COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A new study from Texas A&M AgriLife Research has found that the degradation of potable groundwater is a growing concern in Texas as about 15 percent of domestic wells are at risk of high salinity, according to an article on Phys.org.
The study, “Temporal Evolution of Depth-stratified Groundwater Salinity in Municipal Wells in the Major Aquifers in Texas,” used the Texas Water Development Board’s groundwater quality database from 1960 to 2010, the article reported.
Water quality issues have been reported across the state, due to a rise in concentration of sulfates, chlorides, fluorides, nitrates and total dissolved solids; the latter of which is a measure of salinity, noted the article.
“As the importance of groundwater resources continues to rise in the future; and as more of our freshwater reserves are affected by rising salinity and other harmful constituents, findings of this study will aid the groundwater and natural resources managers as well as general public to understand geographic distribution and relative extent of groundwater salinization of the state’s drinking water resources and plan for appropriate management actions,” said Dr. Srinivasulu Ale, AgriLife Research geospatial hydrology assistant professor, who worked on the study with Dr. Sriroop Chaudhuri, his post-doctoral research associate.
Read the full article here.
