RESTORATION OF BRINE WATER IMPACTED SOILS USING HALOPHYTES IN WEST TEXAS

Contamination due to brine water drastically alters a soils structure, chemistry, and production capability. Results of brine impacts on a soil include lower infiltration rates and a change in the amount of essential macro and micro nutrients available for plant growth. This study took place on a ranch located 14 Km south of San Angelo, Texas, which contains a 14-acre “kill zone”. After a soil analysis and geophysical survey was conducted to determine salt concentration, a series of five halophyte species were planted in order to evaluate their ability to grow and remediate salt at the site. The species in this study include Distichlis spicata (inland saltgrass), Sporobolus airoides (alkali sacaton), Atriplex canescens (four-wing saltbush), and Cynodon dactylon (common and giant bermuda grass). The soil analysis showed an excess in both sodium and chloride levels with averages of 2500 mg/kg and 5500 mg/kg. The 2015 planting results were deemed inconclusive as most of the plants died via drought or animal destruction. However, results seemed to show that the four-wing saltbush grew the best and had the highest success rate. Despite undesirable conditions the surviving four-wing saltbush had an average of 30 cm of growth with a maximum 70 cm of growth. In the spring of 2016 ripping and furrowing were experimented with to rebuild soil structure and increase infiltration. Constructed was a fence in an attempt to keep out the small game that was foraging on the test plots. The same plants were planted again with the addition of giant sacaton. All data that has been collected is stored in the same GIS database so that future results may be compared. This research is ongoing and is awaiting results from the 2016 planting along with XRD, XRF and SEM analysis of the soils.