Kesterson Alternative Ponds Would Also Be Near Wildlife

Directors of the Westlands Water District, under a federal mandate to divert contaminated agricultural waste water from the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge, called Monday for building new drain ponds just two miles from another wildlife habitat.

In unveiling the $15-million to $20-million plan, which is intended to keep 42,000 acres of agricultural land in production, officials of the Westlands district vowed that waterfowl at Mendota Wildlife Management Area would be protected from polluted waste water that has caused widespread birth deformities and deaths among waterfowl at Kesterson.

“I would simply say we’re going to make darn sure we do not (create another Kesterson),” Westlands spokesman Don Upton said.

Upton said the 3,500-acre site, located eight miles south of Mendota and 60 miles south of Kesterson, would probably be used for the next 15 to 20 years as a repository for agricultural drain water.

The first pond could be ready as early as next year, and the last would be completed in 1988, Westlands officials said.

Two separate water aquifers underlie the proposed site, one at a depth of 100 feet and the other at 500 to 600 feet.

But George True of True Engineering, a subcontractor on the Westlands project, said that naturally occurring clay typically as thick as 40 feet deep would separate the aquifers from the evaporation ponds. True estimated it would take a drop of water 1,000 years to reach the aquifer if it traveled vertically. Engineers are still determining whether there may be any significant lateral seepage.

Monday’s proposal was in response to an agreement reached by Westlands and the federal government to keep the Kesterson refuge open to irrigation water runoff through this growing season.

Selenium, which occurs naturally in the area’s farm lands, is picked up by the drain water and has become concentrated in the Kesterson refuge, where it has caused birth deformities and deaths among waterfowl.

Westlands, which serves 603,000 acres of prime farmland in western Fresno and Kings counties, must begin diverting 20% of the waste water that now goes to Kesterson by Oct. 1. By June 30, 1985, all drainage to Kesterson must cease.

Close to Refuge

While the site now being proposed to handle the waste water is close to the Mendota refuge, officials seemed confident that they could develop a system that would not be harmful to wildlife.

Patrick L. Stiehr, a water resources engineer, said that chemicals could be added to the waste water to kill plant growth and thereby reduce the chances that selenium would be introduced into the food chain.

Upton, the water district spokesman, also said some thought is being given to developing a hazing program similar to the one in effect at Kesterson to scare waterfowl away from the new ponds.

However, the State Fish and Game Department has voiced concern about the proposal, and one person closely associated with the Westlands project, who asked to be not identified, conceded Monday that he had second thoughts.

“Only the ocean is big enough to absorb this waste with no major effects,” he said.

The Westland district’s timetable in developing its alternatives is largely dependent on the state not finding the agricultural runoff to be hazardous wastes.

Would Kill Proposal

Upton warned Monday that such a characterization would kill the Westlands proposal.

If the state does classify the water as hazardous, the evaporation ponds would be required to meet stringent standards approved last year by the state Legislature, including the costly double-lining of the evaporation ponds.