Linking Selenium Sources to Ecosystems: Local and Global Perspectives

The geohydrologic balance of Se

ultimately determines the degree of

contamination build-up in the San

Joaquin Valley. The primary geologic

inventory of Se in the Coast Ranges is

the source of influx. Drainage, whether

natural or accelerated by engineering,

is the source of efflux. Se

concentration in agricultural drainage

is not diluted when flow increases,

except in extreme precipitation events,

(e.g., an El Nino year). Rather,

increasing input of water results in

increased Se concentrations and loads,

indicating a large internal reservoir of

Se that currently influences water

quality.

Introduction

Modeling

Irrigation

Refining

Mining

Library/Links

The most well known case of Se poisoning

occurred in 1983 at Kesterson National Wildlife

Refuge in the San Joaquin Valley, California.

Widespread fish mortality and deformities in

ducks, grebes, coots, and shorebirds occurred

in wetlands fed by agricultural irrigation

drainage. The types of deformities most

frequently observed were defects of eyes, feet

or legs, beaks, brain, and abdomen. Further

south in Tulare Basin, a higher level of

tetratogenicity (56.7%) occurred in shorebirds

inhabiting ponds where accelerated evaporation

was taking place. Drainage canals remain

posted with human health advisories against

consumption of fish.

Photos Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Black-necked stilt embryos from nests at

Kesterson Reservoir: (S-9) Eyes missing,

severe exencephaly through orbits, lower beak

curled, upper parts of legs shortened and

twisted, and only one toe on each foot. (S-35)

Eyes missing, encephalocele, upper beak

elongated and eroded at nostrils, lower beak

missing, legs missing, and only one (small) wing. (S-302) Eyes missing, upper beak

curved, lower beck shortened and tip of lower beak â€œhookedâ€, hydrocephaly, edema in

throat, legs twisted, and feet shortened with only one toe on each foot. (S-313) Normal.

(Also see Press and Ohlendorf, 1987, Environmental Management, 11 (6):805-821).

Linking Selenium Sources to Ecosystems - Irrigation http://wwwrcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/Selenium/irrigation.htm

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"The Kesterson Effect"

Selenium contamination of the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge is traced through

irrigation drainage to the source bedrock of the California Coast Ranges. This

biogeochemical pathway of selenium is defined here as the "Kesterson effect." At the

refuge ponds, this effect culminated in 1983 in a 64% rate of deformity and death of

embryos and hatchlings of wild aquatic birds. Selenium, as selenate, was ultimately found

weathered with sulfur from marine sources in soluble sodium and magnesium sulfate salts,

which are concentrated by evaporation on farmland soils. The Se, mobilized by irrigation

Linking Selenium Sources to Ecosystems - Irrigation http://wwwrcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/Selenium/irrigation.htm

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Modified from Seiler et. al., 2003. (http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/pp1655)

drainage, is bioaccumulated to toxic levels in refuge wetland ponds that are located mainly

in hydrologically closed basins and thus act as concentrating disposal points. The

depositional environment of the ponds may be similar to that of the nutrient-rich

continental shelf edge and slope in which Cretaceous, Eocene, and Miocene sediments

found to be seleniferous in the California Coast Ranges were deposited. Bioaccumulation

may be, therefore, a primary mechanism of selenium enrichment in ancient sediments in

addition to that of the formerly suggested Cretaceous volcanic pathway.

The U.S.

Department of the

Interior manages

approximately 200

wildlife areas that

receive water from

more than 400

USDOI water

projects in 17

western states.

With Kesterson

National Wildlife

Refuge as a

prototype,

reconnaissance

areas for study of

Se contamination

by the USDOI were

generally selected

based on six factors

being present:

A basin of

saline marine

sedimentary

origin that

includes soils

derived from

Cretaceous

deposits

(Note: See

mining for

updated source rock discussion);

1. 

Oxidized, alkaline soils that promote the formation of selenate, the mobile form of

Se;

2. 

An arid to semiarid climate with evaporation much greater than precipitation, leading

to salination of soils;

3. 

Irrigated agriculture served by USDOI-supported irrigation-drainage facilities to

leach salts;

4. 

Saline groundwater aquifers resulting mainly from alluvial clay layers that impede

downward movement of irrigation water and cause water logging of the crop root

zone;

5. 

Drainage by natural gradient or buried tile drain networks to USDOI managed

migratory-bird refuges, wetland areas, or other areas in receipt of USDOI waters.

6. 

Linking Selenium Sources to Ecosystems - Irrigation http://wwwrcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/Selenium/irrigation.htm

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Sibling stilt embryos collected from a single

nest on the same day from a Tulare Basin

evaporation pond in 2001. The overtly

teratogenic embryo on the left, exhibiting

stunted growth, no eyes, deformed bones (in

right foot) contained 72 ppm Se (dw, whole

egg), while the overtly normal sibling, on the

right, contained 16 ppm Se. (photo courtesy

of USFWS)

Names and locations of the 26 areas studied by the USDOI are shown in the accompanying

map. The illustrated sites encompass the areas historically shown to support seleniferous

open-range forage plants associated with the Pierre and Niobrara Formations (or their

equivalents). Livestock deaths attributed to Se poisoning from these plants occurred in

Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota in the 1930 and 1940s, leading to land being

withdrawn from use by livestock. Following this "open range era" of Se contamination, the

"aquatic era" of Se contamination was marked by irrigation-drainage Se sources.

Those study areas where contaminated

agricultural drainage caused harmful

accumulation of Se are the following:

Tulare Basin, San Joaquin Valley,

California

1. 

2. Salton Sea, California

3. Middle Green River Basin, Utah

Stillwater Management Area,

Nevada

4. 

Kendrick Reclamation Project,

Wyoming

5. 

Gunnison-Grand Valley Project,

Colorado

6. 

7. San Juan River Area, New Mexico

8. Sun River Area, Montana

Riverton Reclamation Project,

Wyoming

9. 

Belle Fourche Reclamation, South

Dakota

10. 

Dolores-Ute Mountain Area,

Colorado

11. 

Lower Colorado River Valley,

California-Arizona

12. 

Middle Arkansas Basin, ColoradoKansas13. 

14. Pine River Area, Colorado

Presser, T. S., and Ohlendorf, H. M., 1987, Biogeochemical cycling of selenium in the San

Joaquin Valley, California: Environmental Management, v. 11, p. 805-821.

Skorupa, J.P. and Ohlendorf, H.M, 1991, Contaminants in drainage water and avian risk

thresholds, in A. Dinar and D. Zilberman, eds., The Economics and Management of

Water and Drainage in Agriculture, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston Massachusetts,

p. 345-368.

Presser, T.S., 1994, The Kesterson Effect: Environmental Management, v. 18, no. 3, p.

437-454.

Presser, T.S., Sylvester, M.A., and Low, W.H., 1994, Bioaccumulation of selenium from

natural geologic sources in the Western States and its potential

consequenceshttp://wwwrcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/Selenium/Library_articles

/presser_etal_bioaccum_1994.pdf: Environmental Management, v. 18, no. 3, p.

423-436.

Skorupa, J.P., 1998, Selenium poisoning of fish and wildlife in nature: lessons from twelve

Linking Selenium Sources to Ecosystems - Irrigation http://wwwrcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/Selenium/irrigation.htm

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real-world examples, in Frankenberger, W.T., Jr., and Engberg, R.A., eds.,

Environmental Chemistry of Selenium: Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, p. 315-354.

Presser, T.S. and Piper, D.Z., 1998, Mass balance approach to selenium cycling through

the San Joaquin Valley, sources to river to bay, in Frankenberger, W.T., Jr., and

Engberg, R.A., eds., Environmental Chemistry of Selenium: Marcel Dekker Inc., New

York., p. 153-182.

Seiler, R.L., Skorupa, J.P., Naftz, D.L. and Nolan, B.T., 2003, Irrigation-induced

contamination of water, sediment, and biota in the western United States-synthesis of

data from the National Irrigation Water Quality Program: U. S. Geological Survey

Professional Paper 1655, 123 p.

Presser, T.S., 2004, Agriculture in the Western United States.

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey

URL: http://wwwrcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/preview/Selenium/irrigation.htm

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