USGS Releases Reports on its NAWQA Program

Ten new reports were recently released by the U.S. Geological Survey.  The reports, “Water quality in principal aquifers of the United States 1991-2010” are part of the series, “The Quality of Our Nation’s Waters”, that describes major findings on water quality issues of regional and national interest.   Other reports in the series have focused on nutrients, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds in streams and groundwater.
The current reports are a product of the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program and summarize findings from analysis of more than 6,600 wells in nine regionally extensive aquifers that supply most of the groundwater pumped for the Nation’s drinking water, irrigation, and other uses.  In addition to the reports on individual aquifers, a tenth report synthesizes findings at the national scale.   The water quality analyses, along with detailed information on geology, hydrology, geochemistry, and chemical and water use, are used to explain how and why aquifer vulnerability to contamination varies across the Nation.  Copies of the ten reports are available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1360/.