A water-quality monitoring network for Vallecitos Valley, Alameda County, California

Water-Resources Investigations Report 80-59
Prepared in cooperation with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board San Francisco Bay Region
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Abstract

A water-quality monitoring network is proposed to detect the presence of and trace the movement of radioisotopes in the hydrologic system in the vicinity of the Vallecitos Nuclear Center. The source of the radioisotopes is treated industrial wastewater from the Vallecitos Nuclear Center that is discharged into an unnamed tributary of Vallecitos Creek. The effluent infiltrates the alluvium along the stream course, percolates downward to the water table, and mixes with the native ground water in the subsurface. The average daily discharge of effluent to the hydrologic system in 1978 was about 100,000 gallons.

In Vallecitos Valley, the Livermore Gravel and the overlying alluvium constitute the ground-water reservoir. There is no subsurface inflow from adjacent ground-water basins. Ground-water flow in the Vallecitos subbasin is toward the southwest.

The proposed network consists of four surface-water sampling sites and six wells to sample the ground-water system. Samples collected monthly at each site and analyzed for tritium and for alpha, beta, and gamma radiation would provide adequate data for monitoring.

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Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title A water-quality monitoring network for Vallecitos Valley, Alameda County, California
Series title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series number 80-59
DOI 10.3133/wri8059
Year Published 1980
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Description iv, 22 p.
Country United States
State California
County Alameda County
Other Geospatial Vallecitos Valley
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