The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, like much of the Southwest, is suffering through an “exceptional drought,” a program manager for the legacy cleanup contractor said during an online meeting Wednesday.
The U.S. Drought Monitor, a service run by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal entities, places 60% of the Western states “under severe, extreme, or exceptional drought,” said Amanda White, program manager for watershed monitoring and technical services for Newport News Nuclear-BWXT Los Alamos (N3B).
As of May 25, the Upper Rio Grande Basin only has a snow water equivalent of 3% of median, White said during a presentation on the Environmental Protection Agency discharge permit for the Los Alamos National Laboratory. “This is very, very low … this is not a good situation,” White said.
Also, hotter-than-normal regional temperatures over the past 60 days has resulted in rapid snowmelt and, due to dry topsoil, much of the melt water has not made it into the rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. “This is tinderbox conditions, so a safety note, be careful out there … with anything that causes a spark,” White said.
In the past 20 years there have been two major wildfires around semi-arid Los Alamos County, the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000; and the Las Conchas Fire in 2011 that threatened DOE assets and affected operations at the federal laboratory, according to a February report from the department’s Office of Inspector General. The 2000 blaze damaged or destroyed over 100 structures ruined a variety of lab projects and resulted in damages to the DOE facility totaling $331 million, according to the report that called for better forest management.
White’s presentation provided climate context for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System individual permit that allows discharge of stormwater from sites associated with “historical industrial activities” around the laboratory. The original comment due date was March 31, 2020. Following multiple delays during the COVID-19 pandemic, N3B and the New Mexico Environment Department are in technical discussions regarding a path forward,” according to White’s slide presentation.
