Effect of Groundwater Age and Recharge Source on Nitrate Concentrations in Domestic Wells in the San Joaquin Valley

Castaldo, Giovanni; Visser, Ate; Fogg, Graham E.; Harter, Thomas

doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c03071

Effect of Groundwater Age and Recharge Source on Nitrate Concentrations in Domestic Wells in the San Joaquin Valley

Journal Article · Thu Jan 28 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Environmental Science and Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c03071· OSTI ID:1765814

Castaldo, Giovanni ^[1]; Visser, Ate ^[2]; Fogg, Graham E. ^[3]; ^[3]

Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States); University of California Davis
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)

Nitrate is one of the most abundant contaminants in groundwater globally, in the United States, and in California (CA). We studied well construction information, water chemistry, stable isotopes, and noble gases to understand how groundwater travel time and recharge source and mechanism control nitrate concentrations in domestic wells in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV), CA, a large semiarid, irrigated agricultural region. Using nonparametric statistics, we find a decreasing trend in nitrates with groundwater travel time and well depth. Samples collected from wells that are closer to rivers and that show indications of river water recharge, either low recharge temperature or low δ¹⁸O signature, have lower concentrations of nitrates than samples with isotopic signatures indicating mixed source or local precipitation recharge. The curbing effect of river water recharge on nitrate concentrations in domestic wells is similar for direct river recharge and water applied as irrigation. This suggests that irrigation with river water also has a diluting effect that reduces the concentration of nitrate found in groundwater. This conclusion supports the idea that flood-managed aquifer recharge may be considered for remediation of groundwater nitrate when designing replenishment of aquifers.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344

OSTI ID:: 1765814

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1785904

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL--816698

Journal Information:: Environmental Science and Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 55; ISSN 0013-936X

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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