RedN NAWQA
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Red River of the North Basin National Water-Quality
Assessment Program
Cowdery, T.K., and Goff, K.L., 1994, Nutrient Concentrations Near the
Water Table of the Sheyenne Delta Aquifer Beneath Cropland Areas, Ransom and
Richland Counties, North Dakota: Minnesota Water '94 Conference Poster
Session Abstracts, April 21-22, 1994, Minneapolis, Minnesota, pp.8-9.
Abstract
The U.S. Geological Survey is studying the water quality effect of agriculture
in the Sheyenne Delta Aquifer in southeastern North Dakota. This study is
part of a larger effort to evaluate the water quality in shallow aquifers
within the Red River of the North Drainage Basin as part of the National
Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. The aquifer is a nearshore deltaic
facies deposit composed of interbedded fine to medium sands and silts up to
120 feet thick. The main agricultural commodities produced in the area are
corn and sunflowers. Lesser amounts of soybeans, small grains, potatoes and
beef are also produced. These crops are commonly irrigated with water from
the surficial aquifer. The heavy rains during 1993 raised the water table to
within one to two feet of the land surface in many areas. Historical
ground-water nitrate concentrations from the aquifer range from <0.1 to 11mg/L
nitrate as nitrogen (NO3-N). After the 1993 recharge, these concentrations
substantially diluted the concentration of nutrients from agricultural
activity in the area.
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey