Regional Groundwater Quality in Watersheds of the Upper Cumberland, Lower Cumberland, and Lower Tennessee Rivers, and the Jackson Purchase Region (Kentucky Basin Management Unit 3)

The Kentucky Geological Survey and the Kentucky Division of Water are evaluating groundwater quality throughout the commonwealth to determine regional conditions, assess impacts of nonpoint-source contaminants, provide a baseline for tracking changes, and provide essential information for environmental-protection and resource-management decisions. This report summarizes expanded groundwater monitoring activities and groundwater quality in watersheds of the Upper Cumberland River, Lower Cumberland River, Tennessee River, and the Jackson Purchase Region (Kentucky Basin Management Unit 3). Thirty wells and springs were sampled seasonally between the summer of 2000 and the spring of 2001, and analyzed at the Kentucky Division of Environmental Services Laboratory. Analytical results for selected water properties, major and minor inorganic ions, metals, nutrients, pesticides, and volatile organic chemicals were combined with data retrieved from the Kentucky Groundwater Data Repository. The repository is maintained by the Kentucky Geological Survey and contains reports received from the Division of Water’s Ambient Groundwater Monitoring Program as well as results of investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, Kentucky Geological Survey, Kentucky Division of Pesticide Regulation, and other agencies. Statistics such as the number of measurements reported, the number of sites sampled, quartile values (maximum, third quartile, median, first quartile, and minimum), and the number of sites at which water-quality standards were exceeded summarize the data, and probability plots illustrate the data distribution. Maps show well and spring locations and sites where water-quality standards were met or exceeded. Box-and-whisker diagrams compare values between physiographic regions, major watersheds, wells and springs, and total versus dissolved metals. Plots of analyte concentrations versus well depth compare groundwater quality in shallow, intermediate, and deep groundwater flow systems. Table A-1 summarizes the findings. General water properties (pH, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, electrical conductance, and hardness), inorganic anions (chloride, sulfate, and fluoride), and metals (arsenic, barium, mercury, iron, and manganese) are primarily controlled by bedrock lithology. Some exceptionally high values of conductance, hardness, chloride, and sulfate may be affected by oil and gas production, and some exceptionally low pH values may indicate the input of acid mine drainage. Nutrient concentrations (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, orthophosphate, and total phosphorus) show a strong potential contribution from agricultural and waste-disposal practices. Synthetic organic chemicals such as pesticides (2,4-D, alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, metolachlor, and simazine) and volatile organic compounds (benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylene, and MTBE1) do not occur naturally in groundwater. Detection of these man-made chemicals in groundwater must be attributed to contamination. These synthetic chemicals are detected more commonly in springs and shallow wells than in deeper wells, indicating that the shallow groundwater system is particularly vulnerable to nonpoint-source contamination

Groundwater Quality in Watersheds of the Kentucky River, Salt River, Licking River, Big Sandy River, Little Sandy River, and Tygarts Creek (Kentucky Basin Management Units 1, 2, and 5)

The Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky, and the Kentucky Division of Water (of the Kentucky Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet) are evaluating groundwater quality throughout the commonwealth to determine regional conditions, assess impacts of nonpoint-source pollutants, establish a basis for detecting changes, and provide essential information for environmental-protection and resource-management decisions. These evaluations are being conducted in stages. Under the Kentucky Watershed management Framework, Kentucky’s 12 major river basins and tributaries of the Ohio River were grouped into five basin management units (BMU’s). A previous report summarized and evaluated groundwater quality in BMU 3 (watersheds of the Upper Cumberland River, Lower Cumberland River, Tennessee River, the Jackson Purchase Region, and adjacent Ohio River tributaries). That report is available on the KGS Web site (www.uky.edu/KGS/water/RI_15/). This report summarizes results of analyses of groundwater samples from wells and springs in BMU 1 (Kentucky River watershed and adjacent Ohio River tributaries), BMU 2 (Salt River and Licking River watersheds and adjacent Ohio River tributaries), and BMU 5 (Big Sandy River, Little Sandy River, and Tygarts Creek watersheds, and adjacent Ohio River tributaries). Analytical results for selected water properties, major and minor inorganic ions, metals, nutrients, pesticides, and volatile organic chemicals were retrieved from the Kentucky Groundwater Data Repository. The repository is maintained by the Kentucky Geological Survey and contains reports received from the Division of Water’s Ambient Groundwater Monitoring Program as well as data from investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, Kentucky Geological Survey, Kentucky Division of Pesticide Regulation, and other agencies. The Kentucky Division of Water provided water-quality standards. Statistics such as the number of measurements reported, the number of sites sampled, quartile concentration values, and the number of sites at which water-quality standards were met or exceeded are used to summarize the data. Maps show sampled locations and sites where water-quality standards were met or exceeded. Cumulative data plots are used to show concentration distributions in each basin management unit. Box-and-whisker diagrams compare values between physiographic regions, major watersheds, wells and springs, and total versus dissolved metal concentrations. Plots of analyte concentrations versus well depth compare groundwater quality in shallow, intermediate, and deep groundwater flow systems. Table A1 summarizes the findings. General water-quality properties, inorganic anions, and metals are primarily controlled by natural factors such as bedrock lithology. Some exceptionally high values of conductance, hardness, chloride, and sulfate may be affected by nearby oil and gas production or improperly sealed oil and gas wells, leaking waste-disposal systems, or other man-made factors, and some exceptionally low pH values probably result from acid mine drainage. Nitrate concentrations show a strong contribution from agricultural and waste-disposal practices, whereas orthophosphate and total phosphorus concentrations are largely determined by the chemical composition of limestone bedrock and coal strata. Synthetic organic chemicals such as pesticides and refined volatile organic compounds do not occur naturally in groundwater. Although these chemicals rarely exceed water-quality criteria in the project area, the detection of these man-made chemicals in springs and shallow wells indicates there has been some degradation of groundwater quality. Monitoring of these synthetic, potentially health-threatening chemicals should continue, and efforts to protect the groundwater resources from them should be a priority for the commonwealth of Kentucky

Groundwater Quality in Watersheds of the Big Sandy River, Little Sandy River, and Tygarts Creek (Kentucky Basin Management Unit 5)

The Kentucky Geological Survey and the Kentucky Division of Water are evaluating groundwater quality throughout the commonwealth to determine regional conditions, assess impacts of nonpoint-source contaminants, provide a baseline for tracking changes, and provide essential information for environmental-protection and resource-management decisions. These evaluations include summarizing existing regional groundwater-quality data and reporting the results of expanded, focused groundwater collection programs in specific areas. This report summarizes groundwater sampling and analysis in Kentucky basin management unit 5 (watersheds of the Big Sandy River, Little Sandy River, and Tygarts Creek in eastern Kentucky). Thirty wells and springs were sampled quarterly between the fall of 2002 and the summer of 2003. Temperature, pH, and conductance were measured at the sample site, and concentrations of a selected group of major and minor inorganic ions, metals, nutrients, pesticides, and volatile organic chemicals were measured at the Kentucky Division of Environmental Services laboratory. The new analytical data were combined with groundwater-quality records retrieved from the Kentucky Groundwater Data Repository. This repository is maintained by the Kentucky Geological Survey and contains reports received from the Division of Water’s Ambient Groundwater Monitoring Program as well as results of investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, Kentucky Geological Survey, Kentucky Division of Pesticide Regulation, and other agencies. Statistical measures such as the number of measured concentrations reported, the number of sites sampled, quartile values (maximum 75th percentile, median, 25th percentile, and minimum), and the number of sites at which water-quality standards were exceeded were used to summarize the data, and probability plots were used to illustrate the distribution of reported concentrations. Maps were used to show well and spring locations and sites where water-quality standards were met or exceeded. Box-and-whisker diagrams were used to compare values between major watersheds, water from wells versus water from springs, and total versus dissolved metal concentrations. Plots of concentrations versus well depth were used to compare groundwater quality in shallow, intermediate, and deep groundwater flow systems. Table A1 summarizes the findings. Water properties, inorganic anions, and metals are primarily controlled by natural factors such as bedrock lithology. Some exceptionally high values of conductance, chloride, and sulfate may be affected by nearby oil and gas production, leaking waste-disposal systems, or other human factors, and some exceptionally low pH values may indicate acid mine drainage. Ammonia and nitrate concentrations indicate a probable contribution from nutrient applications and waste-disposal practices. Synthetic organic chemicals such as pesticides and refined volatile organic compounds do not occur naturally. Although these chemicals rarely exceed water-quality criteria in the project area, their detection indicates there has been some degradation of groundwater quality. The occurrence of these synthetic chemicals should continue to be monitored, and renewed efforts are needed to protect the groundwater resource

Plenary Session: \u3cem\u3eWater Research Needs in Kentucky\u3c/em\u3e

Four panelists were invited to present their visions/predictions of current and future water research needs in Kentucky in an opening plenary session at the 2012 Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium. The requested overall general focus was ground water research needs