Excerpt
GROUNDWATER is an important source of drinking water for individuals living on farms and in small communities because of its availability in most parts of the United States, its reliability during times of drought, and its generally good quality. In recent years, widespread reports of bacteria, nitrates, synthetic organic chemicals, and other pollutants in groundwater have increased the public's concern about its quality. This growing concern and the uncertainty about the health risks associated with long-term exposure to small concentrations of synthetic organic chemicals in drinking water have led agencies at all levels of government to increase ground-water data collection, monitoring, and research programs; to develop state and local groundwater protection plans; and to increase efforts to educate the public about the nature of groundwater and actions that people can take to reduce contamination.
Although we know much about the quantity of groundwater and the principles governing its flow through aquifers, knowledge of the behavior of many contaminants in the subsurface zone generally is not complete enough to predict their fate and transport. Data on many contaminants, such as pesticides, are lacking, and inventories of potential sources of contamination are incomplete. Despite the difficulties surrounding attempts …
Footnotes
David W. Moody is assistant chief hydrologist for water assessment and data coordination in the Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, Reston, Virginia 22092.
- Copyright 1990 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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