Condition Groundwater Monitoring
Condition Monitoring Network at a Glance:
- 10,000 candidate domestic wells located in nonagricultural areas overlying vulnerable aquifers
- Domestic wells randomly selected and sampled annually
- Upgradient shallow monitoring wells from MPCA’s remediation programs
- Analysis for nitrate, chloride, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and field Parameters
Minnesota is fortunate to have an abundance of high quality ground water resources throughout most of the state. However, in many areas, our ground water resources are vulnerable to contamination. In these areas, the MPCA and other government agencies are monitoring ground water to determine impacts from human-related chemicals such nitrate, volatile organic compounds and chloride.
The MPCA has implemented a ground water quality monitoring plan to assess our ground water resource in vulnerable aquifers. The focus of our work will be in Quaternary Water Table aquifers located throughout the state and the Prairie du Chien, Jordan and Galena aquifers located in the Twins Cities Metro area and southeastern Minnesota (See Figure 1).
Figure 1. Vulnerable Aquifers
We sample a network of domestic drinking water wells to identify the quality of the water being used for domestic consumption. The network consists of approximately 10000 wells located in non-agricultural areas overlying vulnerable aquifers. From this candidate pool, we annually select wells for sampling. Currently we are sampling about 70 wells each year, but this number will decrease to about 25 per year by 2010 as sampling shifts to our trend network.
A second network consisting of shallow monitoring wells augments the domestic well network. The monitoring well network is an early warning system designed to detect contamination as it enters the ground water system (See Figure 2). This allows us to identify the sources of the contamination and possibly design and implement Best Management Practices (BMPs) to prevent contamination.
Figure 2. Shallow and Deep Monitoring Components
Data
By January 1, 2007, you will be able to link to our data through MPCA’s Environmental Data Access page In the interim, our data is available in the following Excel file:
2004-2005 Chloride Results
