Phase II Contaminants Investigation of Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Texas 1993-1994
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 2 Contaminants Program PHASE II CONTAMINANTS INVESTIGATION OF BUFFALO LAKE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, TEXAS 1993 - 1994 by Denise L. Baker 1, Joel D. Lusk 2, and Craig M. Giggleman U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Arlington Ecological Services Field Office 711 Stadium Drive, East, Suite #252 Arlington, Texas 76011 September 1998 PHASE II CONTAMINANTS INVESTIGATION OF BUFFALO LAKE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, TEXAS 1993 - 1994 ABSTRACT Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Southern High Plains in Randall County, Texas. The lake from which the Refuge received its name has not contained water since the 1980s. In 1987, a Phase I contaminants investigation of the Refuge was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arlington, Texas, Field Office. The results of this investigation indicated that elevated concentrations of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus compounds), salts, copper, strontium, and zinc were found in and downstream of cattle feedlot waste retention lagoons; Tierra Blanca Creek, the major lotic contributor of the Refuge, had degraded water quality, primarily attributed to run-off and discharges from cattle feedlots; and that nutrient concentrations retained in soils in the dry reservoir bed in Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge were elevated to the extent that inundation could create unacceptably high nutrient concentrations in the surface water. Consequentially, in 1993, a Phase II contaminants study was initiated at the Refuge by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate the extent of contamination in stormwater run-off entering the Refuge via Tierra Blanca Creek; to determine the extent of contamination in soils and vegetation within the Refuge; to evaluate the ability of crops grown in the Refuge to reduce soil contaminant concentrations; and to monitor contaminant levels in soils, surface water, and vegetation of moist soil management units constructed in the southern portion of the Refuge.
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