Managing Nitrate Problems for Domestic Wells in Irrigated Alluvial Aquifers
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 127, Issue 1
Abstract
Many irrigated areas in the United States and abroad overlie unconfined aquifers. The soils are coarse textured with low water-holding capacity, and irrigation water is frequently necessary for crop growth. Many of these areas experience elevated nitrate levels in water from shallow domestic wells. It is often observed that the nitrate plumes are stratified with depth with the highest concentration just near the surface. The irrigation wells are generally screened toward the bottom part of the aquifer where the material is coarse and the available drawdown is greater. Pumpage is typically cyclic but can be somewhat continuous during drought conditions. It is often believed that the floating nitrate plume is recycled by the irrigation wells. Simulations were carried out to show that slight deepening of domestic wells in both stratified and more homogeneous aquifers could eliminate nitrate problems for many domestic wells even in close proximity of irrigation wells.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Bjerg, P. L., and Christensen, T. H. ( 1992). “Spatial and temporal small-scale variation in ground-water quality of a shallow sandy aquifer.” J. Hydro., Amsterdam, 131, 133–149.
2.
Blomberg, J. ( 1997). Depths of domestic wells in Mason County, IL, Well Records Database, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Ill.
3.
Boettcher, J., Strebel, O., and Duynisveld, W. H. M. ( 1989). “Kinetic und Modellierung gekoppelter Stoffumsetzugnen im Grundwasser eines Lockergesteinsaquifers.” Geol. Jahrbuch Ser. C, 51, 3–40 (in German).
4.
Bowersox, V. C. ( 1997). Rainfall chemistry at Bondville site (IL 11) of the national trends network (NTN), National Atmospheric Deposition Program, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Ill.
5.
Bowman, J. A., and Kimpel, B. C. ( 1991). “Irrigation practices in Illinois.” Res. Rep. 118, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Ill.
6.
Bowman, J. A., Simmons, F. W., and Kimpel, B. C. (1991). “Irrigation in Midwest: Lessons from Illinois.”J. Irrig. and Drain. Engrg., ASCE, 117(5), 700–715.
7.
Frind, E. O., Duynisveld, W. H. M., Strebel, O., and Boettecher, J. ( 1989). “Simulation of nitrate and sulfate transport and transformation in the Fuhrberg Field aquifer, Hannover, Germany.” Proc., Int. Symp. on Contaminant Transport in Ground Water, H. E. Kobus and W. Kinzelbach, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 97–104.
8.
Geyer, D. J., Keller, C. K., Smith, J. L., and Johnstone, D. L. ( 1992). “Subsurface fate of nitrate as a function of depth and landscape position in Missouri Flat Creek watershed, U.S.A.” J. Contam. Hydro., 11, 127–147.
9.
Hallberg, G. R. ( 1989). “Nitrate in ground water in the United States.” Nitrogen management and ground-water protection, R. F. Follett, ed., Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, 35–74.
10.
Hallberg, G. R., and Keeney, D. R. ( 1993). “Nitrate.” Regional ground-water quality, W. J. Alley, ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
11.
Harbaugh, A. W., and McDonald, M. G. ( 1996). “User's documentation for MODFLOW-96, an update to the U.S. Geological Survey modular finite-difference ground-water flow model.” Open File Rep. 96-485, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va.
12.
Kenney, D. R. ( 1982). “Nitrogen management for maximum efficiency and minimum pollution.” Chapter 16, Agronomy Monograph 22, F. J. Stevenson, ed., American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wis.
13.
Kelly, W. R. ( 1997). “Heterogeneities in ground-water geochemistry in a sand aquifer beneath an irrigated field.” J. Hydro., Amsterdam, 198, 154–176.
14.
Kelly, W. R., and Ray, C. ( 1999). “Impact of irrigation on the dynamics of nitrate movement in a shallow sand aquifer.” Res. Rep. No. 128, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Ill.
15.
Naymik, T. G., and Sievers, M. E. ( 1983). “Ground-water tracer experiment (II) at Sand Ridge State Forest, Illinois.” Contract Rep. 334, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Ill.
16.
Pedersen, J. K., Bjerg, P. L., and Christensen, T. H. ( 1991). “Correlation of nitrate profiles with ground water and sediment characteristics in a shallow sandy aquifer.” J. Hydro., Amsterdam, 124, 263–277.
17.
Postma, D., Boesen, C., Kristiansen, H., and Larsen, F. ( 1991). “Nitrate reduction in an unconfined sandy aquifer: Water chemistry, reduction processes, and geochemical modeling.” Water Resour. Res., 27, 2027–2045.
18.
Ray, C., and Kelly, W. R. (1999). “Nitrate dynamics under cyclic irrigation pumpage.”J. Irrig. and Drain. Engrg., ASCE, 125(5), 254–263.
19.
Ray, C., and Klindworth, K. K. (2000). “Neural networks for agrichemical vulnerability assessment of rural private wells.”J. Hydrologic Engrg., ASCE, 5(2), 162–171.
20.
Ray, C., and Schock, S. C. ( 1996). “Comparability of large-scale studies of agricultural chemical contamination of rural private wells.” Ground-water Monitoring and Remediation, 16, 92–102.
21.
Rittmann, B. E., Seagren, E., Wrenn, B. A., Valocchi, A. J., Ray, C., and Raskin, L. ( 1994). In-situ bioremediation, 2nd Ed., Noyes Publishers, Park Ridge, N.J.
22.
Saffigna, P. G., and Keeney, D. R. ( 1977). “Nitrate and chloride in ground water under irrigated agriculture in central Wisconsin.” Ground Water, 15, 170–177.
23.
Sanderson, E. W., and Buck, A. G. ( 1995). “Reconnaissance study of ground-water levels in the Havana Lowlands area.” Contract Rep. 582, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Ill.
24.
Soong, D. T., Ray, C., Roadcap, G. S., and Borah, D. K. ( 1998). “Flood-induced loading of agricultural chemicals to public water supply wells in selected reaches of the Illinois River.” Proc., 8th Annu. Conf., Illinois Ground-Water Consortium, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Ill., 47–69.
25.
Spalding, R. F., Gormly, J. R., Curtiss, B. H., and Exner, M. E. ( 1978). “Nonpoint nitrate contamination of ground water in Merrick County, Nebraska.” Ground Water, 16, 86–95.
26.
Trudell, M. R., Gillham, R. W., and Cherry, J. A. ( 1986). “An in-situ study of the occurrence and rate of denitrification in a shallow unconfined sand aquifer.” J. Hydro., Amsterdam, 83, 251–268.
27.
Walton, W. C. ( 1965). “Ground-water recharge and runoff in Illinois.” Rep. of Investigation 48, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Ill.
28.
Zheng, C. ( 1992). MT3D version 1.8 documentation and user's guide, S. S. Papadopulos & Assoc., Inc., Bethesda, Md.
29.
Zheng, C., and Bennett, G. D. ( 1995). Applied contaminant transport modeling: Theory and practice, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
History
Received: Nov 1, 1999
Published online: Feb 1, 2001
Published in print: Feb 2001
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.