The Quality of the Nation's Groundwater

Hydrogeology, Geology, & Environmental Issues

Date posted: 10/05/15

Barbara Mahler and Jon Campbell report that about 115 million people, more than one-third of the nation's population rely on groundwater for drinking water. As the National population grows, the need for high-quality drinking-water supplies becomes even more urgent. About 43 million people rely on groundwater from private wells. About 20% of the groundwater samples from parts of aquifers used for drinking water contained a contaminant from geologic or man-made sources at a level exceeding a potential human-health concern. 6,600 wells were sampled for this study. 1.3 million chemical analyses performed for this study. Through the WaterSMART initiative and the National Water-Quality Assessment Program, the Department of Interior is working to secure sustainable water supplies of sufficient quantity and quality and to identify measures needed to address climate change and future demands, said Jennifer Gimbel, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The integrated work that USGS is doing to map groundwater availability, groundwater quality, and the potential for contamination will give us the information we need to understand natural and human effects on groundwater and to take the actions needed to protect this vital natural resource. Nine associated reports (USGS circulars) detail regional-scale assessments of groundwater quality in about 30 of the most heavily used principal aquifers across the United States.