Black Bird Mine Spring
MOJA Spring ID: CLM07
General Location: Ivanpah Valley (Clark Mountain)
Elevation: 1273 m
History: Historic cattle grazing and mining activities in the 1960s.
Hydrogeology: The water seeps out off of a calcium carbonate finger.
Type of spring: Rheocrene
Vegetation: No obligatory wetland vegetation (potential due to heavy grazing and browsing), but there is a small concentration of acacias.
Animals using spring: Burros, livestock
Aquatic biota: None
Ephemeral: Unknown
Discharge: Unknown
Water quality: Unknown
Site Condition: Highly disturbed
Type of disturbance: Historic excavation (hand dug pit in side of wash), burros, and livestock.
Type of infrastructure/diversion: There is dry 6 ft diameter trough about 5 meters east and downstream of the spring. Piping leads from the spring into the trough.
Photos: Yes
Colosseum Gorge Seep
MOJA Spring ID: CLMO1
General Location: Colosseum Gorge
Elevation: 1497 m
History: NA
Hydrogeology: NA
Type of spring: Seep
Vegetation: Baccharis sergiloides, Celtis reticulate, Eleocharis parishii, Amelanchier utahensis, Veronica anagallis-aquatica, Moss Animals Use: burros
Aquatic biota: NA
Ephemeral: NA
Discharge: Yes
Water quality: pH: 7.69, Conductivity: 1252 (µS/cm) TDS: 619 mg/l, Salinity: 0.6 (0/00)
Site Condition: undisturbed
Type of disturbance: none
Type of infrastructure/diversion: none
Photos: Yes
IVANPAH SPRINGS COMPLEX
Ivanpah Springs (deep well/shaft, dirt seep, qanat, 2nd qanat) Dripping Spring, Willow Spring – Clark Mountain
MOJA Spring IDs: CLMO2, 2W, 2Q, 2C, 3Q, 3T
General Location: Original Ivanpah Town & Mill site
Elevation: 1234 – 1302 m
History: Historic Town & Mill Site (1880s) and livestock grazing
Hydrogeology: NA
Type of springs: Rheocrene, qanats, adit & well
Vegetation: Phacelia fremontii, moss, Eleocharis parishii, Chara in the qanat as well as a stand of Forestiera pubescens just outside the qanat opening. In front there is Eriogonum sp., Fallugia, Salazaria mexicana, Juniperus osteosperma, Purshia tridentata and lots of Baccharis on a vertical portion of slope at the mouth of a side channel/small wash. (Dripping Spring). Moss, Veronica anagallis-aquatica, Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum, Eleocharis parishii, Baccharis sergiloides, Stanleya pinnata, Lycium (heavily browsed), Penstemon palmeri, Larrea tridentata, Gutierezia microcephalis, Ericameria, Bromus, Chrysothamnus, Prosopis glandulosa, Prunus fasciculata, Rhus trilobata, Marrubium vulgare. (Ivanpah Springs - dirt seep). Chara in tank and ostracods in black tank muck; Eleocharis parishii in wet soil around tank. Salix goodingii, Rhus trilobata, Prunus fasciculata, Ericameria, Chrysothamnus and the hills above have juniper and below that a belt of blackbrush (Willow Spring).
Animal Use: cattle, burros plus Amphibian calling from hole in mud bank, western tanager, Townsend's warbler at Ivanpah Springs (dirt seep).
Aquatic biota: aquatic beetle adults, Chrionomid fly larvae, mosquito larvae (Dripping Spring)
Ephemeral: no
Discharge: <0.1 l/m (Willow Spring)
Water quality: Dripping Spring: pH: 7.46, Conductivity: 780 (µS/cm), TDS: 382 mg/l, Salinity: 0.4 (0/00); Ivanpah Springs (dirt seep): pH: 7.35, Conductivity: 691 (µS/cm), TDS: 337 mg/l, Salinity: 0.3 (0/00)
Site Condition: highly disturbed (all)
Type of disturbance: livestock, burros, diversion
Type of infrastructure/diversion: At Dripping Spring a round trough/tank sits in the wash, completely silted in. The qanat is excavated under a dike on a north-facing slope. The qanat is at the bottom of a rocky hillside just above the wash. The opening of the qanat is approx 2 ½; wide and 2 ½’ high. Water in storage is about 15” deep, and holds between 5-10 gallons. The storage pool is about 4, inside the slope. Next to the Ivanpah Springs dirt seep is an adit opening which is approx 3’ x 3’ and goes a long way in. Outside the adit, burros have pawed their way to the water table on the slope near the bottom of the channel. Water is discharging from at least 2 places, plus from a narrow vertical seep at the base of the pink rock (length of seeping area approx 6 ½’ long x 9” high). Just SE from the adit in the channel bank there is a deep shaft. A partially collapsed qanat is located just east of this shaft. A pipeline goes into an old qanat. The Willow Spring water source is an open qanat, blasted and excavated beneath travertine rock. Water drips from the pipe at approx 1 drop/3 seconds into a cattle trough.
Photos: Yes
Whiskey Spring, Unnamed USGS Spring Clark 1 & 2
MOJA Spring ID: CLM04 - 6
General Location: Ivanpah Valley (Clark Mountain)
Elevation: 1259 - 1375 m
History: Legend has it that the spring received its name because its water was used to make whiskey by Whiskey Pete. The spring was dammed and the water was diverted for use by livestock. Unnamed USGS Spring Clark 1 is located upstream from Whiskey Spring.
Hydrogeology: Surfaced bedrock in a narrow of the wash channel is acting as a natural dam storing water behind it below ground. The water is flowing from this rock formation onto the surface of the channel (Whiskey Spring & Unnamed USGS Spring Clark 1).
Type of spring: Rheocrene, seep in wash
Vegetation: One fruit tree, grasses, baccharis (Whiskey Spring), Moss (Unnamed USGS Spring Clark 1), no obligatory wetland vegetation (Unnamed USGS Spring Clark 1).
Animals using spring: Burros
Aquatic biota: None
Ephemeral: Yes
Discharge: Unknown
Water quality: Unknown
Site Condition: Highly disturbed; undisturbed; slightly disturbed.
Type of disturbance: Dam, historic diversion, burros (Whiskey Spring); None (Unnamed USGS Spring Clark 1); Historic excavation (Unnamed USGS Spring Clark 2).
Type of infrastructure/diversion: At Whiskey Spring, there is a silted-in dam several meters downstream from the exposed bedrock. Historic piping is present.
Photos: Yes
