Kansas Geological Survey launches water quality assessment program

LAWRENCE — The Kansas Geological Survey this month launched the Aquifer Water Quality Assessment (AWQUA) Program, a new statewide water quality monitoring program focused on groundwater.

“The state of Kansas is known for its robust water data and information,” said Nick Schneider, research project manager. “This program will help add to that suite of information by actively sampling wells throughout the year and establishing relationships with other data partners and researchers to provide the data and framework to better understand the quality of our groundwater systems.”

Sampling under this new program started Oct. 1. It is intended to replace the former Ambient Water Quality Monitoring program administered by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, which was operational from 1985 through 2001.

AWQUA will include a network of more than 300 wells, each of which will be sampled every other year. The well sampling network includes public water supply, irrigation and domestic wells. The program will measure for a suite of constituents including nitrate, chloride, ammonium, cations/anions, total dissolved solids, arsenic, selenium and uranium and will have the capability to measure for additional solutes as needed.

In addition, the program will gather historical groundwater quality data and form collaborative working relationships with state agencies and universities, groundwater management districts and other partners to build the state’s most comprehensive and largest collection of groundwater quality data.

In the coming months, the KGS will develop a database management system to maintain, store and eventually serve the data alongside other statewide water-related datasets housed at the KGS.

The AWQUA program is a multiyear program supported by State Water Plan funds. For more information, contact Schneider, nick.schneider@ku.edu, 785-864-0731.

The Kansas Geological Survey is a nonregulatory research and service division of the University of Kansas. KGS scientists study and provide information about the state’s geologic resources and hazards, including groundwater, oil and natural gas, rocks and minerals, and earthquakes. The survey’s Geohydrology and Geohealth division conducts extensive research on the state’s water supply, including monitoring groundwater levels in the aquifers of western and central Kansas and in the Kansas River alluvial aquifer and studying water quality in the Arkansas River corridor in western Kansas.