Journal
WATER QUALITY RESEARCH JOURNAL OF CANADA
Volume 51, Issue 1, Pages 47-59Publisher
IWA PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.2166/wqrjc.2015.132
Keywords
agriculture; chloride; confined feeding operations; groundwater quality; spatial and temporal trends; nitrate
Categories
Funding
- Natural Resources Conservation Board
- Alberta Irrigation Projects Association
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada through the University of Saskatchewan
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The potential effect of manure management from livestock production on groundwater quality is an issue of concern. Groundwater sampling from a regional transect in southern Alberta, Canada, was conducted to determine changes in groundwater quality with time. The study area has extensive irrigation and a high density of confined feeding operations. Nitrate-N (NO3--N) and chloride (Cl-) concentration data from 23 groundwater-study wells were evaluated from 1994 to 2014. Twelve of these wells were water-table wells and 11 were piezometers. Of the 23 wells, 14 had significant temporal trends (increasing or decreasing) for NO3--N and/or Cl- concentrations. On a regional basis, NO3--N increased slightly with time while Cl- changed very little, suggesting that the effects of agricultural activities on regional groundwater quality have generally remained constant. However, concentration changes occurred on a smaller scale. Shallow groundwater in coarse-textured soils is at a relatively higher risk of contamination than groundwater in fine-textured soils, especially in locations where intensive agricultural activities occur.
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