Mining activities and arsenic in a Baja California Sur watershed

Alejandro Naranjo-Pulido; Alfredo Ortega-Rubio; Baudillo Acost-Vargas; Lia Rodriguez-Mendez; Marcos Acevedo-Beltran; Cerafina Arguelles-Mendez

Treesearch

Mining activities and arsenic in a Baja California Sur watershed

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Alejandro Naranjo-Pulido, Alfredo Ortega-Rubio, Baudillo Acost-Vargas, Lia Rodriguez-Mendez, Marcos Acevedo-Beltran, Cerafina Arguelles-Mendez

Year:

2000

Type:

Proceedings

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

In: Ffolliott, Peter F.; Baker Jr., Malchus B.; Edminster, Carleton B.; Dillon, Madelyn C.; Mora, Karen L., tech. coords. Land Stewardship in the 21st Century: The Contributions of Watershed Management; 2000 March 13-16; Tucson, AZ. Proc. RMRS-P-13. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 392-394.

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Abstract

Mining is one of the most important sources of income for the Baja California Sur state. This state is the second most important area for mineral (gold, silver, copper) and non-mineral (salt) mining activities in the Mexican Republic. In the San Antonio-El Triunfo region, mineral-mining activities flourished during the 19th century. Tons of debris containing a high quantity of arsenic were deposited on the soil as a by-product of these activities. In 1998, local inhabitants reported their suspicion of the contamination of the region's wells. For this reason, we developed this study, which establishes the sampling of underground water in the region. Our results indicate that all the underground water sampled in the region's wells exceeded official safe limits (0.05 mg/l).

Parent Publication

Land Stewardship in the 21st Century: The Contributions of Watershed Management; 2000 March 13-16; Tucson, AZ

Keywords

land stewardship, watershed management, ecosystem-based management, natural resources, conservation, sustainable development, sustainable use

Citation

Naranjo-Pulido, Alejandro; Ortega-Rubio, Alfredo; Acost-Vargas, Baudillo; Rodriguez-Mendez, Lia; Acevedo-Beltran, Marcos; Arguelles-Mendez, Cerafina. 2000. Mining activities and arsenic in a Baja California Sur watershed. In: Ffolliott, Peter F.; Baker Jr., Malchus B.; Edminster, Carleton B.; Dillon, Madelyn C.; Mora, Karen L., tech. coords. Land Stewardship in the 21st Century: The Contributions of Watershed Management; 2000 March 13-16; Tucson, AZ. Proc. RMRS-P-13. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 392-394.