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USGS2018

Effects of surface-water and groundwater inflows and outflows on the hydrology of the Tsala Apopka Lake Basin in Citrus County, Florida

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, initiated a study to quantify the inflows and outflows in the Floral City, Inverness, and Hernando pools of the Tsala Apopka Lake Basin in Citrus County, Florida. This study assesses hydrologic changes in pool stages, groundwater levels, spring flows, and streamflows caused by the diversion of streamflow from the Withlacoochee River to the Tsala Apopka Lake Basin through water-control structures. A surface-water/groundwater flow model was developed using hydraulic parameters for lakes, streams, the unsaturated zone, and the underlying surficial and Upper Floridan aquifers estimated using an inverse modeling calibration technique. After calibration, the model was used to assess the relation between inflows and outflows in the Tsala Apopka Lake Basin and changes in pool stages. Simulation results using the calibrated surface-water/groundwater flow model showed that leakage rates from the pools to the Upper Floridan aquifer were largest at the deep lake cells and that these leakage rates to the Upper Floridan aquifer were the highest in the model area. Downward leakage to the Upper Floridan aquifer occurred beneath most of the extent of the Floral City, Inverness, and Hernando pools. These leakage rates depended on the lakebed leakance and the difference between lake stages and heads in the Upper Floridan aquifer. Leakage rates were higher for the Floral City pool than for the Inverness pool, and higher for the Inverness pool than for the Hernando pool. Lakebed leakance was higher for the Floral City pool than for the Hernando pool, and higher for the Hernando pool than for the Inverness pool. Simulation results showed that the average recharge rate to the surficial aquifer was 10.3 inches per year for the 2004 to 2012 simulation period. Areas that recharge the surficial aquifer covered about 86 percent of the model area. Simulations identified areas along segments of the Withlacoochee River and within land-surface depressions that receive water from the surficial aquifer. Recharge rates were largest in physiographic regions having a deep water table. Simulated heads in the Upper Floridan aquifer indicated the general flow directions in the active flow model area were from the northeast toward the southwest and then westward toward the coast, and from the southeast toward the northwest and then westward toward the coast, consistent with flow directions inferred from the estimated potentiometric surface map for May 2010. The largest inflow in the water budget of the Upper Floridan aquifer was downward leakage from the overlying hydrogeologic unit. The largest outflow in the water budget of the Upper Floridan aquifer was spring flow. The calibrated surface-water and groundwater flow model was used to simulate hydrologic scenarios that included changes in rainfall rates, projected increases in groundwater pumping rates for 2025 and 2035, no flow for the 2004–12 period through the eight water-control structures in the Tsala Apopka Lake Basin, and the removal of the Inglis Dam and the Inglis Bypass Spillway on Lake Rousseau. Scenario simulation results were compared to annual average calibrated water levels and flows from 2004 to 2012. Simulated declines in the Tsala Apopka Lake pool stages under the 10-percent lower rainfall scenario were about 0.8, 0.3, and 1.3 feet (ft) for the Floral City, Inverness, and Hernando pools, respectively. Simulated groundwater levels under the same scenario declined up to 5.4 ft in the surficial aquifer and up to 2.9 ft in the Upper Floridan aquifer. Under the projected increases in groundwater pumping rates for 2035 that represented an increase of 36 percent from average 2004 to 2012 pumping rates, the simulated declines in the Floral City, Inverness, and Hernando pool stages were, in downstream order, 0.02, 0.06, and 0.04 ft. The largest drawdown under the projected increases in groundwater pumping rates for 2035 was 2.1 ft in the surficial aquifer and about 1.8 ft in the Upper Floridan aquifer. A scenario of decreased rainfall by 10 percent caused greater declines in water levels and pool stages than projected increases in groundwater pumping rates. The simulation with no flow through the eight Tsala Apopka Lake water-control structures resulted in simulated declines in average pool stage of 1.8, 1.9, and 0.5 ft in the Floral City, Inverness, and Hernando pools, respectively. The simulated removal of the two water-control structures in Lake Rousseau caused flow to increase at Rainbow Springs by 28 cubic feet per second, an increase of 4.7 percent from the average calibrated flow for 2004 to 2012.

Florida↗
USGS2017

Sequence stratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy, and seismic structures of the lower intermediate confining unit and most of the Floridan aquifer system, Broward County, Florida

Deep well injection and disposal of treated wastewater into the highly transmissive saline Boulder Zone in the lower part of the Floridan aquifer system began in 1971. The zone of injection is a highly transmissive hydrogeologic unit, the Boulder Zone, in the lower part of the Floridan aquifer system. Since the 1990s, however, treated wastewater injection into the Boulder Zone in southeastern Florida has been detected at three treated wastewater injection utilities in the brackish upper part of the Floridan aquifer system designated for potential use as drinking water. At a time when usage of the Boulder Zone for treated wastewater disposal is increasing and the utilization of the upper part of the Floridan aquifer system for drinking water is intensifying, there is an urgency to understand the nature of cross-formational fluid flow and identify possible fluid pathways from the lower to upper zones of the Floridan aquifer system. To better understand the hydrogeologic controls on groundwater movement through the Floridan aquifer system in southeastern Florida, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Broward County Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division conducted a 3.5-year cooperative study from July 2012 to December 2015. The study characterizes the sequence stratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy, and seismic structures of the lower part of the intermediate confining unit aquifer and most of the Floridan aquifer system. Data obtained to meet the study objective include 80 miles of high-resolution, two-dimensional (2D), seismic-reflection profiles acquired from canals in eastern Broward County. These profiles have been used to characterize the sequence stratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy, and seismic structures in a 425-square-mile study area. Horizon mapping of the seismic-reflection profiles and additional data collection from well logs and cores or cuttings from 44 wells were focused on construction of three-dimensional (3D) visualizations of eight sequence stratigraphic cycles that compose the Eocene to Miocene Oldsmar, Avon Park, and Arcadia Formations. The mapping of these seismic-reflection and well data has produced a refined Cenozoic sequence stratigraphic, seismic stratigraphic, and hydrogeologic framework of southeastern Florida. The upward transition from the Oldsmar Formation to the Avon Park Formation and the Arcadia Formation embodies the evolution from (1) a tropical to subtropical, shallow-marine, carbonate platform, represented by the Oldsmar and Avon Park Formations, to (2) a broad, temperate, mixed carbonate-siliciclastic shallow marine shelf, represented by the lower part of the Arcadia Formation, and to (3) a temperate, distally steepened carbonate ramp represented by the upper part of the Arcadia Formation. In the study area, the depositional sequences and seismic sequences have a direct correlation with hydrogeologic units. The approximate upper boundary of four principal permeable units of the Floridan aquifer system (Upper Floridan aquifer, Avon Park permeable zone, uppermost major permeable zone of the Lower Floridan aquifer, and Boulder Zone) have sequence stratigraphic and seismic-reflection signatures that were identified on cross sections, mapped, or both, and therefore the sequence stratigraphy and seismic stratigraphy were used to guide the development of a refined spatial representation of these hydrogeologic units. In all cases, the permeability of the four permeable units is related to stratiform megaporosity generated by ancient dissolution of carbonate rock associated with subaerial exposure and unconformities at the upper surfaces of carbonate depositional cycles of several hierarchical scales ranging from high-frequency cycles to depositional sequences. Additionally, interparticle porosity also contributes substantially to the stratiform permeability in much of the Upper Floridan aquifer. Information from seismic stratigraphy allowed 3D geomodeling of hydrogeologic units—an approach never before applied to this area. Notably, the 3D geomodeling provided 3D visualizations and geocellular models of the depositional sequences, hydrostratigraphy, and structural features. The geocellular data could be used to update the hydrogeologic structure inherent to groundwater flow simulations that are designed to address the sustainability of the water resources of the Floridan aquifer system. Two kinds of pathways that could enable upward cross-formational flow of injected treated wastewater from the Boulder Zone have been identified in the 80 miles of high-resolution seismic data collected for this study: a near-vertical reverse fault and karst collapse structures. The single reverse fault, inferred to be of tectonic origin, is in extreme northeastern Broward County and has an offset of about 19 feet at the level of the Arcadia Formation. Most of the 17 karst collapse structures identified manifest as columniform, vertically stacked sagging seismic reflections that span early Eocene to Miocene age rocks equivalent to much of the Floridan aquifer system and the lower part of the overlying intermediate confining unit. In some cases, the seismic-sag structures extend upward into strata of Pliocene age. The seismic-sag structures are interpreted to have a semicircular shape in plan view on the basis of comparison to (1) other seismic-sag structures in southeastern Florida mapped with two 2D seismic cross lines or 3D data, (2) comparison to these structures located in other carbonate provinces, and (3) plausible extensional ring faults detected with multi-attribute analysis. The seismic-sag structures in the study area have heights as great as 2,500 vertical feet, though importantly, one spans about 7,800 feet. Both multi-attribute analysis and visual detection of offset of seismic reflections within the seismic-sag structures indicate faults and fractures are associated with many of the structures. Multi-attribute analysis highlighting chimney fluid pathways also indicates that the seismic-sag structures have a high probability for potential vertical cross-formational fluid flow along the faulted and fractured structures. A collapse of the seismic-sag structures within a deep burial setting evokes an origin related to hypogenic karst processes by ascending flow of subsurface fluids. In addition, paleo-epigenic karst related to major regional subaerial unconformities within the Florida Platform generated collapse structures (paleo-sinkholes) that are much smaller in scale than the cross-formational seismic-sag structures.

Florida↗
USGS2017

U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group Proceedings, San Antonio, Texas, May 16–18, 2017

Introduction and Acknowledgments Karst aquifer systems are present throughout parts of the United States and some of its territories, and have developed in carbonate rocks (primarily limestone and dolomite) and evaporites (gypsum, anhydrite, and halite) that span an interval of time encompassing more than 550 million years. The depositional environments, diagenetic processes, post-depositional tectonic events, and geochemical weathering processes that form karst aquifers are varied and complex. These factors involve biological, chemical, and physical changes that when combined with the diverse climatic regimes in which karst development has taken place, result in the unique dual- or triple-porosity nature of karst aquifers. These complex hydrogeologic systems typically represent challenging and unique conditions to scientists attempting to study groundwater flow and contaminant transport in these terrains. The dissolution of carbonate rocks and the subsequent development of distinct and beautiful landscapes, caverns, and springs have resulted in the most exceptional karst areas being designated as national or state parks. Tens of thousands of similar areas in the United States have been developed into commercial caverns and known privately owned caves. Both public and private properties provide access for scientists to study the flow of groundwater in situ . Likewise, the range and complexity of landforms and groundwater flow systems associated with karst terrains are enormous, perhaps more than for any other aquifer type. Karst aquifers and landscapes that form in tropical areas, such as the cockpit karst along the north coast of Puerto Rico, differ greatly from karst landforms in more arid climates, such as the Edwards Plateau in west-central Texas or the Guadalupe Mountains near Carlsbad, New Mexico, where hypogenic processes have played a major role in speleogenesis. Many of these public and private lands also contain unique flora and fauna associated with these karst hydrogeologic systems. As a result, numerous federal, state, and local agencies have a strong interest in the study of karst terrains. Many of the major springs and aquifers in the United States have developed in carbonate rocks, such as the Floridan aquifer system in Florida and parts of Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina; the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system in parts of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma; and the Edwards-Trinity aquifer system in west-central Texas. These aquifers, and the springs that discharge from them, serve as major water-supply sources and form unique ecological habitats. Competition for the water resources of karst aquifers is common, and urban development and the lack of attenuation of contaminants in karst areas due to dissolution features that form direct pathways into karst aquifers can impact the ecosystem and water quality associated with these aquifers. The concept for developing a platform for interaction among scientists within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) working on karst-related studies evolved from the November 1999 National Groundwater Meeting of the USGS. As a result, the Karst Interest Group (KIG) was formed in 2000. The KIG is a loose-knit, grass-roots organization of USGS and non-USGS scientists and researchers devoted to fostering better communication among scientists working on, or interested in, karst science. The primary mission of the KIG is to encourage and support interdisciplinary collaboration and technology transfer among scientists working in karst areas. Additionally, the KIG encourages collaborative studies between the different mission areas of the USGS as well as with other federal and state agencies, and with researchers from academia and institutes. To accomplish its mission, the KIG has organized a series of workshops that have been held near nationally important karst areas. To date (2017) seven KIG workshops, including the workshop documented in this report, have been held. The workshops typically include oral and poster sessions on selected karst-related topics and research, as well as field trips to local karst areas. To increase non-USGS participation an effort was made for the workshops to be held at a university or institute beginning with the fourth workshop. Proceedings of the workshops are published by the USGS and are available online at the USGS publications warehouse https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/ by using the search term “karst interest group.” The first KIG workshop was held in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 2001, in the vicinity of the large springs and other karst features of the Floridan aquifer system. The second KIG workshop was held in 2002, in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in proximity to the carbonate aquifers of the northern Shenandoah Valley, and highlighted an invited presentation on karst literature by the late Barry F. Beck of P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates. The third KIG workshop was held in 2005, in Rapid City, South Dakota, near evaporite karst features in limestones of the Madison Group in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Rapid City KIG workshop included field trips to Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument, and featured a presentation by Thomas Casadevall, then USGS Central Region Director, on the status of Earth science at the USGS. The fourth KIG workshop in 2008 was hosted by the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute and Center for Cave and Karst Studies at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, near Mammoth Cave National Park and karst features of the Chester Upland and Pennyroyal Plateau. The workshop featured a late-night field trip into Mammoth Cave led by Rickard Toomey and Rick Olsen, National Park Service. The fifth KIG workshop in 2011 was a joint meeting of the USGS KIG and University of Arkansas HydroDays, hosted by the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. The workshop featured an outstanding field trip to the unique karst terrain along the Buffalo National River in the southern Ozarks, and a keynote presentation on paleokarst in the United States was delivered by Art and Peggy Palmer. The sixth KIG workshop was hosted by the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) in 2014, in Carlsbad, New Mexico. George Veni, Director of the NCKRI, served as a co-chair of the workshop with Eve Kuniansky of the USGS. The workshop featured speaker Dr. Penelope Boston, Director of Cave and Karst Studies at New Mexico Tech, Socorro, and Academic Director at the NCKRI, who addressed the future of karst research. The field trip on evaporite karst of the lower Pecos Valley was led by Lewis Land (NCKRI karst hydrologist), and the field trip on the geology of Carlsbad Caverns National Park was led by George Veni. This current seventh KIG workshop is being held in San Antonio at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). This 2017 workshop is being hosted by the Department of Geological Sciences’ Student Geological Society (SGS), and student chapters of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and Association of Engineering Geologists (AEG), with support by the UTSA Department of Geological Sciences and Center for Water Research. The UTSA student chapter presidents, Jose Silvestre (SGS), John Cooper (AAPG), and Tyler Mead (AEG) serve as co-chairs of the 2017 workshop with Eve Kuniansky of the USGS. The technical session committee is chaired by Eve Kuniansky, USGS, and includes Michael Bradley, Tom Byl, Rebecca Lambert, John Lane, and James Kaufmann, all USGS, and Patrick Tucci, retired USGS. The logistics committee includes Amy Clark, Yongli Gao, and Lance Lambert (Department Chair), UTSA Department of Geological Sciences; and Ryan Banta and Allan Clark, USGS, San Antonio, Texas. The field trip committee is chaired by Allan Clark and includes Amy Clark, Yongli Gao, and Keith Muehlestein, UTSA; Marcus Gary, Edwards Aquifer Authority and University of Texas at Austin; Ron Green, Southwest Research Institute; Geary Schindel, Edwards Aquifer Authority; and George Veni, NCKRI. Additionally, two organizations have assisted the UTSA student chapters in hosting the meeting by donating funds to the chapters: the Edwards Aquifer Authority, San Antonio, Texas, and the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Authority, Austin, Texas. Additionally, Yongli Gao, Center for Water Research and Department of Geological Sciences, UTSA, helped develop sessions on cave and karst research in China for this workshop. These proceedings could not have been accomplished without the assistance of Lawrence E. Spangler as co-editor who not only has subject matter expertise, but also serves as an editor with the USGS Science Publishing Network. We sincerely hope that this workshop continues to promote future collaboration among scientists of varied and diverse backgrounds, and improves our understanding of karst aquifer systems in the United States and its territories. The extended abstracts of USGS authors were peer reviewed and approved for publication by the USGS. Articles submitted by university researchers and other federal and state agencies did not go through the formal USGS peer review and approval process, and therefore may not adhere to USGS editorial standards or stratigraphic nomenclature. However, all articles had a minimum of two peer reviews and were edited for consistency of appearance in the proceedings. The use of trade, firm or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The USGS Water Availability and Use Science Program funded the publication costs of the proceedings.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS1996

Nutrient sources and analysis of nutrient water-quality data, Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, 1972-90

In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey began full-scale implementation of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. One of the initial tasks of the NAWQA program is to compile and evaluate existing data from individual study units. Available nutrient data from 1972 through 1990 water years were used to estimate nutrient sources to the Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint (ACF) River basin and describe the presence, distribution, and transport of nutrients in surface and ground waters. In 1990, about 2,500 tons of nitrogen and 1,100 tons of phosphorus were discharged as point-source loads by 127 municipal wastewater-treatment facilities (WWTF). Nonpoint-source inputs, an unknown percentage of which entered the hydrologic system, included about 120,000 tons of nitrogen and 28,000 tons of phosphorus from animal manure; 82,000 tons of nitrogen and 20,000 tons of phosphorus applied as fertilizer; and 24,000 tons of nitrogen from atmospheric deposition. Estimates of nutrient input to the ACF River basin were not made for natural sources and for the following anthropogenic sources: industrial-wastewater effluent; storm drains; sanitary and combined sewer outflows; and runoff from agricultural, urban, and suburban areas. Nutrient outflow from the Apalachicola River into Apalachicola Bay, Fla., was about 13 percent of estimated nitrogen sources and about 3 percent of estimated total-phosphorus sources in the ACF River basin. For 1972–90, nutrient concentrations in surface water were high enough to warrant concerns about accelerated eutrophication based on total-phosphorus concentrations and to warrant concerns intermittently about toxicity to fish based on dissolved-ammonia concentrations downstream of wastewater-treatment outfalls from Metropolitan Atlanta and LaGrange, Ga. Many improvements to the water quality of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers in the 1980’s and early 1990’s can be directly attributed to improvements in WWTF, legislation directed at decreasing point-source loads of phosphorus, and changes in locations of wastewater-treatment outfalls. However, limited data indicate that nonpoint-source inputs increased upstream of Atlanta and in the Chipola River watershed. Significant increases in nutrient concentrations, loads, and yields occurred from upstream to downstream of the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Ga.; Columbus, Ga., and Phenix City, Ala.; and Albany, Ga. The highest mean-annual yields estimated in the ACF River basin for total nitrogen (2.9 tons per square mile (tons/mi 2 )), total-inorganic nitrogen (2.0 tons/mi 2 ), dissolved ammonia (1.1 tons/mi 2 ), and total phosphorus (0.75 tons/mi 2 ) were downstream of Atlanta. Most significant trends in nutrient-concentration data from 1980–90 in the Chattahoochee River and the Middle and Lower Flint River basins were increasing, except dissolved ammonia which decreased at several sampling sites in reaches downstream of Atlanta, Columbus and Phenix City, and Albany. At sampling sites on the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers downstream of Atlanta and Albany, decreasing trends in dissolved-ammonia concentration and increasing trends in dissolved-nitrate concentration were the result of improved wastewater treatment at WWTF. Dissolved-ammonia concentrations decreased and dissolved-nitrate concentrations increased along river reaches downstream of wastewater-treatment facility outfalls for Atlanta and Albany because of nitrification of ammonia to nitrate. Increasing trends in total-phosphorus concentrations are an accurate representation of data for the period 1980–90. However, legislated restrictions on the use of phosphate detergents and improvements to WWTF in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, resulted in substantial reductions of phosphorus concentrations in wastewater effluent and in rivers at many locations in the 1990’s. Reservoirs affect nutrient transport because of uptake by phytoplankton and aquatic plants, denitrification,and accumulation of phosphorus associated with sediment in reservoirs. Yields of total-inorganic nitrogen, dissolved ammonia, dissolved nitrate, and total phosphorus decreased between sampling sites upstream and downstream of four reservoirs on the Chattahoochee River. The only exception was the yield of dissolved ammonia increased slightly from upstream to downstream of Lake Sidney Lanier. Much of the nutrient load in the Chattahoochee River downstream of Atlanta is utilized by algae or settles out primarily in West Point Lake, and to a lesser extent, in Lake Harding and Walter F. George Reservoir. In general, the Flint River arm of Lake Seminole had significantly higher concentrations of nutrients than the Chattahoochee River arm of Lake Seminole, which may be the result of the large percentage of the Middle and Lower Chattahoochee River in backwater from reservoirs, the absence of reservoirs on the Flint River downstream of Albany until Lake Seminole, and nonpoint-source inputs of nutrients from intensively farmed areas in the Lower Flint River basin. Decreases in dissolved-ammonia, dissolved-nitrate, and total-phosphorus concentrations in reservoirs and backwater along the Chattahoochee River from West Point Lake to Lake Seminole during summer months are related to the seasonality of phytoplankton production. The Chipola River had the highest yields of dissolved nitrate (1.2 tons/mi 2 ) estimated in the ACF River basin. Estimated loads of dissolved nitrate increased fairly steadily from 500 to 1,500 tons per year from 1972–90. These factors strongly suggest an agricultural nonpoint source of elevated dissolved-nitrate concentrations from increased irrigated agriculture and fertilizer applications in the Chipola River watershed. Analyses of nutrients in ground water within the ACF River basin for 1972–90 water years were restricted because of limited available data. The distribution of nitrate concentrations in the ACF River basin for 1972–90 water years included 10 percent of wells and 6 percent of springs with concentrations that probably have elevated nitrate concentrations (3.1 to 10 milligrams per liter (mg/L)), and 1 percent of wells with median nitrate concentrations exceeding the maximum contaminant level of 10 mg/L. Dissolved-nitrate concentrations were significantly lower in the Providence aquifer than in the Floridan aquifer system and the crystalline-rock aquifers. Dissolved-nitrate concentrations in wells used for public supply were significantly lower than in wells used for domestic use or unused wells.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia↗
USGS1999

Sources and chronology of nitrate contamination in spring waters, Suwannee River basin, Florida

A multi-tracer approach, which consisted of analyzing water samples for n aturally occurring chemical and isotopic indicators, was used to better understand sources and chronology of nitrate contamination in spring wate rs discharging to the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers in northern Florida. Dur ing 1997 and 1998, as part of a cooperative study between the Suwannee River Water Management District and the U.S. Geological Survey, water samples were collected and analyzed from 24 springs and two wells for major ions, nutrients, dissolved organic carbon, and selected environmental isotopes [18O/16O, D/H, 13C/12C, 15N/14N]. To better understand when nitrate entered the ground-water system, water samples were analyzed for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs; CCl3F, CCl2F2, and C2Cl3F3) and tritium (3H); in this way, the apparent ages and residence times of spring waters and water from shallow zones in the Upper Floridan aquifer were determined. In addition to information obtained from the use of isotopic and other chemical tracers, information on changes in land-use activities in the basin during 1954-97 were used to estimate nitrogen inputs from nonpoint sources for five counties in the basin. Changes in nitrate concentrations in spring waters with time were compared with estimated nitrogen inputs for Lafayette and Suwannee Counties. Agricultural activities [cropland farming, animal farming operations (beef and dairy cows, poultry, and swine)] along with atmospheric deposition have contributed large quantities of nitrogen to ground water in the Suwannee River Basin in northern Florida. Changes in agricultural land use during the past 40 years in Alachua, Columbia, Gilchrist, Lafayette, and Suwannee Counties have contributed variable amounts of nitrogen to the ground-water system. During 1955-97, total estimated nitrogen from all nonpoint sources (fertilizers, animal wastes, atmospheric deposition, and septic tanks) increased continuously in Gilchrist and Lafayette Counties. In Suwannee, Alachua, and Columbia Counties, estimated nitrogen inputs from all nonpoint sources peaked in the late 1970's corresponding to the peak use in fertilizer during this time. Fertilizer use in Columbia, Gilchrist, Lafayette, and Suwannee Counties increased substantially during 1993-97. The heavy use of fertilizers in the basin is corroborated by nitrogen isotope data. Values of d15N of nitrate (d15N-NO3) in spring waters range from 2.7 per mil (SUW718971) to 10.6 per mil (Poe Spring) with a median of 5.4 per mil. The range of values indicates that nitrate in the sampled spring waters most likely originates from a mixture of inorganic (fertilizers) and organic (animal wastes) sources; however, higher d15N values for Poe and Lafayette Blue Springs indicate that an organic source of nitrogen probably is contributing nitrate to these spring waters. Water samples from two wells sampled in Lafayette County have high d15N-NO3 values of 11.0 and 12.1 per mil, indicating the predominance of an organic source of nitrate. These two wells are located near dairy and poultry farms, where leachate from animal wastes may contribute nitrate to ground water. Dissolved-gas data (nitrogen, argon, and oxygen) indicate that denitrification has not removed large amounts of nitrate from the ground-water system. Thus, variations in d15N-NO3 values of spring waters can be attributed to variations in d15N-NO3 values of ground-water recharge, and can be used to obtain information about source(s) of nitrate. Extending the use of age-dating techniques (CFCs and 3H) to spring waters in complex karst systems required the use of several different approaches for estimating age and residence time of ground water discharging to springs. These approaches included the use of a simple reservoir model, a piston-flow model, an exponential model, and a binary-mixing model. When age data (CFC-11, CFC-113, and 3H) are combined for all springs, models that incorporate exponential mixtures seem to provide reliable estimates of average residence times of ground water discharging to springs. Whereas, data for some individual springs fit a binary-mixing model with more than 50 percent young water (recharged within the past 5 years), data from other individual springs fit a piston-flow model with a water age of about 25 years. The young ages of several spring waters (such as SUW718971, SUW725971, and Ginnie Spring) indicate the high vulnerability of the springs to contamination. For most springs, CFCs suggest that a large fraction of the water is more than 20 years old. Springs with lower flows tend to have young ages (shallow ground-water flow systems), whereas springs with higher flows tend to have older ages (deep ground-water flow systems). The chemical composition of spring waters can be used as a qualitative indicator of age and ground-water residence time. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations and dissolved oxygen in spring waters are inversely related to the apparent ages of spring waters and ground-water residence time in the basin. Silica concentrations increase as the age of spring waters increase. Long-term trends in nitrate concentrations in selected spring waters were compared with estimated inputs of nitrogen from various sources in Suwannee and Lafayette Counties. In both counties, trends in nitrate concentrations in spring waters closely followed the estimated contribution of nitrogen from fertilizers. Decreasing nitrate concentrations in spring waters from Suwannee County followed the decrease in estimated fertilizer use from the mid-1970's to the early 1990's. Increasing nitrate concentrations in sprin g waters from Lafayette County followed the steady increase in fertilizer use from the early 1960's to the mid-1990's The relation between the concentration of nitrate in ground water and the amount of nitrogen that is added to a ground-water contributing area for a spring is controlled by complex interactions among hydrogeologic, land-use, and climatic factors, as well as several other land-management factors. Spring waters represent mixtures of converging flow paths that contain ground water with a range of ages. Even if nitrogen inputs were reduced substantially, it may take decades for nitrate concentrations in the ground-water system to return to near background levels.

Florida↗
USGS2014

Hydrologic conditions in urban Miami-Dade County, Florida, and the effect of groundwater pumpage and increased sea level on canal leakage and regional groundwater flow

The extensive and highly managed surface-water system in southeastern Florida constructed during the 20th Century has allowed for the westward expansion of urban and agricultural activities in Miami-Dade County. In urban areas of the county, the surface-water system is used to (1) control urban flooding, (2) supply recharge to production well fields, and (3) control seawater intrusion. Previous studies in Miami-Dade County have determined that on a local scale, leakage from canals adjacent to well fields can supply a large percentage (46 to 78 percent) of the total groundwater pumpage from production well fields. Canals in the urban areas also receive seepage from the Biscayne aquifer that is derived from a combination of local rainfall and groundwater flow from Water Conservation Area 3 and Everglades National Park, which are west of urban areas of Miami-Dade County. To evaluate the effects of groundwater pumpage on canal leakage and regional groundwater flow, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed and calibrated a coupled surface-water/groundwater model of the urban areas of Miami-Dade County, Florida. The model was calibrated by using observation data collected from January 1997 through December 2004. The model calibration was verified using observation data collected from January 2005 through December 2010. A 1-year warmup period (January 1996 through December 1996) was added prior to the start of the calibration period to reduce the effects of inaccurate initial conditions on model calibration. The model is designed to simulate surface-water stage and discharge in the managed canal system and dynamic canal leakage to the Biscayne aquifer as well as seepage to the canal from the aquifer. The model was developed using USGS MODFLOW–NWT with the Surface-Water Routing (SWR1) Process to simulate surface-water stage, surface-water discharge, and surface-water/groundwater interaction and the Seawater Intrusion (SWI2) Package to simulate seawater intrusion, respectively. Automated parameter estimation software (PEST) and highly parameterized inversion techniques were used to calibrate the model to observed surface-water stage, surface-water discharge, net surface-water subbasin discharge, and groundwater level data from 1997 through 2004 by modifying hydraulic conductivity, specific storage coefficients, specific yield, evapotranspiration parameters, canal roughness coefficients (Manning’s n values), and canal leakance coefficients. Tikhonov regularization was used to produce parameter distributions that provide an acceptable fit between model outputs and observation data, while simultaneously minimizing deviations from preferred values based on field measurements and expert knowledge. Analytical and simulated water budgets for the period from 1996 through 2010 indicate that most of the water discharging through the salinity control structures is derived from within the urban parts of the study area and that, on average, the canals are draining the Biscayne aquifer. Simulated groundwater discharge from the urban areas to the coast is approximately 7 percent of the total surface-water inflow to Biscayne Bay and is consistent with previous estimates of fresh groundwater discharge to Biscayne Bay. Simulated groundwater budgets indicate that groundwater pumpage in some surface-water basins ranges from 13 to 27 percent of the sum of local sources of groundwater inflow. The largest percentage of groundwater pumpage to local sources of groundwater inflow occurs in the basins that have the highest pumping rates (C–2 and C–100 Basins). The ratio of groundwater pumpage to simulated local sources of groundwater inflow is less than values calculated in previous local-scale studies. The position of the freshwater-seawater interface at the base of the Biscayne aquifer did not change notably during the simulation period (1996–2010), consistent with the similar positions of the interface in 1984, 1995, and 2011 under similar hydrologic and groundwater pumping conditions. Landward movement of the freshwater-seawater interface above the base of the aquifer is more prone to occur during relatively dry years. The model was used to evaluate the effect of increased groundwater pumpage and (or) increased sea level on canal leakage, regional groundwater flow, and the position of the freshwater-seawater interface. Permitted groundwater pumping rates, which generally exceed historical groundwater pumping rates, were used for Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department groundwater pumping wells in the base-case future scenario. Base-case future and increased pumping scenario results suggest seawater intrusion may occur at the Miami-Springs well field if the Miami Springs, Hialeah, and Preston well fields are operated using current permitted groundwater pumping rates. Scenario simulations also show that, in general, the canal system limits the adverse effects of proposed groundwater pumpage increases on water-level changes and saltwater intrusion. Proposed increases (up to a 7 percent increase) in groundwater pumpage do not have a notable effect on movement of the freshwater-seawater interface. Increased groundwater pumpage increased lateral groundwater inflow into basins subject to additional groundwater pumpage; however, most (55 percent) of the additional groundwater extracted from pumping wells was supplied by changes in canal seepage and leakage in urban areas of the model. Increased sea level caused increased water-table elevations in urban areas and decreased hydraulic gradients across the system; the largest increases in water-table elevations occurred seaward of the salinity control structures. The extent of flood-prone areas and the percentage of time water-table elevations in flood-prone areas were less than 0.5 foot below land surface increased with increased sea level. Increased sea level also resulted in landward migration of the freshwater-seawater interface; the largest changes in the position of the interface occurred seaward of the salinity control structures except in parts of the model area that were inundated by increased sea level. Decreased water-table gradients reduced groundwater inflow, groundwater outflow, canal exchanges, surface-water inflow, and surface-water outflow through salinity control structures. Results for the scenario that evaluated the combination of increased groundwater pumpage and increased sea level did not differ substantially from the scenario that evaluated increased sea level alone. Groundwater inflow, groundwater outflow, and canal exchanges were reduced in urban areas of the study area as a result of decreased water-table gradients across the system, although reductions were less than those in the increased sea-level scenario. The decline in groundwater levels caused by increased groundwater pumpage was less under the increased sea-level scenario than under the increased groundwater-pumpage scenario. The largest reductions in surface-water outflow from the salinity control structures occurred with increased sea level and increased groundwater pumpage. The model was designed specifically to evaluate the effect of groundwater pumpage on canal leakage at the surface-water-basin scale and thus may not be appropriate for (1) predictions that are dependent on data not included in the calibration process (for example, subdaily simulation of high-intensity events and travel times) and (or) (2) hydrologic conditions that are substantially different from those during the calibration and verification periods. The reliability of the model is limited by the conceptual model of the surface-water and groundwater system, the spatial distribution of physical properties, the scale and discretization of the system, and specified boundary conditions. Some of the model limitations are manifested in model errors. Despite these limitations, however, the model represents the complexities of the interconnected surface-water and groundwater systems that affect how the systems respond to groundwater pumpage, sea-level rise, and other hydrologic stresses. The model also quantifies the relative effects of groundwater pumpage and sea-level rise on the surface-water and groundwater systems.

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