Vulnerability of Groundwater Resources Underlying Unlined Produced Water Ponds in the Tulare Basin of the San Joaquin Valley, California

There is a problem with hydraulic fracturing and water contamination. Despite Safe Drinking Water Act regulations, risk to water resources remains in areas of water acquisition, chemical mixing, well injection, produced water handling, and wastewater disposal and reuse. This problem has negatively impacted some relying on groundwater resources surrounding hydraulic fracturing operations because of inadequate information (e.g. unmapped faults, abandoned/unfilled wells, unknown mechanisms of risk, etc.). Perhaps a study which investigates the correlation between the vertical depth of the kickoff point (point at which fracking fluids are dispersed underground in vertical wells) and thermogenic methane concentrations in groundwater resources could remedy this situation by filling a gap in the research and identifying a potential risk to groundwater resources. The question: to what extent does the vertical depth of the kickoff point in a fracking operation correlate to thermogenic methane concentrations in groundwater resources?

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Areal distribution of selected trace elements, salinity, and major ions in shallow ground water, Tulare Basin, Southern San Joaquin Valley, California

10.3133/wri954048 ◽

1995 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Ground Water ◽

Major Ions ◽

San Joaquin Valley ◽

Areal Distribution ◽

Tulare Basin

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Shale oil production and groundwater: What can we learn from produced water data?

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0250791 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. e0250791

Author(s):

Haoying Wang

Keyword(s):

Produced Water ◽

Groundwater Resources ◽

Oil Production ◽

Oil Well ◽

Shale Oil ◽

Permian Basin ◽

Deep Basin ◽

Freshwater Aquifers ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

As oil production in the Permian Basin surges, the impact of shale production on groundwater resources has become a growing concern. Most existing studies focus on the impact of shale production on shallow freshwater aquifers. There is little understanding of the shale development’s impact on other groundwater resources (e.g., deep carbonate aquifers and deep basin meteoric aquifers). The possible natural hydraulic connections between shallow aquifers and formation water suggest such an impact can be consequential. This study explores the relationship between shale production and groundwater using produced water (PW) samples from active unconventional oil wells. Focusing on the most productive portion of the Permian Basin—the four-county region in Southeast New Mexico between 2007 and 2016, a large produced water dataset allows us to analyze the conditional correlations between shale oil production and PW constituents. The results suggest that (1) expanding from primarily conventional wells to unconventional wells during the recent shale boom has led to dramatic increases of the TDS, chloride, sodium, and calcium levels in groundwater (i.e., producing formation). (2) Nearby oil well density positively correlates with the TDS, chloride, and sodium levels in the PW samples.

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Spray irrigation on dairy pastures - efficient or not?

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association ◽

10.33584/jnzg.2006.68.2656 ◽

2006 ◽

pp. 177-181

Author(s):

S.M. Thomas ◽

D. Bloomer ◽

R.J. Martin ◽

A. Horrocks

Keyword(s):

Irrigation System ◽

Groundwater Resources ◽

Dairy Farmers ◽

Large Variability ◽

Irrigation Application ◽

Irrigation Uniformity ◽

Survey Results ◽

Spray Irrigation ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Distribution Uniformity

Applying water efficiently is increasingly important for dairy farmers and other users of surface and groundwater resources to maintain sustainable production. However, irrigation is rarely monitored. We used a questionnaire survey and measurements of five spray irrigation systems working in normal farm conditions to make observations on how efficiently irrigation is being managed. Survey results from 93 dairy farmers showed that, although the farmers believe they know how much water is being applied during irrigation, only 60% make measurements, and about 18% measure irrigation uniformity. Catch-can measurement of irrigation application depth for the different spray systems indicated large variability in application depths during irrigation, and field distribution uniformity ranged greatly between the different systems, decreasing in the order of centre pivots >travelling irrigators> K-line. Changes in irrigation system settings were sometimes made without considering application depths or uniformity. If our five case studies are typical, they may explain the large range of seasonal irrigation amounts recorded in the survey. We recommend that farmers monitor irrigation application depths and uniformity to help manage irrigation water efficiently and to help them estimate the value of irrigation to their enterprise. Keywords: distribution uniformity, water use efficiency, catch cans

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Transportation and the Environment

California History ◽

10.1525/ch.2017.94.3.37 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 94 (3) ◽

pp. 37-61

Author(s):

Douglas R. Littlefield

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

San Francisco ◽

Sierra Nevada ◽

Mississippi River ◽

San Joaquin Valley ◽

Eastern United States ◽

Major Health ◽

San Joaquin River ◽

Natural Wetlands ◽

Prevailing View

Some histories of California describe nineteenth-century efforts to reclaim the extensive swamplands and shallow lakes in the southern part of California's San Joaquin Valley – then the largest natural wetlands habitat west of the Mississippi River – as a herculean venture to tame a boggy wilderness and turn the region into an agricultural paradise. Yet an 1850s proposition for draining those marshes and lakes primarily was a scheme to improve the state's transportation. Swampland reclamation was a secondary goal. Transport around the time of statehood in 1850 was severely lacking in California. Only a handful of steamboats plied a few of the state's larger rivers, and compared to the eastern United States, roads and railroads were nearly non-existent. Few of these modes of transportation reached into the isolated San Joaquin Valley. As a result, in 1857 the California legislature granted an exclusive franchise to the Tulare Canal and Land Company (sometimes known as the Montgomery franchise, after two of the firm's founders). The company's purpose was to connect navigable canals from the southern San Joaquin Valley to the San Joaquin River, which entered from the Sierra Nevada about half way up the valley. That stream, in turn, joined with San Francisco Bay, and thus the canals would open the entire San Joaquin Valley to world-wide commerce. In exchange for building the canals, the Montgomery franchise could collect tolls for twenty years and sell half the drained swamplands (the other half was to be sold by the state). Land sales were contingent upon the Montgomery franchise reclaiming the marshes. Wetlands in the mid-nineteenth century were not viewed as they are today as fragile wildlife habitats but instead as impediments to advancing American ideals and homesteads across the continent. Moreover, marshy areas were seen as major health menaces, with the prevailing view being that swampy regions’ air carried infectious diseases.

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