Data from sodium chloride slug additions conducted along Lake Fork Creek near Leadville, Colorado, September 2024

Multiple sources of mine drainage including discharge from the abandoned Dinero mine tunnel and two gulches flow into a wetland, known herein as the Dinero wetland along the Lake Fork Creek corridor. The Dinero wetland is approximately 20 acres in extent. The Dinero wetland is being considered as a location for passive treatment of the mine drainage flowing through it. As such, study objectives are to understand: (1) variations in pH, specific conductance, and temperature in surface water in the wetland; (2) metal loading into and out of the wetland; (3) the configuration of surface drainage features; (4) the configuration of subsurface conductive features; and (4) depth to bedrock in the wetland. These data will be used to help understand whether the wetland is currently and naturally treating the mine drainage flowing through it and will help pinpoint locations needing additional investigations to help inform potential passive treatment scenarios.
Salt tracer 'slug' injection data were collected to develop a longitudinal profile of streamflow along the Lake Fork Creek study reach (September 2024). Streamflow estimates were determined at seven locations using data from sodium chloride slug additions. Specific conductivity readings downstream of each addition were used as a surrogate for chloride concentration and streamflow estimates were subsequently obtained using the tracer dilution method.