Waterfowl refuge effect on water quality: II. Chemical and physical parameters

Abstract

constant quantity of fresh water is available to meet escalating water de mands. As these demands increase, the available water must be reused more and more frequently, especially in the arid southwestern U. S. These repeated usages may result in accumulations of harmful or undesirable substances in the water even though the individual additions of extrane ous substances may be small. Because of this possibility, all potential water-using facilities should be studied with regard to their effects on overall water quality. In relation to this, a major wildlife refuge specializing in waterfowl management has been studied to determine the condition of water within the refuge and the quality of water leaving the refuge. The refuge studied was the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge south of Socorro, N. M ex. The physical descriptions of the refuge, waterfowl populations, and sam pling stations have been detailed pre viously, and a map of the refuge and sam