A groundwater nonpoint source pollution modeling framework to evaluate long‐term dynamics of pollutant exceedance probabilities in wells and other discharge locations

Kourakos, George; Klein, F.; Cortis, A.; Harter, Thomas

doi:10.1029/2011wr010813

Cited by 55 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 115 publications

(134 reference statements)

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“…Salinity is a threat to the sustainability of agriculture and groundwater in California, especially along the west side of the Central Valley (Kourakos et al 2012;Schoups et al 2005), where sediments are derived from marine sediments in the Coast Range. The chemical limitations factor was quantified using the electrical conductivity (EC) of the soil, which is a measure of soil salinity.…”

Section: Fuzzy Logic and Crisp Scoresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil suitability index identifies potential areas for groundwater banking on agricultural lands

O’Geen¹,

Saal²,

Dahlke³

et al. 2015

Cal Ag

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Groundwater pumping chronically exceeds natural recharge in many agricultural regions in California. A common method of recharging groundwater -when surface water is available -is to deliberately flood an open area, allowing water to percolate into an aquifer. However, open land suitable for this type of recharge is scarce. Flooding agricultural land during fallow or dormant periods has the potential to increase groundwater recharge substantially, but this approach has not been well studied. Using data on soils, topography and crop type, we developed a spatially explicit index of the suitability for groundwater recharge of land in all agricultural regions in California. We identified 3.6 million acres of agricultural land statewide as having Excellent or Good potential for groundwater recharge. The index provides preliminary guidance about the locations where groundwater recharge on agricultural land is likely to be feasible. A variety of institutional, infrastructure and other issues must also be addressed before this practice can be implemented widely.

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Section: Fuzzy Logic and Crisp Scoresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil suitability index identifies potential areas for groundwater banking on agricultural lands

O’Geen¹,

Saal²,

Dahlke³

et al. 2015

Cal Ag

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Nitrate is the most problematic groundwater contaminant associated with agriculture worldwide (Jalali, 2005;Erisman et al, 2008;Burow et al, 2010;Vitousek et al, 2010;Kourakos et al, 2012). Both mineral nitrogen fertilizers (e.g., Kurtzman et al, 2013) and organic forms of nitrogen (e.g., Dahan et al, 2014) are often applied in excess with respect to…”

Section: Relatively Little Nitrate Contamination In Aquifers Under Vementioning

confidence: 99%

Soil–aquifer phenomena affecting groundwater under vertisols: a review

Kurtzman

Baram

Dahan

2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Vertisols are cracking clayey soils that (i) usually form in alluvial lowlands where, normally, groundwater pools into aquifers; (ii) have different types of voids (due to cracking), which make flow and transport of water, solutes and gas complex; and (iii) are regarded as fertile soils in many areas. The combination of these characteristics results in the unique soil-aquifer phenomena that are highlighted and summarized in this review. The review is divided into the following four sections: (1) soil cracks as preferential pathways for water and contaminants: in this section lysimeter-to basin-scale observations that show the significance of cracks as preferential-flow paths in vertisols, which bypass matrix blocks in the unsaturated zone, are summarized. Relatively fresh-water recharge and groundwater contamination from these fluxes and their modeling are reviewed; (2) soil cracks as deep evaporators and unsaturated-zone salinity: deep sediment samples under uncultivated vertisols in semiarid regions reveal a dry (immobile), saline matrix, partly due to enhanced evaporation through soil cracks. Observations of this phenomenon are compiled in this section and the mechanism of evapoconcentration due to air flow in the cracks is discussed; (3) impact of cultivation on flushing of the unsaturated zone and aquifer salinization: the third section examines studies reporting that land-use change of vertisols from native land to cropland promotes greater fluxes through the saline unsaturated-zone matrix, eventually flushing salts to the aquifer. Different degrees of salt flushing are assessed as well as aquifer salinization on different scales, and a comparison is made with aquifers under other soils; (4) relatively little nitrate contamination in aquifers under vertisols: in this section we turn the light on observations showing that aquifers under cultivated vertisols are somewhat resistant to groundwater contamination by nitrate (the major agriculturally related groundwater problem). Denitrification is probably the main mechanism supporting this resistance, whereas a certain degree of anion-exchange capacity may have a retarding effect as well.

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“…Groundwater pollution is usually attributed to a very large array of chemicals. Nevertheless, on a global scale the main cause for drinking-water well shutdowns is a high nitrate concentration in the aquifer water (Osenbruck et al, 2006;Kourakos et al, 2012;Liao et al, 2012;Kurtzman et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrate leaching from intensive organic farms to groundwater

Dahan

Babad

Lazarovitch

et al. 2014

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

101

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Abstract. It is commonly presumed that organic agriculture causes only minimal environmental pollution. In this study, we measured the quality of percolating water in the vadose zone, underlying both organic and conventional intensive greenhouses. Our study was conducted in newly established farms where the subsurface underlying the greenhouses has been monitored continuously from their establishment. Surprisingly, intensive organic agriculture relying on solid organic matter, such as composted manure that is implemented in the soil prior to planting as the sole fertilizer, resulted in significant down-leaching of nitrate through the vadose zone to the groundwater. On the other hand, similar intensive agriculture that implemented liquid fertilizer through drip irrigation, as commonly practiced in conventional agriculture, resulted in much lower rates of pollution of the vadose zone and groundwater. It has been shown that accurate fertilization methods that distribute the fertilizers through the irrigation system, according to plant demand, during the growing season dramatically reduce the potential for groundwater contamination from both organic and conventional greenhouses.

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A groundwater nonpoint source pollution modeling framework to evaluate long‐term dynamics of pollutant exceedance probabilities in wells and other discharge locations

Cited by 55 publications

References 115 publications

Soil suitability index identifies potential areas for groundwater banking on agricultural lands

Soil suitability index identifies potential areas for groundwater banking on agricultural lands

Soil–aquifer phenomena affecting groundwater under vertisols: a review

Nitrate leaching from intensive organic farms to groundwater

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