Background Information

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Background Information

• Extraction of CBM requires withdrawal of large
  amounts of water from coal seams containing
  methane.
• Projections call for disposal or management of
  one quarter million acre-feet of product water
  annually in the Powder River Basin.
• Water quality issue common signature of CBM
  product water is salinity x sodicity at varying
  levels.

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MSU CBM Product Water Management Team Research
Goals

• Understand the chemistry, quantity, and
  distribution of CBM product water in the Powder
  River Basin.
• Assess the interaction between surface dispersed
  CBM product water and soil, water, plants,
  groundwater and land resources.
• Conduct research to help define CBM product water
  management strategies which will ensure
  sustainability of Montanas soil, plant, and
  water resources while allowing for CBM
  development.

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Objectives

• What is saline water? What is sodic water?
• MSU research on interaction of CMB product water
  with soil, plants, water, ground water, and land
  resources
• Can we manage CBM product water?

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What is saline water and why is it considered
saline?

• Saline water has a relatively high concentration
  of dissolved salts.
• Salinity of water is referred to in terms of
  Total Dissolved Solids (TDS),
• salinity is estimated by measuring the Electrical
  Conductivity (EC) of water
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines water
  with an EC greater than 3.0 dS/m as saline,
  1,920 ppm.

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What is sodic water and why is it considered
sodic?

• The sodicity of water is expressed as the Sodium
  Adsorption Ratio (SAR) which is
• (These values are in meq/L)
• Sodic water is any water with a SAR greater than
  12. Sodic water is not necessarily saline.

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Generalizations about CBM Product Water Quality

• Range in TDS of PRB CBM product water is
  270-2,730 ppm, average is 740 ppm median is 838
  ppm
• Drinking water standard is 500 ppm
• Livestock water standard is 5,000-10,000 ppm
• SAR range of 5-68.7, median 8.8 threshold 12
• EC (SP) ranges from lt 0.5 to gt 10 dS/m across
  basin threshold 3.0 dS/m

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CBM product water in the Powder River Basin -
knowns

• Trend of increasing sodium adsorption ratio
  (SAR), electrical conductivity (EC) and total
  dissolved solids (TDS) progressing north and west
  through the basin (Rice et al., 2000).

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Additional knowns

• Most wells in southern portion are within the
  irrigation standards
• Most wells in the northern section are above the
  limits for salinity and sodicity (Rice et al.,
  2002).
• Soils are generally high in clays and can be
  saline-sodic.

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North Dakota South
Dakota
Miles City
Forsyth
Powder
Yellowstone River
Tongue
Montana Wyoming
Belle Fourche River
Circle size is Proportional to TDS Number is
SAR
North Platte River
Figure compliments of John Wheaton, Montana
Bureau of Mines and Geology
Casper
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What are the common difficulties with the use of
sodic water for irrigation?

• Use of sodic water for irrigation can be risky
  business on soils having significant amounts of
  swelling clay. On such soils
• sodium changes soil physical properties, leading
  to poor drainage and crusting, which can affect
  crop growth and yield.
• Irrigation with sodic water on sandy soils does
  not cause crusting and poor drainage. However,
  if the water is saline-sodic, it may affect crop
  growth and yield.

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REDUCED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY-Shainberg and
Letey, 1984
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EC/ SAR RELATIONSHIP, INCLUDING SOIL TYPE AND
RAINFALL EFFECT
-Saskatchewan, 1995
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Management of Sodic Soils

• Basic rule
• the first thing you need is good drainage - an
  outlet to which to send the sodium when it is
  displaced.
• a source of calcium (already in the soil or as an
  amendment), and exchange process,
• a source of water to flush the sodium from the
  system

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Management of Saline Soils

• Saline soil reclamation requires as a minimum
• assessment of the problem
• diagnosis
• mechanisms for drainage
• a water supply
• Leach the soil with enough non-saline water that
  the salts are moved below the root zone.
• Adequate drainage is absolutely necessary for
  this procedure to be successful!

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Sustainability of crop production in
Saline/Sodic Conditions

• Certain conditions need to be met
• the soil being irrigated must be well-drained
• salt tolerant crops should be the primary crops
  grown
• rotations should be planned to provide for a
  sequence of progressively more salt tolerant
  crops
• salts should be leached out of the soil in the
  spring or winter
• as the salinity of either the irrigation water or
  soil solution increases (with prolonged crop
  water use and through the irrigation season), the
  volume of irrigation water applied should be
  progressively increased.

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Salinity Sodicity Tolerance of Selected Plant
Species of the Northern Cheyenne
ReservationNikos Warrence M.S. Candidate

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Tolerance and/or sensitivity of selected plants
on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation to salinity,
sodicity, and flooding

• Understand how native and culturally significant
  plants would respond to increases in salinity and
  sodicity.
• A list of native and culturally significant plant
  species was obtained from the Department of
  Environmental Protection, Northern Cheyenne
  Tribe.
• A thorough search of references dealing with
  salinity and sodicity tolerances for the plants
  in question was then completed.

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Tolerance and/or sensitivity of culturally
significant plant species on the Northern
Cheyenne Reservation to salinity, sodicity, and
flooding -

• Moderately Sensitive (EC 2-4 dS/m, SAR lt8)
• Common Spikerush
• Field Horsetail
• Horsemint
• Sweet Medicine
• Sandbar Willow
• Snowberry
• Cattail
• Sweet Grass
• Saw Beak Sedge
• Stinging Nettle
• Western Yarrow

• Sensitive (EC lt 2 dS/m, SAR 1.6 - 8
• June/Service Berry
• Red Osier Dogwood
• Red Shoot Goose Berry
• Chokecherry
• Wild Plum
• Quaking Aspen
• Leafy Aster
• Red Raspberry

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Water Quantity and Quality Will Dictate Water
Management Options

• Discharge to surface streams
• Ephemeral v. perennial
• Loosing v. gaining
• Surface discharge, spreading, irrigation
• Discharge to impoundments
• Evaporation v. infiltration
• Long term recharge v. abandonment
• Re-Injection shallow v. deep

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Options for Beneficial Use

• Livestock watering, dispersals, enhancement of
  forage utilization- ???
• Fish and wildlife flow augmentation and salinity
  modification-quality dependent
• Industrial dust, fire, extraction, new uses
• Irrigation and added rainfall effects-???
• Aquifer recharge, water storage ???
• Recreation ???
• Augmentation of domestic supplies wells

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Saline and sodic conditions promote new plant
communities

• Typically, encroachment by saline and sodic water
  promotes development of salt-tolerant, halophytic
  communities
• Commonly occurring species include
• Prairie cordgrass Cattail
• Baltic rushes American bullrush
• Salt cedar Alkali grass

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Native, establishment, survivor plants first
appearing in areas exposed to saline-sodic water

• With addition of saline-sodic water these plants
  will invade/occupy moist to wet zones of the
  channel bank
• Inland saltgrass (Distichlis spicata)
• Prairie and alkali cordgrass (Spatina
  pectinata/gracilis)
• Baltic rush (Juncus balticus)
• Nuttalls alkaligrass (Pucinellia nuttalliana
  not very competitive, colonizer)
• Foxtail barley (Hordium jubatum not very
  competitive, colonizer)

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Plants that will occupy dry/moist transition
areas when exposed to CBM product water

• Canada wildrye Elymus Canadensis
• Slender wheatgrass/inland saltgrass Elymus
  trachycaulus
• Western wheatgrass Pascopyrum smithii
• Tall wheatgrass Thinopyrum ponticum
• Timothy, meadow foxtail, bromegrass

Pers. Comm Q. Skinner, UWyoming
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Options for salt-tolerant species

• Amshot grass Hay barley
• Atriplex species Sunflower
• Sudan grass Upland rice
• Seacoast barley Maritime barley
• Sharp-leaved rush Samaar moor rush

Helalia et al., 1990
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Effects of surface irrigation water quality
and water table position on the ability of
selected plant species to remove salts and
sodium 

• Shannon D. Phelps, Graduate Student M.S. in Land
  Rehabilitation Department of Land Resources and
  Environmental Sciences. Montana State University,
  Bozeman. Dec. 2002

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Species selection

• Selection criteria
• Documented capability as a perennial source of
  livestock forage
• Documented halophytic characteristics
• Species
• Wytana saltbush (Atriplex wytana.), extremely
  salt tolerant shrub naturally occurring in
  Montana, Washington, and Wyoming (Mackie et
  al., 2001)
•  Big saltbrush (Atriplex lentiformis), moderately
  salt tolerant, native shrub known for high
  productivity and quality forage potential (Watson
  et al., 1987)
• Maritime Barley (Hordeum marinium), salt
  tolerant, flood tolerant species found in coastal
  environments reported to provide high nutritional
  value (Redman and Fedec, 1987)
• Planting
• Direct seed 30 per column

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• Average dry biomass of Atriplex wytana,Atriplex
  lentiformis, and Hordeum marinium over three
  harvests irrigated with control and treatment
  water quality (average across all water table
  positions no drainage)

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• Average biomass production over three successive
  harvests for columns maintained at three separate
  water table positions. Water table positions are
  maintained at 114, 76, and 38cm below soil
  surface

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• Cumulative salt content reported as grams of
  total salts (Ca, Mg, Na) per gram of dry matter
  irrigated with treatment and control water
  averaged over three water table positions and
  three harvests for Atriplex wytana, Atriplex
  lentiformis, and Hordeum marinium.

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• SAR of shallow groundwater over a 32-week period
  of irrigation of Atriplex wytana(no drainage,
  average of all water table positions) Bold
  horizontal lines at SAR3.5 and SAR10.5
  correspond to applied water SAR

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• EC of shallow groundwater over a 32-week
  period of irrigation of Atriplex wytana(no
  drainage, average of all water table positions)
  Bold horizontal lines at EC1.9dS/m and
  EC3.5dS/m correspond to applied water EC.

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• SAR of shallow groundwater over a 32-week period
  of irrigation of Hordeum marinium(no drainage,
  average of all water table positions) Bold
  horizontal lines at SAR3.5and SAR10.5
  correspond to applied water SAR

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• EC of shallow groundwater over a 32-week period
  of irrigation of Hordeum marinium(no drainage,
  average of all water table positions) Bold
  horizontal lines at EC1.9dS/m and EC3.5dS/m
  correspond to applied water EC

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Summary

• Sustainable CBM product water management requires
  rigorous monitoring and coordinated management
• Essential requirements
• Soil, water, and plant baseline information
• Amount and quality of CBM product water
• Rigorous monitoring at all points
• Coordinated water management with multiple
  strategies

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A Strategy for CBM product water management

• Key elements to CBM product water management
• Watershed based water management
• Surface and ground water in concert
• Maximize beneficial uses infrequent water
  spreading
• Maximize plant consumptive use reducing water
  volumes with wetlands
• Minimize deep drainage

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MSU CBM product water management group

• Shannon Phelps M.S. graduated
• Nikos Warrence M.S. pending
• Meg Buchanan Jon Wraith
• Melissa Mitchem Doug Dollhopf
• Holly Sessoms M.S. candidate
• Amber Kirkpatrick M.S. candidate
• Jason Drake B.S. Field/Greenhouse
  Technician

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• Allison Levy B.S. Candidate
• Natalie McGowan B.S. Candidate
• Keri Garver Ph.D. Candidate
• Kim Hershberger M.S. Res. Assoc.
• Krista Pearson B.S. Proj. Assist. Tech
  Transfer
• Suzanna Roffe B.S. Proj. Assist. - Education
• Kristin Keith M.S. Associate
  Outreach/Education
• Bernie Schaff M.S. Proj. Assist.-Field
  Operations

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• Subcontracts
• Drake Engineering, Helena Product water
  treatment plant
• Suzanne Mickelson Dept. Plant Sciences forage
  barley genetics/enhancement
• Susan Capalbo pending Economics of CBM
  development

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Funding Sources -

• U.S. Department of Energy in conjunction with
  Bureau of Land Management
• Montana Board of Commercialization and Technology
  Transfer
• U.S.D.A. Federal Extension Service
• U.S.D.A. C.S.R.E.E.S. Regional Water Quality
  program Northern Great Plains and Mountains
• Northern Cheyenne Tribe
• Prairie County Conservation District
• U.S.D.I. Bureau of Reclamation Buffalo Rapids
  Irrigation District

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MSU Water Quality Web Site

• http//waterquality.montana.edu/