Start Date
11-4-2013
Abstract
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency of the United States of America Department of Interior and responsible for stewardship of public lands. It is committed to manage, protect and improve these lands in a manner to serve the needs of the American people. Management is based upon the principles of multiple use and sustained yield of our nation’s resources within a framework of environmental responsibility and scientific technology. These resources include recreation, rangelands, timber, minerals, watershed, fish and wildlife habitat, wilderness, air and scenic quality, as well as scientific and cultural values.
The BLM received a potash solution mining proposal to inject sodium chloride rich water into old mine workings which still contain valuable potassium in the walls and the large pillars that hold up the roof. There, the sodium chloride solution, through an ion exchange with potassium chloride, will become rich with potassium and then be pumped out and allowed to evaporate in large solar ponds on the surface. The potassium chloride will then be collected and refined. The water source for the project is from a shallow karst aquifer with limited recharge. The amount of water needed for the project will require approximately 10,886 kiloliters (2.88 million gallons) of water per day for the first 7 years and 5,443 kiloliters (1.44 million gallons) per day for the next 13 years.
The recharge area for the karst aquifer is in the Burton Flats karst plain. The geology is interbedded gypsum, anhydrite, and dolomite with the occasional gypsum outcroppings at the surface. There are 79 known caves in the project area and hundreds of dolines. Several of the caves go down to the water table, which is located in the dolomite members. Rainfall in the area is approximately 23 centimeters per year.
The large amount of water proposed for extraction from the karst aquifer brought concern that it may dewater the aquifer or draw the groundwater levels down to potentially critical levels. The water is vital to support the areas’ cattle ranching industry. Further, a biological inventory had not been conducted in the caves or in the karst aquifer. Therefore, it was unclear if there were any aquatic troglobitic species that would be affected.
The Bureau of Land Management required a complete biological inventory be conducted to understand more about the effected environment. As a result of that inventory two new aquatic troglobitic species were discovered. The agency in conjunction with the mining company developed a groundwater monitoring plan to track the water levels and detect any significant drops in the aquifer levels. The BLM initiated an adaptive management strategy that set trigger points beyond which alternate water sources would be used for the project.
Included in
Solution Mining and the Protection of Karst Groundwater Supplies in Burton Flats, Southeast New Mexico, USA
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency of the United States of America Department of Interior and responsible for stewardship of public lands. It is committed to manage, protect and improve these lands in a manner to serve the needs of the American people. Management is based upon the principles of multiple use and sustained yield of our nation’s resources within a framework of environmental responsibility and scientific technology. These resources include recreation, rangelands, timber, minerals, watershed, fish and wildlife habitat, wilderness, air and scenic quality, as well as scientific and cultural values.
The BLM received a potash solution mining proposal to inject sodium chloride rich water into old mine workings which still contain valuable potassium in the walls and the large pillars that hold up the roof. There, the sodium chloride solution, through an ion exchange with potassium chloride, will become rich with potassium and then be pumped out and allowed to evaporate in large solar ponds on the surface. The potassium chloride will then be collected and refined. The water source for the project is from a shallow karst aquifer with limited recharge. The amount of water needed for the project will require approximately 10,886 kiloliters (2.88 million gallons) of water per day for the first 7 years and 5,443 kiloliters (1.44 million gallons) per day for the next 13 years.
The recharge area for the karst aquifer is in the Burton Flats karst plain. The geology is interbedded gypsum, anhydrite, and dolomite with the occasional gypsum outcroppings at the surface. There are 79 known caves in the project area and hundreds of dolines. Several of the caves go down to the water table, which is located in the dolomite members. Rainfall in the area is approximately 23 centimeters per year.
The large amount of water proposed for extraction from the karst aquifer brought concern that it may dewater the aquifer or draw the groundwater levels down to potentially critical levels. The water is vital to support the areas’ cattle ranching industry. Further, a biological inventory had not been conducted in the caves or in the karst aquifer. Therefore, it was unclear if there were any aquatic troglobitic species that would be affected.
The Bureau of Land Management required a complete biological inventory be conducted to understand more about the effected environment. As a result of that inventory two new aquatic troglobitic species were discovered. The agency in conjunction with the mining company developed a groundwater monitoring plan to track the water levels and detect any significant drops in the aquifer levels. The BLM initiated an adaptive management strategy that set trigger points beyond which alternate water sources would be used for the project.
