Cerro Grande Fire Impact to Water Quality and Stream Flow near Los Alamos National Laboratory: Results of Four Years of Monitoring

Gallaher, B. M. ; Koch, R. J.

Los Alamos National Laboratory

关键词: Forests;    Environmental Transport;    Monitoring;    Sediments;    99 General And Miscellaneous//Mathematics, Computing, And Information Science;   

DOI  :  10.2172/835908
RP-ID  :  LA-14177
RP-ID  :  W-7405-ENG-36
RP-ID  :  835908

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

In May 2000, the Cerro Grande fire burned about 7400 acres of mixed conifer forest on the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and much of the 10,000 acres of mountainside draining onto LANL was severely burned. The resulting burned landscapes raised concerns of increased storm runoff and transport of contaminants by runoff in the canyons traversing LANL. The first storms after the fire produced runoff peaks that were more than 200 times greater than prefire levels. Total runoff volume for the year 2000 increased 50% over prefire years, despite a decline in total precipitation of 13% below normal and a general decrease in the number of monsoonal thunderstorms. The majority of runoff in 2000 occurred in the canyons at LANL south of Pueblo Canyon (70%), where the highest runoff volume occurred in Water Canyon and the peak discharge occurred in Pajarito Canyon. This report describes the observed effects of the Cerro Grande fire and related environmental impacts to watersheds at and near Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for the first four runoff seasons after the fire, from 2000 through 2003. Spatial and temporal trends in radiological and chemical constituents that were identified as being associated with the Cerro Grande fire and those that were identified as being associated with historic LANL discharges are evaluated with regard to impacts to the Rio Grande and area reservoirs downstream of LANL. The results of environmental sampling performed by LANL, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) after the Cerro Grande fire are included in the evaluation. Effects are described for storm runoff, baseflow, stream sediments, and area regional reservoir sediment.