DOI: 10.5066/p97n9nsd
title: Historical produced water chemistry data compiled for the Santa Maria Valley Oil Field, Santa Barbara County, California

description: This digital dataset contains historical geochemical and other information for 89 samples of produced water from 84 sites in the Santa Maria Valley Oil Field in Santa Barbara County, California. Produced water is a term used in the oil industry to describe water that is produced from oil wells as a byproduct along with the oil and gas. Additionally, 3 samples from 3 sites that represent source water used in support of oil production were included in this dataset, for a total of 92 samples and 87 sites, respectively. The locations from which these historical samples have been collected include 27 wells, 2 reservoirs, 10 storage tanks, and 49 unidentifiable sample sources. Well depth, perforation depths, and (or) depths referred to on geochemistry reports as interval of zone produced, are available for 25 of the 27 wells. Designated well use and sample descriptions provide further insight about what the samples represent. The well use designation for 23 of the wells is OG (oil/gas). The 27 samples associated with these wells likely represent produced water based on well designation and history. One of the 27 samples is a composite from two wells represented by Dataset ID 46. Three wells have a site type designation of "injectate" based on the current designated well use (WD, water disposal; or WF, water flood). The samples associated with these sites are of unknown origin, but likely represent produced water from OG wells in the Santa Maria Valley Oil Field. The two reservoir samples (Dataset_ID 53 and 54) are freshwater sources that were used in support of oil production, including one reservoir (Dataset_ID 54) described as supplied by groundwater wells. Limited information is available about historical samples from storage tanks and unidentifiable sample sources. These samples may represent pre- or post-treated composite samples of produced water from single or multiple wells. The numerical water chemistry data were compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from the following sources: scanned laboratory analysis reports available from the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) Underground Injection Control (UIC) program, analytical reports located within well history files in CalGEM's online Well Finder (WF) database, analytical reports available as PDFs (Portable Document Format) documents located on the State Water Resources Control Board GeoTracker (SWRCB-GT) website, and data compiled by the USGS for the National Produced Water Geochemical Database (USGS PWDB). Sample site characteristics, such as well construction details, were attributed using a combination of information provided with the scanned laboratory analysis reports and well history files from CalGEM Well Finder. The compiled data are divided into two separate data files described as follows: 1) a summary data file identifying each site by name, the site location, basic construction information, and American Petroleum Institute (API) number (for wells), the number of chemistry samples, period of record, sample description, and the geologic formation associated with the origin of the sampled water, or intended destination of the sample (formation into which water was to intended to be injected for samples labeled as injectate), specific sample dates for each site, and an inventory of which constituent groups were sampled on each date; and 2) a data file of geochemistry analyses for selected water-quality indicators, major and minor ions, nutrients, trace elements, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hydrocarbons, and organic acids. Ion (charge) balance calculations and percent error of these calculations were included for samples having a complete suite of major ion analyses. Analytical method, reporting level, reporting level type, and supplemental notes were included where available or pertinent. A data dictionary was created to describe the geochemistry data file and is provided with this data release.