The southern San Joaquin Valley has been the site of extensive oil production from the late 1800s to the present. Within the past decade, the disposal of waste fluids associated with exploration, production, storage, and transportation of petroleum has become a concern with regard to ground-water quality. Portions of the San Joaquin Valley, particularly the Buena Vista Valley area, contain ground water with naturally occurring high salinity and total dissolved solids (TDS). These waters have been extracted during oil production, and used for water flood and steam injection operations, further elevating the concentration of salts and other compounds. The...