evaluation of selenium concentrations in water, sediment, invertebrates, and fish from the Solomon River Basin

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 137; no. 1-3; pp. 213 - 232
• Main Authors: May, Thomas W, Fairchild, James F, Petty, Jim D, Walther, Michael J, Lucero, Jeff, Delvaux, Mike, Manring, Jill, Armbruster, Mike
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands 01.02.2008; Springer Netherlands; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agnatha. Pisces; Agricultural production; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Aquatic ecosystems; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bioaccumulation; Biological and medical sciences; Birds; Contamination; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental monitoring; Environmental protection; Environmental science; Fish; Fish populations; Fish reproduction; Fisheries; Fishery resources; Fishes; Food chains; Food contamination & poisoning; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Geologic Sediments - chemistry; Geology; Groundwater; Groundwater pollution; Hazard assessment; Immigration; Invertebrata; Invertebrates; Invertebrates - chemistry; Irrigation; Kansas; Leaching; Macroinvertebrates; Marine geology; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Reproduction; Reproduction (biology); River basins; River ecology; Rivers; Rivers - chemistry; Sediment; Sediments; Selenium; Selenium - analysis; Shales; Solomon River; Studies; Surface water; Therapeutic Irrigation; Toxic effects threshold; Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution; water; Water quality; Zoobenthos; Kansas; United States > US; USA, Kansas; Water; Irrigation; Solomon River; Sediment; Bioaccumulation; Toxic effects threshold; Fish; Selenium; Invertebrates; Toxicity; Concentration measurement; Freshwater environment; Aquatic environment; Pisces; Water engineering; Stream; Ecotoxicology; Rivers; Sediments; River basins; Vertebrata; Surface water; Biological accumulation; Invertebrata; Environmental monitoring
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-007-9742-y

The Solomon River Basin is located in north-central Kansas in an area underlain by marine geologic shales. Selenium is an indigenous constituent of these shales and is readily leached into the surrounding groundwater. Portions of the Basin are irrigated primarily through the pumping of selenium-contaminated groundwater from wells onto fields in agricultural production. Water, sediment, macroinvertebrates, and fish were collected from various sites in the Basin in 1998 and analyzed for selenium. Selenium concentrations were analyzed spatially and temporally and compared to reported selenium toxic effect thresholds for specific ecosystem components: water, sediments, food-chain organisms, and wholebody fish. A selenium aquatic hazard assessment for the Basin was determined based on protocol established by Lemly. Throughout the Basin, water, macroinvertebrate, and whole fish samples exceeded levels suspected of causing reproductive impairment in fish. Population structures of several fish species implied that successful reproduction was occurring; however, the influence of immigration of fish from low-selenium habitats could not be discounted. Site-specific fish reproduction studies are needed to determine the true impact of selenium on fishery resources in the Basin.