nthropogenic selenium contamination of aquatic ecosystems was first associated with cooling reservoirs of coal-fired power plants in the late 1970s, and later with drainage water from agricultural irrigation activities in the 1980s. In the 1990s, selenium contamination has been raised as a concern in the recovery of currently endangered fish in the Colorado River system. Widespread contamination from seleniferous drain waters from agriculture has been documented in the upper and lower Colorado River basins. Historically, irrigation started in the upper Colorado River basin in the late 1880s. In the 1930s, selenium concentrations in various drains, tributaries, and major rivers in the upper and lower Colorado River basins were in the [...]
