Overview

About Water at LANL

LANL's water quality programs support the mission and core competencies of the Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by providing institutional expertise and implementation assistance to Laboratory line organizations regarding compliance with applicable water quality laws and regulations and DOE Orders. The programs promote and implement activities that continuously protect human health and the environment and protect and improve water quality and water resources management at the Laboratory.

LANL's water quality compliance and monitoring activities include:

• Evaluating historical groundwater and surface water contamination levels and implementing appropriate clean-up activities
• Performing sampling, processing, and analysis of environmental media
• Providing institutional coordination, integration, and communication of all water-resource-related monitoring activities, permits, data, and documentation
• Interpreting major state and federal water resource laws and regulations
• Developing and implementing institutional standards and policy with line organizations
• Interacting with goverment agencies, stakeholders, the public, and Indian tribes on water quality/water resource management issues

The Laboratory and the associated residential and commercial areas of Los Alamos and White Rock are located in Los Alamos County, in north-central New Mexico. The 43-square-mile Laboratory is situated on the Pajarito Plateau, which consists of a series of finger-like mesas separated by deep east-to-west oriented canyons cut by intermittent streams. Mesa tops range in elevation from approximately 7,800 feet on the flanks of the Jemez Mountains to about 6,200 feet above the Rio Grande Canyon.

Surface water in the Los Alamos area occurs primarily as short-lived or intermittent reaches of streams. Perennial springs on the flanks of the Jemez Mountains supply base flow into upper reaches of some canyons, but the volume is insufficient to maintain surface flows across the Laboratory site before they are depleted by evaporation, transpiration, and infiltration.

Groundwater in the Los Alamos area occurs in three modes:

• water in shallow alluvium in canyons
• perched water (a body of groundwater above a less permeable layer that is separated from the underlying main body of groundwater by an unsaturated zone)
• the regional aquifer of the Los Alamos area

The regional aquifer of the Los Alamos area is the only aquifer in the area capable of serving as a municipal water supply. The source of most recharge to the aquifer appears to be infiltration of precipitation that falls on the Jemez Mountains. The regional aquifer discharges into the Rio Grande through springs in White Rock Canyon.

Data & Documents

• Environmental Monitoring Data (RACER)
• Fact Sheets
• Plans & Procedures
• Publications & Reports
• Requirements Documents

Public Notices

• Review of November 2008 Groundwater Data

In the News

• Environment Operations & Organizations
• Environmental Sciences

Resources

• Fire Information
• Subcontractors

Public Involvement

• Get Involved
• Organizations & Environmental Working Groups
• Public Reading Room
• Meeting & Events Calendar