Accurate and precise analyses of oil and gas (O&G) wastewaters and solids (e.g., sediments and sludge) are important for the regulatory monitoring of O&G development and tracing potential O&G contamination in the environment. In this study, 15 laboratories participated in an inter-laboratory comparison on the chemical characterization of three O&G wastewaters from the Appalachian Basin and four solids impacted by O&G development, with the goal of evaluating the quality of data and the accuracy of measurements for various analytes of concern. Using a variety of different methods, analytes in the wastewaters with high concentrations (i.e., >5 mg L−1) were easily detectable with relatively high accuracy, often within ±10% of the most probable value (MPV). In contrast, often less than 7 of the 15 labs were able to report detectable trace metal(loid) concentrations (i.e., Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, and Pb) with accuracies of approximately ±40%. Despite most labs using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with low instrument detection capabilities for trace metal analyses, large dilution factors during sample preparation and low trace metal concentrations in the wastewaters limited the number of quantifiable determinations and likely influenced analytical accuracy. In contrast, all the labs measuring Ra in the wastewaters were able to report detectable concentrations using a variety of methods including gamma spectroscopy and wet chemical approaches following Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard methods. However, the reported radium activities were often greater than ±30% different to the MPV possibly due to calibration inconsistencies among labs, radon leakage, or failing to correct for self-attenuation. Reported radium activities in solid materials had less variability (±20% from MPV) but accuracy could likely be improved by using certified radium standards and accounting for self-attenuation that results from matrix interferences or a density difference between the calibration standard and the unknown sample. This inter-laboratory comparison illustrates that numerous methods can be used to measure major cation, minor cation, and anion concentrations in O&G wastewaters with relatively high accuracy while trace metal(loid) and radioactivity analyses in liquids may often be over ±20% different from the MPV.
","language":"English","publisher":"Royal Society of Chemistry","doi":"10.1039/c8em00359a","usgsCitation":"Tasker, T.L., Burgos, W.D., Ajemigbitse, M.A., Lauer, N.E., Gusa, A.V., Kuatbek, M., May, D., Landis, J.D., Alessi, D.S., Johnsen, A.M., Kaste, J.M., Headrick, K., Wilke, F.D., McNeal, M., Engle, M.A., Jubb, A., Vidic, R., Vengosh, A., and Warner, N.R., 2019, Accuracy of methods for reporting inorganic element concentrations and radioactivity in oil and gas wastewaters from the Appalachian Basin, U.S. based on an inter-laboratory comparison.: Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts, v. 21, no. 2, p. 224-241, https://doi.org/10.1039/c8em00359a.","productDescription":"18 p.","startPage":"224","endPage":"241","ipdsId":"IP-100644","costCenters":[{"id":241,"text":"Eastern Energy Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":365078,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","otherGeospatial":"Appalachian Basin","volume":"21","issue":"2","publishingServiceCenter":{"id":9,"text":"Reston PSC"},"noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Tasker, Travis L.","contributorId":211456,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Tasker","given":"Travis","email":"","middleInitial":"L.","affiliations":[{"id":38248,"text":"Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, The Pennsylvania State University,","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765135,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Burgos, William D","contributorId":216600,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Burgos","given":"William","email":"","middleInitial":"D","affiliations":[{"id":6738,"text":"The Pennsylvania State University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765136,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Ajemigbitse, Moses A","contributorId":216601,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Ajemigbitse","given":"Moses","email":"","middleInitial":"A","affiliations":[{"id":6738,"text":"The Pennsylvania State University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765137,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Lauer, Nancy E.","contributorId":216602,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Lauer","given":"Nancy","email":"","middleInitial":"E.","affiliations":[{"id":12643,"text":"Duke University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765138,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Gusa, Alen V","contributorId":216603,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Gusa","given":"Alen","email":"","middleInitial":"V","affiliations":[{"id":39484,"text":"University of Pittsburg","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765139,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5},{"text":"Kuatbek, 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S.","contributorId":176793,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Alessi","given":"Daniel","email":"","middleInitial":"S.","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":765143,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":9},{"text":"Johnsen, Amanda M","contributorId":216606,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Johnsen","given":"Amanda","email":"","middleInitial":"M","affiliations":[{"id":6738,"text":"The Pennsylvania State University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765144,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":10},{"text":"Kaste, James M","contributorId":216607,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Kaste","given":"James","email":"","middleInitial":"M","affiliations":[{"id":39485,"text":"The College of William & Mary","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765145,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":11},{"text":"Headrick, Kurt","contributorId":216608,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Headrick","given":"Kurt","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":39486,"text":"Maxxam Analytics","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765146,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":12},{"text":"Wilke, Franziska DH","contributorId":216609,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Wilke","given":"Franziska","email":"","middleInitial":"DH","affiliations":[{"id":39487,"text":"Helmholtz Centre Potsdam-German Center for Geosciences","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765147,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":13},{"text":"McNeal, Mark","contributorId":216610,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"McNeal","given":"Mark","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":39488,"text":"ACZ Laboratories Inc.","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765148,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":14},{"text":"Engle, Mark A. 0000-0001-5258-7374 engle@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5258-7374","contributorId":584,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Engle","given":"Mark","email":"engle@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"A.","affiliations":[{"id":241,"text":"Eastern Energy Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":765149,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":15},{"text":"Jubb, Aaron M. 0000-0001-6875-1079","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6875-1079","contributorId":201978,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Jubb","given":"Aaron M.","affiliations":[{"id":241,"text":"Eastern Energy Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":765134,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":16},{"text":"Vidic, Radisav","contributorId":216611,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Vidic","given":"Radisav","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":39484,"text":"University of Pittsburg","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765150,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":17},{"text":"Vengosh, Avner","contributorId":208460,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Vengosh","given":"Avner","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":12643,"text":"Duke University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765151,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":18},{"text":"Warner, Nathaniel R.","contributorId":211458,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Warner","given":"Nathaniel","email":"","middleInitial":"R.","affiliations":[{"id":38248,"text":"Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, The Pennsylvania State University,","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":765152,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":19}]}} ,{"id":70198048,"text":"70198048 - 2018 - Geochemical characterization and modeling of regional groundwater contributing to the Verde River, Arizona between Mormon Pocket and the USGS Clarkdale gage","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2018-07-16T10:52:46","indexId":"70198048","displayToPublicDate":"2018-07-02T00:00:00","publicationYear":"2018","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":2342,"text":"Journal of Hydrology","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Geochemical characterization and modeling of regional groundwater contributing to the Verde River, Arizona between Mormon Pocket and the USGS Clarkdale gage","docAbstract":"We use synoptic surveys of stream discharge, stable isotopes, and dissolved noble gases to identify the source of groundwater discharge to the Verde River in central Arizona. The Verde River more than doubles in discharge in Mormon Pocket over a 1.4 km distance that includes three discrete locations of visible spring input to the river and other diffuse groundwater inputs. A detailed study of the Verde River between Mormon Pocket and the USGS Clarkdale Gage was conducted to better constrain the location of groundwater inputs, the geochemical signature and constrain the source of groundwater input. Discharge, water quality parameters (temperature, pH, specific conductance, and dissolved oxygen), stable isotopes (δ18O and δ2H), noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe), and radon (222Rn) from river water were collected. Groundwater samples from springs and wells in the area were collected and analyzed for tracers measured in the stream along with some additional analytes (major ions, strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr), carbon-14, δ13C, and tritium). Groundwater isotopic signature is consistent with a regional groundwater source. Groundwater springs discharging to the river have a depleted stable isotopic signature indicating recharge source up to 1000 m higher than the discharge location in the Verde River and are significantly fresher than stream water. Spring water has a radiocarbon age of several thousand years and some areas have tritium less than the laboratory reporting level or low concentrations of tritium (1.5 TU). The strontium isotopes indicate groundwater interaction with tertiary volcanic rock and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Along the study reach with distance downstream, Verde stream water chemistry shows increased 222Rn, freshening, increased 4He, and isotopic depletion with distance downstream. We estimated total groundwater discharge by inverting a stream transport model against 222Rn and discharge measured in the stream. The salinity, 4He, and stable isotope composition of discharging groundwater was then estimated by fitting modeled values to observed in-stream values. Estimated groundwater inflow to the stream was well within the ranges observed in springs, indicating that the main source of streamflow is deep, regional groundwater. These results show that synoptic surveys of environmental tracers in streams can be used to estimate the isotopic composition and constrain the source of groundwater discharging to streams. Our data provide direct field evidence that deep, regional groundwater discharge can be a significant source of streamflow generation in arid, topographically complex watersheds.","language":"English","publisher":"Elsevier","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.06.078","usgsCitation":"Beisner, K.R., Gardner, W.P., and Hunt, A.G., 2018, Geochemical characterization and modeling of regional groundwater contributing to the Verde River, Arizona between Mormon Pocket and the USGS Clarkdale gage: Journal of Hydrology, v. 564, p. 99-114, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.06.078.","productDescription":"15 p.","startPage":"99","endPage":"114","ipdsId":"IP-093900","costCenters":[{"id":128,"text":"Arizona Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":309,"text":"Geology and Geophysics Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":355615,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Arizona","volume":"564","publishingServiceCenter":{"id":14,"text":"Menlo Park PSC"},"noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"5b46e545e4b060350a15d083","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Beisner, Kimberly R. 0000-0002-2077-6899 kbeisner@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2077-6899","contributorId":2733,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Beisner","given":"Kimberly","email":"kbeisner@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"R.","affiliations":[{"id":472,"text":"New Mexico Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":128,"text":"Arizona Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":739767,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Gardner, W. Payton 0000-0003-0664-001X","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0664-001X","contributorId":206198,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Gardner","given":"W.","email":"","middleInitial":"Payton","affiliations":[{"id":36523,"text":"University of Montana","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":739769,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Hunt, Andrew G. 0000-0002-3810-8610 ahunt@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3810-8610","contributorId":1582,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Hunt","given":"Andrew","email":"ahunt@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"G.","affiliations":[{"id":211,"text":"Crustal Geophysics and Geochemistry Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":739768,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3}]}} ,{"id":70195193,"text":"70195193 - 2018 - The suitability of using dissolved gases to determine groundwater discharge to high gradient streams","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2018-02-07T13:08:28","indexId":"70195193","displayToPublicDate":"2018-02-01T00:00:00","publicationYear":"2018","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":2342,"text":"Journal of Hydrology","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"The suitability of using dissolved gases to determine groundwater discharge to high gradient streams","docAbstract":"Determining groundwater discharge to streams using dissolved gases is known to be useful over a wide range of streamflow rates but the suitability of dissolved gas methods to determine discharge rates in high gradient mountain streams has not been sufficiently tested, even though headwater streams are critical as ecological habitats and water resources. The aim of this study is to test the suitability of using dissolved gases to determine groundwater discharge rates to high gradient streams by field experiments in a well-characterized, high gradient mountain stream and a literature review. At a reach scale (550 m) we combined stream and groundwater radon activity measurements with an in-stream SF6 tracer test. By means of numerical modeling we determined gas exchange velocities and derived very low groundwater discharge rates (∼15% of streamflow). These groundwater discharge rates are below the uncertainty range of physical streamflow measurements and consistent with temperature, specific conductance and streamflow measured at multiple locations along the reach. At a watershed-scale (4 km), we measured CFC-12 and δ18O concentrations and determined gas exchange velocities and groundwater discharge rates with the same numerical model. The groundwater discharge rates along the 4 km stream reach were highly variable, but were consistent with the values derived in the detailed study reach. Additionally, we synthesized literature values of gas exchange velocities for different stream gradients which show an empirical relationship that will be valuable in planning future dissolved gas studies on streams with various gradients. In sum, we show that multiple dissolved gas tracers can be used to determine groundwater discharge to high gradient mountain streams from reach to watershed scales.
","language":"English","publisher":"Elsevier","doi":"10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.12.022","usgsCitation":"Gleeson, T., Manning, A.H., Popp, A., Zane, M., and Clark, J.F., 2018, The suitability of using dissolved gases to determine groundwater discharge to high gradient streams: Journal of Hydrology, v. 557, p. 561-572, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.12.022.","productDescription":"12 p.","startPage":"561","endPage":"572","ipdsId":"IP-071701","costCenters":[{"id":171,"text":"Central Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":469056,"rank":0,"type":{"id":41,"text":"Open Access External Repository Page"},"url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/82x8s2wg","text":"External Repository"},{"id":351246,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -120.3167,\n 39.4\n ],\n [\n -120.2167,\n 39.4\n ],\n [\n -120.2167,\n 39.4667\n ],\n [\n -120.3167,\n 39.4667\n ],\n [\n -120.3167,\n 39.4\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","volume":"557","publishingServiceCenter":{"id":2,"text":"Denver PSC"},"noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"5a7c1e73e4b00f54eb2292dc","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Gleeson, Tom","contributorId":42694,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Gleeson","given":"Tom","affiliations":[{"id":6646,"text":"McGill University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":727373,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Manning, Andrew H. 0000-0002-6404-1237 amanning@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6404-1237","contributorId":1305,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Manning","given":"Andrew","email":"amanning@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"H.","affiliations":[{"id":171,"text":"Central Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":727372,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Popp, Andrea","contributorId":202011,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Popp","given":"Andrea","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":35133,"text":"University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":727374,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Zane, Mathew","contributorId":202012,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Zane","given":"Mathew","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":36321,"text":"Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, California","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":727375,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Clark, Jordan F.","contributorId":202013,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Clark","given":"Jordan","email":"","middleInitial":"F.","affiliations":[{"id":36321,"text":"Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, California","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":727376,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5}]}} ,{"id":70038826,"text":"sir20115220 - 2018 - Quality of water from crystalline rock aquifers in New England, New Jersey, and New York, 1995-2007","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2018-11-19T10:34:21","indexId":"sir20115220","displayToPublicDate":"2012-06-25T00:00:00","publicationYear":"2018","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":334,"text":"Scientific Investigations Report","code":"SIR","onlineIssn":"2328-0328","printIssn":"2328-031X","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"2011-5220","title":"Quality of water from crystalline rock aquifers in New England, New Jersey, and New York, 1995-2007","docAbstract":"Crystalline bedrock aquifers in New England and parts of New Jersey and New York (NECR aquifers) are a major source of drinking water. Because the quality of water in these aquifers is highly variable, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) statistically analyzed chemical data on samples of untreated groundwater collected from 117 domestic bedrock wells in New England, New York, and New Jersey, and from 4,775 public-supply bedrock wells in New England to characterize the quality of the groundwater. The domestic-well data were from samples collected by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program from 1995 through 2007. The public-supply-well data were from samples collected for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Program from 1997 through 2007. Chemical data compiled from the domestic wells include pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, and turbidity; 6 nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, 14 major ions, 23 trace elements, 222radon gas (radon), 48 pesticide compounds, and 82 volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Additional samples were collected from the domestic wells for the analysis of gross alpha- and gross beta-particle radioactivity, radium isotopes, chlorofluorocarbon isotopes, and the dissolved gases methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon. Chemical data compiled from the public-supply wells include pH, specific conductance, nitrate, iron, manganese, sodium, chloride, fluoride, arsenic, uranium, radon, combined radium (226radium plus 228radium), gross alpha-particle radioactivity, and methyl tert-butyl ether (MtBE).
Patterns in fluoride, arsenic, uranium, and radon distributions were discernable when the data were compared to lithology groupings of the bedrock, indicating that the type of bedrock has an effect on the quality of groundwater from NECR aquifers. Fluoride concentrations were significantly higher in groundwater samples from the alkali granite, peraluminous granite, and metaluminous granite lithology groups than from samples in the other lithology groups. Water samples from 1.4 percent of 2,167 studied wells had fluoride concentrations that were equal to or greater than the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 4 milligrams per liter (mg/L) and 7.5 percent of the wells had fluoride concentrations that were equal to or greater than the secondary MCL of 2 mg/L. For arsenic, groundwater samples from the calcareous metasedimentary rocks in the New Hampshire-Maine geologic province, peraluminous granite, and pelitic rocks lithology groups had higher concentrations than did samples from the other lithology groups. Water samples from 13.3 percent of 2,054 studied wells had arsenic concentrations that were equal to or greater than the MCL of 10 micrograms per liter (μg/L), about double the national rate of occurrence in community-supply systems and in domestic wells of the United States. Uranium concentrations were significantly higher in groundwater samples from the peraluminous granite, alkali granite, and calcareous metasedimentary rocks in the New Hampshire-Maine geologic province lithology groups than from samples in the other lithology groups. Water samples from 14.2 percent of 556 studied wells had uranium concentrations equal to or greater than the MCL of 30 μg/L. Radon activities were equal to or greater than the proposed MCL of 300 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) in 95 percent of 943 studied wells, and 33 percent of the wells had radon activities were equal to or greater than the proposed alternative maximum contaminant level (AMCL) of 4,000 pCi/L. Radon activities exceeded the proposed AMCL in 20 percent or more of groundwater samples in each of the studied lithology groups with a minimum of 9 samples, but radon activities were significantly higher in groundwater samples from the alkali granite, peraluminous granite, and Narragansett basin metasedimentary rocks lithology groups. Water samples from 3.2 percent of 564 studied wells had combined radium activities equal to or greater than the MCL of 5 pCi/L; however, combined radium activities were not significantly different among the studied lithology groups.
Land use and population density also were evaluated to explain patterns in water quality. Concentrations of nitrate, sodium, chloride, and MtBE from the studied wells were significantly greater in areas of high population density (≥50 persons per square kilometer) than in areas of low population density (<50 persons per square kilometer). Concentrations of sodium, chloride, and MtBE from the studied wells were significantly greater in areas classified as developed (urban lands) than in areas classified as undeveloped (forested), agricultural, or mixed (no dominant land use). Nitrate concentrations from the public-supply wells were not significantly different among the four land use categories, but nitrate concentrations from the domestic wells were significantly greater in areas classified as developed than in areas classified as undeveloped, agricultural, or mixed.
Chloride to bromide mass ratios in the domestic well samples indicate that the groundwater was probably affected by at least three halogen sources: local precipitation and recharge waters, remnant seawater and connate waters evolved from seawater, and recharge waters affected by road salt. The groundwater in the NECR aquifers generally contained low concentrations of nitrate, VOCs, and pesticides. Less than 1 percent of water samples from 4,781 studied wells had concentrations of nitrate greater than the MCL of 10 mg/L. Less than 1 percent of water samples from 1,299 studied wells exceeded the USEPA advisory level of 20 to 40 μg/L for MtBE. None of the other studied VOCs exceeded a human health benchmark. MtBE (36 percent frequency detection) and chloroform (32.9 percent frequency detection) were the most frequently detected (>0.02 μg/L) VOCs in the domestic wells. MtBE was detected more often in water samples with apparent ages of less than 25 years than in water samples with apparent ages greater than 25 years. This finding is consistent with the time period of high MtBE use in areas in the United States where reformulated gasoline was mandated. The largest pesticide concentration was an estimated concentration of 0.06 μg/L for the herbicide metolachlor. Deethylatrazine, a degradate of atrazine, (18 percent frequency detection) and atrazine (8 percent frequency detection) were the only pesticide compounds detected (>0.001 μg/L) in more than 3 percent of the domestic wells. None of the detected pesticide compounds exceeded human health benchmarks.
Concentrations of nitrate and gross alpha-particle activities were significantly greater in the water samples from the domestic wells than in samples from the public-supply wells. Concentrations of sodium, chloride, iron, manganese, and uranium were significantly greater in the water samples from the public-supply wells than in the samples from the domestic wells. One possible explanation may be related to differences in field processing (filtered samples from the domestic wells compared to unfiltered samples from the public-supply wells).
The high frequency of detections for a wide variety of manmade and naturally occurring contaminants in both domestic and public-supply wells shows the vulnerability of NECR aquifers to contamination. The highly variable water quality and the association with highly variable lithology of crystalline bedrock underscores the importance of testing individual wells to determine if concentrations for the most commonly detected contaminants exceed human health benchmarks.
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The Devonian-age Marcellus Shale and the Ordovician-age Utica Shale, which have the potential for natural gas development, underlie Pike County and neighboring counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pike County Conservation District, conducted a study that expanded on a previous more limited 2012 study to assess baseline shallow groundwater quality in bedrock aquifers in Pike County prior to possible extensive shale-gas development. Seventy-nine water wells ranging in depths from 80 to 610 feet were sampled during June through September 2015 to provide data on the presence of methane and other aspects of existing groundwater quality in the various bedrock geologic units throughout the county, including concentrations of inorganic constituents commonly present at low values in shallow, fresh groundwater but elevated in brines associated with fluids extracted from geologic formations during shale-gas development. All groundwater samples collected in 2015 were analyzed for bacteria, dissolved and total major ions, nutrients, selected dissolved and total inorganic trace constituents (including metals and other elements), radon-222, gross alpha- and gross beta-particle activity, dissolved gases (methane, ethane, and propane), and, if sufficient methane was present, the isotopic composition of methane. Additionally, samples from 20 wells distributed throughout the county were analyzed for selected man-made volatile organic compounds, and samples from 13 wells where waters had detectable gross alpha activity were analyzed for radium-226 on the basis of relatively elevated gross alpha-particle activity.
Results of the 2015 study show that groundwater quality generally met most drinking-water standards for constituents and properties included in analyses, but groundwater samples from some wells had one or more constituents or properties, including arsenic, iron, manganese, pH, bacteria, sodium, chloride, sulfate, total dissolved solids, and radon-222, that did not meet (commonly termed failed or exceeded) primary or secondary maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) or Health Advisories (HA) for drinking water. Except for iron, dissolved and total concentrations of major ions and most trace constituents generally were similar. Only 1 of 79 well-water samples had any constituent that exceeded a MCL, with an arsenic concentration of about 30 micrograms per liter (µg/L) that was higher than the MCL of 10 µg/L. However, total arsenic concentrations were higher than the HA of 2 µg/L in samples from another 12 of 79 wells (about 15 percent). Secondary maximum contaminant levels (SMCLs) were exceeded most frequently by pH and concentrations of iron and manganese. The pH was outside of the SMCL range of 6.5–8.5 in samples from 24 of 79 wells (30 percent), ranging from 5.5 to 9.2; more samples had pH values less than 6.5 than had pH values greater than 8.5. Total iron concentrations typically were much greater than dissolved iron concentrations, indicating substantial presence of iron in particulate phase, and exceeded the SMCL of 300 µg/L more often [35 of 79 samples (44 percent)] than dissolved iron concentrations [samples from 8 of 79 wells (10 percent)]. Total manganese concentrations exceeded the SMCL of 50 µg/L in samples from 31 of 79 wells (39 percent) and the HA of 300 µg/L in samples from 13 of 79 wells (about 16 percent). A few (1–2) samples had concentrations of sodium, chloride, sulfate, or TDS higher than the SMCLs of 60, 250, 250, and 500 mg/L, respectively. However, dissolved sodium concentrations were higher than the HA of 20 mg/L in samples from 15 of 79 wells (nearly 20 percent). Total coliform bacteria were detected in samples from 25 of 79 wells (32 percent) but Escherichia coli were not detected in any sample. Radon-222 activities ranged from 11 to 5,100 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), with a median of 1,440 pCi/L, and exceeded the proposed and the alternate proposed drinking-water standards of 300 and 4,000 pCi/L, respectively, in samples from 60 of 79 wells (75 percent) and in samples from 2 of 79 wells (3 percent), respectively.
Groundwater samples from all wells were analyzed for dissolved methane by one contract laboratory that determined water from 19 of the 79 wells (24 percent) had concentrations of methane greater than the reporting level of 0.010 milligrams per liter (mg/L) with a maximum methane concentration of 2.5 mg/L. Methane concentrations in 18 replicate samples submitted to a second laboratory for dissolved gas and isotopic analysis generally were higher by as much as a factor of 2.7 from those determined by the first laboratory, indicating potential bias related to combined sampling and analytical methods, and therefore, caution needs to be used when comparing methane results determined by different methods. The isotopic composition of methane in 9 of 10 samples with sufficient dissolved methane (about 0.3 mg/L) for isotopic analysis is consistent with values reported for methane of microbial origin produced through carbon dioxide reduction; an isotopic shift in 1 or 2 samples may indicate subsequent methane oxidation. The low concentrations of ethane relative to methane in these samples further indicate that the methane may be of microbial origin. Groundwater samples with relatively elevated methane concentrations (near or greater than 0.3 mg/L) also had chemical compositions that differed in some respects from groundwater with relatively low methane concentrations (less than 0.3 mg/L) by having higher pH (greater than 8) and higher concentrations of sodium, lithium, boron, fluoride, arsenic, and bromide and chloride/bromide ratios indicative of mixing with a small amount of brine of probable natural occurrence.
The spatial distribution of groundwater compositions differs by topographic setting and lithology and generally shows that (1) relatively dilute, slightly acidic, oxygenated, calcium-carbonate type waters tend to occur in the uplands underlain by the undivided Poplar Gap and Packerton members of the Catskill Formation in southwestern Pike County; (2) waters of near neutral pH with the highest amounts of hardness (calcium and magnesium) generally occur in areas of intermediate altitudes underlain by other members of the Catskill Formation; and (3) waters with pH values greater than 8, low oxygen concentrations, and the highest arsenic, sodium, lithium, bromide, and methane concentrations can be present in deep wells in uplands but most frequently occur in stream valleys, especially at low altitudes (less than about 1,200 feet above North American Vertical Datum of 1988) where groundwater may be discharging regionally, such as to the Delaware River in northern and eastern Pike County. Thus, the baseline assessment of groundwater quality in Pike County prior to gas-well development shows that shallow (less than about 1,000 feet deep) groundwater generally meets primary drinking-water standards for inorganic constituents but varies spatially, with methane and some constituents present in high concentrations in brine (and connate waters from gas and oil reservoirs) present at low to moderate concentrations in some parts of Pike County.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20175110","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Pike County Conservation District","usgsCitation":"Senior, L.A., and Cravotta, C.A., III, 2017: Baseline assessment of groundwater quality in Pike County, Pennsylvania, 2015: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5110, 181 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175110.","productDescription":"Report: xii, 181 p.; Data Release","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-088156","costCenters":[{"id":532,"text":"Pennsylvania Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":350196,"rank":3,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5980c3c0e4b0a38ca278a8c9","text":"USGS Data Release","linkHelpText":"Field properties and results of laboratory analysis of groundwater samples collected from 79 wells in Pike County, Pennsylvania, 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Pennsylvania Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
215 Limekiln Road
New Cumberland, PA 17070-2424
http://pa.water.usgs.gov
Groundwater quality in the 112-square-mile Bear Valley and Lake Arrowhead Watershed (BEAR) study unit was investigated as part of the Priority Basin Project (PBP) of the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The study unit comprises two study areas (Bear Valley and Lake Arrowhead Watershed) in southern California in San Bernardino County. The GAMA-PBP is conducted by the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The GAMA BEAR study was designed to provide a spatially balanced, robust assessment of the quality of untreated (raw) groundwater from the primary aquifer systems in the two study areas of the BEAR study unit. The assessment is based on water-quality collected by the USGS from 38 sites (27 grid and 11 understanding) during 2010 and on water-quality data from the SWRCB-Division of Drinking Water (DDW) database. The primary aquifer system is defined by springs and the perforation intervals of wells listed in the SWRCB-DDW water-quality database for the BEAR study unit.
This study included two types of assessments: (1) a status assessment, which characterized the status of the quality of the groundwater resource as of 2010 by using data from samples analyzed for volatile organic compounds, pesticides, and naturally present inorganic constituents, such as major ions and trace elements, and (2) an understanding assessment, which evaluated the natural and human factors potentially affecting the groundwater quality. The assessments were intended to characterize the quality of groundwater resources in the primary aquifer system of the BEAR study unit, not the treated drinking water delivered to consumers. Bear Valley study area and the Lake Arrowhead Watershed study area were also compared statistically on the basis of water-quality results and factors potentially affecting the groundwater quality.
Relative concentrations (RCs), which are sample concentration of a particular constituent divided by its associated health- or aesthetic-based benchmark concentrations, were used for evaluating the groundwater quality for those constituents that have Federal or California regulatory or non-regulatory benchmarks for drinking-water quality. An RC greater than 1.0 indicates a concentration greater than a benchmark. Organic (volatile organic compounds and pesticides) and special-interest (perchlorate) constituent RCs were classified as “high” (RC greater than 1.0), “moderate” (RC less than or equal to 1.0 and greater than 0.1), or “low” (RC less than or equal to 0.1). For inorganic (radioactive, trace element, major ion, and nutrient) constituents, the boundary between low and moderate RCs was set at 0.5.
Aquifer-scale proportion was used as the primary metric in the status assessment for evaluating groundwater quality at the study-unit scale or for its component areas. High aquifer-scale proportion was defined as the percentage of the area of the primary aquifer system with a RC greater than 1.0 for a particular constituent or class of constituents; the percentage is based on area rather than volume. Moderate and low aquifer-scale proportions were defined as the percentage of the primary aquifer system with moderate and low RCs, respectively. A spatially weighted statistical approach was used to evaluate aquifer-scale proportions for individual constituents and classes of constituents.
The status assessment for the Bear Valley study area found that inorganic constituents with health-based benchmarks were detected at high RCs in 9.0 percent of the primary aquifer system and at moderate RCs in 13 percent. The high RCs of inorganic constituents primarily reflected high aquifer-scale proportions of fluoride (in 5.4 percent of the primary aquifer system) and arsenic (3.6 percent). The RCs of organic constituents with health-based benchmarks were high in 1.0 percent of the primary aquifer system, moderate in 8.1 percent, and low in 70 percent. Organic constituents were detected in 79 percent of the primary aquifer system. Two groups of organic constituents and two individual organic constituents were detected at frequencies greater than 10 percent of samples from the USGS grid sites: trihalomethanes (THMs), solvents, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), and simazine. The special-interest constituent perchlorate was detected in 93 percent of the primary aquifer system; it was detected at moderate RCs in 7.1 percent and at low RCs in 86 percent.
The status assessment in the Lake Arrowhead Watershed study area showed that inorganic constituents with human-health benchmarks were detected at high RCs in 25 percent of the primary aquifer system and at moderate RCs in 41 percent. The high aquifer-scale proportion of inorganic constituents primarily reflected high aquifer-scale proportions of radon‑222 (in 62 percent of the primary aquifer system) and uranium (26 percent). RCs of organic constituents with health-based benchmarks were moderate in 7.7 percent of the primary aquifer system and low in 46 percent. Organic constituents were detected in 54 percent of the primary aquifer system. The only organic constituents that were detected at frequencies greater than 10 percent of samples from the USGS grid sites were THMs. Perchlorate was detected in 62 percent of the primary aquifer system at uniformly low RCs.
The second component of this study, the understanding assessment, identified the natural and human factors that could have affected the groundwater quality in the BEAR study unit by evaluating statistical correlations between water-quality constituents and potential explanatory factors. The potential explanatory factors evaluated were land use (including density of septic tanks and leaking or formerly leaking underground fuel tanks), site type, aquifer lithology, well construction (well depth and depth to the top-of-perforated interval), elevation, aridity index, groundwater-age distribution, and oxidation-reduction condition (including pH and dissolved oxygen concentration). Results of the statistical evaluations were used to explain the distribution of constituents in groundwater of the BEAR study unit.
In the Bear Valley study area, high and moderate RCs of fluoride were found in sites known to be influenced by hydrothermic conditions or that had high concentrations of fluoride historically. The high RC of arsenic can likely be attributed to desorption of arsenic from aquifer sediments saturated in old groundwater with high pH under reducing conditions. The THMs were detected more frequently at USGS grid sites that were wells, part of a large urban water system, and surrounded by urban land use. Solvents, MTBE, and simazine were all detected more frequently at USGS grid sites that were wells with a greater urban percentage of surrounding land use and that accessed older groundwater than other USGS grid sites. Comparison between the observed and predicted detection frequencies of perchlorate at USGS grid sites indicated that anthropogenic sources could have contributed to low levels of perchlorate in the groundwater of the Bear Valley study area.
In the Lake Arrowhead Watershed study area, high and moderate RCs of radon-222 and uranium can be attributed to older groundwater from the granitic fractured-rock primary aquifer system. Low RCs of THMs were detected at USGS grid sites that were wells and part of small water systems. The similarities between the observed and predicted detection frequencies of perchlorate in samples from USGS grid sites indicated that the source and distribution of perchlorate were most likely attributable to precipitation (rain and snow), with minimal, if any, contribution from anthropogenic sources.
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California GAMA
U.S. Geological Survey
6000 J Street, Placer Hall
Sacramento, California 95819
Results from 1,041 groundwater samples collected during 1986‒2015 from 16 geologic units in Pennsylvania, associated with 25 or more groundwater samples with concentrations of radon-222, were evaluated in an effort to identify variations in radon-222 activities or concentrations and to classify potential radon-222 exposure from groundwater and indoor air. Radon-222 is hereafter referred to as “radon.” Radon concentrations in groundwater greater than or equal to the proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) for public-water supply systems of 300 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) were present in about 87 percent of the water samples, whereas concentrations greater than or equal to the proposed alternative MCL (AMCL) for public water-supply systems of 4,000 pCi/L were present in 14 percent. The highest radon concentrations were measured in groundwater from the schists, gneisses, and quartzites of the Piedmont Physiographic Province.
In this study, conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, groundwater samples were aggregated among 16 geologic units in Pennsylvania to identify units with high median radon concentrations in groundwater. Graphical plots and statistical tests were used to determine variations in radon concentrations in groundwater and indoor air. Median radon concentrations in groundwater samples and median radon concentrations in indoor air samples within the 16 geologic units were classified according to proposed and recommended regulatory limits to explore potential radon exposure from groundwater and indoor air. All of the geologic units, except for the Allegheny (Pa) and Glenshaw (Pcg) Formations in the Appalachian Plateaus Physiographic Province, had median radon concentrations greater than the proposed EPA MCL of 300 pCi/L, and the Peters Creek Schist (Xpc), which is in the Piedmont Physiographic Province, had a median radon concentration greater than the EPA proposed AMCL of 4,000 pCi/L. Median concentrations of radon in groundwater and indoor air were determined to differ significantly among the geologic units (Kruskal-Wallis test, significance probability, p<0.001), and Tukey’s test indicated that radon concentrations in groundwater and indoor air in the Peters Creek Schist (Xpc) were significantly higher than those in the other units. Also, the Peters Creek Schist (Xpc) was determined to be the area with highest potential of radon exposure from groundwater and indoor air and one of two units with the highest percentage of population assumed to be using domestic self-supplied water (81 percent), which puts the population at greater potential of exposure to radon from groundwater.
Potential radon exposure determined from classification of geologic units by median radon concentrations in groundwater and indoor air according to proposed and recommended regulatory limits is useful for drawing general conclusions about the presence, variation, and potential radon exposure in specific geologic units, but the associated data and maps have limitations. The aggregated indoor air radon data have spatial accuracy limitations owing to imprecision of geocoded test locations. In addition, the associated data describing geologic units and the public water supplier’s service areas have spatial and interpretation accuracy limitations. As a result, data and maps associated with this report are not recommended for use in predicting individual concentrations at specific sites nor for use as a decision-making tool for property owners to decide whether to test for radon concentrations at specific locations. Instead, the data and maps are meant to promote awareness regarding potential radon exposure in Pennsylvania and to point out data gaps that exist throughout the State.
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\"}}]}","contact":"Director, Pennsylvania Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
215 Limekiln Road
New Cumberland, PA 17070
Groundwater is a major source of drinking water in Lycoming County and adjacent counties in north-central and northeastern Pennsylvania, which are largely forested and rural and are currently undergoing development for hydrocarbon gases. Water-quality data are needed for assessing the natural characteristics of the groundwater resource and the potential effects from energy and mineral extraction, timber harvesting, agriculture, sewage and septic systems, and other human influences.
This report, prepared in cooperation with Lycoming County, presents analytical data for groundwater samples from 75 domestic wells sampled throughout Lycoming County in June, July, and August 2014. The samples were collected using existing pumps and plumbing prior to any treatment and analyzed for physical and chemical characteristics, including nutrients, major ions, metals and trace elements, volatile organic compounds, gross-alpha particle and gross beta-particle activity, uranium, and dissolved gases, including methane and radon-222.
Results indicate groundwater quality generally met most drinking-water standards, but that some samples exceeded primary or secondary maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for arsenic, iron, manganese, total dissolved solids (TDS), chloride, pH, bacteria, or radon-222. Arsenic concentrations were higher than the MCL of 10 micrograms per liter (µg/L) in 9 of the 75 (12 percent) well-water samples, with concentrations as high as 23.6 μg/L; arsenic concentrations were higher than the health advisory level (HAL) of 2 μg/L in 23 samples (31 percent). Total iron concentrations exceeded the secondary maximum contaminant level (SMCL) of 300 μg/L in 20 of the 75 samples. Total manganese concentrations exceeded the SMCL of 50 μg/L in 20 samples and the HAL of 300 μg/L in 2 of those samples. Three samples had chloride concentrations that exceeded the SMCL of 250 milligrams per liter (mg/L); two of those samples exceeded the SMCL of 500 mg/L for TDS. The pH ranged from 5.3 to 9.15 and did not meet the SMCL range of 6.5 to 8.5 in 22 samples, with 17 samples having a pH less than 6.5 and 8 samples having pH greater than 8.5. Generally, the samples that had elevated TDS, chloride, or arsenic concentrations had high pH.
Total coliform bacteria were detected in 39 of 75 samples (52 percent), with Escherichia coli detected in 10 of those 39 samples. Radon-222 activities ranged from non-detect to 7,420 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), with a median of 863 pCi/L, and exceeded the proposed drinking-water standard of 300 pCi/L in 50 (67 percent) of the 75 samples; radon-222 activities were higher than the alternative proposed standard of 4,000 pCi/L in 3 samples.
Water from 15 of 75 (20 percent) wells had concentrations of methane greater than the reporting level of 0.01 mg/L; detectable methane concentrations ranged from 0.04 to 16.8 mg/L. Two samples had methane concentrations (13.1 and 16.8 mg/L) exceeding the action level of 7 mg/L. Low levels of ethane (up to 0.12 mg/L) were present in the five samples with the highest methane concentrations (near or above 1 mg/L) that were analyzed for hydrocarbon compounds and isotopic composition. The isotopic composition of methane in four of these groundwater samples, from the Catskill and Lock Haven Formations and the Hamilton Group, have sample carbon isotopic ratio delta values (carbon-13/carbon-12) ranging from –42.36 to –36.08 parts per thousand (‰) and hydrogen isotopic ratio delta values (deuterium/protium) ranging from –212.0 to –188.4 ‰, which are consistent with the isotopic compositions reported for mud-gas logging samples from these geologic units and a thermogenic source of the methane. However, the isotopic composition and ratios of methane to ethane in a fifth sample indicate the methane in that sample may be of microbial origin that subsequently underwent oxidation. The fifth sample had the highest concentration of methane, 16.8 mg/L, with an carbon isotopic ratio delta values of -50.59 ‰ and a hydrogen isotopic ratio delta values of -209.7 ‰.
The six well-water samples with the highest methane concentrations also had among the highest pH values (8.25 to 9.15) and elevated concentrations of sodium, lithium, boron, fluoride, arsenic, and bromide. Relatively elevated concentrations of some other constituents, such as barium, strontium, and chloride, commonly were present in, but not limited to, those well-water samples with elevated methane.
Three of the six groundwater samples with the highest methane concentrations had chloride/bromide ratios that indicate mixing with a small amount of brine (0.02 percent or less) similar in composition to those reported at undetermined depth below the freshwater aquifer and for gas and oil well brines in Pennsylvania. The sample with the highest methane concentration and most other samples with low methane concentrations (less than about 1 mg/L) have chloride/bromide ratios that indicate predominantly anthropogenic sources of chloride, such as road-deicing salt, septic systems, and (or) animal waste. Brines that are naturally present may originate from deeper parts of the aquifer system, while anthropogenic sources are more likely to affect shallow groundwater because they occur on or near the land-surface.
The spatial distribution of groundwater compositions generally indicate that (1) uplands along the western border of Lycoming County usually have dilute, slightly acidic oxygenated, calcium-bicarbonate type waters; (2) intermediate altitudes or areas of carbonate bedrock usually have water of near neutral pH, with highest amounts of hardness (calcium and magnesium); (3) stream valleys, low elevations where groundwater may be discharging, and deep wells in uplands usually have water with pH values greater than 8 and highest arsenic, sodium, lithium, bromide concentrations. Geochemical modeling indicated that for samples with elevated pH, sodium, lithium, bromide, and alkalinity, the water chemistry could have resulted by dissolution of calcite (calcium carbonate) combined with cation-exchange and mixing with a small amount of brine. Through cation-exchange reactions between water and bedrock, which are equivalent to processes in a water softener, calcium ions released by calcite dissolution are exchanged for sodium ions on clay minerals. Thus, the assessment of groundwater quality in Lycoming County indicates groundwater is generally of good quality, but various parts of Lycoming County can have groundwater with low to moderate concentrations of methane and other constituents that appear in naturally present brine and produced waters from gas and oil wells at high concentrations.\"
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20165143","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the County of Lycoming, Pennsylvania","usgsCitation":"Gross, E.L., and Cravotta, C.A., III, 2017, Groundwater quality for 75 domestic wells in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 2014: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5143, 74 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165143.","productDescription":"Report: xi, 74 p.; Appendixes 1-2","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-076071","costCenters":[{"id":532,"text":"Pennsylvania Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":336804,"rank":4,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2016/5143/sir20165143_appendix2.xlsx","text":"Appendix 2 - Table 2-1 - ","size":"27.3 KB","linkFileType":{"id":3,"text":"xlsx"},"description":"SIR 2016-5143","linkHelpText":"Spearman rank correlation coefficient (r) matrix 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U.S. Geological Survey
215 Limekiln Road
New Cumberland, PA 17070
http://pa.water.usgs.gov/
Groundwater quality in the 2,390-square-mile Madera/Chowchilla–Kings Shallow Aquifer study unit was investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey from August 2013 to April 2014 as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program’s Priority Basin Project. The study was designed to provide a statistically unbiased, spatially distributed assessment of untreated groundwater quality in the shallow aquifer systems of the Madera, Chowchilla, and Kings subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley groundwater basin. The shallow aquifer system corresponds to the part of the aquifer system generally used by domestic wells and is shallower than the part of the aquifer system generally used by public-supply wells. This report presents the data collected for the study and a brief preliminary description of the results.
Groundwater samples were collected from 77 wells and were analyzed for organic constituents, inorganic constituents, selected isotopic and age-dating tracers, and microbial indicators. Most of the wells sampled for this study were private domestic wells. Unlike groundwater from public-supply wells, the groundwater from private domestic wells is not regulated for quality in California and is rarely analyzed for water-quality constituents. To provide context for the sampling results, however, concentrations of constituents measured in the untreated groundwater were compared with regulatory and non-regulatory benchmarks established for drinking-water quality by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the State of California, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Of the 319 organic constituents assessed in this study (90 volatile organic compounds and 229 pesticides and pesticide degradates), 17 volatile organic compounds and 23 pesticides and pesticide degradates were detected in groundwater samples; concentrations of all but 2 were less than the respective benchmarks. The fumigants 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP) and 1,2-dibromoethane (EDB) were detected at concentrations above their respective regulatory benchmarks in samples from a total of four wells.
Most detections of inorganic constituents were at concentrations or activities less than the respective benchmark levels. Five inorganic constituents were detected in groundwater samples from one or more wells at concentrations or activities greater than their respective regulatory, health-based benchmarks: arsenic, uranium, nitrate, adjusted gross alpha particle activity, and gross beta particle activity. Four inorganic constituents were detected in samples from one or more wells at concentrations or activities greater than their respective non-regulatory, health-based benchmarks: manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, and radon-222. Three inorganic constituents were detected in groundwater samples from one or more wells at concentrations greater than their respective non-regulatory, aesthetic-based benchmarks: iron, sulfate, and total dissolved solids.
Microbial indicators (Escherichia coli, total coliform, and enterococci) were analyzed for presence or absence. The presence of Escherichia coli (E. coli) was not detected; the presence of total coliform was detected in samples from 10 of the 72 grid wells for which it was analyzed, and the presence of enterococci was detected in samples from 5 of the 73 grid wells analyzed.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ds1019","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board","usgsCitation":"Shelton, J.L., and Fram, M.S., 2017, Groundwater-quality data for the Madera/Chowchilla–Kings shallow aquifer study unit, 2013–14: Results from the California GAMA Program: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 1019, 115 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1019.","productDescription":"Report: viii, 115 p.","numberOfPages":"128","onlineOnly":"N","ipdsId":"IP-056132","costCenters":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":334554,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/1019/ds1019.pdf","text":"Report","size":"3.67 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"DS 1019"},{"id":334553,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/1019/coverthb2.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","otherGeospatial":"Madera/Chowchilla-Kings Shallow Aquifer study unit","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -120.666667,\n 37.416667\n ],\n [\n -120.666667,\n 36\n ],\n [\n -119.166667,\n 36\n ],\n [\n -119.166667,\n 37.416667\n ],\n [\n -120.666667,\n 37.416667\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, California Water Science Center
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6000 J Street, Placer Hall
Sacramento, California 95819
The Devonian-age Marcellus Shale and the Ordovician-age Utica Shale, geologic formations which have potential for natural gas development, underlie Wayne County and neighboring counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Wayne Conservation District, conducted a study to assess baseline shallow groundwater quality in bedrock aquifers in Wayne County prior to potential extensive shale-gas development. The 2014 study expanded on previous, more limited studies that included sampling of groundwater from 2 wells in 2011 and 32 wells in 2013 in Wayne County. Eighty-nine water wells were sampled in summer 2014 to provide data on the presence of methane and other aspects of existing groundwater quality throughout the county, including concentrations of inorganic constituents commonly present at low levels in shallow, fresh groundwater but elevated in brines associated with fluids extracted from geologic formations during shale-gas development. Depths of sampled wells ranged from 85 to 1,300 feet (ft) with a median of 291 ft. All of the groundwater samples collected in 2014 were analyzed for bacteria, major ions, nutrients, selected inorganic trace constituents (including metals and other elements), radon-222, gross alpha- and gross beta-particle activity, selected man-made organic compounds (including volatile organic compounds and glycols), dissolved gases (methane, ethane, and propane), and, if sufficient methane was present, the isotopic composition of methane.
Results of the 2014 study show that groundwater quality generally met most drinking-water standards, but some well-water samples had one or more constituents or properties, including arsenic, iron, pH, bacteria, and radon-222, that exceeded primary or secondary maximum contaminant levels (MCLs). Arsenic concentrations were higher than the MCL of 10 micrograms per liter (µg/L) in 4 of 89 samples (4.5 percent) with concentrations as high as 20 µg/L; arsenic concentrations were higher than the Health Advisory level of 2 µg/L in 27 of 89 samples (30 percent). Total iron concentrations exceeded the secondary maximum contaminant level (SMCL) of 300 µg/L in 9 of 89 samples (10 percent). The pH ranged from 5.4 to 9.3 and did not meet the SMCL range of greater than 6.5 to less than 8.5 in 27 samples (30 percent); 22 samples had pH values less than 6.5, and 5 samples had pH values greater than 8.5. Total coliform bacteria were detected in 22 of 89 samples (25 percent); Escherichia coli were detected in only 2 of those 22 samples. Radon-222 activities ranged from 25 to 7,400 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), with a median of 2,120 pCi/L, and exceeded the proposed drinking-water standard of 300 pCi/L in 86 of 89 samples (97 percent); radon-222 activities were higher than the alternative proposed standard of 4,000 pCi/L in 12 of 89 samples (13.5 percent).
Water from 8 of the 89 wells (9 percent) had concentrations of methane greater than the reporting level of 0.24 milligrams per liter (mg/L) with the detectable methane concentrations ranging from 0.74 to 9.6 mg/L. Of 16 replicate samples submitted to another laboratory with a lower reporting level of 0.0002 mg/L, 15 samples had detectable methane concentrations that ranged from 0.0011 to 9.7 mg/L. Of these 15 samples, low levels of ethane (0.00032 to 0.0017 mg/L) were detected in 6 of 7 samples with methane concentrations greater than 0.75 mg/L. The isotopic composition of methane in 6 of 8 samples with sufficient dissolved methane (about 1 mg/L) for isotopic analysis is consistent with a predominantly thermogenic methane source (sample carbon isotopic ratio δ13CCH4 values ranging from -56.36 to -45.97 parts per thousand (‰) and hydrogen isotopic ratio δDCH4 values ranging from -233.1 to -141.1 ‰). However, the low levels of ethane relative to methane indicate that the methane may be of microbial origin and subsequently underwent oxidation. Isotopic compositions indicated a possibly mixed thermogenic and microbial source (carbon dioxide reduction process) for the methane in 1 of the 8 samples (δ13CCH4 of -63.72 and δDCH4 of -192.3 ‰) and potential oxidation of microbial and (or) thermogenic methane in the remaining sample (δ13CCH4 of -46.56 and δDCH4 of -79.7 ‰).
Groundwater samples with relatively elevated methane concentrations (near or greater than 1 mg/L) had a chemical composition that differed in some respects (pH, selected major ions, and inorganic trace constituents) from groundwater with relatively low methane concentrations (less than 0.75 mg/L). The seven well-water samples with the highest methane concentrations (from about 1 to 9.6 mg/L) also had among the highest pH values (8.1 to 9.3, respectively) and the highest concentrations of sodium, lithium, boron, fluoride, arsenic, and bromide. Relatively elevated concentrations of some other constituents, such as barium, strontium, and chloride, commonly were present in, but not limited to, those well-water samples with elevated methane.
Groundwater samples with the highest methane concentrations had chloride/bromide ratios that indicate mixing with a small amount of brine (0.02 percent or less, by volume) similar in composition to that reported for gas and oil well brines in Pennsylvania. Most other samples with low methane concentrations (less than about 1 mg/L) had chloride/bromide ratios that indicate predominantly man-made sources of chloride, such as road salt, septic systems, and (or) animal waste. Although naturally occurring brines may originate from deeper parts of the aquifer system, the man-made sources are likely to affect shallow groundwater.
Geochemical modeling showed that the water chemistry of samples with elevated pH, sodium, lithium, bromide, and alkalinity could result from dissolution of calcite (calcium carbonate) combined with cation exchange and mixing with a small amount of brine. Through cation exchange reactions (which are equivalent to processes in a water softener) calcium ions released by calcite dissolution are exchanged for sodium ions on clay minerals. The spatial distribution of groundwater compositions generally shows that (1) relatively dilute, slightly acidic, oxygenated, calcium-carbonate type waters tend to occur in the uplands along the western border of Wayne County; (2) waters of near neutral pH with the highest amounts of hardness (calcium and magnesium) generally occur in areas of intermediate altitudes; and (3) waters with pH values greater than 8, low oxygen concentrations, and the highest arsenic, sodium, lithium, bromide, and methane concentrations can occur in deep wells in uplands but most frequently occur in stream valleys, especially at low elevations (less than about 1,200 ft above North American Vertical Datum of 1988) where groundwater may be discharging regionally, such as to the Delaware River. Thus, the baseline assessment of groundwater quality in Wayne County prior to gas-well development shows that shallow (less than about 1,000 ft deep) groundwater is generally of good quality, but methane and some constituents present in high concentrations in brine (and produced waters from gas and oil wells) may be present at low to moderate concentrations in some parts of Wayne County.
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U.S. Geological Survey
215 Limekiln Road
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","tableOfContents":"In a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, groundwater samples were collected from 6 production wells and 7 domestic wells in the Lake Champlain Basin and from 11 production wells and 9 domestic wells in the Susquehanna River Basin in New York. All samples were collected from June through December 2014 to characterize groundwater quality in these basins. The samples were collected and processed using standard procedures of the U.S. Geological Survey and were analyzed for 148 physiochemical properties and constituents, including dissolved gases, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, radionuclides, and indicator bacteria.
The Lake Champlain Basin study area covers the 3,050 square miles of the basin in northeastern New York; the remaining part of the basin is in Vermont and Canada. Of the 13 wells sampled in the Lake Champlain Basin, 6 are completed in sand and gravel, and 7 are completed in bedrock. Groundwater in the Lake Champlain Basin was generally of good quality, although properties and concentrations of some constituents— fluoride, iron, manganese, dissolved solids, sodium, radon-222, total coliform bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, and Escherichia coli bacteria—sometimes equaled or exceeded primary, secondary, or proposed drinking-water standards. The constituent most frequently detected in concentrations exceeding drinking-water standards (5 of 13 samples) was radon-222.
The Susquehanna River Basin study area covers the entire 4,522 square miles of the basin in south-central New York; the remaining part of the basin is in Pennsylvania. Of the 20 wells sampled in the Susquehanna River Basin, 11 are completed in sand and gravel, and 9 are completed in bedrock. Groundwater in the Susquehanna River Basin was generally of good quality, although properties and concentrations of some constituents—pH, chloride, sodium, dissolved solids, iron, manganese, aluminum, arsenic, barium, gross-alpha radioactivity, radon-222, methane, total coliform bacteria, and fecal coliform bacteria—sometimes equaled or exceeded primary, secondary, or proposed drinking-water standards. As in the Lake Champlain Basin, the constituent most frequently detected in concentrations exceeding drinking-water standards (13 of 20 samples) was radon-222.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20161153","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the New York State Dept of Environmental Conservation","usgsCitation":"Scott, T.-M., Nystrom, E.A., and Reddy, J.E., 2016, Groundwater quality in the Lake Champlain and Susquehanna River basins, New York, 2014: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016–1153, 33 p., appendixes, https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161153.","productDescription":"viii, 33p.","startPage":"1","endPage":"33","numberOfPages":"46","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-073986","costCenters":[{"id":474,"text":"New York Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":329702,"rank":4,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2016/1153/ofr20161153_app1.xlsx","text":"Apprendix 1 (MS Excel)","size":"79.1 KB","linkFileType":{"id":3,"text":"xlsx"},"description":"OFR 2016-1153 appendix 1","linkHelpText":"- Water sampling 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York\",\"nation\":\"USA \"}}]}","contact":"Director, New York Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
425 Jordan Road
Troy, NY 12180-8349
http://ny.water.usgs.gov
Water samples were collected and analyzed for arsenic and radon from 36 private, mostly domestic wells that tap the Rancocas aquifer in southern New Castle and northern Kent Counties, Delaware, during the summer of 2015. Both arsenic and radon are from natural mineral sources, in particular glauconitic and other marine-derived sediments, which are important components of the geologic formations comprising the Rancocas aquifer. Routine testing of domestic wells is not required in Delaware; as a result, many homeowners are not aware of potential water-quality problems with these chemicals in their well water. Arsenic has previously been detected at levels of potential concern for human health in this aquifer in adjacent parts of Maryland where it is referred to as the Aquia aquifer. Arsenic and radon also have previously been detected in several Rancocas aquifer wells in Delaware. The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control intends to use the data from this project to better identify areas with potential for levels of concern for domestic well owners. This report includes chemical results and maps showing the distribution of sampled wells and concentrations of arsenic and radon. All data collected for this study also are available in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System database.
Arsenic was detected above the minimum reporting limit of 0.1 micrograms per liter (µg/L) in 34 of the 36 wells sampled with concentrations ranging from about 0.11 to 27 µg/L. In 15 of the samples, arsenic concentrations were at or above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 10 µg/L for public wells. Most of the higher concentrations are clustered along a band running from the southwest to northeast in the southern part of the study area.
Radon, which is an inert gas derived from radium, was detected in all water samples with concentrations ranging from 85 to 1,870 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). Currently, the EPA has not set a MCL for radon in public water systems. There were no samples where radon was detected at a concentration exceeding the proposed alternative MCL of 4,000 pCi/L. Samples from 16 of 36 wells were above the lower proposed MCL of 300 pCi/L. Most of these samples were from wells greater than 200 feet deep located in a similar part of the aquifer as the higher concentrations of arsenic along an east-northeasterly line in the southern part of the study area.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20161143","isbn":"978-1-4113 4086-2","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Water Supply Section, Groundwater Protection Branch","usgsCitation":"Denver, J.M., 2016, Occurrence and distribution of arsenic and radon in water from private wells in the Rancocas aquifer, southern New Castle and northern Kent Counties, Delaware, 2015: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016–1143, 15 p., https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161143. ","productDescription":"vi, 15 p.","numberOfPages":"26","onlineOnly":"N","ipdsId":"IP-076094","costCenters":[{"id":374,"text":"Maryland Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":329414,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2016/1143/ofr20161143.pdf","text":"Report","size":"1.07 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2016-1143"},{"id":329413,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2016/1143/coverthb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Delaware","county":"Kent County, New Castle County","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -75.43624877929688,\n 39.310925412127155\n ],\n [\n -75.76034545898438,\n 39.298705113102244\n ],\n [\n -75.77888488769531,\n 39.50827899034114\n ],\n [\n -75.57220458984375,\n 39.51834388059882\n ],\n [\n -75.43624877929688,\n 39.310925412127155\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, MD-DE-DC Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
5522 Research Park Drive
Baltimore, MD 21228
Or visit our Web site at:
http://md.water.usgs.gov
Groundwater quality in the 3,016-square-mile Monterey–Salinas Shallow Aquifer study unit was investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from October 2012 to May 2013 as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program’s Priority Basin Project. The GAMA Monterey–Salinas Shallow Aquifer study was designed to provide a spatially unbiased assessment of untreated-groundwater quality in the shallow-aquifer systems in parts of Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties and to facilitate statistically consistent comparisons of untreated-groundwater quality throughout California. The shallow-aquifer system in the Monterey–Salinas Shallow Aquifer study unit was defined as those parts of the aquifer system shallower than the perforated depth intervals of public-supply wells, which generally corresponds to the part of the aquifer system used by domestic wells. Groundwater quality in the shallow aquifers can differ from the quality in the deeper water-bearing zones; shallow groundwater can be more vulnerable to surficial contamination.
Samples were collected from 170 sites that were selected by using a spatially distributed, randomized grid-based method. The study unit was divided into 4 study areas, each study area was divided into grid cells, and 1 well was sampled in each of the 100 grid cells (grid wells). The grid wells were domestic wells or wells with screen depths similar to those in nearby domestic wells. A greater spatial density of data was achieved in 2 of the study areas by dividing grid cells in those study areas into subcells, and in 70 subcells, samples were collected from exterior faucets at sites where there were domestic wells or wells with screen depths similar to those in nearby domestic wells (shallow-well tap sites).
Field water-quality indicators (dissolved oxygen, water temperature, pH, and specific conductance) were measured, and samples for analysis of inorganic constituents (trace elements, nutrients, major and minor ions, silica, total dissolved solids, and alkalinity) were collected at all 170 sites. In addition to these constituents, the samples from grid wells were analyzed for organic constituents (volatile organic compounds, pesticides and pesticide degradates), constituents of special interest (perchlorate and N-nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA), radioactive constituents (radon-222 and gross-alpha and gross-beta radioactivity), and geochemical and age-dating tracers (stable isotopes of carbon in dissolved inorganic carbon, carbon-14 abundances, stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen in water, and tritium activities).
Three types of quality-control samples (blanks, replicates, and matrix spikes) were collected at up to 11 percent of the wells in the Monterey–Salinas Shallow Aquifer study unit, and the results for these samples were used to evaluate the quality of the data from the groundwater samples. With the exception of trace elements, blanks rarely contained detectable concentrations of any constituent, indicating that contamination from sample-collection procedures was not a significant source of bias in the data for the groundwater samples. Low concentrations of some trace elements were detected in blanks; therefore, the data were re-censored at higher reporting levels. Replicate samples generally were within the limits of acceptable analytical reproducibility. The median values of matrix-spike recoveries were within the acceptable range (70 to 130 percent) for the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), but were only approximately 64 percent for pesticides and pesticide degradates.
The sample-collection protocols used in this study were designed to obtain representative samples of groundwater. The quality of groundwater can differ from the quality of drinking water because water chemistry can change as a result of contact with plumbing systems or the atmosphere; because of treatment, disinfection, or blending with water from other sources; or some combination of these. Water quality in domestic wells is not regulated in California, however, to provide context for the water-quality data presented in this report, results were compared to benchmarks established for drinking-water quality. The primary comparison benchmarks were maximum contaminant levels established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State of California (MCL-US and MCL-CA, respectively). Non-regulatory benchmarks were used for constituents without maximum contaminant levels (MCLs), including Health
Based Screening Levels (HBSLs) developed by the USGS and State of California secondary maximum contaminant levels (SMCL-CA) and notification levels. Most constituents detected in samples from the Monterey–Salinas Shallow Aquifer study unit had concentrations less than their respective benchmarks.
Of the 148 organic constituents analyzed in the 100 grid-well samples, 38 were detected, and all concentrations were less than the benchmarks. Volatile organic compounds were detected in 26 of the grid wells, and pesticides and pesticide degradates were detected in 28 grid wells. The special-interest constituent NDMA was detected above the HBSL in three samples, one of which also had a perchlorate concentration greater than the MCL-CA.
Of the inorganic constituents, 6 were detected at concentrations above their respective MCL benchmarks in grid-well samples: arsenic (5 grid wells above the MCL of 10 micrograms per liter, μg/L), selenium (3 grid wells, MCL of 50 μg/L), uranium (4 grid wells, MCL of 30 μg/L), nitrate (16 grid wells, MCL of 10 milligrams per liter, mg/L), adjusted gross alpha particle activity (10 grid wells, MCL of 15 picocuries per liter, pCi/L), and gross beta particle activity (1 grid well, MCL of 50 pCi/L). An additional 4 inorganic constituents were detected at concentrations above their respective HBSL benchmarks in grid-well samples: boron (1 grid well above the HBSL of 6,000 μg/L), manganese (8 grid wells, HBSL of 300 μg/L), molybdenum (6 grid wells, HBSL of 40 μg/L), and strontium (6 grid wells, HBSL of 4,000 μg/L). Of the inorganic constituents, 4 were detected at concentrations above their non-health based SMCL benchmarks in grid-well samples: iron (9 grid wells above the SMCL of 300 μg/L), chloride (7 grid wells, SMCL of 500 mg/L), sulfate (14 grid wells, SMCL of 500 mg/L), and total dissolved solids (27 grid wells, SMCL of 1,000 mg/L).
Of the inorganic constituents analyzed in the 70 shallow-well tap sites, 10 were detected at concentrations above the benchmarks. Of the inorganic constituents, 3 were detected at concentrations above their respective MCL benchmarks in shallow-well tap sites: arsenic (2 shallow-well tap sites above the MCL of 10 μg/L), uranium (2 shallow-well tap sites, MCL of 30 μg/L), and nitrate (24 shallow-well tap sites, MCL of 10 mg/L). An additional 3 inorganic constituents were detected above their respective HBSL benchmarks in shallow-well tap sites: manganese (4 shallow-well tap sites above the HBSL of 300 μg/L), molybdenum (4 shallow-well tap sites, HBSL of 40 μg/L), and zinc (2 shallow-well tap sites, HBSL of 2,000 μg/L). Of the inorganic constituents, 4 were detected at concentrations above their non-health based SMCL benchmarks in shallow-well tap sites: iron (6 shallow-well tap sites above the SMCL of 300 μg/L), chloride (1 shallow-well tap site, SMCL of 500 mg/L), sulfate (9 shallow-well tap sites, SMCL of 500 mg/L), and total dissolved solids (15 shallow-well tap sites, SMCL of 1,000 mg/L).
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ds987","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board","usgsCitation":"Goldrath, D.A., Kulongoski, J.T., and Davis, T.A., 2015, Groundwater-quality data in the Monterey–Salinas shallow aquifer study unit, (ver. 1.1, January 2017): Results from the California GAMA Program: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 987, 132 p., https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ds987.","productDescription":"ix, 132 p. ","numberOfPages":"146","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-049716","costCenters":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":333267,"rank":3,"type":{"id":25,"text":"Version History"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/0987/versionHist.txt","size":"1 KB","linkFileType":{"id":2,"text":"txt"}},{"id":328193,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/0987/coverthb2.jpg"},{"id":328194,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/0987/ds0987.pdf","text":"Report","size":"17.1 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"DS 987"}],"country":"United States","state":"California ","otherGeospatial":"Monterey–Salinas Shallow Aquifer","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -122.08282470703124,\n 36.96086580957587\n ],\n [\n -122.05261230468751,\n 36.9367208722872\n ],\n [\n -122.01690673828124,\n 36.94769679250732\n ],\n [\n -121.981201171875,\n 36.954281585675965\n ],\n [\n -121.9317626953125,\n 36.95647639022989\n ],\n [\n -121.88507080078125,\n 36.94111143010772\n ],\n [\n -121.85760498046875,\n 36.88181755936464\n ],\n [\n -121.827392578125,\n 36.82687474287728\n ],\n [\n -121.80816650390625,\n 36.78949107451841\n ],\n [\n -121.827392578125,\n 36.71687068791304\n ],\n [\n -121.85211181640625,\n 36.65079252503471\n ],\n [\n -121.871337890625,\n 36.62214102821768\n ],\n [\n -121.91802978515625,\n 36.64858894203172\n ],\n [\n -121.95648193359374,\n 36.64638529597495\n ],\n [\n -121.8878173828125,\n 36.59347887826919\n ],\n [\n -121.80816650390625,\n 36.619936625629215\n ],\n [\n -121.75872802734375,\n 36.65079252503471\n ],\n [\n -121.58843994140625,\n 36.578041001498704\n ],\n [\n -121.30004882812499,\n 36.295204533693536\n ],\n [\n -121.11328124999999,\n 36.140092827322654\n ],\n [\n -120.84136962890625,\n 35.89572525865906\n ],\n [\n -120.80291748046874,\n 35.811131416437966\n ],\n [\n -120.794677734375,\n 35.708607653285505\n ],\n [\n -120.46234130859376,\n 35.5188142812306\n ],\n [\n -120.22338867187499,\n 35.42486791930558\n ],\n [\n -120.00640869140624,\n 35.33529320309331\n ],\n [\n -119.86633300781249,\n 35.290468565908775\n ],\n [\n -119.76470947265625,\n 35.3285710912542\n ],\n [\n -119.674072265625,\n 35.250105158539355\n ],\n [\n -119.5806884765625,\n 35.191766965947394\n ],\n [\n -119.4873046875,\n 35.10193405724606\n ],\n [\n -119.43237304687499,\n 35.05922870088872\n ],\n [\n -119.29229736328126,\n 35.02099970111467\n ],\n [\n -119.07531738281251,\n 35.007502842952896\n ],\n [\n -119.02587890624999,\n 35.0502352513963\n ],\n [\n -119.02862548828125,\n 35.11766197360177\n ],\n [\n -119.05334472656249,\n 35.18952235197259\n ],\n [\n -119.25933837890624,\n 35.28374272801905\n ],\n [\n -119.43237304687499,\n 35.411438052435464\n ],\n [\n -119.49005126953124,\n 35.49198366469642\n ],\n [\n -119.65484619140625,\n 35.54116627999815\n ],\n [\n -119.91577148437499,\n 35.69522525087309\n ],\n [\n -120.09979248046874,\n 35.70414710206052\n ],\n [\n -120.24261474609374,\n 35.72421761691415\n ],\n [\n -120.28930664062499,\n 35.86456960744962\n ],\n [\n -120.9320068359375,\n 36.20660692859011\n ],\n [\n -121.13525390625,\n 36.575835338491764\n ],\n [\n -121.4813232421875,\n 36.85325222344018\n ],\n [\n -121.63238525390626,\n 36.901587303978474\n ],\n [\n -121.76422119140625,\n 36.97183825093165\n ],\n [\n -121.82464599609375,\n 37.00035919622158\n ],\n [\n -121.92626953124999,\n 37.00913272027146\n ],\n [\n -122.04986572265624,\n 37.01351910258053\n ],\n [\n -122.08282470703124,\n 36.96086580957587\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","edition":"Version 1.0: September 1, 2016; Version 1.1: January 7, 2017","contact":"Director, California Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
6000 J Street, Placer Hall
Sacramento, CA 95819
http://ca.water.usgs.gov
Low-relief environments like the Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE) have complicated hydrologic systems where surface water and groundwater processes are intimately linked yet hard to separate. Fluid exchange within these lowhydraulic-gradient systems can occur across broad spatial and temporal scales, with variable contributions to material transport and transformation. Identifying and assessing the scales at which these processes operate is essential for accurate evaluations of how these systems contribute to global biogeochemical cycles. The distribution of 222Rn and 223,224,226Ra have complex spatial patterns along the Shark River Slough estuary (SRSE), Everglades, FL. High-resolution time-series measurements of 222Rn activity, salinity, and water level were used to quantify processes affecting radon fluxes out of the mangrove forest over a tidal cycle. Based on field data, tidal pumping through an extensive network of crab burrows in the lower FCE provides the best explanation for the high radon and fluid fluxes. Burrows are irrigated during rising tides when radon and other dissolved constituents are released from the mangrove soil. Flushing efficiency of the burrows—defined as the tidal volume divided by the volume of burrows— estimated for the creek drainage area vary seasonally from 25 (wet season) to 100 % (dry season) in this study. The tidal pumping of the mangrove forest soil acts as a significant vector for exchange between the forest and the estuary. Processes that enhance exchange of O2 and other materials across the sediment-water interface could have a profound impact on the environmental response to larger scale processes such as sea level rise and climate change. Compounding the material budgets of the SRSE are additional inputs from groundwater from the Biscayne Aquifer, which were identified using radium isotopes. Quantification of the deep groundwater component is not obtainable, but isotopic data suggest a more prevalent signal in the dry season. These findings highlight the important role that both tidal- and seasonal-scale forcings play on groundwater movement in low-gradient hydrologic systems.
","language":"English","publisher":"Springer","doi":"10.1007/s12237-016-0079-z","usgsCitation":"Smith, C.G., Price, R.M., Swarzenski, P.W., and Stalker, J.C., 2016, The role of ocean tides on groundwater-surface water exchange in a mangrove-dominated estuary: Shark River Slough, Florida Coastal Everglades, USA: Estuaries and Coasts, v. 39, no. 6, p. 1600-1616, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-016-0079-z.","productDescription":"17 p.","startPage":"1600","endPage":"1616","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-067122","costCenters":[{"id":574,"text":"St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":324525,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Florida","otherGeospatial":"Everglades","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -81.3482666015625,\n 25.175116531621764\n ],\n [\n -81.3482666015625,\n 25.76526690492097\n ],\n [\n -80.4364013671875,\n 25.76526690492097\n ],\n [\n -80.4364013671875,\n 25.175116531621764\n ],\n [\n -81.3482666015625,\n 25.175116531621764\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","volume":"39","issue":"6","publishingServiceCenter":{"id":8,"text":"Raleigh PSC"},"noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2016-05-26","publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"577391a8e4b07657d1a88bdc","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Smith, Christopher G. 0000-0002-8075-4763 cgsmith@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8075-4763","contributorId":3410,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Smith","given":"Christopher","email":"cgsmith@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"G.","affiliations":[{"id":186,"text":"Coastal and Marine Geology Program","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":24708,"text":"Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":574,"text":"St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":622616,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Price, Rene M.","contributorId":52880,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Price","given":"Rene","email":"","middleInitial":"M.","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":622617,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Swarzenski, Peter W. 0000-0003-0116-0578 pswarzen@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0116-0578","contributorId":1070,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Swarzenski","given":"Peter","email":"pswarzen@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"W.","affiliations":[{"id":520,"text":"Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":622618,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Stalker, Jeremy C.","contributorId":167541,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Stalker","given":"Jeremy","email":"","middleInitial":"C.","affiliations":[{"id":24739,"text":"Jacksonville State University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":622619,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4}]}} ,{"id":70156258,"text":"sir20155071 - 2016 - Arsenic and radionuclide occurrence and relation to geochemistry in groundwater of the Gulf Coast Aquifer System in Houston, Texas, 2007–11","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2016-03-22T08:40:17","indexId":"sir20155071","displayToPublicDate":"2016-03-21T00:00:00","publicationYear":"2016","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":334,"text":"Scientific Investigations Report","code":"SIR","onlineIssn":"2328-0328","printIssn":"2328-031X","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"2015-5071","title":"Arsenic and radionuclide occurrence and relation to geochemistry in groundwater of the Gulf Coast Aquifer System in Houston, Texas, 2007–11","docAbstract":"The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the City of Houston, began a study in 2007 to determine concentrations, spatial extent, and associated geochemical conditions that might be conducive for mobility and transport of selected naturally occurring trace elements and radionuclides in the Gulf Coast aquifer system in Houston, Texas. Water samples were collected from 91 municipal supply wells completed in the Evangeline and Chicot aquifers of the Gulf Coast aquifer system in northeastern, northwestern, and southwestern Houston; hereinafter referred to as northeast, northwest and southwest Houston areas. Wells were sampled in three phases: (1) 28 municipal supply wells were sampled during 2007–8, (2) 60 municipal supply wells during 2010, and (3) 3 municipal supply wells during December 2011. During each phase of sampling, samples were analyzed for major ions, selected trace elements, and radionuclides. At a subset of wells, concentrations of arsenic species and other radionuclides (carbon-14, radium-226, radium-228, radon-222, and tritium) also were analyzed. Selected physicochemical properties were measured in the field at the time each sample was collected, and oxidation-reduction potential and unfiltered sulfides also were measured at selected wells. The source-water (the raw, ambient water withdrawn from municipal supply wells prior to water treatment) samples were collected for assessment of aquifer conditions in order to provide community water-system operators information that could be important when they make decisions about which treatment processes to apply before distributing finished drinking water.
\nGeochemical conditions of groundwater of the Gulf Coast aquifer system are suitable in some instances for release of arsenic and radionuclides from aquifer materials. Recent changes to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) primary drinking-water regulations for arsenic and a selected number of natural radionuclides have highlighted the necessity for municipal supply system managers to be aware of the occurrence and distribution of these constituents in their source water. Concentrations of arsenic ranged from 0.58 to 23.5 micrograms per liter (μg/L), with relatively low median and 75th percentile concentrations (2.7 and 3.6 μg/L, respectively). The gross alpha-particle activity completed within 72 hours after sample collection ranged from R-1.1 (nondetect where the result was below the sample specific critical level) to 39.7 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), with a median of 10.3 pCi/L. After 30 days, the gross alpha-particle activities in the 91 samples ranged from R-0.94 to 25.5 pCi/L, with a median of 5.60 pCi/L. Concentrations of uranium ranged from less than 0.02 to 42.7 μg/L, with a median value of 1.69 μg/L and a 75th-percentile value of 6.48 μg/L. The maximum concentrations of radium-226 and combined radium (sum of radium-226 plus radium-228) were 4.34 pCi/L and 3.23 pCi/L, respectively.
\nAquifer major-ion geochemistry was characterized and shown to contain three chemical types of water as grouped by a simplified predominant cation and anion classification system: (1) calcium- bicarbonate type, (2) sodium-bicarbonate type, and (3) sodium-chloride type. Aquifer geochemistry also was characterized into four reduction-oxidation (redox) categories: (1) oxic, (2) suboxic, (3) mixed, and (4) anoxic. Within the anoxic category, groundwater was further characterized into four presumed predominant reduction processes: (1) iron or sulfate or both [Fe(III)/SO4] reducing, (2) iron [Fe(III)] reducing, (3) iron and sulfate [Fe(III)-SO4] reducing, or (4) methanogenic, as defined by composition of redox species. The oxic category was associated with calcium-bicarbonate-type water, and the methanogenic-anoxic process was associated exclusively with the sodium-bicarbonate-type water. The species of arsenic and the dominant radionuclide present were associated with specific redox categories. Arsenate was associated primarily with oxic water and did not exceed 3.5 µg/L, whereas arsenite was associated with iron-reducing, anoxic water samples and, at the highest concentrations, occurred in sulfate-reducing, anoxic; methanogenic-anoxic; or both water samples. Uranium was associated exclusively with the oxic water, whereas the highest concentrations of combined radium were associated with the iron-reducing, anoxic water. The gross alpha-particle activity was greatest in the oxic waters where the source of the radioactivity was the uranium.
\nAssociated geochemical conditions conducive for mobility of arsenic and radionuclides and their spatial and vertical extent in the Gulf Coast aquifer system in Houston are important aspects to the areal management of the municipal groundwater supplies in Houston. Ongoing research is seeking to define chemical or geological factors that are the optimal indicators for elevated concentrations of these naturally occurring constituents.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20155071","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the City of Houston","usgsCitation":"Oden, J.H., and Szabo, Zoltan, 2015, Arsenic and radionuclide occurrence and relation to geochemistry in groundwater of the Gulf Coast Aquifer System in Houston, Texas, 2007–11: U.S. Geological Scientific Investigations Report 2015–5071, 105 p., 4 apps., https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20155071.","productDescription":"Report: xi, 105 p.; Appendixes: 29 p. ","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-055471","costCenters":[{"id":583,"text":"Texas Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":318941,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2015/5071/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":318942,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2015/5071/sir20155071.pdf","text":"Report","size":"3.38 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2015–5071"},{"id":318943,"rank":3,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2015/5071/sir20155071_appendix1to4.pdf","text":"Appendixes 1–4","size":"428 kB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2015–5071 Appendixes 1–4"}],"country":"United States","state":"Texas","city":"Houston","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -94.35333251953125,\n 29.5232805008286\n ],\n [\n -94.515380859375,\n 29.441989466225706\n ],\n [\n -94.64996337890625,\n 29.351057685705033\n ],\n [\n -94.84222412109375,\n 29.216904948184734\n ],\n [\n -95.05645751953124,\n 29.048966726566885\n ],\n [\n -95.3118896484375,\n 28.86632376895912\n ],\n [\n -95.53436279296875,\n 28.878349647602047\n ],\n [\n -95.75958251953125,\n 29.07297469064491\n ],\n [\n -95.877685546875,\n 29.27202470909843\n ],\n [\n -95.92987060546874,\n 29.34148119149953\n ],\n [\n -95.98480224609374,\n 29.420460341013133\n ],\n [\n -96.03973388671875,\n 29.44916482692468\n ],\n [\n -96.06170654296875,\n 29.49698759653577\n ],\n [\n -96.02325439453124,\n 29.508939763268394\n ],\n [\n -96.0589599609375,\n 29.554345125748267\n ],\n [\n -96.08367919921875,\n 29.587788659909958\n ],\n [\n -96.0205078125,\n 29.633158589140564\n ],\n [\n -96.05072021484375,\n 29.680894340704334\n ],\n [\n -96.0040283203125,\n 29.702368038541767\n ],\n [\n -96.01776123046875,\n 29.716681287231072\n ],\n [\n -96.04522705078125,\n 29.728607435707517\n ],\n [\n -96.05072021484375,\n 29.790600550959457\n ],\n [\n -96.1029052734375,\n 29.81205076752506\n ],\n [\n -96.119384765625,\n 29.87637380707133\n ],\n [\n -96.12487792968749,\n 29.938275329718987\n ],\n [\n -96.10015869140625,\n 29.99775972557893\n ],\n [\n -96.12487792968749,\n 30.035811042667792\n ],\n [\n -96.1578369140625,\n 30.083354648756153\n ],\n [\n -96.17980957031249,\n 30.128499916692782\n ],\n [\n -96.1688232421875,\n 30.171250084367482\n ],\n [\n -96.119384765625,\n 30.225848323247707\n ],\n [\n -96.09466552734375,\n 30.28041626667403\n ],\n [\n -96.14410400390625,\n 30.334953881988564\n ],\n [\n -96.16333007812499,\n 30.37761431777479\n ],\n [\n -96.185302734375,\n 30.4060442699695\n ],\n [\n -96.2347412109375,\n 30.441570071519443\n ],\n [\n -95.7623291015625,\n 30.68988785772121\n ],\n [\n -95.30914306640625,\n 30.904581367044212\n ],\n [\n -95.240478515625,\n 30.871582821957446\n ],\n [\n -95.22125244140625,\n 30.831497881307943\n ],\n [\n -95.16357421875,\n 30.7937555812177\n ],\n [\n -95.13885498046875,\n 30.741835717889792\n ],\n [\n -95.108642578125,\n 30.69697330439986\n ],\n [\n -95.00976562499999,\n 30.652090026760014\n ],\n [\n -95.00976562499999,\n 30.62373195163005\n ],\n [\n -95.0372314453125,\n 30.58354378627138\n ],\n [\n -94.976806640625,\n 30.576450026618076\n ],\n [\n -94.9273681640625,\n 30.56462594065098\n ],\n [\n -94.85321044921875,\n 30.545704405480997\n ],\n [\n -94.866943359375,\n 30.517315187761888\n ],\n [\n -94.83673095703125,\n 30.479449996609706\n ],\n [\n -94.8834228515625,\n 30.462879341709886\n ],\n [\n -94.8394775390625,\n 30.439202087235607\n ],\n [\n -94.7955322265625,\n 30.38472258144958\n ],\n [\n -94.7735595703125,\n 30.344435586368462\n ],\n [\n -94.78729248046875,\n 30.299389313522617\n ],\n [\n -94.61151123046875,\n 30.097613277217132\n ],\n [\n -94.52636718749999,\n 29.971590978566113\n ],\n [\n -94.44122314453124,\n 29.816816857649936\n ],\n [\n -94.37805175781249,\n 29.676121784724305\n ],\n [\n -94.35333251953125,\n 29.5232805008286\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Texas Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
1505 Ferguson Lane
Austin, TX 78754–4501
In a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, water samples were collected from 4 production wells and 4 domestic wells in the Chemung River Basin, 8 production wells and 7 domestic wells in the Eastern Lake Ontario Basin, and 12 production wells and 13 domestic wells in the Lower Hudson River Basin (south of the Federal Lock and Dam at Troy) in New York. All samples were collected in June, July, and August 2013 to characterize groundwater quality in these basins. The samples were collected and processed using standard USGS procedures and were analyzed for 148 physiochemical properties and constituents, including dissolved gases, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, radionuclides, and indicator bacteria.
\nThe Chemung River Basin study area covers 1,744 square miles in south-central New York and encompasses the part of the Chemung River Basin that lies within New York. Two of the wells sampled in the Chemung River Basin are completed in sand and gravel, and 6 are completed in bedrock. Groundwater in the Chemung River Basin was generally of good quality, although properties and concentrations of some constituents—sodium, arsenic, aluminum, iron, manganese, radon-222, total coliform bacteria, and Escherichia coli bacteria—equaled or exceeded primary, secondary, or proposed drinking-water standards. The constituent most frequently detected in concentrations exceeding drinking-water standards (six of eight samples) was radon-222.
\nThe Eastern Lake Ontario Basin study area covers 3,225 square miles in north-central New York. The Eastern Lake Ontario Basin (between the Oswego River Basin and the St. Lawrence River Basin) includes the Mid-Northern Lake Ontario Basin, the Black River Basin, and the Chaumont River-Perch River Basin. Five of the wells sampled in the Eastern Lake Ontario Basin are completed in sand and gravel, and 10 are completed in bedrock. Groundwater in the Eastern Lake Ontario Basin was generally of good quality, although properties and concentrations of some constituents—color, pH, sodium, dissolved solids, fluoride, iron, manganese, uranium, gross-α radioactivity, radon-222, total coliform bacteria, and fecal coliform bacteria—equaled or exceeded primary, secondary, or proposed drinking-water standards. The constituent most frequently detected in concentrations exceeding drinking-water standards (10 of 15 samples) was radon-222.
\nThe Lower Hudson River Basin study area covers 5,607 square miles and encompasses the part of the Lower Hudson River Basin that lies within New York plus the parts of the Housatonic, Hackensack, Bronx, and Saugatuck River Basins that are in New York. Twelve of the wells sampled in the Lower Hudson River Basin are completed in sand-and-gravel deposits, and 13 are completed in bedrock. Groundwater in the Lower Hudson River Basin was generally of good quality, although properties and concentrations of some constituents—pH, sodium, chloride, dissolved solids, arsenic, aluminum, iron, manganese, radon-222, total coliform bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli bacteria, and heterotrophic plate count—equaled or exceeded primary, secondary, or proposed drinking-water standards. The constituent most frequently detected in concentrations exceeding drinking-water standards (20 of 25 samples) was radon-222.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20151168","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation","usgsCitation":"Scott, T.-M., Nystrom, E.A., and Reddy, J.E., 2015, Groundwater quality in the Chemung River, eastern Lake Ontario, and lower Hudson River Basins, New York, 2013: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2015–1168, 41 p., appendixes, https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20151168.","productDescription":"Report: viii, 39 p.; Appendixes: 1-2","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"Y","temporalStart":"2013-01-01","temporalEnd":"2013-12-31","ipdsId":"IP-061358","costCenters":[{"id":474,"text":"New York Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":310960,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2015/1168/ofr20151168.pdf","text":"Report","size":"15.1 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2015-1168"},{"id":310961,"rank":3,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2015/1168/appendix/ofr20151168_appendix1.xlsx","text":"Appendix 1","size":"113 KB","linkFileType":{"id":3,"text":"xlsx"},"description":"OFR 2015-1168","linkHelpText":"Results of Water-Sample Analyses, 2013"},{"id":310962,"rank":4,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2015/1168/appendix/ofr20151168_appendix2.xlsx","text":"Appendix 2","size":"58.5 KB","linkFileType":{"id":3,"text":"xlsx"},"description":"OFR 2015-1168","linkHelpText":"Results of Water-Sample Analyses, 2008 and 2013"},{"id":310959,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2015/1168/coverthb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"New York","otherGeospatial":"Chemung River Basin, Eastern Lake Ontario Basin, Lower Hudson River Basin","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -76.6845703125,\n 43.30119623257966\n ],\n [\n -76.6845703125,\n 44.41024041296011\n ],\n [\n -73.76220703125,\n 44.41024041296011\n ],\n [\n -73.76220703125,\n 43.30119623257966\n ],\n [\n -76.6845703125,\n 43.30119623257966\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n },\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -77.7227783203125,\n 42.00032514831621\n ],\n [\n -77.7227783203125,\n 42.44778143462245\n ],\n [\n -76.4263916015625,\n 42.44778143462245\n ],\n [\n -76.4263916015625,\n 42.00032514831621\n ],\n [\n -77.7227783203125,\n 42.00032514831621\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n },\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -73.817138671875,\n 40.81796653313175\n ],\n [\n -73.641357421875,\n 41.0130657870063\n ],\n [\n -73.7127685546875,\n 41.10005163093046\n ],\n [\n -73.4600830078125,\n 41.20758898181025\n ],\n [\n -73.5479736328125,\n 41.29844430929419\n ],\n [\n -73.27880859375,\n 42.742978093466434\n ],\n [\n -74.2291259765625,\n 42.90011265525328\n ],\n [\n -74.72351074218749,\n 41.364441530542244\n ],\n [\n -73.916015625,\n 41.000629848685385\n ],\n [\n -74.036865234375,\n 40.713955826286046\n ],\n [\n -73.817138671875,\n 40.81796653313175\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, New York Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
425 Jordan Road
Troy, NY 12180-8349
Information requests:
(518) 285-5602
or visit our Web site at:
http://ny.water.usgs.gov
During May–June, 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Park County, Colorado, drilled and installed four groundwater monitoring wells in areas identified as needing new wells to provide adequate spatial coverage for monitoring water quality in the South Park basin. Lithologic logs and well-construction reports were prepared for each well, and wells were developed after drilling to remove mud and foreign material to provide for good hydraulic connection between the well and aquifer. Slug tests were performed to estimate hydraulic-conductivity values for aquifer materials in the screened interval of each well, and groundwater samples were collected from each well for analysis of major inorganic constituents, trace metals, nutrients, dissolved organic carbon, volatile organic compounds, ethane, methane, and radon. Documentation of lithologic logs, well construction, well development, slug testing, and groundwater sampling are presented in this report.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20141231","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with Park County, Colorado","usgsCitation":"Arnold, L.R., 2015, Monitoring-well installation, slug testing, and groundwater quality for selected sites in South Park, Park County, Colorado, 2013: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2014-1231, Report: v, 32 p.; Appendixes 1-4, https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20141231.","productDescription":"Report: v, 32 p.; Appendixes 1-4","numberOfPages":"38","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"Y","temporalStart":"2013-05-01","temporalEnd":"2013-06-30","ipdsId":"IP-054626","costCenters":[{"id":164,"text":"Central Energy Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":191,"text":"Colorado Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":297075,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/ofr20141231.jpg"},{"id":297068,"rank":1,"type":{"id":15,"text":"Index Page"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1231/"},{"id":297069,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1231/pdf/ofr2014-1231.pdf","text":"Report","size":"8.36 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"Report"},{"id":297070,"rank":3,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1231/appendix/ofr2014-1231_appendix1_logs.pdf","text":"Appendix 1","size":"109 KB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"Appendix 1","linkHelpText":"Lithologic Logs"},{"id":297071,"rank":4,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1231/appendix/ofr2014-1231_appendix2_diagrams.pdf","text":"Appendix 2","size":"432 KB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"Appendix 2","linkHelpText":"Well-Constructed Diagrams"},{"id":297072,"rank":5,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1231/appendix/ofr2014-1231_appendix3_development.pdf","text":"Appendix 3","size":"91 KB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"Appendix 3","linkHelpText":"Well-Developed Records"},{"id":297073,"rank":6,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1231/appendix/ofr2014-1231_appendix4_qc_data.xlsx","text":"Appendix 4","size":"33 KB","linkFileType":{"id":3,"text":"xlsx"},"description":"Appendix 4","linkHelpText":"Water-Quality Control Data"}],"datum":"North American Datum of 1983","country":"United States","state":"Colorado","county":"Park County","otherGeospatial":"South Park basin","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -106.10321044921875,\n 38.700515838688716\n ],\n [\n -106.10321044921875,\n 39.42770738465604\n ],\n [\n -105.45364379882812,\n 39.42770738465604\n ],\n [\n -105.45364379882812,\n 38.700515838688716\n ],\n [\n -106.10321044921875,\n 38.700515838688716\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"54dd2a9ae4b08de9379b312e","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Arnold, L. R. 0000-0002-5110-9642 lrarnold@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5110-9642","contributorId":1307,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Arnold","given":"L.","email":"lrarnold@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"R.","affiliations":[{"id":191,"text":"Colorado Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":525701,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1}]}} ,{"id":70136074,"text":"ofr20141226 - 2014 - Groundwater quality in central New York, 2012","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2014-12-22T16:18:25","indexId":"ofr20141226","displayToPublicDate":"2014-12-22T17:15:00","publicationYear":"2014","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":330,"text":"Open-File Report","code":"OFR","onlineIssn":"2331-1258","printIssn":"0196-1497","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"2014-1226","title":"Groundwater quality in central New York, 2012","docAbstract":"Water samples were collected from 14 production wells and 15 private wells in central New York from August through December 2012 in a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The samples were analyzed to characterize the groundwater quality in unconsolidated and bedrock aquifers in this area. Fifteen of the wells are finished in sand-and-gravel aquifers, and 14 are finished in bedrock aquifers. Six of the 29 wells were sampled in a previous central New York study, which was conducted in 2007. Water samples from the 2012 study were analyzed for 147 physiochemical properties and constituents, including major ions, nutrients, trace elements, radionuclides, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, dissolved gases (argon, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen, oxygen), and indicator bacteria. Results of the water-quality analyses are presented in tabular form for individual wells, and summary statistics for specific constituents are presented by aquifer type. The results are compared with Federal and New York State drinking-water standards, which typically are identical. The results indicate that the groundwater generally is of acceptable quality, although for all of the wells sampled, at least one of the following constituents was detected at a concentration that exceeded current or proposed Federal or New York State drinking-water standards: color (2 samples), pH (7 samples), sodium (9 samples), chloride (2 samples), fluoride (2 samples), sulfate (2 samples), dissolved solids (8 samples), aluminum (4 samples), arsenic (1 sample), iron (9 samples), manganese (13 samples), radon-222 (13 samples), total coliform bacteria (6 samples), and heterotrophic bacteria (2 samples). Drinking-water standards for nitrate, nitrite, antimony, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, selenium, silver, thallium, zinc, gross alpha radioactivity, uranium, fecal coliform, and Escherichia coliwere not exceeded in any of the samples collected. None of the pesticides or volatile organic compounds analyzed exceeded drinking-water standards. Methane was detected in 11 sand-and-gravel wells and 9 bedrock wells. Five of the 14 bedrock wells had water with methane concentrations approaching 10 mg/L; water in one bedrock well had 37 mg/L of methane.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20141226","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation","usgsCitation":"Reddy, J.E., 2014, Groundwater quality in central New York, 2012: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2014-1226, Report: v, 13 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20141226.","productDescription":"Report: v, 13 p.","numberOfPages":"23","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","temporalStart":"2012-01-01","temporalEnd":"2012-12-31","ipdsId":"IP-051719","costCenters":[{"id":474,"text":"New York Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":296857,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/ofr20141226.jpg"},{"id":296854,"type":{"id":15,"text":"Index Page"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1226/"},{"id":296855,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1226/pdf/ofr2014-1226.pdf","size":"1.75 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}},{"id":296856,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1226/appendix/ofr2014-1226_appendix1.xlsx","text":"Appendix 1","size":"89.3 kB","linkFileType":{"id":3,"text":"xlsx"}}],"projection":"Universal Transverse Mercator projection","country":"United States","state":"New York","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -77.62939453125,\n 42.167475010395336\n ],\n [\n -77.62939453125,\n 43.75522505306928\n ],\n [\n -75.02014160156249,\n 43.75522505306928\n ],\n [\n -75.02014160156249,\n 42.167475010395336\n ],\n [\n -77.62939453125,\n 42.167475010395336\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"54dd2a84e4b08de9379b30be","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Reddy, James E. 0000-0002-6998-7267 jreddy@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6998-7267","contributorId":1080,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Reddy","given":"James","email":"jreddy@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"E.","affiliations":[{"id":474,"text":"New York Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":537132,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1}]}} ,{"id":70118113,"text":"ds874 - 2014 - Groundwater-quality data in the Santa Cruz, San Gabriel, and Peninsular Ranges Hard Rock Aquifers study unit, 2011-2012: results from the California GAMA program","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2014-12-16T13:29:54","indexId":"ds874","displayToPublicDate":"2014-12-16T14:30:00","publicationYear":"2014","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":310,"text":"Data Series","code":"DS","onlineIssn":"2327-638X","printIssn":"2327-0271","active":false,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"874","title":"Groundwater-quality data in the Santa Cruz, San Gabriel, and Peninsular Ranges Hard Rock Aquifers study unit, 2011-2012: results from the California GAMA program","docAbstract":"Groundwater quality in the 2,400-square-mile Santa Cruz, San Gabriel, and Peninsular Ranges Hard Rock Aquifers (Hard Rock) study unit was investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from March 2011 through March 2012, as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program’s Priority Basin Project (PBP). The GAMA-PBP was developed in response to the California Groundwater Quality Monitoring Act of 2001 and is being conducted in collaboration with the SWRCB and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The Hard Rock study unit was the 35th study unit to be sampled as part of the GAMA-PBP.
\n\n
The GAMA Hard Rock study was designed to provide a spatially unbiased assessment of untreated-groundwater quality in the primary aquifer system and to facilitate statistically consistent comparisons of untreated-groundwater quality throughout California. The primary aquifer system is defined as those parts of the aquifers corresponding to the perforation intervals of wells listed in the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) water-quality-monitoring database for the Hard Rock study unit. Groundwater quality in the primary aquifer system may differ from the quality in the shallower or deeper water-bearing zones; shallow groundwater may be more vulnerable to surficial contamination.
\n\n
In the Hard Rock study unit, groundwater samples were collected from 112 wells and springs in 3 study areas (the Santa Cruz, the San Gabriel, and the Peninsular Ranges) in San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego Counties. Eighty-three wells and 11 springs were selected by using a spatially distributed, randomized grid-based method to provide statistical representation of the study unit (grid wells), and 15 wells and 3 springs were selected to aid in evaluation of water-quality issues (understanding wells).
\n\n
The groundwater samples were analyzed for field water-quality indicators; organic constituents; one constituent of special interest (perchlorate); naturally occurring inorganic constituents; and radioactive constituents. Naturally occurring isotopes and dissolved noble gases were also measured to help identify the sources and ages of the sampled groundwater. In total, 209 constituents and water-quality indicators were measured.
\n\n
Three types of quality-control samples (blanks, replicates, and matrix spikes) were collected at approximately 10 percent of the wells in the Hard Rock study unit, and the results for these samples were used to evaluate the quality of the data for the groundwater samples. Blanks rarely contained detectable concentrations of any constituent, suggesting that contamination from sample collection procedures was not a significant source of bias in the data for the groundwater samples. Replicate samples generally were within the limits of acceptable analytical reproducibility. Median matrix-spike recoveries were within the acceptable range (70 to 130 percent) for approximately 92 percent of the compounds.
\n\n
This study did not attempt to evaluate the quality of water delivered to consumers; after withdrawal from the ground, untreated groundwater typically is treated, disinfected, and (or) blended with other waters to maintain water quality. Regulatory benchmarks apply to water that is served to the consumer, not to untreated groundwater. However, to provide some context for the results, concentrations of constituents measured in the untreated groundwater were compared with regulatory and nonregulatory health-based benchmarks established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and CDPH, and to nonregulatory benchmarks established for aesthetic concerns by the CDPH. Comparisons between data collected for this study and benchmarks for drinking water are for illustrative purposes only and are not indicative of compliance or non-compliance with those benchmarks.
\n\n
All organic constituents and most inorganic constituents that were detected in groundwater samples from the 112 wells in the Hard Rock study unit were detected at concentrations less than drinking-water benchmarks.
\n\n
Of the 149 organic and special-interest constituents, 34 were detected in groundwater samples; concentrations of all detected constituents were less than regulatory and nonregulatory health-based benchmarks. In total, VOCs were detected in 44 percent of the 94 grid wells sampled, pesticides and pesticide degradates were detected in 18 percent, and perchlorate was detected in 48 percent.
\n\n
Trace elements, nutrients, major and minor ions, and radioactive constituents were sampled for at 94 grid wells; most detected concentrations were less than health-based benchmarks. Exceptions in the Hard Rock study unit grid wells include 3 detections of arsenic greater than the USEPA maximum contaminant level (MCL-US) of 10 micrograms per liter (μg/L), 3 detections of boron greater than the CDPH notification level (NL-CA) of 1,000 μg/L, 2 detections of molybdenum greater than the USEPA lifetime health advisory level (HAL-US) of 40 μg/L, 2 detections of nitrite plus nitrate (as nitrogen) greater than the MCL-US of 10 milligrams per liter (mg/L), 3 detections of fluoride greater than the CDPH maximum contaminant level (MCL-CA) of 2 mg/L, 5 detections of radon-222 greater than the proposed MCL-US of 4,000 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), and 11 detections of unadjusted gross alpha radioactivity greater than the MCL-US of 15 pCi/L. Seven of the 11 samples having unadjusted gross alpha activity greater than the MCL-US also had total uranium concentrations greater than the MCL-US of 30 μg/L and (or) uranium activities greater than the MCL-CA of 20 pCi/L.
\n\n
Results for constituents with nonregulatory benchmarks set for aesthetic concerns showed that iron concentrations greater than the CDPH secondary maximum contaminant level (SMCL-CA) of 300 μg/L were detected in samples from 19 grid wells. Manganese concentrations greater than the SMCL-CA of 50 μg/L were detected in 27 grid wells. Chloride was detected at a concentration greater than the SMCL-CA upper benchmark of 500 mg/L in one grid well. TDS concentrations in three grid wells were greater than the SMCL-CA upper benchmark of 1,000 mg/L.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ds874","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board. A product of the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program.","usgsCitation":"Davis, T.A., and Shelton, J.L., 2014, Groundwater-quality data in the Santa Cruz, San Gabriel, and Peninsular Ranges Hard Rock Aquifers study unit, 2011-2012: results from the California GAMA program: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 874, ix, 142 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ds874.","productDescription":"ix, 142 p.","numberOfPages":"156","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-043444","costCenters":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":296722,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/ds874.jpg"},{"id":296720,"rank":1,"type":{"id":15,"text":"Index Page"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/0874/"},{"id":296721,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/0874/pdf/ds874.pdf","text":"Report","size":"7 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}}],"country":"United States","state":"California","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -124.45312499999999,\n 41.983994270935625\n ],\n [\n -119.81689453125,\n 41.96765920367816\n ],\n [\n -119.92675781249999,\n 38.993572058209466\n ],\n [\n -113.75244140624999,\n 34.415973384481866\n ],\n [\n -114.5654296875,\n 32.62087018318113\n ],\n [\n -118.0810546875,\n 32.52828936482526\n ],\n [\n -121.728515625,\n 35.191766965947394\n ],\n [\n -124.73876953125,\n 40.463666324587685\n ],\n [\n -124.45312499999999,\n 41.983994270935625\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"549157a7e4b0d0759afaad74","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Davis, Tracy A. 0000-0003-0253-6661 tadavis@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0253-6661","contributorId":2715,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Davis","given":"Tracy","email":"tadavis@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"A.","affiliations":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":false,"id":519137,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Shelton, Jennifer L. 0000-0001-8508-0270 jshelton@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8508-0270","contributorId":1155,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Shelton","given":"Jennifer","email":"jshelton@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"L.","affiliations":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":519135,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2}]}} ,{"id":70114625,"text":"ds865 - 2014 - Groundwater-quality data in the North San Francisco Bay Shallow Aquifer study unit, 2012: results from the California GAMA Program","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2014-11-07T09:59:51","indexId":"ds865","displayToPublicDate":"2014-10-30T08:00:00","publicationYear":"2014","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":310,"text":"Data Series","code":"DS","onlineIssn":"2327-638X","printIssn":"2327-0271","active":false,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"865","title":"Groundwater-quality data in the North San Francisco Bay Shallow Aquifer study unit, 2012: results from the California GAMA Program","docAbstract":"Groundwater quality in the 1,850-square-mile North San Francisco Bay Shallow Aquifer (NSF-SA) study unit was investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from April to August 2012, as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program’s Priority Basin Project (PBP). The GAMA-PBP was developed in response to the California Groundwater Quality Monitoring Act of 2001 and is being conducted in collaboration with the SWRCB and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The NSF-SA study unit was the first study unit to be sampled as part of the second phase of the GAMA-PBP, which focuses on the shallow aquifer system.
\n\n
The GAMA NSF-SA study was designed to provide a spatially unbiased assessment of untreated-groundwater quality in the shallow aquifer systems and to facilitate statistically consistent comparisons of untreated-groundwater quality throughout California. The shallow aquifer system in the NSF-SA study unit was defined as the part of the aquifer system that is used by many private domestic wells and is shallower than the primary aquifer system used by many public-supply wells.
\n\n
In the NSF-SA study unit located in Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma Counties, groundwater samples were collected from 71 wells. Seventy of the wells were selected by using a spatially distributed, randomized grid-based method to provide statistical representation of the study unit (grid wells), and one well was selected to aid in evaluation of water-quality issues (understanding well).
\n\n
The groundwater samples were analyzed for organic constituents (volatile organic compounds [VOCs], pesticides, and pesticide degradates); constituents of special interest (perchlorate and 1,2,3-trichloropropane [1,2,3-TCP]); naturally occurring inorganic constituents (trace elements, nutrients, major and minor ions, silica, and total dissolved solids [TDS]); and radioactive constituents (radon-222 and gross alpha and gross beta radioactivity). Naturally occurring isotopes (stable isotopes of hydrogen, oxygen, boron, strontium, and inorganic carbon in water, tritium activities, and carbon-14 abundances) were measured to help identify the sources and ages of the sampled groundwater. In total, 207 constituents and water-quality indicators were measured.
\n\n
Three types of quality-control samples (blanks, replicates, and matrix spikes) were collected at up to 13 percent of the wells in the NSF-SA study unit, and the results for these samples were used to evaluate the quality of the data for the groundwater samples. Blanks rarely contained detectable concentrations of any constituent, suggesting that contamination from sample-collection procedures was not a significant source of bias in the data for the groundwater samples. Replicate samples generally were within the limits of acceptable analytical reproducibility. Matrix-spike recoveries were within the acceptable range (70 to 130 percent) for approximately 91 percent of the compounds.
\n\n
Most of the wells sampled for this study were private domestic wells. Private domestic wells are not regulated in California, and groundwater from these wells is rarely analyzed for water-quality constituents. Although regulatory benchmarks for drinking-water quality do not apply to private domestic wells, to provide some context for the results, concentrations of constituents measured in the untreated groundwater were compared with regulatory and non-regulatory health-based benchmarks established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH), to non-regulatory health-based benchmarks established by the USGS in cooperation with the USEPA, and to non-regulatory benchmarks established for aesthetic concerns by the CDPH. Comparisons between data collected for this study and benchmarks for drinking water are for illustrative purposes only and are not indicative of compliance or non-compliance with those benchmarks. Most of the organic and inorganic constituents that were detected in groundwater samples from the 70 grid wells in the NSF-SA study unit were detected at concentrations less than drinking-water benchmarks.
\n\n
Of the 149 organic and special-interest constituents analyzed for in groundwater samples, 31 were detected; concentrations of most detected constituents were less than regulatory and non-regulatory health-based benchmarks. One VOC, benzene, and one insecticide, dieldrin, were detected at concentrations above their respective health-based benchmarks. In total, VOCs were detected in 40 percent of the grid wells sampled, pesticides and pesticide degradates were detected in 13 percent, and perchlorate was detected in 27 percent of the 70 grid wells sampled.
\n\n
Groundwater samples from 70 grid wells were analyzed for trace elements, major and minor ions, nutrients, and radioactive constituents; most detected concentrations were less than health-based benchmarks. Exceptions are 12 detections of manganese greater than the USGS Health-Based Screening Level (HBSL), 7 detections of arsenic greater than the USEPA maximum contaminant level (MCL-US) of 10 micrograms per liter (μg/L), 2 detections of boron greater than the HBSL of 6,000 μg/L, 2 detections of fluoride greater than the CDPH maximum contaminant level (MCL-CA) of 2 milligrams per liter (mg/L), 2 detections of nitrate greater than the MCL-US of 10 mg/L, and two detections of radon-222 greater than the proposed MCL-US of 4,000 picocuries per liter.
\n\n
Results for constituents with non-regulatory benchmarks set for aesthetic concerns from the grid wells showed that iron concentrations greater than the CDPH secondary maximum contaminant level (SMCL-CA) of 300 μg/L were detected in 13 grid wells. Chloride was detected at a concentration greater than the SMCL-CA recommended benchmark of 250 mg/L in two grid wells. Sulfate concentrations greater than the SMCL-CA recommended benchmark of 250 mg/L were measured in two grid wells, and the concentration in one of these wells was also greater than the SMCL-CA upper benchmark of 500 mg/L. TDS concentrations greater than the SMCL-CA recommended benchmark of 500 mg/L were measured in 15 grid wells, and concentrations in 4 of these wells were also greater than the SMCL-CA upper benchmark of 1,000 mg/L.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ds865","collaboration":"A product of the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. Prepared in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board.","usgsCitation":"Bennett, G.L., and Fram, M.S., 2014, Groundwater-quality data in the North San Francisco Bay Shallow Aquifer study unit, 2012: results from the California GAMA Program: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 865, x, 94 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ds865.","productDescription":"x, 94 p.","numberOfPages":"108","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","temporalStart":"2012-01-01","temporalEnd":"2012-12-31","ipdsId":"IP-050639","costCenters":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":295916,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/ds865.jpg"},{"id":295765,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/0865/pdf/ds865.pdf","size":"4.7 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}},{"id":295758,"rank":1,"type":{"id":15,"text":"Index Page"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/0865/"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","otherGeospatial":"San Francisco Bay Shallow Aquifer","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -123.04687499999999,\n 38.18638677411551\n ],\n [\n -122.464599609375,\n 37.97018468810549\n ],\n [\n -121.95922851562501,\n 38.03078569382294\n ],\n [\n -122.03613281249999,\n 38.35888785866677\n ],\n [\n -122.51953124999999,\n 38.79690830348427\n ],\n [\n -122.947998046875,\n 38.93377552819722\n ],\n [\n -123.23364257812499,\n 38.762650338334154\n ],\n [\n -123.277587890625,\n 38.39333888832238\n ],\n [\n -123.04687499999999,\n 38.18638677411551\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"545c9bb5e4b0ba8303f709ce","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Bennett, George L. V 0000-0002-6239-1604 georbenn@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6239-1604","contributorId":1373,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Bennett","given":"George","suffix":"V","email":"georbenn@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"L.","affiliations":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":519006,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Fram, Miranda S. 0000-0002-6337-059X mfram@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6337-059X","contributorId":1156,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Fram","given":"Miranda","email":"mfram@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"S.","affiliations":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":519005,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2}]}} ,{"id":70135670,"text":"70135670 - 2014 - Alpha-emitting isotopes and chromium in a coastal California aquifer","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2015-11-30T12:48:22","indexId":"70135670","displayToPublicDate":"2014-10-16T06:30:00","publicationYear":"2014","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":835,"text":"Applied Geochemistry","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Alpha-emitting isotopes and chromium in a coastal California aquifer","docAbstract":"The unadjusted 72-h gross alpha activities in water from two wells completed in marine and alluvial deposits in a coastal southern California aquifer 40 km north of San Diego were 15 and 25 picoCuries per liter (pCi/L). Although activities were below the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 15 pCi/L, when adjusted for uranium activity; there is concern that new wells in the area may exceed MCLs, or that future regulations may limit water use from the wells. Coupled well-bore flow and depth-dependent water-quality data collected from the wells in 2011 (with analyses for isotopes within the uranium, actinium, and thorium decay-chains) show gross alpha activity in marine deposits is associated with decay of naturally-occurring 238U and its daughter 234U. Radon activities in marine deposits were as high as 2230 pCi/L. In contrast, gross alpha activities in overlying alluvium within the Piedra de Lumbre watershed, eroded from the nearby San Onofre Hills, were associated with decay of 232Th, including its daughter 224Ra. Radon activities in alluvium from Piedra de Lumbre of 450 pCi/L were lower than in marine deposits. Chromium VI concentrations in marine deposits were less than the California MCL of 10 μg/L (effective July 1, 2014) but δ53Cr compositions were near zero and within reported ranges for anthropogenic chromium. Alluvial deposits from the nearby Las Flores watershed, which drains a larger area having diverse geology, has low alpha activities and chromium as a result of geologic and geochemical conditions and may be more promising for future water-supply development.
","language":"English","publisher":"Pergamon Press","publisherLocation":"Oxford, UK","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeochem.2014.09.016","usgsCitation":"Densmore, J.N., Izbicki, J., Murtaugh, J.M., Swarzenski, P.W., and Bullen, T.D., 2014, Alpha-emitting isotopes and chromium in a coastal California aquifer: Applied Geochemistry, v. 51, p. 204-215, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2014.09.016.","productDescription":"12 p.","startPage":"204","endPage":"215","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-044867","costCenters":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":472694,"rank":0,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2014.09.016","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":311750,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","otherGeospatial":"Camp Pendleton","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -117.69653320312499,\n 33.128351191631566\n ],\n [\n -117.69653320312499,\n 33.486435450999885\n ],\n [\n -117.21725463867186,\n 33.486435450999885\n ],\n [\n -117.21725463867186,\n 33.128351191631566\n ],\n [\n -117.69653320312499,\n 33.128351191631566\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","volume":"51","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"565d813ae4b071e7ea54345a","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Densmore, Jill N. 0000-0002-5345-6613 jidensmo@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5345-6613","contributorId":1474,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Densmore","given":"Jill","email":"jidensmo@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"N.","affiliations":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":false,"id":536721,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Izbicki, John A. 0000-0003-0816-4408 jaizbick@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0816-4408","contributorId":1375,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Izbicki","given":"John A.","email":"jaizbick@usgs.gov","affiliations":[{"id":595,"text":"U.S. Geological Survey","active":false,"usgs":true}],"preferred":false,"id":536720,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Murtaugh, Joseph M.","contributorId":150070,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Murtaugh","given":"Joseph","email":"","middleInitial":"M.","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":580624,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Swarzenski, Peter W. 0000-0003-0116-0578 pswarzen@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0116-0578","contributorId":1070,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Swarzenski","given":"Peter","email":"pswarzen@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"W.","affiliations":[{"id":520,"text":"Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":580625,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Bullen, Thomas D. 0000-0003-2281-1691 tdbullen@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2281-1691","contributorId":1969,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Bullen","given":"Thomas","email":"tdbullen@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"D.","affiliations":[{"id":438,"text":"National Research Program - Western Branch","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":536722,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5}]}} ,{"id":70126423,"text":"sir20145130 - 2014 - Groundwater-quality characteristics for the Wyoming Groundwater-Quality Monitoring Network, November 2009 through September 2012","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2014-09-25T12:54:22","indexId":"sir20145130","displayToPublicDate":"2014-09-25T12:45:00","publicationYear":"2014","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":334,"text":"Scientific Investigations Report","code":"SIR","onlineIssn":"2328-0328","printIssn":"2328-031X","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"2014-5130","title":"Groundwater-quality characteristics for the Wyoming Groundwater-Quality Monitoring Network, November 2009 through September 2012","docAbstract":"Groundwater samples were collected from 146 shallow (less than or equal to 500 feet deep) wells for the Wyoming Groundwater-Quality Monitoring Network, from November 2009 through September 2012. Groundwater samples were analyzed for physical characteristics, major ions and dissolved solids, trace elements, nutrients and dissolved organic carbon, uranium, stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen, volatile organic compounds, and coliform bacteria. Selected samples also were analyzed for gross alpha radioactivity, gross beta radioactivity, radon, tritium, gasoline range organics, diesel range organics, dissolved hydrocarbon gases (methane, ethene, and ethane), and wastewater compounds.
\nWater-quality measurements and concentrations in some samples exceeded numerous U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drinking water standards. Physical characteristics and constituents that exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) in some samples were arsenic, selenium, nitrite, nitrate, gross alpha activity, and uranium. Total coliforms and Escherichia coli in some samples exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Level Goals. Measurements of pH and turbidity and concentrations of chloride, sulfate, fluoride, dissolved solids, aluminum, iron, and manganese exceeded EPA Secondary Maximum Contaminant Levels in some samples. Radon concentrations in some samples exceeded the alternative MCL proposed by the EPA. Molybdenum and boron concentrations in some samples exceeded EPA Health Advisory Levels.
\nWater-quality measurements and concentrations also exceeded numerous Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) groundwater standards. Physical characteristics and constituents that exceeded WDEQ Class I domestic groundwater standards in some samples were measurements of pH and concentrations of chloride, sulfate, dissolved solids, iron, manganese, boron, selenium, nitrite, and nitrate. Measurements of pH and concentrations of chloride, sulfate, dissolved solids, aluminum, iron, manganese, boron, and selenium exceeded WDEQ Class II agriculture groundwater standards in some samples. Measurements of pH and concentrations of sulfate, dissolved solids, aluminum, boron, and selenium exceeded WDEQ Class III livestock groundwater standards in some samples. The concentrations of dissolved solids in two samples exceeded the WDEQ Class IV industry groundwater standard. Measurements of pH and concentrations of dissolved solids, aluminum, iron, manganese, and selenium exceeded WDEQ Class special (A) fish and aquatic life groundwater standards in some samples.
\nStable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen measured in water samples were compared to the Global Meteoric Water Line and Local Meteoric Water Lines. Results indicated that recharge to all of the wells was derived from precipitation and that the water has undergone some fractionation, possibly because of evaporation.
\nConcentrations of organic compounds did not exceed any State or Federal water-quality standards. Few volatile organic compounds were detected in samples, whereas gasoline range organics, diesel range organics, and methane were detected most frequently.
\nConcentrations of wastewater compounds did not exceed any State or Federal water-quality standards. The compounds N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), benzophenone, and phenanthrene were detected most frequently.
\nBacteria samples were collected, processed, incubated, and enumerated in the field or at the U.S. Geological Survey Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center. Total coliforms and Escherichia coli were detected in some samples.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20145130","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality","usgsCitation":"Boughton, G.K., 2014, Groundwater-quality characteristics for the Wyoming Groundwater-Quality Monitoring Network, November 2009 through September 2012: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5130, Report: x, 77 p.; Appendix, https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20145130.","productDescription":"Report: x, 77 p.; Appendix","numberOfPages":"94","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"Y","temporalStart":"2009-11-01","temporalEnd":"2012-09-30","ipdsId":"IP-045757","costCenters":[{"id":685,"text":"Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center","active":false,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":294520,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/sir20145130.jpg"},{"id":294517,"type":{"id":15,"text":"Index Page"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2014/5130/"},{"id":294518,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2014/5130/pdf/sir2014-5130.pdf"},{"id":294519,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2014/5130/downloads/"}],"projection":"Lambert Conformal Conic projection","datum":"North American Datum of 1983","country":"United States","state":"Wyoming","geographicExtents":"{ \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\", \"features\": [ { \"type\": \"Feature\", \"properties\": {}, \"geometry\": { \"type\": \"Polygon\", \"coordinates\": [ [ [ -111.0569,40.9947 ], [ -111.0569,45.0059 ], [ -104.0522,45.0059 ], [ -104.0522,40.9947 ], [ -111.0569,40.9947 ] ] ] } } ] }","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"5425208de4b0e641df8a6da5","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Boughton, Gregory K. 0000-0001-7355-4977 gkbought@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7355-4977","contributorId":4254,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Boughton","given":"Gregory","email":"gkbought@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"K.","affiliations":[{"id":5050,"text":"WY-MT Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":502038,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1}]}} ,{"id":70112479,"text":"sir20145114 - 2014 - Assessment of ethylene dibromide, dibromochloropropane, other volatile organic compounds, radium isotopes, radon, and inorganic compounds in groundwater and spring water from the Crouch Branch and McQueen Branch aquifers near McBee, South Carolina, 2010-2012","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2017-01-18T13:12:55","indexId":"sir20145114","displayToPublicDate":"2014-08-20T11:31:00","publicationYear":"2014","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":334,"text":"Scientific Investigations Report","code":"SIR","onlineIssn":"2328-0328","printIssn":"2328-031X","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"2014-5114","title":"Assessment of ethylene dibromide, dibromochloropropane, other volatile organic compounds, radium isotopes, radon, and inorganic compounds in groundwater and spring water from the Crouch Branch and McQueen Branch aquifers near McBee, South Carolina, 2010-2012","docAbstract":"Public-supply wells near the rural town of McBee, in southwestern Chesterfield County, South Carolina, have provided potable water to more than 35,000 residents throughout Chesterfield County since the early 1990s. Groundwater samples collected between 2002 and 2008 in the McBee area by South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) officials indicated that groundwater from two public-supply wells was characterized by the anthropogenic compounds ethylene dibromide (EDB) and dibromochloropropane (DBCP) at concentrations that exceeded their respective maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR). Groundwater samples from all public-supply wells in the McBee area were characterized by the naturally occurring isotopes of radium-226 and radium-228 at concentrations that approached, and in one well exceeded, the MCL for the combined isotopes. The local water utility installed granulated activated carbon filtration units at the two EDB- and DBCP-contaminated wells and has, since 2011, shut down these two wells. Groundwater pumped by the remaining public-supply wells is currently (2014) centrally treated at a water-filtration plant.
\n\n
To assess the occurrence, distribution, and potential sources of the anthropogenic and naturally occurring compounds detected in groundwater in the McBee area, samples of groundwater and spring water were collected from public-supply, domestic-supply, agricultural-supply, and monitoring wells and springs, respectively, between 2010 and 2012 by the U.S. Geological Survey. The water samples were analyzed for concentrations of EDB, DBCP, other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), radium-226 and radium-228, radon, and inorganic compounds. All wells sampled were screened in the shallow Crouch Branch aquifer, the deeper McQueen Branch aquifer, or, for most public-supply wells, both aquifers. In areas where no wells existed or wells could not be installed, passive samplers that adsorb EDB, DBCP, and various VOCs, were installed in the shallow subsurface. A representative groundwater flow pathway to each public supply well and selected other wells was determined by using a calibrated three-dimensional groundwater-flow model of the Atlantic Coastal Plain in Chesterfield County and particle-tracking analysis. The aerial extent of the groundwater flow pathway to public-supply wells was mapped by using chlorofluorocarbon-concentration based, apparent-age dates of the groundwater.
\n\n
The water-quality data collected between 2010 and 2012, in conjunction with groundwater flow pathways and historical aerial photographs of land uses near McBee, indicate an area where EDB-, DBCP-, 1,2-dichloropropane-, 1,3-dichloropropane-, and carbon disulfide-contaminated groundwater exists in the Crouch Branch aquifer in the Cedar Creek Basin and north of McBee and is most likely related to the past use of these compounds between the early 1900s and the 1980s as soil fumigants in predominately agricultural areas north of McBee. The highest EDB concentration detected (18.6 micrograms per liter) during the 3-year study was in a groundwater sample from an agricultural-supply well located north of McBee. Other VOCs, such as dichloromethane and 1,1,2-trichloroethane, also were detected in groundwater samples from this EDB-contaminated agricultural-supply well but are from unknown source(s). The fact that the agricultural area north of McBee is located in a recharge area for the Crouch Branch aquifer most likely facilitated the groundwater contamination in this area. DBCP-contaminated groundwater detected in three public-supply wells south of McBee in the deeper McQueen Branch aquifer appears to be related to past soil fumigation practices that used DBCP in agricultural areas located south of McBee. One of the three DBCP-contaminated public-supply wells also contained EDB, most likely present in groundwater due to the release of leaded gasolines that contained EDB as a fuel additive between the 1940s and 1970s. A gasoline-source of EDB, rather than a soil-fumigation source, is supported by the co-detection in groundwater from the well of 1,2-dichloroethane, a lead scavenger compound also added to leaded gasoline. Groundwater pumped from two public-supply wells located within and to the east of the McBee town limits and one domestic-supply well east of McBee was characterized by the detection of 1,1-dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, 1,1-dichloroethylene, and perchloroethylene. Groundwater flow pathways determined for these wells indicate that the potential source(s) of these compounds detected in one public-supply well and the domestic-supply well may be located within the McBee town limits, and that the potential source(s) of these compounds detected in the public-supply well to the east of McBee may be located in an area north of McBee formerly used for agriculture, but used for industry since at least the 1970s. Radium isotopes (defined in this study as the sum of radium-226 and radium-228 concentrations) and radon were detected in all wells sampled in the McBee area between 2010 and 2012. Wells characterized by radium isotope concentrations in groundwater that exceeded the MCL of 5.0 picocuries per liter were also characterized by specific conductance values greater than 30 microsiemens per centimeter and clustered north of McBee in a predominately agricultural area, and in agricultural and urban areas located within and east of McBee. The elevated specific conductance values measured in groundwater from these wells most likely are due to recharge by water mineralized by fertilizer application in agricultural areas, or due to the recharge by water mineralized by septic-tank drain-field effluent near urban areas. Radon was detected in groundwater from all wells sampled, and radon concentrations in groundwater from three monitoring wells exceeded the proposed MCL of 300 picocuries per liter. Concentrations of uranium in groundwater in the McBee area increased with increased groundwater-sample depth, most likely due to the proximity of the sample-collection location to basement rock that contains uranium-bearing minerals.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20145114","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources","usgsCitation":"Landmeyer, J., and Campbell, B.G., 2014, Assessment of ethylene dibromide, dibromochloropropane, other volatile organic compounds, radium isotopes, radon, and inorganic compounds in groundwater and spring water from the Crouch Branch and McQueen Branch aquifers near McBee, South Carolina, 2010-2012 (Version 1: Originally posted August 20, 2014; Version 1.1: April 30, 2015): U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5114, xi, 94 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20145114.","productDescription":"xi, 94 p.","numberOfPages":"110","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","temporalStart":"2010-01-01","temporalEnd":"2012-12-31","ipdsId":"IP-053032","costCenters":[{"id":13634,"text":"South Atlantic Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":299995,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/sir20145114.jpg"},{"id":292624,"rank":1,"type":{"id":15,"text":"Index Page"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2014/5114/"},{"id":292625,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2014/5114/pdf/sir2014-5114.pdf","text":"Report","size":"12.6 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"Report"}],"scale":"100000","datum":"North American Datum of 1983","country":"United States","state":"South Carolina","city":"Mcbee","otherGeospatial":"Crouch Branch Aquifer, Mcqueen Branch Aquifer","geographicExtents":"{ \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\", \"features\": [ { \"type\": \"Feature\", \"properties\": {}, \"geometry\": { \"type\": \"Polygon\", \"coordinates\": [ [ [ -80.6,34.333333 ], [ -80.6,34.833333 ], [ -79.9,34.833333 ], [ -79.9,34.333333 ], [ -80.6,34.333333 ] ] ] } } ] }","edition":"Version 1: Originally posted August 20, 2014; Version 1.1: April 30, 2015","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"53f5a82ee4b09d12e0e8511e","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Landmeyer, James 0000-0002-5640-3816 jlandmey@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5640-3816","contributorId":3257,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Landmeyer","given":"James","email":"jlandmey@usgs.gov","affiliations":[{"id":13634,"text":"South Atlantic Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":494766,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Campbell, Bruce G. 0000-0003-4800-6674 bcampbel@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4800-6674","contributorId":995,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Campbell","given":"Bruce","email":"bcampbel@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"G.","affiliations":[{"id":13634,"text":"South Atlantic Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":559,"text":"South Carolina Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":494765,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2}]}} ,{"id":70112430,"text":"ofr20141084 - 2014 - Groundwater quality in the Upper Hudson River Basin, New York, 2012","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2014-08-14T09:42:35","indexId":"ofr20141084","displayToPublicDate":"2014-08-14T09:38:00","publicationYear":"2014","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":330,"text":"Open-File Report","code":"OFR","onlineIssn":"2331-1258","printIssn":"0196-1497","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"2014-1084","title":"Groundwater quality in the Upper Hudson River Basin, New York, 2012","docAbstract":"Water samples were collected from 20 production and domestic wells in the Upper Hudson River Basin (north of the Federal Dam at Troy, New York) in New York in August 2012 to characterize groundwater quality in the basin. The samples were collected and processed using standard U.S. Geological Survey procedures and were analyzed for 148 physiochemical properties and constituents, including dissolved gases, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), radionuclides, and indicator bacteria.
\nThe Upper Hudson River Basin covers 4,600 square miles in upstate New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts; the study area encompasses the 4,000 square miles that lie within New York. The basin is underlain by crystalline and sedimentary bedrock, including gneiss, shale, and slate; some sandstone and carbonate rocks are present locally. The bedrock in some areas is overlain by surficial deposits of saturated sand and gravel. Eleven of the wells sampled in the Upper Hudson River Basin are completed in sand and gravel deposits, and nine are completed in bedrock. Groundwater in the Upper Hudson River Basin was typically neutral or slightly basic; the water typically was moderately hard. Bicarbonate, chloride, calcium, and sodium were the major ions with the greatest median concentrations; the dominant nutrient was nitrate. Methane was detected in 7 samples. Strontium, iron, barium, boron, and manganese were the trace elements with the highest median concentrations. Two pesticides, an herbicide degradate and an insecticide degredate, were detected in two samples at trace levels; seven VOCs, including chloroform, four solvents, and the gasoline additive methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) were detected in four samples. The greatest radon-222 activity, 2,900 picocuries per liter, was measured in a sample from a bedrock well; the median radon activity was higher in samples from bedrock wells than in samples from sand and gravel wells. Coliform bacteria were detected in one sample with a maximum of 2 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters.
\nWater quality in the Upper Hudson River Basin is generally good, but concentrations of some constituents equaled or exceeded current or proposed Federal or New York State drinking-water standards. The standards exceeded are color (1 sample), pH (3 samples), sodium (3 samples), chloride (1 sample), dissolved solids (1 sample), arsenic (1 sample), iron (2 samples), manganese (2 samples), uranium (1 sample), radon-222 (12 samples), and gross beta activities (3 samples). Total coliform bacteria were each detected in one sample. Concentrations of fluoride, sulfate, nitrate, nitrite, aluminum, antimony, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, selenium, silver, thallium, zinc, and gross alpha activities did not exceed existing drinking-water standards in any of the samples collected. Methane concentration in one sample was greater than 28 milligrams per liter, with a concentration of 35.1 milligrams per liter.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston,VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20141084","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation","usgsCitation":"Scott, T., and Nystrom, E.A., 2014, Groundwater quality in the Upper Hudson River Basin, New York, 2012: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2014-1084, vi, 21 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20141084.","productDescription":"vi, 21 p.","numberOfPages":"32","onlineOnly":"Y","temporalStart":"2012-01-01","temporalEnd":"2012-12-31","ipdsId":"IP-054132","costCenters":[{"id":474,"text":"New York Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":292152,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/ofr20141084.jpg"},{"id":292151,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1084/pdf/ofr2014-1084.pdf"},{"id":292150,"type":{"id":15,"text":"Index Page"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1084/"}],"scale":"100000","projection":"Universal Transverse Mercator projection","country":"United States","state":"New York","otherGeospatial":"Upper Hudson River Basin","geographicExtents":"{ \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\", \"features\": [ { \"type\": \"Feature\", \"properties\": {}, \"geometry\": { \"type\": \"Polygon\", \"coordinates\": [ [ [ -74.5,43.0 ], [ -74.5,44.0 ], [ -73.5,44.0 ], [ -73.5,43.0 ], [ -74.5,43.0 ] ] ] } } ] }","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"53edbf30e4b0f61b386c8264","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Scott, Tia-Marie 0000-0002-5677-0544 tia-mariescott@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5677-0544","contributorId":5122,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Scott","given":"Tia-Marie","email":"tia-mariescott@usgs.gov","affiliations":[{"id":474,"text":"New York Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":494734,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Nystrom, Elizabeth A. 0000-0002-0886-3439 nystrom@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0886-3439","contributorId":1072,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Nystrom","given":"Elizabeth","email":"nystrom@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"A.","affiliations":[{"id":474,"text":"New York Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":494733,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2}]}} ,{"id":70099972,"text":"sir20145051 - 2014 - Quality of groundwater in the Denver Basin aquifer system, Colorado, 2003-5","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2016-08-05T12:18:15","indexId":"sir20145051","displayToPublicDate":"2014-08-11T11:29:00","publicationYear":"2014","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":334,"text":"Scientific Investigations Report","code":"SIR","onlineIssn":"2328-0328","printIssn":"2328-031X","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"2014-5051","title":"Quality of groundwater in the Denver Basin aquifer system, Colorado, 2003-5","docAbstract":"Groundwater resources from alluvial and bedrock aquifers of the Denver Basin are critical for municipal, domestic, and agricultural uses in Colorado along the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains. Rapid and widespread urban development, primarily along the western boundary of the Denver Basin, has approximately doubled the population since about 1970, and much of the population depends on groundwater for water supply. As part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted groundwater-quality studies during 2003–5 in the Denver Basin aquifer system to characterize water quality of shallow groundwater at the water table and of the bedrock aquifers, which are important drinking-water resources. For the Denver Basin, water-quality constituents of concern for human health or because they might otherwise limit use of water include total dissolved solids, fluoride, sulfate, nitrate, iron, manganese, selenium, radon, uranium, arsenic, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds. For the water-table studies, two monitoring-well networks were installed and sampled beneath agricultural (31 wells) and urban (29 wells) land uses at or just below the water table in either alluvial material or near-surface bedrock. For the bedrock-aquifer studies, domestic- and municipal-supply wells completed in the bedrock aquifers were sampled. The bedrock aquifers, stratigraphically from youngest (shallowest) to oldest (deepest), are the Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, and Laramie-Fox Hills aquifers. The extensive dataset collected from wells completed in the bedrock aquifers (79 samples) provides the opportunity to evaluate factors and processes affecting water quality and to establish a baseline that can be used to characterize future changes in groundwater quality. Groundwater samples were analyzed for inorganic, organic, isotopic, and age-dating constituents and tracers. This report discusses spatial and statistical distributions of chemical constituents and evaluates natural and human-related processes that affect water quality. Findings are synthesized to assess the vulnerability of the Denver Basin aquifer system to groundwater contamination.
\nThe chemistry of groundwater samples collected from the water-table wells was generally different from that of samples collected from the bedrock-aquifer wells. Samples from the water-table wells tended to have higher concentrations of total dissolved solids and most major ions. Concentrations of several constituents with potential human-health concerns, including nitrate, selenium, uranium, and arsenic, decreased with depth and were highest in samples from the water-table wells. Exceedances of drinking-water standards and water-quality benchmarks were more frequently associated with shallow groundwater samples; concentrations of total dissolved solids and sulfate exceeded water-quality benchmarks for about half or more of samples from the water-table wells. The sediments and rocks of the Denver Basin are natural sources of the trace elements selenium, uranium, and arsenic, which affect their concentrations in groundwater. Detections of organic contaminants, which are typically indicative of human sources of contamination to groundwater, were more frequent in samples from the water-table wells. Pesticide compounds and volatile organic compounds were detected in 33 and 62 percent, respectively, of water-table well samples. Detected organic contaminant concentrations were much less than the associated drinking-water standards. Samples collected from the bedrock aquifers had lower concentrations of total dissolved solids than did samples collected from the water-table wells, although within the bedrock-aquifer samples, concentrations increased from the Dawson to Denver to Arapahoe to Laramie-Fox Hills aquifers. Concentrations of total dissolved solids and many constituents varied spatially and with depth in the bedrock aquifers, likely as a result of ion-exchange and oxidation-reduction reactions, which are important processes affecting water quality. Major-ion chemistry generally evolved from a calcium-bicarbonate to calcium-sulfate composition, with some sodium-bicarbonate and sodium-sulfate facies in the deeper bedrock aquifers, likely resulting from longer residence times and more extensive water-rock interaction. Oxidation-reduction conditions generally evolved from oxic at the water table to anoxic with increasing depth in the bedrock aquifers. Most samples from the bedrock aquifers were anoxic. Exceedances of drinking-water standards and water-quality benchmarks for the bedrock aquifers occurred in 1 percent or less of samples for nitrate, selenium, or arsenic; there were no exceedances for uranium. Exceedances for total dissolved solids, sulfate, manganese, and iron were generally between about 10 and 20 percent for the bedrock-aquifer samples. Radon concentrations, which were only measured in samples collected from two of the bedrock aquifers, exceeded the lower proposed drinking-water standard for more than 90 percent of samples but exceeded the higher alternative standard for less than 5 percent of samples. Pesticide compounds and volatile organic compounds were detected in 3 and 22 percent, respectively, of bedrock-aquifer samples, all at concentrations that were that were much less than drinking-water standards.
\nWater-quality data were synthesized to evaluate factors that affect spatial and depth variability in water quality and to assess aquifer vulnerability to contaminants from geologic materials and those of human origin. The quality of shallow groundwater in the alluvial aquifer and shallow bedrock aquifer system has been adversely affected by development of agricultural and urban areas. Land use has altered the pattern and composition of recharge. Increased recharge from irrigation water has mobilized dissolved constituents and increased concentrations in the shallow groundwater. Concentrations of most constituents associated with poor or degraded water quality in shallow groundwater decreased with depth; many of these constituents are not geochemically conservative and are affected by geochemical reactions such as oxidation-reduction reactions. Groundwater age tracers provide additional insight into aquifer vulnerability and help determine if young groundwater of potentially poor quality has migrated to deeper parts of the bedrock aquifers used for drinking-water supply. Age-tracer results were used to group samples into categories of young, mixed, and old groundwater. Groundwater ages transitioned from mostly young in the water-table wells to mostly mixed in the shallowest bedrock aquifer, the Dawson aquifer, to mostly old in the deeper bedrock aquifers. Although the bedrock aquifers are mostly old groundwater of good water quality, several lines of evidence indicate that young, contaminant-bearing recharge has reached shallow to moderate depths in some areas of the bedrock aquifers. The Dawson aquifer is the most vulnerable of the bedrock aquifers to contamination, but results indicate that the older (deeper) bedrock aquifers are also vulnerable to groundwater contamination and that mixing with young recharge has occurred in some areas. Heavy pumping has caused water-level declines in the bedrock aquifers in some parts of the Denver Basin, which has the potential to enhance the transport of contaminants from overlying units. Results of this study are consistent with the existing conceptual understanding of aquifer processes and groundwater issues in the Denver Basin and add new insight into the vulnerability of the bedrock aquifers to groundwater contamination.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20145051","collaboration":"National Water-Quality Assessment Program","usgsCitation":"Musgrove, M., Beck, J., Paschke, S.S., Bauch, N.J., and Mashburn, S.L., 2014, Quality of groundwater in the Denver Basin aquifer system, Colorado, 2003-5: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5051, xi, 107 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20145051.","productDescription":"xi, 107 p.","numberOfPages":"123","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","temporalStart":"2003-01-01","temporalEnd":"2005-12-31","ipdsId":"IP-051259","costCenters":[{"id":191,"text":"Colorado Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":583,"text":"Texas Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":291953,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/sir20145051.jpg"},{"id":291950,"type":{"id":15,"text":"Index Page"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2014/5051/"},{"id":291952,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2014/5051/pdf/sir2014-5051.pdf"}],"country":"United States","state":"Colorado","otherGeospatial":"Denver Basin","geographicExtents":"{ \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\", \"features\": [ { \"type\": \"Feature\", \"properties\": {}, \"geometry\": { \"type\": \"Polygon\", \"coordinates\": [ [ [ -108.0,38.0 ], [ -108.0,40.0 ], [ -102.0,40.0 ], [ -102.0,38.0 ], [ -108.0,38.0 ] ] ] } } ] }","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"53e9caafe4b008eaa4f35a85","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Musgrove, MaryLynn","contributorId":34878,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Musgrove","given":"MaryLynn","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":492078,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Beck, Jennifer A.","contributorId":53922,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Beck","given":"Jennifer A.","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":492079,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Paschke, Suzanne S. 0000-0002-3471-4242 spaschke@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3471-4242","contributorId":1347,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Paschke","given":"Suzanne","email":"spaschke@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"S.","affiliations":[{"id":191,"text":"Colorado Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":492076,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Bauch, Nancy J. 0000-0002-0302-2892 njbauch@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0302-2892","contributorId":1297,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Bauch","given":"Nancy","email":"njbauch@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"J.","affiliations":[{"id":451,"text":"National Water Quality Assessment Program","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":492075,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Mashburn, Shana L. 0000-0001-5163-778X shanam@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5163-778X","contributorId":2140,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Mashburn","given":"Shana","email":"shanam@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"L.","affiliations":[{"id":516,"text":"Oklahoma Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":492077,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5}]}} ]}