Abstract
The State of Wisconsin is located in an unusually water-rich portion of the world in the western part of the Great Lakes region of North America. This article presents an overview of the major groundwater quantity and quality concerns for this region in a geologic context. The water quantity concerns are most prominent in the central sand plain region and portions of a Paleozoic confined sandstone aquifer in eastern Wisconsin. Water quality concerns are more varied, with significant impacts from both naturally occurring inorganic contaminants and anthropogenic sources. Naturally occurring contaminants include radium, arsenic and associated heavy metals, fluoride, strontium, and others. Anthropogenic contaminants include nitrate, bacteria, viruses, as well as endocrine disrupting compounds. Groundwater quality in the region is highly dependent upon local geology and land use, but water bearing geologic units of all ages, Precambrian through Quaternary, are impacted by at least one kind of contaminant.
Highlights
The State of Wisconsin, United States, is located in the western Great Lakes region of North America (Figure 1)
Wisconsin River valley), (2) shallow carbonate rock aquifer systems of eastern Wisconsin located along and east of the Niagara Escarpment, where solution-enlarged joints, sinkholes, and other karst features promote drainage of nitrate rich soil pore water from agriculturally managed soil horizons to groundwater in the unconfined dolostone aquifer, and (3) south-central Wisconsin where well-drained soils are extensively managed for high nitrogen input row crop production
A recent study by Bauer et al [109] in six northeastern Wisconsin counties showed that contamination of groundwater with endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), nitrate, and fecal bacteria is a common problem in karst areas of northeastern Wisconsin
Summary
The State of Wisconsin, United States, is located in the western Great Lakes region of North America (Figure 1). Wisconsin is extremely fortunate to have abundant supplies of fresh groundwater in Paleozoic age sedimentary rocks and Pleistocene glacial sediments, which are present throughout a large portion of the state. The largest consumers of groundwater include municipal water supply systems (37 percent) and agricultural irrigation (40 percent) [11]. In 2013, there were approximately 950 billion liters (250 billion gallons) of groundwater withdrawn, with the majority of water used for agricultural and municipal water supply (Table 1). Abundant precipitation, thick aquifers, and relatively little saline groundwater have resulted in a high quality water supply for most of the state’s residents [16]. This article presents a review of the water quality and quantity issues faced in one of the most water-rich areas of the world
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