soil erosion and surface water quality impacts of natural gas development in east texas, usa水土流失和地表水质量影响天然气的发展在东德克萨斯州,美国.pdf

Water 2012, 4, 944-958; doi:10.3390/w4040944 OPEN ACCESS water ISSN 2073-4441 /journal/water Article Soil Erosion and Surface Water Quality Impacts of Natural Gas Development in East Texas, USA Matthew McBroom 1,*, Todd Thomas 2 and Yanli Zhang 1 1 Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX 75962, USA; E-Mail: zhangy2@ 2 Texas AM Forest Service, Lufkin, TX 75901, USA; E-Mail: tthomas@ * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: mcbroommatth@; Tel.: +1-936-468-2469. Received: 27 September 2012; in revised form: 10 November 2012 / Accepted: 12 November 2012 / Published: 20 November 2012 Abstract: Due to greater demands for hydrocarbons and improvements in drilling technology, development of oil and natural gas in some regions of the United States has increased dramatically. A 1.4 ha natural gas well pad was constructed in an intermittent stream channel at the Alto Experimental Watersheds in East Texas, USA (F1), while another 1.1 ha well pad was offset about 15 m from a nearby intermittent stream (F2). V-notch weirs were constructed downstream of these well pads and stream sedimentation and water quality was measured. For the 2009 water year, about 11.76 cm, or almost 222% more runoff resulted from F1 than F2. Sediment yield was significantly greater at F1, with −1 −1 −1 −1 13,972 kg ha yr versus 714 kg