Nitrate in aquifers beneath agricultural systems

• Published in: Water science and technology Vol. 56; no. 1; pp. 59 - 69
• Main Authors: Burkart, M.R, Stoner, J.D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England IWA Publishing 01.01.2007
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agricultural research; Agriculture; Alluvial aquifers; alluvial soils; Animal manures; Animals; Aquifers; Carbonates; Contamination; Corn; crop production; Cybersecurity; Farming systems; fertilizer use reduction; Fertilizers; Geological surveys; Glycine max; grain crops; Groundwater; groundwater contamination; groundwater recharge; horticultural crops; Horticulture; Hydrology; Imports; Inorganic Chemicals; Irrigation systems; Leaching; Livestock; livestock production; meta-analysis; Mineral nutrients; Nitrates; Nitrates - analysis; Nitrogen; nitrogen fertilizers; Point source pollution; Regions; Sensitivity and Specificity; Soil; Soil contamination; Soil permeability; Soybeans; Surveying; surveys; swine; Trends; Trisaccharides; Unconfined aquifers; Unconsolidated aquifers; Vulnerability; Water monitoring; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Supply - analysis; Zea mays; Asia; United States; Eastern European region; Russia; United States > US; USA; Europe
• ISBN: 9781843395973; 1843395975
• ISSN: 0273-1223; 1996-9732
• DOI: 10.2166/wst.2007.436

Research from several regions of the world provides spatially anecdotal evidence to hypothesize which hydrologic and agricultural factors contribute to groundwater vulnerability to nitrate contamination. Analysis of nationally consistent measurements from the U.S. Geological Survey's NAWQA program confirms these hypotheses for a substantial range of agricultural systems. Shallow unconfined aquifers are most susceptible to nitrate contamination associated with agricultural systems. Alluvial and other unconsolidated aquifers are the most vulnerable and also shallow carbonate aquifers that provide a substantial but smaller contamination risk. Where any of these aquifers are overlain by permeable soils the risk of contamination is larger. Irrigated systems can compound this vulnerability by increasing leaching facilitated by additional recharge and additional nutrient applications. The system of corn, soybean, and hogs produced significantly larger concentrations of groundwater nitrate than all other agricultural systems because this system imports the largest amount of N-fertilizer per unit production area. Mean nitrate under dairy, poultry, horticulture, and cattle and grains systems were similar. If trends in the relation between increased fertilizer use and groundwater nitrate in the United States are repeated in other regions of the world, Asia may experience increasing problems because of recent increases in fertilizer use. Groundwater monitoring in Western and Eastern Europe as well as Russia over the next decade may provide data to determine if the trend in increased nitrate contamination can be reversed. If the concentrated livestock trend in the United States is global, it may be accompanied by increasing nitrogen contamination in groundwater. Concentrated livestock provide both point sources in the confinement area and intense non-point sources as fields close to facilities are used for manure disposal. Regions where irrigated cropland is expanding, such as in Asia, may experience the greatest impact of this practice on groundwater nitrate.