Abstract
Differentiation of anthropogenic water-quality impacts and natural water quality is an important consideration for water management, and is a common concern in the vicinity of managed aquifer recharge operations. Application of geochemical fingerprinting methods at a mine site in Nevada, USA allowed for groundwater monitoring wells that have been influenced by infiltration operations to be discriminated from groundwater with naturally elevated arsenic. Increasing arsenic concentrations are shown to correlate with the formation of a groundwater mound on the site. Following filtering of human-impacted water-quality records, a natural background concentration of arsenic in groundwater equal to 0.036 mg/L was calculated using statistical methods suited to non-parametric datasets. This calculated background concentration corresponds well to various observations on the site, where arsenic greater than the drinking water standard is ubiquitous. Results of empirical leach testing (Meteoric Water Mobility Procedure) were compared with temporal changes in arsenic concentrations in groundwater, and indicated that arsenic is likely leached from soils in the unsaturated zone and may be conservatively transported to the water table. The applied methodology allows for regulatory compliance to be easily evaluated and can be applied in a number of different environments aside from mining operations.
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Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the work of Tim Dyhr and Matt Dusenbury in keeping excellent records related to the mine site and for discussion of the project. Joe Sawyer, Shawn Gooch, Rob Kuczysnki, and Patrick Goldstrand all provided valuable insight on the project. The insight provided by two anonymous reviewers substantially improved the original manuscript.
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Newman, C.P., Gray, T. Statistical and geochemical fingerprinting analysis of arsenic mobilization and natural background associated with artificial groundwater recharge. Environ Earth Sci 78, 298 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-019-8300-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-019-8300-6