Field Lysimeter Test Facility status report IV: FY 1993

At the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site near Richland, Washington, a unique facility, the Field Lysimeter Test Facility (FLTF) is used to measure drainage from and water storage in soil covers. Drainage has ranged from near zero amounts to more than 50% of the applied water, with the amount depending on vegetative cover and soil type. Drainage occurred from lysimeters with coarse soils and gravel covers, but did not occur from capillary barrier-type lysimeters (1.5 m silt loam soil over coarse sands and gravels) except under the most extreme condition tested. For capillary barriers that were irrigated and kept vegetation-free (bare surface), no drainage occurred in 5 of the past 6 years. However, this past year (1992--1993) a record snowfall of 1,425 mm occurred and water storage in the irrigated, bare-surfaced capillary barriers exceeded 500 mm resulting in drainage of more than 30 mm from these barriers. In contrast, capillary barriers, covered with native vegetation (i.e., shrubs and grasses) did not drain under any climatic condition (with or without irrigation). In FY 1994, the FLTF treatments will be increased from 11 to 17 with the addition of materials that will simulate portions of a prototype barrier planned for construction in 1994 at the Hanford Site. The 17 FLTF treatments are designed to test the expected range of surface soil, vegetation, and climatic conditions encountered at the Hanford Site and will assist in evaluating final surface barrier designs for a waste disposal facility