Sacramento River and San Joaquin River) San Joaquin River Or Proposed San Luis Drain Extension, Sacramento River
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FIGURES Selenium source Organic carbon-enriched sediment deposits Depositional environments Freshwater Seawater Geologic sources Coal Soils and Alluvium Oil Phosphorite Anthropogenic Power Generation Irrigation Refining Mining activity Pollutants Ash, Flue Gas Scrubbing Subsurface drainage Wastewater Tailings, runoff Kesterson NWR, San Francisco Blackfoot San Joaquin River, Receiving waters Belews Lake, Bay-Delta River watershed, (examples) North Carolina Tulare Basin, California Estuary, California Idaho scoter, scaup, coot, duck, grebe Species of bluegill, sunfish, sturgeon, splittail, trout, coot, horse, concern bass, bullhead avocet, stilt, sculpin, splittail, salmon flounder, salmon, sheep, elk, cow Dungeness crab Figure 1. Conceptual model of Se pollution with examples of source deposits, anthropogenic activities, receiving water bodies, and biota at risk. Bay-Delta Selenium Model Composite Source Load ¸ Composite Volume (oil refinery discharges, agricultural drainage via (Sacramento River and San Joaquin River) San Joaquin River or proposed San Luis Drain extension, Sacramento River Composite Freshwater Endmember Concentration (head of estuary) Transformation Phytoplankton, algae, bacteria Dissolved species Partitioning (Kd) suspended particulate material and bed sediment (selenate, selenite, organo-Se) (elemental Se, particulate organo-Se, adsorbed selenite/selenate) bioaccumulation prey clams zooplankton amphipods trophic transfer sturgeon splittail striped bass predators diving ducks flounder splittail effects Impaired reproduction, teratogenesis, selenosis Figure 2. Conceptual model describing linked factors that determine the effects of selenium on ecosystems. The sequence of relations links environmental concentrations to biological effects. The general term “bioaccumulation” can be applied to all of the biological levels of selenium transfer through the food web, but in this report we use the term explicitly in reference to particulate/invertebrate bioaccumulation. 122°30' 122°00' . R Suisun Bay Rio Vista Grizzly Bay o Carqinez t Chipps en Strait Island am cr Sa Delta San Pablo Bay Benicia m Rodeo Pittsburg 38°00' 10 Martinez San Joaquin R. Berkeley Central Bay Proposed San Luis Drain Oakland (northern segment) San 1 n 0 m a Francisco e c O Oil refineries South Bay c i f i c 0 10 20 MI a Coyote Pt. 0 10 20 KM P 37°30' Coyote Cr. San Jose Figure 4. Map of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary including the locations of oil refineries (filled circles) in the North Bay and the location of the proposed northern segment of the San Luis Drain. The North Bay includes Suisun Bay and San Pablo Bay. Adapted from Conomos et al., 1985. Figure 5. Hydrologic connections of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary with the San Joaquin Sacramento River Valley. The only natural outlet from the valley is the San Joaquin River. An extension of the San Luis Drain would provide a constructed outlet for agricultural drainage from the San Joaquin Valley to the Bay-Delta. Filled circles show locations of five major oil refineries. Enlarged Potential arrows are for emphasis and are not representational of flow. Not to scale. San Luis N Freeport Drain San Francisco Bay - Estuary System Discharge Point North Bay Grizzly Bay San Pablo Sierra Nevada Central Bay Sacramento-San Joaquin Suisun Bay Bay Carquinez Ocean Pacific Delta Strait Honker Bay Clifton Court Forebay Delta Tracy Contra Costa Canal Pumps Pumps South Bay California Aqueduct Delta Mendota Canal San Joaquin River RECYCLE Stanislaus R. Vernalis New Melones Dam Northern Subarea to San Joaquin River Tuolomne R. New Don Pedro Dam Potential Extension Crows Landing Merced R. New Exchequer Dam San Luis Drain Mud Slough Kesterson N.W.R SAN JOAQUIN Grassland Subarea Drains Friant Dam Grassland wetlands Delta Grassland RIVER Mendota Bypass Pool Westlands Subarea Drains 1981 to 1986 connection Kern Canal currently, no discharge Existing Coast Ranges San Luis Drain Friant Kings R. Drains/ Tulare Subarea Pine Flat Dam Evaporation Ponds Kern R. Isabella Dam Potential Kern Subarea Drains/ Extension Evaporation Ponds San Luis Drain Los Angeles San Luis Drain Load Concentration fall summer El Nino Selenium Load Selenium Concentration Water Flux Figure 6. Selenium concentration in drainage (i. e., source waters) as a function of flow (I.e., water flux) and resultant Se load. This schematic representation from current data depicts the effects of a large reservoir of Se on subsurface drainage. Kestersons per year Northern 1 Kesterson = 17,400 lbs Se Grassland Westlands Tulare Kern 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 Kestersons (ksts) high range low range Figure 7. Projected high and low range of annual selenium discharges from the five subareas of the western San Joaquin Valley using current available data. Discharges are given in kestersons (ksts), where 1 kst equals 17,400 lbs. The kst unit is the cumulative total of 17,400 lbs Se, which when released directly into KestersonReservoir caused ecotoxicityand visible ecological damage. It is used here as a measure of potential ecological damage based on selenium load. Projected Annual Selenium - high range lbs per day Kern (4.3 ) Tulare (1.4 ) Northern (1.9 ) Grassland (42 ) Westlands (67 ) Figure 8. Projected high range of daily selenium discharges from the five subareas shown as proportions of total discharge from the western San Joaquin Valley. Sacramento R. 200000 at Freeport 150000 Total Sacramento - San Outflow Joaquin Delta 100000 Tracy + San Joaquin R. CCtF at Vernalis Cubic feet per second 50000 0 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 Julian days (1/1/94 through 12/31/94) TOTAL INFLOWS (SR +SJR) TOTAL OUTFLOW 25000 20000 15000 10000 Cubic feet per second 5000 0 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 Julian days (1/1/94 through 12/31/94) SJR@VERNALIS TRACY+CCtF TOTAL OUTFLOW Figure 9. The balance between water diversions (e.g., pumping at Tracy and Clifton Court Forebay), total river inflow to the Bay-Delta, and the discharge of the San Joaquin River in a dry year (1994). Sacramento R. 200000 at Freeport 150000 Total Sacramento - San Outflow Joaquin Delta 100000 Tracy + San Joaquin R. CCtF at Vernalis Cubic feet per second 50000 0 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 Julian days (1/1/96 through 12/31/96) TOTAL INFLOWS (SR +SJR) TOTAL OUTFLOW 25000 20000 15000 10000 Cubic feet per second 5000 0 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 Julian days (1/1/96 through 12/31/96) SJR@VERNALIS TRACY+CCtF TOTAL OUTFLOW Figure 10. The balance between water diversions (e.g., pumping at Tracy and Clifton Court Forebay), total river inflow to the Bay-Delta, and the discharge of the San Joaquin River in a wet year (1996). Strait Sanhead at Pablo Bay BayofSeawaterendmemberRegionalMixingLandwardCarquinezStrait Composite(i.e. estuary)17.5psuSeaward Sebaseline Suisun freshwater ta. The regional baseline profile showsSeBay/Del byforthedilutedin TheSacramentoaverageOcean.fromandtheis profile concentrationsvolumes20in baselineloads Secleanup).hypotfreshwaterprofiles aThisMAFby OceanrefinerythrouFigureta. regionalghionssalinitypsu).Thehetical endmemberasPacific wast approximatelytotheunits,inofwetit concentrationsHypothetical11.estuaryconcentrat theRiverdiluted showsyearprior dilution calculated example4,000Se areinputs (practical lbs peryear(typical concentration the mixingasindicated byrefinery profile plus salinities year per Selenium Dilution in Bay-Delta Existing Conditions: Annual average 0.3 Landward Suisun Bay Carquinez Strait San Pablo Bay Seaward 0.25 Composite freshwater endmember (i.e., at head of estuary) g/L) 0.2 m 17.5 psu 0.15 Mixing 0.1 Selenium ( Regional Se baseline 0.05 Sacramento River endmember 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Salinity (psu) Figure 11. Hypothetical dilution profiles for selenium in the Bay-Delta. The regional baseline profile shows selenium concentrations through the estuary as concentrations in the Sacramento River are diluted by concentrations in the Pacific Ocean as indicated by salinities (practical- salinity units, psu). The example mixing profile shows the selenium concentration in a hypothetical average freshwater endmember as it is diluted by concentrations in the Pacific Ocean. This endmember was calculated from loads and volumes in the Sacramento River at 20 million acre-feet (MAF) per year plus refinery inputs of approximately 4,000 lbs Se per year (typical of a wet year prior to refinery cleanup). Dissolved Selenium in San Francisco Bay 0.30 4/86 9/86 0.24 10/96 0.18 g/L) m 0.12 Se ( 0.06 6/95 0.00 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Salinity Figure 12. Dissolved selenium profiles as a function of salinity (practical salinity units, psu) in the Bay- Delta, comparing high and low flow seasons in 1986 (4/86 and 9/86) and in 1995-96 (6/95 and 10/96) Se Particulate Concentrations vs. Salinity September 1986 October 1996 9 8 g/g) 7 m 4 3 2 Particulate Se ( 1 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Salinity Figure 13. Particulate selenium profiles as a function of salinity (practical salinity units, psu) in the Bay-Delta, comparing high and low flow seasons in 1986 (9/86) and in 1995-96 (10/96). Frequency Distribution of Se Concentrations 1986: Reference sites & SF Bay 40 30 C. fluminea Reference 20 SF Bay (a) % of samples 10 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Concentration of Se (µ g/g) Frequency Distribution of Se Concentrations Reference sites & SF Bay: 1995-97 40 30 C. fluminea Reference (b) 20 P. amurensis SF Bay % of samples 10 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Concentration of Se (µ g/g) Figure 14. Frequency distributions of selenium concentrations in (a) 129 composite samples of C. fluminea collected between January 1985 and October 1986 and (b) 62 composite samples of P. amurensis collected between May 1995 and June 1997 from the Bay-Delta. Concentrations in bivalves from reference sites also are given.