Water level drops at Nevada Test Site

Two water supply wells at the Nevada Test Site show small drops in water levels in 1996, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The ground water is being studied to determine if the area is suitable for high-level nuclear waste storage.

Four other wells in the Jackass Flats area were unchanged or slightly higher than for the period measured from 1992 through 1996, the report said. The USGS released the report Friday.

Jackass Flats is located in the west-central area of the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The two wells that dropped by less than two inches are used at the Nevada Test Site and for the Yucca Mountain Project.

USGS hydrologists Richard La Camera and Glenn Locke reported that continued observation of the wells is necessary to determine if the fluctuations in the well water levels are a trend.

The U.S. Department of Energy is studying Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as the only site for the nation's first permanent high-level nuclear waste dump.

The USGS began a cooperative program with the DOE to develop a ground water monitoring program that documents changes in the ground water in April 1989.

The Jackass Flats wells could help scientists track ground water at Yucca Mountain.

The USGS began the program by measuring current conditions and reviewing historical records for the wells. The Jackass Flats wells were in use in the 1960s when nuclear weapons experiments were conducted at the Test Site. The historical records indicate water levels have risen and fallen in the past.

The agency is tracking changes in the ground water and will identify and analyze potential hazards to the ground water as the Yucca Mountain Project study continues.

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