How can your soil health be related to your health?

Audrey Eldridge, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, GWMA Mama

The story of a groundwater improvement project in Oregon’s Willamette Valley

What is a GWMA?

A Groundwater Management Area is a tool used by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to address a large scale groundwater contamination when the contaminants

originate from non-point sources.

GWMA Process (in general)(1) Document contamination

(2) Declare a Groundwater Management Area (GWMA)

(3) Appoint an Advisory Committee

(4) Form an Action Plan

(5) Implement the Action Plan

(6) Rescind the GWMA declaration

Nitrate refers to nitrate-N

mg/L ~ ppm

Nitrate Standards The public drinking

water standard is 10 mg/L

“Action Level” for Oregon GWMA declaration is 7 mg/L

Nitrate Health Concerns Blue baby syndrome Some research has

indicated an association with increased incidence of cancer in adults, incidence of brain tumors, leukemia

Spontaneous miscarriages

In the SWV GWMA, the Land Use is

Predominately Agriculture

Be recognizable to the general public, so they would know if they are “in”

Capture most of the high nitrate values seen in the earlier studies

The GWMA boundaries were also designed to

SWV Groundwater Resource

Shallow (20-40 ft.) Unconfined In some areas, the shallow groundwater overlies a larger and deeper regional aquifer

Nearly all of the GWMA Residents Rely on

Groundwater

Where Are We Now? GWMA declared in 2004, and a

committee was appointed An Action Plan was finalized Dec

2006 and is being updated now! Outreach and implementation

continues

Four Sources of Nitrate Analyzed

by the Nitrogen Budget Percentage Nitrogen Contribution by Source

90%

4% 6% 0%Crops

Septic Systems

CAFOs

Large WastewaterSystems

1,704 annual tons

74 annual tons

109 annual tons

Sources of Nitrate Over the whole SWV-GWMA, fertilizer nitrogen

is the most likely source for the majority of nitrate in groundwater. Septic Systems cannot produce enough nitrate to

reach the concentrations observed (account for less then 2% of the total yearly addition of nitrogen to the valley).

CAFOs do not cover a large enough area of the GWMA.

Both CAFOs and Septic systems are potential hot spots of localized high nitrate.

Agricultural in the SWV ~197 square miles (93

% of the area) Includes grains, hay and forage, seed crops, row crops, vegetables, fruits, and various specialty seed crops. Known as the “grass seed capitol of the world.”

Eight permitted Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)

Small acreage agricultural landowners.

Uptake ratios take into account

conditions and management

practices

Nitrogen Potentially Lost Per Acre Depending on Utilization (conditions and management practices)

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120.00

30.00

60.00

ANNUAL TOTAL PRECIPITATION

AVERAGE YEARLY PRECIPITATION

PRECIPITATION AT THE EUGENE AIRPORTIN INCHES PER YEAR

During precipitation, water infiltrates into the soil profile

Thanks to Dr. Maria Dragila

After precipitation stops, water redistributes itself into Evaporation and Downward Gravitational Drainage

Monitoring Groundwater Quality

Long Term Measuring Overall Water Quality

DW = 14 domestic wells, generally deeper, used on a regular basis.

GW = 25 groundwater monitoring wells, generally shallower, purged only when sampled

Long Term Measuring Overall Groundwater

Quality What is being measured pH Specific Conductance Temperature Dissolved Oxygen Nitrate Sulfate (every other event)

Long Term Measuring Overall Groundwater

Quality

Sampling occurs every 3 months (quarterly)

pH, Specific Conductance, TemperatureDissolved Oxygen, Nitrate, Sulfate

28 Quarterly events completed, next one is due mid May 2013

Monitoring Wells & Depth to Water

Monitoring well

__Land Surface_______________________________________

---------------------------

Depth to Water = 5 feet

Depth to Water 15 feet

Depth to bottom – usually 23 feet

Aug-06

Nov-06

Feb-07

May-07

Aug-07

Nov-07

Feb-08

May-08

Aug-08

Nov-08

Feb-09

May-09

Aug-09

Nov-09

Feb-10

May-10

Aug-10

Nov-10

Feb-11

May-11

Aug-11

Nov-11

Feb-12

May-12

Aug-12

Nov-12

Feb-13

0

5

10

15

20

25

GW-12 Crook Road

Nitrate as N (mg/L)

GWMA Action Limit

Depth to Water (ft)

7.0 mg/L Nitrate Action Limit

Aug-06

Nov-06

Feb-0

7

May-07

Aug-07

Nov-07

Feb-0

8

May-08

Aug-08

Nov-08

Feb-0

9

May-09

Aug-09

Nov-09

Feb-1

0

May-10

Aug-10

Nov-10

Feb-1

1

May-11

Aug-11

Nov-11

Feb-1

2

May-12

Aug-12

Nov-12

Feb-1

30

2

4

6

8

10

12

GW-10 Priceboro Road

Nitrate as N (mg/L)

GWMA Action Limit

Depth to Water (ft)

7.0 mg/L Nitrate Action Limit

Aug-06 Feb-07 Aug-07 Feb-08 Aug-08 Feb-09 Aug-09 Feb-10 Aug-10 Feb-11 Aug-11 Feb-12 Aug-12 Feb-130

5

10

15

20

25

GW-20 Hubbard Road and DW -17

GWMA Ac-tion Limit

DW-17 Ni-trate as N (mg/L)

GW-20 Ni-trate as N (mg/L)

7.0 mg/L Nitrate Action Limit

Aug-06 Feb-07 Aug-07 Feb-08 Aug-08 Feb-09 Aug-09 Feb-10 Aug-10 Feb-11 Aug-11 Feb-12 Aug-12 Feb-130

5

10

15

20

25

GW-20 Hubbard Road and DW -17

GWMA Action Limit

DW-17 Nitrate as N (mg/L)

GW-20 Nitrate as N (mg/L)

Linear (GW-20 Nitrate as N (mg/L))

7.0 mg/L Nitrate Action Limit

Groundwater or Surface Water? Over the years, there seems to be

some water results from select wells that indicate we are seeing more surface-water influence than groundwater influence.

Wells GW-17 and sometimes GW-5 are good examples of this phenomena

http://www.naturenw.org/cgi-bin/quikstore.pl?store=maps&product=001812

Aug-06

Feb-07

Aug-07

Feb-08

Aug-08

Feb-09

Aug-09

Feb-10

Aug-10

Feb-11

Aug-11

Feb-12

Aug-12

Feb-13

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

GW-5 Hayes and Zumwalt Nitrate and Sulfate in

mg/LNitrate as N (mg/L)

GWMA Action Limit

Linear (GWMA Action Limit)

Depth to Water (ft)7.0 mg/L Nitrate Action Limit

GW-5 Groundwater or Surface

Water? All high nitrate-N values in Feb or May All nitrate-N values <1.5 mg/L in Aug or Nov Lowest conductivity in Aug and Nov Watertable lowest in Aug and Nov If this well is river water influenced – one might think the nitrate would be lowest when the river stage is the highest(Feb) & the DTW is the lowest (Feb and May)

Aug-06

Feb-07

Aug-07

Feb-08

Aug-08

Feb-09

Aug-09

Feb-10

Aug-10

Feb-11

Aug-11

Feb-12

Aug-12

Feb-13

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

GW-17 and -18 Goracke Road

G-18 Nitrate/ni-trite as N (mg/L)

GWMA Action Limit

G-17 Nitrate as N (mg/L)

7.0 mg/L Nitrate Action Limit

Aug-06

Nov-06

Feb-0

7

May-07

Aug-07

Nov-07

Feb-0

8

May-08

Aug-08

Nov-08

Feb-0

9

May-09

Aug-09

Nov-09

Feb-1

0

May-10

Aug-10

Nov-10

Feb-1

1

May-11

Aug-11

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

GW-11 Peoria Road

Nitrate as N (mg/L)

Field Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L)

GWMA Action Limit

Depth to Water (ft)7.0 mg/L Nitrate Action Limit

Linking soil health to water quality – and thus to your health (and that of your

family’s)

• Nutrient storage and release

• Soil reactions• Energy (C) storage

• Physical support for plants

• Aeration• Soil water storage

and movement• Resistance to soil

erosion• Physical root

proliferation and organism movement • Pest suppression

• N mineralization • OM decomposition• Support of microbial

community

Physical Chemical

Biological

Soil Health => Understanding soil processes

Healthy soils have many beneficial organisms but few plant pests.

Ultimately, healthy soils increase grower profits and protect the environment

Healthy soils maintain a diverse and active community of soil organisms that:

Suppress plant disease, & insect and weed pests

Form beneficial symbiotic associations with plant roots

Recycle essential plant nutrients

Improve soil structure for better water and nutrient retention

Conclusions Groundwater quality in the valley can improve

if protective management strategies – including increasing soil quality - are implemented when using nitrogen fertilizers.

Management strategies are also needed for the potential “hot spots”

Healthy soil can reduce the amount of fertilizer needed – which can also reduce the amount of N lost to groundwater.

Lysimeter Project

Starting this summer

Measuring SQ at selected companion fields (traditional and innovative)

Collecting soil water samples monthly for 2 years

Working to build a NTT model for future credits

FOCUS GROUPS

• Two schools in Benton County – high nitrate in their drinking water

• Rural Resident Focus Group this month

• Agriculture Community Focus Group later this year

http://gwma.oregonstate.edu/