Geospatial and Statistical Analysis of Anthropogenic Groundwater Contamination PDF Download

Author: Jessica Warrack
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Languages : en
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Book Description
"We use geospatial and statistical analysis to identify areas where there may be gaps in current legislation that protects aquifers and to identify anthropogenic contamination sources and pathways. Specifically, we focus on phosphorus (P) concentrations in groundwater and total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations in groundwater in California. The results obtained from the analysis of these datasets can be used to guide sustainable water and ecosystem management policies and inform future groundwater monitoring efforts. Excess P in surface waters is a main driver of eutrophication, but P monitoring in groundwater is often overlooked because it was historically assumed that P is immobile in groundwater. To examine the risk P in groundwater poses to surface waters and ecosystems, we compile and analyze 161,321 groundwater P measurements from 12 different countries. We find that all 12 countries report groundwater P concentrations high enough to potentially cause ongoing or continued eutrophication in sur-face waters. Additionally, in Canada and the United States, we find that 93% of total P (TP) samples are found within 50 km of crop/pastureland. We also find a correlation between distance from the closest oil and gas well and elevated TP concentrations in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Ontario. We focus on these provinces because there is a high density of oil and gas wells and of TP concentrations >0.1 mg P/L. These case studies indicate the need to further investigate the role of agriculture and oil and gas wells on groundwater impacts by P and other contaminants. The global da-ta synthesis shows that there are many data gaps limiting our ability to assess groundwater P contamination, including their sources and pathways. Understanding the sources and pathways for groundwater contamination is important for sustainable groundwater management practices and protection. Total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations represent minerals, salts, metals cations, or anions dissolved in water and is often taken as an indicator for overall ground-water quality. We use 216,754 total dissolved solids (TDS) concentration measurements in groundwater in California, United States, to examine the effectiveness of cur-rent groundwater legislation with respect to the base of fresh water (BFW), which is commonly used to identify the vertical extent to which aquifers are subject to ground-water management in the state. The definition for "fresh" water varies between regulating bodies but is generally taken to range from 1,000 to 3,000 mg/L. We analyze trends in the TDS dataset and find that we cannot estimate the BFW in 73% of California. We are able to estimate the BFW in 22% of the Central Valley, a key agricultural region with large groundwater demands and many critically overdrafted ground-water basins. Using a TDS limit of 3,000 mg/L, we estimate the shallowest BFW to be 155 m below ground surface in Kern County and the deepest BFW to be 589 m below ground surface in Stanislaus County. Our analysis demonstrates that geospatial and statistical analysis are useful for managing and analyzing groundwater contamination data. Specifically, there are opportunities for enhanced and strategic management and monitoring of groundwater, focusing on P and TDS. Currently, limitations in the availability of groundwater quality data make the delineation of usable groundwater and the extent of groundwater contamination challenging to identify. Moreover, implementing groundwater management that simultaneously considers and balances impacts of agricultural and oil and gas activities is needed. The results from this thesis can be used to design data-driven groundwater management programs and strategies that protect groundwater re-sources around the world"--