Reconnaissance Investigation of Water Quality, Bottom Sediment, and Biota Associated with Irrigation Drainage in and near Humboldt Wildlife Management Area, Churchill and Pershing Counties, Nevada, 1990-91 By Ralph L. Seller, U.S. Geological Survey, and Geoffrey A. Ekechukwu and Robert J. Hallock, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigations Report 93-4072 U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, U.S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, and U.S. BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS Carson City, Nevada 1993 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Robert M. Hirsch, Acting Director Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Government For additional information Copies of this report may be write to: purchased from: District Chief U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Earth Science Information Center 333 West Nye Lane, Room 203 Open-File Reports Services Carson City, NV 89706-0866 Federal Center, MS 517 Box 25286 Denver, CO 80225-0046 "We camped for two days in the neighborhood of the "Sink of the Humboldt." We tried to use the strong alkaline water of the Sink but it would not answer. It was like drinking lye, and not weak lye either. It left a taste in the mouth, bitter and every way execrable, and a burning in the stomach . The coffee we made of this water was the meanest compound man has yet invented." Mark Twain, Roughing it "One can get an idea of how it tastes by making a strong solution of tepid water and bitter salts and adding several rotten eggs. Such a mixture would produce about the same effect on the human body as would the water of the sink. Only dire thirst and the knowledge that one would have to walk forty miles before coming to real water could force anyone to take a drink of this diabolical liquid." Heinrich Lienhard (1846) CONTENTS Abstract ...................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................... 2 Background ................................................................ 2 Purpose and Scope ........................................................... 3 Acknowledgments ............................................................ 3 General Description of the Study Area ................................................. 4 Location .................................................................. 4 History of Lovelock Valley ..................................................... 4 Agriculture ................................................................ 4 Wetlands .................................................................. 7 Climate .................................................................. 8 Prehistoric Lake Lahontan ...................................................... 9 Geology .................................................................. 9 Sources of Trace-Element Contaminants ............................................ 9 Hydrologic Setting ............................................................... 10 Lovelock Agricultural Area ..................................................... 10 Surface Water ........................................................... 10 Ground Water ........................................................... 14 Wetlands .................................................................. 17 Previous Studies ................................................................ 17 Sample Collection and Analysis ...................................................... 18 Water Samples .............................................................. 22 Bottom-Sediment Samples ...................................................... 23 Biological Samples ........................................................... 23 Tissues ................................................................ 23 Biotoxicity Tests ......................................................... 26 Site Selection ........................................................ 26 Water-Sample Collection ................................................ 27 Sediment Collection .................................................... 27 Aquatic Biotoxicity Test Procedures ........................................ 27 Sediment Biotoxicity Test Procedures ....................................... 28 Benthic Biosurveys ....................................................... 29 Results of the Reconnaissance Investigation ............................................. 30 Determination of Contaminant Criteria ............................................. 30 Beneficial Use .......................................................... 30 Concern and Effect Levels ................................................. 30 Sediment-Quality Criteria .................................................. 31 Human-Health Criteria .................................................... 31 Surface-Water and Ground-Water Samples .......................................... 31 Dissolved Solids ........................................................ 33 Dissolved Sodium ....................................................... 38 Trace Elements ......................................................... 40 Arsenic ............................................................ 40 Boron ............................................................. 43 Mercury ............................................................ 43 Molybdenum ........................................................ 43 Selenium ........................................................... 43 Radioactive Substances .................................................... 45 Nitrogen and Phosphorus .................................................. 45 Carbamate Pesticides ..................................................... 47 Herbicides ............................................................. 47 Bottom-Sediment Samples ...................................................... 47 Contents v Trace Elements ......................................................... 47 Organochlorine Compounds ................................................. 48 Biological Samples ........................................................... 49 Arsenic ............................................................... 49 Boron ................................................................ 50 Chromium ............................................................. 50 Copper ............................................................... 51 Mercury .............................................................. 51 Selenium .............................................................. 52 Zinc ................................................................. 53 Organochlorine Compounds ................................................. 53 Biotoxicity Tests ............................................................ 53 Reference Sites ......................................................... 55 Drains ................................................................ 55 Lakes ................................................................ 56 Benthic Biosurveys .......................................................... 59 Biological Effects of Contaminants ................................................... 61 Concentration of Selenium and Exposure Pathways .................................... 61 Concentration of Dissolved Solids ................................................ 64 Avian Botulism ............................................................. 64 Human Health ............................................................. 64 Mercury in Birds ........................................................ 64 Selenium in Birds ....................................................... 65 Summary ..................................................................... 65 References Cited ................................................................ 69 Supplemental Data ............................................................... 76 FIGURES 1. Map showing the location of study area, Wildlife Management Areas, and upstream reference sites in relation to Humboldt River and other geographic features in Nevada ....... 5 2. Map showing location of Humboldt Wildlife Management Area and irrigated lands in Upper and Lower Valleys ................................................ 6 3. Graph showing annual release of water from Rye Patch Reservoir measured at Humboldt River near Rye Patch gaging station, water years 1936-91 .................... 11 4. Graph showing daily mean release from Rye Patch Reservoir measured at Humboldt River near Rye Patch gaging station, 1988-90 ................................... 12 5. Schematic diagram of the flow system for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Humboldt Project ..... 13 6. Graph showing concentrations of dissolved solids in water released from Rye Patch Reservoir measured at Humboldt River near Rye Patch gaging station, 1952-86, and at Humboldt River near Upper Valley Road gaging station, 1987-90 ................ 14 7. Boxplot showing distribution of major constituents and dissolved-solids concentrations in water released from Rye Patch Reservoir measured at the Humboldt River near Rye Patch gaging station, 1952-86 ........................................... 15 8. Graph showing discharge at Humboldt River near Lovelock gaging station and relation of dissolved-solids concentrations in water samples from Humboldt River near