Association of runoff risk with private well contamination in a fractured dolostone aquifer.
5 affiliations
- 1USDA-ARS Environmentally Integrated Dairy Management Research Unit, Marshfield, Wisconsin, USA.
- 2U. S. Geological Survey and USDA-ARS Laboratory for Infectious Disease and the Environment, Marshfield, Wisconsin, USA.
- 3U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, Marshfield, Wisconsin, USA.
- 4U.S. National Weather Service, North Central River Forecast Center, Chanhassen, Minnesota, USA.
- 5Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Population Health, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Marshfield, Wisconsin, USA.
Abstract
In the United States, private well owners are responsible for monitoring and maintaining their drinking water but have little control over neighboring contamination sources and limited information about daily water quality. Potential for rapid contamination in karst settings exacerbates the challenge. The Runoff Risk Advisory Forecast (RRAF) is a real-time online tool available in five US states that helps nutrient applicators avoid times and locations of high runoff risk. We wanted to determine if RRAF could be repurposed in areas susceptible to groundwater contamination to inform well owners of conditions when contamination is likely. Private wells were repeatedly sampled on seven dates (32-36 wells per date) and analyzed for nitrate-nitrogen, total coliforms, and bovine manure markers. Three-day windows of RRAF risk prior to sampling were selected post hoc, ranging from 1 to 3 days prior for manure markers to 10-12 days prior for nitrate. Contaminants were associated with RRAF values of ≥75% within these windows based on observed weather. A hydrologic association between RRAF risk and groundwater depth was also apparent. Overall, results suggest the RRAF model anticipates conditions of elevated contamination risk for susceptible wells. For nitrate, between-well variation and delayed peak concentration suggested that well location and construction factors may be more informative than runoff events. Microbial contamination was rapid and distributed among wells, with one or more detections of coliforms in 31% of wells and bovine markers in 61% of wells. Thus, a warning system based on the RRAF model could help identify conditions of acute pathogen exposure.
Related
- Hydrogeology and Water Quality of the Unconsolidated Aquifer System in the Lower Fall Creek Valley, Tompkins County, New York
- Occurrence, distribution and risk assessment of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in Djibouti aquifer
- Electrical resistivity technique for assessing groundwater tables in an unconfined aquifer system and the importance of Dar-Zarrouk parameters in aquifer investigation: a case study from Walajabad block, Tamil Nadu, India
- Daily Thermal Cycling Reveals Acousto-Elasticity and Slow Dynamics in a Fractured Limestone Cliff
- Aquifer-differentiated process-guided GRU for multi-timescale groundwater-level prediction
BibTeX
@article{heffron2026association,
title = {{Association of runoff risk with private well contamination in a fractured dolostone aquifer.}},
author = {Joe Heffron and Joel P Stokdyk and Tucker R Burch and Rachel M Cook and Aaron D Firnstahl and Eric O Young and Jessica F Sherman and Dustin Goering and Burney A Kieke and Mark A Borchardt},
journal = {Journal of environmental quality},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/jeq2.70296},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42952379},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Association of runoff risk with private well contamination in a fractured dolostone aquifer.
AU - Joe Heffron
AU - Joel P Stokdyk
AU - Tucker R Burch
AU - Rachel M Cook
AU - Aaron D Firnstahl
AU - Eric O Young
AU - Jessica F Sherman
AU - Dustin Goering
AU - Burney A Kieke
AU - Mark A Borchardt
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - Journal of environmental quality
DO - 10.1002/jeq2.70296
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42952379
AB - In the United States, private well owners are responsible for monitoring and maintaining their drinking water but have little control over neighboring contamination sources and limited information about daily water quality. Potential for rapid contamination in karst settings exacerbates the challenge. The Runoff Risk Advisory Forecast (RRAF) is a real-time online tool available in five US states that helps nutrient applicators avoid times and locations of high runoff risk. We wanted to determine if RRAF could be repurposed in areas susceptible to groundwater contamination to inform well owners of conditions when contamination is likely. Private wells were repeatedly sampled on seven dates (32-36 wells per date) and analyzed for nitrate-nitrogen, total coliforms, and bovine manure markers. Three-day windows of RRAF risk prior to sampling were selected post hoc, ranging from 1 to 3 days prior for manure markers to 10-12 days prior for nitrate. Contaminants were associated with RRAF values of ≥75% within these windows based on observed weather. A hydrologic association between RRAF risk and groundwater depth was also apparent. Overall, results suggest the RRAF model anticipates conditions of elevated contamination risk for susceptible wells. For nitrate, between-well variation and delayed peak concentration suggested that well location and construction factors may be more informative than runoff events. Microbial contamination was rapid and distributed among wells, with one or more detections of coliforms in 31% of wells and bovine markers in 61% of wells. Thus, a warning system based on the RRAF model could help identify conditions of acute pathogen exposure.
SN - 0047-2425
SN - 1537-2537
ER -