Water Resources Research Act Program

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Details for Project ID 2016KS189B

Examining Sedimentation and water quality of small impoundments: Sediment capturing opportunity upstream of federal reservoirs

Institute: Kansas
Year Established: 2016 Start Date: 2016-03-01 End Date: 2019-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $29,982 Total Non-Federal Funds: $60,982

Principal Investigators: Vahid Rahmani

Project Summary: Shallow aquifers are heavily exploited for drinking-water and irrigation supplies. These aquifers are often part of multi-layered systems where confining layers (aquitards) play a paramount role in isolating an aquifer from overlying and/or underlying units with poorer quality waters. The isolating capability of an aquitard, i.e. its ability to serve as a protective barrier to point (e.g., accidental spillage) and/or diffuse (e.g., agricultural fertilizer, manure and pesticides) contamination, is commonly characterized using the vertical component of hydraulic conductivity (KZ). This parameter can be obtained using hydraulic or chemical methods; each method represents specific spatial and temporal scales, and is based on a certain set of assumptions. The key questions are what method is most appropriate for a particular application and how much uncertainty is introduced by each one.