Multi-region assessment of chemical mixture exposures and predicted cumulative effects in USA wadeable urban/agriculture-gradient streams

Science of the Total Environment (Elsevier) | February 4th, 2021

Chemical-contaminant mixtures are widely reported in large stream reaches in urban/agriculture-developed watersheds, but mixture compositions and aggregate biolog

Chemical-contaminant mixtures are widely reported in large stream reaches in urban/agriculture-developed watersheds, but mixture compositions and aggregate biological effects are less well understood in corresponding smaller headwaters, which comprise most of stream length, riparian connectivity, and spatial biodiversity. During 2014–2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured 389 unique organic analytes (pharmaceutical, pesticide, organic wastewater indicators) in 305 headwater streams within four contiguous United States (US) regions. Potential aquatic biological effects were evaluated for estimated maximum and median exposure conditions using multiple lines of evidence, including occurrence/concentrations of designed-bioactive pesticides and pharmaceuticals and cumulative risk screening based on vertebrate-centric ToxCast™ exposure-response data and on invertebrate and nonvascular plant aquatic life benchmarks. Mixed-contaminant exposures were ubiquitous and varied, with 78% (304) of analytes detected at least once and cumulative maximum concentrations up to more than 156,000 ng/L. Designed bioactives represented 83% of detected analytes. Contaminant summary metrics correlated strong-positive (rho (ρ): 0.569–0.719) to multiple watershed-development metrics, only weak-positive to point-source discharges (ρ: 0.225–353), and moderate- to strong-negative with multiple instream invertebrate metrics (ρ: −0.373 to −0.652). Risk screening indicated common exposures with high probability of vertebrate-centric molecular effects and of acute toxicity to invertebrates, respectively. The results confirm exposures to broad and diverse contaminant mixtures and provide convincing multiple lines of evidence that chemical contaminants contribute substantially to adverse multi-stressor effects in headwater-stream communities.

Multiple lines of evidence point to pesticides as stressors affecting invertebrate communities in small streams in five United States regions

Science of the Total Environment (Elsevier) | January 24th, 2024

Multiple lines of evidence point to pesticides as stressors affecting invertebrate communities in small streams in five United States regions

Science of the Total Environment (Elsevier) | February 2nd, 2024

Multiple-well monitoring site adjacent to the Elk Hills Oil Field, Kern County, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | October 26th, 2023

Multiple-Well Monitoring Site Within the Poso Creek Oil Field, Kern County, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 18th, 2023

The Poso Creek Oil Field is one of the many fields selected for regional groundwater mapping and monitoring by the California State Water Resources Control Board as part

The Poso Creek Oil Field is one of the many fields selected for regional groundwater mapping and monitoring by the California State Water Resources Control Board as part of the Oil and Gas Regional Monitoring Program (RMP; California State Water Resources Control Board, 2015, 2022b; U.S. Geological Survey, 2022a). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board, is evaluating several questions about oil and gas development and groundwater resources in California, including (1) the location of groundwater resources; (2) the proximity of oil and gas operations to groundwater and the geologic materials between them; (3) evidence (or no evidence) of fluids from oil and gas sources in groundwater; and (4) the pathways or processes responsible when fluids from oil and gas sources are present in groundwater (U.S. Geological Survey, 2022a). As part of this evaluation, the USGS installed a multiple-well monitoring site within the administrative boundary of the Poso Creek Oil Field about 12 miles north of Bakersfield, California (fig. 1). Data collected at the Poso Creek multiple-well monitoring site (PCCT) provide information about the geology, hydrology, geophysical properties, and water quality of the aquifer system overlying the oil-bearing zone, thus enhancing understanding of relations between adjacent groundwater and the Poso Creek Oil Field in an area where groundwater data are limited, particularly at different depths in the aquifer. This report presents construction information for the PCCT and initial geohydrologic data collected from the site. Similar sites installed on the east side of the Lost Hills Oil Field and North and South Belridge Oil Fields were described by Everett and others (2020a, b).

Multiyear Water Quality Performance and Mass Accumulation of PCBs, Mercury, Methylmercury, Copper, and Microplastics in a Bioretention Rain Garden

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) | November 1st, 2019

A multiyear water quality performance study of a bioretention rain garden located along a major urban transit corridor east of San Francisco Bay was conducted to assess t

A multiyear water quality performance study of a bioretention rain garden located along a major urban transit corridor east of San Francisco Bay was conducted to assess the efficacy of bioretention rain gardens to remove pollutants. Based on data collected in three years between 2012 and 2017, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and suspended sediment concentrations (SSCs) were reduced (>90%>90%), whereas total mercury (Hg), methylmercury (MeHg), and copper (Cu) were moderately captured (37%, 49%, and 68% concentration reduction, respectively). Anthropogenic microparticles including microplastics were retained by the bioretention rain garden, decreasing in concentration from 1.6particles/L1.6  particles/L to 0.16particles/L0.16  particles/L. Based on subsampling at 50- and 150-mm intervals in soil cores from two areas of the unit, PCBs, Hg, and MeHg were all present at the highest concentrations in the upper 100 mm in the surface media layers. Based on residential screening concentrations, the surface media layer near the inlet would need to be removed and replaced annually, whereas the rest of the unit would need replacement every 8 years. The results of this study support the use of bioretention in the San Francisco Bay Area as one management option for meeting load reductions required by San Francisco Bay total maximum daily loads, and provide useful data for supporting decisions about media replacement and overall maintenance schedules.

National hydrologic connectivity classification links wetlands with stream water quality

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | April 6th, 2023

Wetland hydrologic connections to downstream waters influence stream water quality. However, no systematic approach for characterizing this connectivity exists. Here usin

Wetland hydrologic connections to downstream waters influence stream water quality. However, no systematic approach for characterizing this connectivity exists. Here using physical principles, we categorized conterminous US freshwater wetlands into four hydrologic connectivity classes based on stream contact and flowpath depth to the nearest stream: riparian, non-riparian shallow, non-riparian mid-depth and non-riparian deep. These classes were heterogeneously distributed over the conterminous United States; for example, riparian dominated the south-eastern and Gulf coasts, while non-riparian deep dominated the Upper Midwest and High Plains. Analysis of a national stream dataset indicated acidification and organic matter brownification increased with connectivity. Eutrophication and sedimentation decreased with wetland area but did not respond to connectivity. This classification advances our mechanistic understanding of wetland influences on water quality nationally and could be applied globally.

National Strategy for the Development of Regional Nutrient Criteria

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | June 1st, 1998

In February of this year, President Clinton and Vice President Gore released a comprehensive Clean Water Action Plan. The Action Plan provides a blueprint for Fed

In February of this year, President Clinton and Vice President Gore released a comprehensive Clean Water Action Plan. The Action Plan provides a blueprint for Federal agencies to work with States and others stakeholders in restoring and protecting the Nation’s water resources and addresses three major goals: enhanced protection from public health threats posed by water pollution; more effective control of polluted runoff; and promotion of water quality restoration and protection on a watershed basis. A key part of the Action Plan provides for expanded efforts to reduce nutrient overenrichment of waters. Nutrients, in appropriate amounts, are essential to the health of aquatic systems. Excessive nutrients, however, can result in excessive growth of macrophytes or phytoplankton and potentially harmful algal blooms leading to oxygen declines, imbalance of aquatic species, public health threats, and a general decline in the aquatic resource. Recent reports on water quality conditions provided by States indicate that nutrients are the leading cause of impairment in lakes and coastal waters and the second leading cause of impairment to rivers and streams. Nutrient overenrichment has also been strongly linked to the large hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico and to recent outbreaks of the toxic microorganism Pfiesteria along the Gulf and Mid-Atlantic coasts. The Action Plan calls on EPA to accelerate the development of scientific information concerning the levels of nutrients that cause water quality problems and to organize this information by different types of waterbodies (e.g. streams, lakes, coastal waters, wetlands) and by geographic regions of the country. EPA is also to work with States and Tribes to adopt criteria (i.e. numeric concentration levels) for nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, as part of enforceable State water quality standards under the Clean Water Act.

National trends in drinking water quality violations

National Academy of Sciences (NAS) | February 27th, 2018

Ensuring safe water supply for communities across the United States is a growing challenge in the face of aging infrastructure, impaired source water, and straine

Ensuring safe water supply for communities across the United States is a growing challenge in the face of aging infrastructure, impaired source water, and strained community finances. In the aftermath of the Flint lead crisis, there is an urgent need to assess the current state of US drinking water. However, no nationwide assessment has yet been conducted on trends in drinking water quality violations across several decades. Efforts to reduce viola- tions are of national concern given that, in 2015, nearly 21 million people relied on community water systems that violated health- based quality standards. In this paper, we evaluate spatial and temporal patterns in health-related violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act using a panel dataset of 17,900 community water systems over the period 1982–2015. We also identify vulnerability factors of communities and water systems through probit regres- sion. Increasing time trends and violation hot spots are detected in several states, particularly in the Southwest region. Repeat viola- tions are prevalent in locations of violation hot spots, indicating that water systems in these regions struggle with recurring issues. In terms of vulnerability factors, we find that violation incidence in rural areas is substantially higher than in urbanized areas. Meanwhile, private ownership and purchased water source are associated with compliance. These findings indicate the types of underperforming systems that might benefit from assistance in achieving consistent compliance. We discuss why certain violations might be clustered in some regions and strategies for improving national drinking water quality.

Nationwide geospatial analysis of county racial and ethnic composition and public drinking water arsenic and uranium

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | December 3rd, 2022

There is no safe level of exposure to inorganic arsenic or uranium, yet recent studies identified sociodemographic and regional inequalities in concentrations of these fr

There is no safe level of exposure to inorganic arsenic or uranium, yet recent studies identified sociodemographic and regional inequalities in concentrations of these frequently detected contaminants in public water systems across the US. We analyze the county-level association between racial/ethnic composition and public water arsenic and uranium concentrations from 2000–2011 using geospatial models. We find that higher proportions of Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaskan Native residents are associated with significantly higher arsenic and uranium concentrations. These associations differ in magnitude and direction across regions; higher proportions of non-Hispanic Black residents are associated with higher arsenic and uranium in regions where concentrations of these contaminants are high. The findings from this nationwide geospatial analysis identifying racial/ethnic inequalities in arsenic and uranium concentrations in public drinking water across the US can advance environmental justice initiatives by informing regulatory action and financial and technical support to protect communities of color.