The WIPP EM incorporates studies at three reservoirs on the Pecos River, which is the major perennial fresh water system closest to the WIPP that has extensive human usage. The three reservoirs are: Brantley Lake, located approximately 40 miles northwest of the WIPP; Lake Carlsbad, located in Carlsbad and approximately 25 miles northwest of the WIPP; and Red Bluff Reservoir, located approximately 30 miles southwest of the WIPP. Surface and underground drainage from the area of the WIPP is to the southwest, and Red Bluff Lake is downstream of the area where drainage from the WIPP area enters the Pecos River. Brantley Lake and Lake Carlsbad are both upstream of the WIPP area drainage, and thus would be unlikely to receive contaminants via drainage from the vicinity of the WIPP but could be contaminated by atmospheric deposition. In addition to their proximity to the WIPP, these three reservoirs were selected because of the potential exposure of human populations to contaminants through use by the local population for sport fishing and recreation, and through use of Pecos River water for agricultural irrigation in a large region of the river floodplain throughout New Mexico and Texas.

Detailed summaries of the sampling design and analytical procedures for the WIPP EM surface water studies were presented in the CEMRC 1998, 1999 and 2000 reports. Briefly, surface waters were collected from the three regional described above. Two surface water samples were collected from a single location in each of the three reservoirs. One surface water sample was collected at a depth of approximately 0.5 m and a second sample collected approximately 1 m above the sediment bed. One of the three sampling locations was designated at random for the collection of a field duplicate sample. Recent data presented herein are from samples collected during June-July, 2001. More detailed summaries are provided in each year’s annual report, which is issued each February, and encompasses results from sampling and analyses completed through September of the previous year.