Groundwater Quality Vulnerability Assessment in North Dakota

Abstract

In North Dakota, arsenic and nitrate are two major groundwater contaminants. These contaminants originate from either natural geologic or anthropogenic sources. Differences in geology, hydrology, geochemistry, and chemical use explain how and why concentrations of these groundwater contaminants vary across the regions. Based on these properties, a research was carried out to identify the potential groundwater quality vulnerable regions. For vulnerability assessment, modified DRASTIC-G and Susceptibility Index model were used for arsenic and nitrate, respectively. Our research showed that approximately 21 and 28 % of the study area fall within high arsenic and nitrate vulnerable areas, respectively. Our study also identified 33 out of the 84 high risk arsenic and 16 out of 28 high risk nitrate observation wells fall within the high arsenic and nitrate vulnerability areas, respectively. These developed maps can be used as a starting point for identifying probable groundwater vulnerable areas and future decision making.