Water and Soil Laboratory
The Lower Colorado Region Laboratory in Boulder City, Nevada, conducts several activities related to the Bureau of Reclamation's stewardship of water in the Lower Colorado River Basin. Equipped with high-quality computer-automated analysis systems, the Laboratory provides accurate and timely water test reports to help address water-related issues of state and national scopes, and conduct research to support the development and regulation of technically informed water-related policies.
The Laboratory provides results for a wide-range of major activities including studies of impacts of Las Vegas return flows on Lake Mead water quality, evaluation of management options for the Salton Sea, determinations of salt concentrations in Lower Colorado River water and more.
Reliability of data, strict adherence to Quality Assurance/Quality Control protocols, and prompt service are the primary goals of the Laboratory personnel.
A broad range of analytical testing services are available:
EC - Electrical Conductivity
pH - Relative Acidity/Alkalinity
TDS - Total Dissolved Solids (evaporative method)
Anions - Sulfate, Chloride, Carbonate, Bicarbonate
Cations - Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, and Magnesium
Minors - Fluoride and Silica
Nutrients - Nitrate-Nitrite, Ammonia, Boron, total Phosphorous, total Nitrogen, TKN and ortho-Phosphorous
Trace Elements - Al, Ag, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, Sr, Tl, and Zn
Cr VI
Special - Chlorophyll, Pheophytin, and Total Suspended Matter
These tests are performed with state-of-the-art instrumentation, including:
Perkin-Elmer 730DV Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer
BioChrom Libra S 22 UV/VIS spectrometer
Dionex 2100S Ion Chromatograph
SEAL Analytical AA3 Segmented Flow Analyzer
If you have questions about the Laboratory's testing services or capabilities, contact Laboratory Supervisor Amy Stephenson at 702-293-8598, astephenson@usbr.gov, or write to: 500 Fir St., Building 1000, Attn: LC-2550, Boulder City, NV 89005.
