Evaluating Ground‐Water Vulnerability to Pesticides
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 116, Issue 5
Abstract
A methodology was developed to rank the relative vulnerability of ground‐water areas to contamination by agriculturally applied pesticides. The method uses the advection‐dispersion equation for chemical transport in soils to develop the leaching potential index (LPI), which is an indicator of the relative susceptibility of each area. The index incorporates the effects of depth to ground water, natural and irrigation recharge rates, absorption, and chemical decay. The importance (weighting) of the hydrological factors is physically based, not subjective as it is in a number of approaches reviewed. The weights are not required to have constant values, as is typical of other methodologies; instead dependent on the specific chemical properties of the pesticide under consideration. The methodology is verified by comparing the calculated rank of 381 1‐sq‐mi areas with available analyses for 1,2‐dibromochloropropane (DBCP) in ground water in the same area. The method will be a useful planning tool for early identification of agricultural areas susceptible to ground‐water contamination and efficient management of sampling resources.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Agricultural chemicals in groundwater: Proposed pesticide strategy. (1987). Office of Pesticide and Toxic Substances, U.S. Envir. Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., Dec.
2.
Aller, L., et al. (1985). DRASTIC: A standardized system for evaluating groundwater pollution potential using hydrogeologic settings. U.S. Envir. Protection Agency, Ada, Okla.
3.
Bachmat, Y., and Collin, M. (1987). “Mapping to assess groundwater vulnerability to pollution.” Proc. Int. Conf. on Vulnerability of Soil and Groundwater to Pollutants, W. van Duijvenbooden and H. G. van Waegeningen, eds., National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Hygiene, 297–307.
4.
Berg, R. C., Kempton, J. P., and Cartwright, K. (1984). “Potential for contamination of shallow aquifers in Illinois.” ISGS Circular 532, Illinois State Geological Survey, Champagne, Ill.
5.
Breeuwsma, A., and van Duijvenbooden, W. (1987). “Mapping of groundwater vulnerability to pollutants in the Netherlands.” Proc. Int. Conf. on Vulnerability of Soil and Groundwater to Pollutants, W. van Duijvenbooden and H. G. van Waegeningen, eds., National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Hygiene, 309–320.
6.
Dean, J. D., Jowise, P. P., and Donigan, A. S., Jr. (1984). “Leaching evaluation of agricultural chemicals handbook (LEACH). “EPA‐600/3‐84‐068, U.S. Envir. Protection Agency Envir. Res. Lab., Athens, Ga.
7.
Goosens, M., and Van Damme, M. (1987). “Vulnerability mapping in Flanders, Belgium.” Proc. Int. Conf. on Vulnerability of Soil and Groundwater to Pollutants, W. van Duijvenbooden and H. G. van Waegeningen, eds., National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Hygiene, 355–360.
8.
Jury, W. A., Spencer, W. F., and Farmer, W. J. (1983). “Behavior assessment model for trace organics in soil: I. Model description.” J. Envir. Quality, 12(4), 558–564.
9.
Khan, M. A., and Liang, T. (1989). “Mapping pesticide contamination.” J. Envir. Mgmt., 13(2), 233–242.
10.
LaSeur, L. P., et al. (1987). “Prioritizing areas for statewide groundwater monitoring.” J. Water Resour. Plng. and Mgmt., 113(2), 204–215.
11.
The leaching fields: A nonpoint threat to groundwater. (1985). California Assembly Office of Res., Sacramento, Calif.
12.
Rao, P. S. C., Hornsby, A. G., and Jessup, R. E. (1985). “Indices for ranking the potential for pesticide contamination of groundwater.” Proc., Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida, 44, 1–8.
13.
Stockton East Water District 205(j) groundwater quality study. (1988). Woodward‐Clyde Consultants, Oakland, Calif.
14.
Teso, R. R., et al. (1988). “Soil toxonomy and surveys: Classification of areal sensitivity to pesticide contamination of groundwater.” J. Soil and Water Conservation, 43(4), 348–352.
15.
Villeneuve, J. P., et al. (1988). “A sensitivity analysis of adsorption and degradation parameters in the modeling of pesticide transport in soils.” J. Contaminant Hydrology, 3(1), 77–96.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 ASCE.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1990
Published in print: Sep 1990
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.