Matthew K. Landon

Comparison of the stable-isotopic composition of soil water collected from suction lysimeters, wick samplers, and cores in a sandy unsaturated zone

Abstract Soil water collected from suction lysimeters and wick samplers buried in the unsaturated zone of a sand and gravel aquifer and extracted from soil cores were analyzed for stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope values. Soil water isotopic values differed among the three sampling methods in most cases. However, because each sampling method collected different fractions of the total soil-water reservoir, the isotopic differences indicated that the soil water at a given depth and time was isotopically heterogeneous. This heterogeneity reflects the presence of relatively more and less mobile components of soil water. Isotopic results from three field tests indicated that 95–100% of the water collected from wick samplers was mobile soil water while samples from suction lysimeters and cores were mixtures of more and less mobile soil water. Suction lysimeter samples contained a higher proportion of more mobile water (15–95%) than samples from cores (5–80%) at the same depth. The results of this study indicate that, during infiltration events, soil water collected with wick samplers is more representative of the mobile soil water that is likely to recharge ground water during or soon after the event than soil water from suction lysimeters or cores.

Effects of Groundwater Development on Uranium: Central Valley, California, USA

Uranium (U) concentrations in groundwater in several parts of the eastern San Joaquin Valley, California, have exceeded federal and state drinking water standards during the last 20 years. The San Joaquin Valley is located within the Central Valley of California and is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. Increased irrigation and pumping associated with agricultural and urban development during the last 100 years have changed the chemistry and magnitude of groundwater recharge, and increased the rate of downward groundwater movement. Strong correlations between U and bicarbonate suggest that U is leached from shallow sediments by high bicarbonate water, consistent with findings of previous work in Modesto, California. Summer irrigation of crops in agricultural areas and, to lesser extent, of landscape plants and grasses in urban areas, has increased Pco(2) concentrations in the soil zone and caused higher temperature and salinity of groundwater recharge. Coupled with groundwater pumping, this process, as evidenced by increasing bicarbonate concentrations in groundwater over the last 100 years, has caused shallow, young groundwater with high U concentrations to migrate to deeper parts of the groundwater system that are tapped by public-supply wells. Continued downward migration of U-affected groundwater and expansion of urban centers into agricultural areas will likely be associated with increased U concentrations in public-supply wells. The results from this study illustrate the potential long-term effects of groundwater development and irrigation-supported agriculture on water quality in arid and semiarid regions around the world.

Accuracy of travel time distribution (TTD) models as affected by TTD complexity, observation errors, and model and tracer selection

Analytical models of the travel time distribution (TTD) from a source area to a sample location are often used to estimate groundwater ages and solute concentration trends. The accuracies of these models are not well known for geologically complex aquifers. In this study, synthetic data sets were used to quantify the accuracy of four analytical TTD models as affected by TTD complexity, observation errors, model selection, and tracer selection. Synthetic TTDs and tracer data were generated from existing numerical models with complex hydrofacies distributions for 1 public-supply well and 14 monitoring wells in the Central Valley, California. Analytical TTD models were calibrated to synthetic tracer data, and prediction errors were determined for estimates of TTDs and conservative tracer ( NO3−) concentrations. Analytical models included a new, scale-dependent dispersivity model (SDM) for two-dimensional transport from the water table to a well and three other established analytical models. The relative influence of the error sources (TTD complexity, observation error, model selection, and tracer selection) depended on the type of prediction. Geological complexity gave rise to complex TTDs in monitoring wells that strongly affected errors of the estimated TTDs. However, prediction errors for NO3− and median age depended more on tracer concentration errors. The SDM tended to give the most accurate estimates of the vertical velocity and other predictions, although TTD model selection had minor effects overall. Adding tracers improved predictions if the new tracers had different input histories. Studies using TTD models should focus on the factors that most strongly affect the desired predictions.

Effects of surface run-off on the transport of agricultural chemicals to ground water in a sandplain setting

An experiment was conducted at a depressional (lowland) and an upland site in sandy soils to evaluate the effects of surface run-off on the transport of agricultural chemicals to ground water. Approximately 16.5 cm of water was applied to both sites during the experiment, representing a natural precipitation event with a recurrence interval of approximately 100 years. Run-off was quantified at the lowland site and was not detected at the upland site during the experiment. Run-off of water to the lowland site was the most important factor affecting differences in the concentrations and fluxes of the agricultural chemicals between the two sites. Run-off of water to the lowland site ppears to have played a dual role by diluting chemical concentrations in the unsaturated zone as well as increasing the concentrations at the water table, compared to the upland site. Concentrations of chloride, nitrate and atrazine plus metabolites were noticeably greater at the water table than in the unsaturated zone at both sites. The estimated mass flux of chloride and nitrate to the water table during the test were 5-2 times greater, respectively, at the lowland site compared to the upland site, whereas the flux of sulfate and atrazine plus metabolites was slightly greater at the upland site. Results indicate that matrix flow of water and chemicals was the primary process causing the observed differences between the two sites. Results of the experiment illustrate the effects of heterogeneity and the complexity of evaluating chemical transport through the unsaturated zone.

Trends in concentrations of nitrate and total dissolved solids in public supply wells of the Bunker Hill, Lytle, Rialto, and Colton groundwater subbasins, San Bernardino County, California: Influence of legacy land use

Concentrations and temporal changes in concentrations of nitrate and total dissolved solids (TDS) in groundwater of the Bunker Hill, Lytle, Rialto, and Colton groundwater subbasins of the Upper Santa Ana Valley Groundwater Basin were evaluated to identify trends and factors that may be affecting trends. One hundred, thirty-one public-supply wells were selected for analysis based on the availability of data spanning at least 11 years between the late 1980s and the 2000s. Forty-one of the 131 wells (31%) had a significant (p<0.10) increase in nitrate and 14 wells (11%) had a significant decrease in nitrate. For TDS, 46 wells (35%) had a significant increase and 8 wells (6%) had a significant decrease. Slopes for the observed significant trends ranged from -0.44 to 0.91 mg/L/yr for nitrate (as N) and -8 to 13 mg/L/yr for TDS. Increasing nitrate trends were associated with greater well depth, higher percentage of agricultural land use, and being closer to the distal end of the flow system. Decreasing nitrate trends were associated with the occurrence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); VOC occurrence decreases with increasing depth. The relations of nitrate trends to depth, lateral position, and VOCs imply that increasing nitrate concentrations are associated with nitrate loading from historical agricultural land use and that more recent urban land use is generally associated with lower nitrate concentrations and greater VOC occurrence. Increasing TDS trends were associated with relatively greater current nitrate concentrations and relatively greater amounts of urban land. Decreasing TDS trends were associated with relatively greater amounts of natural land use. Trends in TDS concentrations were not related to depth, lateral position, or VOC occurrence, reflecting more complex factors affecting TDS than nitrate in the study area.

Geogenic sources of benzene in aquifers used for public supply, California

Statistical evaluation of two large statewide data sets from the California State Water Boards Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program (1973 wells) and the California Department of Public Health (12,417 wells) reveals that benzene occurs infrequently (1.7%) and at generally low concentrations (median detected concentration of 0.024 μg/L) in groundwater used for public supply in California. When detected, benzene is more often related to geogenic (45% of detections) than anthropogenic sources (27% of detections). Similar relations are evident for the sum of 17 hydrocarbons analyzed. Benzene occurs most frequently and at the highest concentrations in old, brackish, and reducing groundwater; the detection frequency was 13.0% in groundwater with tritium <1 pCi/L, specific conductance >1600 μS/cm, and anoxic conditions. This groundwater is typically deep (>180 m). Benzene occurs somewhat less frequently in recent, shallow, and reducing groundwater; the detection frequency was 2.6% in groundwater with tritium ≥1 pCi/L, depth <30 m, and anoxic conditions. Evidence for geogenic sources of benzene include: higher concentrations and detection frequencies with increasing well depth, groundwater age, and proximity to oil and gas fields; and higher salinity and lower chloride/iodide ratios in old groundwater with detections of benzene, consistent with interactions with oil-field brines.

Aquifer geometry, lithology, and water levels in the Anza–Terwilliger area—2013, Riverside and San Diego Counties, California

The population of the Anza–Terwilliger area relies solely on groundwater pumped from the alluvial deposits and surrounding bedrock formations for water supply. The size, characteristics, and current conditions of the aquifer system in the Anza–Terwilliger area are poorly understood, however. In response to these concerns, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the High Country Conservancy and Rancho California Water District, undertook a study to (1) improve mapping of groundwater basin geometry and lithology and (2) to resume groundwater-level monitoring last done during 2004–07 in the Anza–Terwilliger area. Inversion of gravity data, including new data collected for this study, was done to estimate the thickness of the alluvial deposits that form the Cahuilla and Terwilliger groundwater basins and to understand the geometry of the underlying basement complex. After processing of the gravity data, the thickness of the alluvial aquifer materials was modeled by using all available lithology, density, and geophysical data. The thickest alluvial deposits (greater than 500 feet) are in the northern part of the study area along the south side of the San Jacinto fault zone, in the southern part of the Cahuilla groundwater basin, and in the western part of the Terwilliger groundwater basin. Through most of the area of alluvial materials, the thickness of the alluvium estimated from gravity data is less than 400 feet. Analysis of more than 900 drillers’ logs indicated that in areas having relatively thick alluvium, particularly along the San Jacinto fault zone and in the Terwilliger Valley, the alluvium is predominantly composed of sands and gravels. Fine-textured sediments appeared to be discontinuous rather than forming laterally extensive, low-permeability layers. More than 500 drillers’ logs indicated only bedrock is present, indicating that the fractured bedrock is an important source of groundwater, primarily for domestic use, in the study area. The depths of the holes drilled into the bedrock indicated that fractures potentially supplying water to wells persist in the upper few hundred feet and that the permeable zone of the fractured bedrock extends to depths greater than weathered zones in the upper part of the basement complex. Water-level data were collected from 59 wells during fall 2013. These data indicated that hydraulic head did not vary substantially with well depth and that the measured water levels in bedrock and alluvium were similar. Large offsets in groundwater altitude across the San Jacinto fault zone indicated that the fault zone is a barrier to groundwater flow in the northeastern part of the Anza Valley. On the basis of data from 33 wells, water levels mostly declined between the fall of 2006 and the fall of 2013; the median decline was 5.1 feet during this period, for a median rate of decline of about 0.7 feet/year. Based on data from 40 wells, water-level changes between fall 2004 and fall 2013 were variable in magnitude and trend, but had a median decline of 2.4 feet and a median rate of decline of about 0.3 feet/ year. These differences in apparent rates of groundwater-level change highlight the value of ongoing water-level measurements to distinguish decadal, or longer term, trends in groundwater storage often associated with climatic variability and trends. Fifty-four long-term hydrographs indicated the sensitivity of groundwater levels to climatic conditions; they also showed a general decline in water levels across the study area since 1986 and, in some cases, dating back to the 1950s.

Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the Santa Clara River Valley, 2007-California GAMA Priority Basin Project

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