Determining Travel Time and Stream Mixing using Tracers and Empirical Equations

Verstraeten, Ingrid M.; Soenksen, Philip J.; Engel, G.B.; Miller, Lisa D.

doi:10.2134/jeq1999.00472425002800050001x

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…The study area, defined as the 100‐year floodplain plus a 1.5‐km buffer at both sides of the Platte River, is an area of ∼2600 km 2 in eastern Nebraska from near Columbus to the Platte River's confluence with the Missouri River (Figure 1). The drainage area of the Platte River in Nebraska is 106,000 km 2 , with a mean annual flow of ∼200 m 3 /s at Plattsmouth (Verstraeten et al 1999a). The river generally is a gaining river except for a small area upgradient.…”

Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of tracers and isotopes to evaluate vulnerability of water in domestic wells to septic waste

Verstraeten¹,

Fetterman²,

Meyer³

et al. 2005

Groundwater Monitoring Rem

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In Nebraska, a large number (>200) of shallow sand‐point and cased wells completed in coarse alluvial sediments along rivers and lakes still are used to obtain drinking water for human consumption, even though construction of sand‐point wells for consumptive uses has been banned since 1987. The quality of water from shallow domestic wells potentially vulnerable to seepage from septic systems was evaluated by analyzing for the presence of tracers and multiple isotopes. Samples were collected from 26 sand‐point and perforated, cased domestic wells and were analyzed for bacteria, coliphages, nitrogen species, nitrogen and boron isotopes, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), prescription and nonprescription drugs, or organic waste water contaminants. At least 13 of the 26 domestic well samples showed some evidence of septic system effects based on the results of several tracers including DOC, coliphages, NH4+, NO3−, N2, δ15N[NO3−] and boron isotopes, and antibiotics and other drugs. Sand‐point wells within 30 m of a septic system and <14 m deep in a shallow, thin aquifer had the most tracers detected and the highest values, indicating the greatest vulnerability to contamination from septic waste.

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Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of tracers and isotopes to evaluate vulnerability of water in domestic wells to septic waste

Verstraeten¹,

Fetterman²,

Meyer³

et al. 2005

Groundwater Monitoring Rem

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“…In many surface water applications, rhodamine WT is considered ''reasonably stable'' with a ''low sorptive tendency'' [Wilson et al, 1986]. As such, numerous investigators have employed rhodamine WT as a tracer and considered it to be nominally conservative [e.g., Verstraeten et al, 1999;Atkinson and Davis, 2000;De Smedt et al, 2005;Rowinski et al, 2008]. Investigators of groundwater systems, in contrast, have recognized the reactive properties of rhodamine WT, and have employed it as a nonconservative surrogate for organic contaminants subject to sorption [Sabatini and Austin, 1991;Everts and Kanwar, 1994].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the use of rhodamine WT for the characterization of stream hydrodynamics and transient storage

Runkel

2015

Water Resources Research

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Recent advances in fluorometry have led to increased use of rhodamine WT as a tracer in streams and rivers. In light of this increased use, a review of the dye's behavior in freshwater systems is presented. Studies in the groundwater literature indicate that rhodamine WT is transported nonconservatively, with sorption removing substantial amounts of tracer mass. Column studies document a two-step breakthrough curve in which two structural isomers are chromatographically separated. Although the potential for nonconservative transport is acknowledged in the surface water literature, many studies assume that sorptive losses will not affect the characterization of physical transport processes. A literature review and modeling analysis indicates that this assumption is valid for quantification of physical properties that are based on the bulk of the tracer mass (traveltime), and invalid for the characterization of processes represented by the tracer tail (transient storage attributable to hyporheic exchange). Rhodamine WT should be considered nonconservative in the hyporheic zone due to nonconservative behavior demonstrated for similar conditions in groundwater. As such, rhodamine WT should not be used as a quantitative tracer in hyporheic zone investigations, including the study of long flow paths and the development of models describing hyporheic zone processes. Rhodamine WT may be used to qualitatively characterize storage in large systems, where there are few practical alternatives. Qualitative investigations should rely on early portions of the tracer profile, making use of the temporal resolution afforded by in situ fluorometry, while discarding later parts of the tracer profile that are adversely affected by sorption.

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“…The travel time from atrazine use areas to drinking water intakes is easily within that time span. Indeed, Verstraeten et al . (1999) has shown that only 8.2 to 13.2 h are required for the leading edge of a chemical plume to travel over 56 km in the Elkhorn River near Waterloo to the Platte River at Ashland (the location of the Lincoln, NE water supply intake).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time Series Analysis of Nebraska Daily Rainfall Data to Simulate Atrazine Runoff¹

Adelman¹,

Stansbury²

2007

J American Water Resour Assoc

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Measured atrazine concentrations in Nebraska surface water have been shown to exceed water‐quality standards, posing risks to humans and to the ecosystem. To assess this risk, atrazine runoff was simulated at the field‐scale in Nebraska based on the pesticide component of the AGNPS model. This project’s objective was to determine the frequency that the atrazine concentration at the field outlet exceeded three different atrazine water‐quality criteria. The simulation was conducted for different farm management practices, soil moisture conditions, and five Nebraska topographic regions. If the criteria were exceeded, a risk to the drinking water consumer or freshwater aquatic life was hypothesized to exist. Three pesticide fate and transport processes were simulated with the model. Degradation was simulated using first‐order kinetics. Adsorption/desorption was modeled assuming a linear soil‐water partitioning coefficient. Advection (runoff) was based primarily on the USDA‐NRCS curve number method. Daily rainfall from the National Weather Service was used to compute the soil moisture conditions for the 1985‐2000 growing seasons. After each runoff event, the pesticide runoff concentration was compared with each of the three atrazine water‐quality criteria. The results show that environmental receptors (i.e., freshwater aquatic species) are exposed to unacceptable atrazine runoff concentrations in 20‐50% of the runoff events.

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Determining Travel Time and Stream Mixing using Tracers and Empirical Equations

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

Use of tracers and isotopes to evaluate vulnerability of water in domestic wells to septic waste

Use of tracers and isotopes to evaluate vulnerability of water in domestic wells to septic waste

On the use of rhodamine WT for the characterization of stream hydrodynamics and transient storage

Time Series Analysis of Nebraska Daily Rainfall Data to Simulate Atrazine Runoff¹

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Determining Travel Time and Stream Mixing using Tracers and Empirical Equations

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

Use of tracers and isotopes to evaluate vulnerability of water in domestic wells to septic waste

Use of tracers and isotopes to evaluate vulnerability of water in domestic wells to septic waste

On the use of rhodamine WT for the characterization of stream hydrodynamics and transient storage

Time Series Analysis of Nebraska Daily Rainfall Data to Simulate Atrazine Runoff1

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Product

Resources

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Time Series Analysis of Nebraska Daily Rainfall Data to Simulate Atrazine Runoff¹