ABSTRACT
The discovery in 1983 that waterfowl deformities at Kesterson Reservoir in California were caused by selenium delivered in irrigation drainage (Ohlendorf et al., 1986) changed agricultural-related selenium investigations from a domestic animal/crop accumulation focus to a resource protection issue. Irrigation project management has been complicated greatly in the western United States in areas where irrigation projects are developed on seleniferous soils. Drainwater or seep age from several irrigation projects has created lakes and wetlands that accumulate selenium and other potentially toxic trace constituents. Migratory waterfowl and endangered species that use these lakes and wetlands are protected by federal legislation. Federal and state officials face the dilemma of determining how to provide resource protection while also protecting the water resources and agricul tural infrastructures responsible for the economic development of the rural west ern United States. Following a history of irrigation development in California and the West and its relationship to water quality and selenium problems, this chapter addresses selenium management issues of regulation and remediation from both state and federal government perspectives. Several case histories on approaches to selenium management are presented.
