Lost River System - A Water Quality Management Study

Substantial kills of wild fowl on northern California refuges directed attention to use of agricultural pesticides and the influence on water quality of recycling irrigation waters in the Lost River system. This complicated water use-reuse scheme was simulated with an electronic computer program capable of processing, in sequence, monthly data for precipitation, water supply, consumptive use, and drainage for eleven major subdivisions of the system. Reuse factors, taken as indicative of relative concentrations of conservative pollutants, were determined for critical operation periods at key points and were found to reflect the potential for build-up of pesticides and other pollutants in the terminal sumps.