kendrick Reclamation Project Area; Wyoming; Bioaccumulation; Irrigation water; Agricultural runoff; Rasmus Lee Lake; Goose Lake; North Platte River; SW 3020:Sources and fate of pollution; SW 1030:Use of water of impaired quality