Pegasus Research Consortium

By Joshua Krause, The Daily Sheeple (http://www.thedailysheeple.com/two-major-us-aquifers-found-to-be-saturated-with-uranium_082015)

Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have just completed a comprehensive analysis (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/acs.estlett.5b00174) of roughly 275,000 water samples from 62,000 locations across the United States. These samples were mostly derived from two massive underground aquifers that supply drinking water for millions of people, and what they reveal about the safety of drinking water in America is absolutely horrifying.

Quote"They found that the parts of the High Plains Aquifer (also often referred to as the Ogallala) is saturated with uranium at a level that is 89 times higher than the EPA's safe limit. The southern half of California's Central Valley was even worse, with a uranium concentration that is 180 times higher than the EPA's "maximum contaminant level."

The study conducted by University of Nebraska - Lincoln (UNL) researchers discovered that almost 2 million people across the Great Plains and California live above aquifer sites contaminated with natural uranium.

QuoteABSTRACT: (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/acs.estlett.5b00174) Groundwater geochemical data collected from two major U.S. aquifers, High Plains (HP) and Central Valley (CV), revealed naturally occurring groundwater uranium (U) exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maximum contaminant level (MCL = 30 ?g/L) across 22,375 km2 where 1.9 million people live.

Analysis of geochemical parameters revealed a moderately strong correlation between U and nitrate, a common groundwater contaminant, as well as alkalinity and calcium [Spearman's rho (?) ? 0.30; p < 0.001].?

Nitrate is recognized to alter U solubility by oxidative dissolution of reduced U(IV) minerals. Approximately 78% of areas where U concentrations were interpolated above the MCL were correlated to the presence of nitrate (Pearson's r ? 0.5; p < 0.05). Shallow groundwater was determined to be the most susceptible to co-contamination (HP, ? = 0.46; CV, ? = 0.52). Together, these results indicate that nitrate, a primary contaminant, should be considered as a factor leading to secondary groundwater U contamination in addition to the recognized role of alkalinity and calcium.

Altogether, almost 2 million people live above the most contaminated sections of these aquifers. The research suggests that the uranium contamination is being caused by agricultural activities (http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2015/08/18/natural-uranium-levels-by-far-exceed-proposed-limits-in-two-major-us-aquifers/). The nitrates in fertilizers and animal waste can cause the oxidation of naturally occurring uranium, which makes it more water-soluble.

However, this research won't come as a surprise for many Americans.

Two years ago it was revealed that Texas state officials had been concealing (http://www.khou.com/story/news/2014/07/16/11481178/) the radioactive content of state drinking water for many years, so this is no isolated incident. In truth, the toxicity of the drinking water found across America, is an open secret.


Ogallala Aquifer - depth, important, system, source (http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Oc-Po/Ogallala-Aquifer.html)

The Ogallala Aquifer occupies the High Plains of the United States, extending northward from western Texas to South Dakota. The Ogallala is the leading geologic formation in what is known as the High Plains Aquifer (http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/knowledge/Aquifer.html) System.

The entire system underlies about 450,000 square kilometers (174,000 square miles) of eight states. Although there are several other minor geologic formations in the High Plains Aquifer System, such as the Tertiary Brule and Arikaree and the Dakota formations of the Cretaceous, these several units are often referred to as the Ogallala Aquifer (http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/knowledge/Ogallala_Aquifer.html).

The Ogallala is composed primarily of unconsolidated, poorly sorted clay, silt, sand, and gravel with groundwater (http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Ge-Hy/Groundwater.html)filling the spaces between grains below the water table . The Ogallala was laid down about 10 million years ago by fluvial deposition from streams that flowed eastward from the Rocky Mountains during the Pliocene (http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/knowledge/Pliocene.html) epoch. * Erosion (http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/knowledge/Erosion.html) has removed the deposits.


The Ogallala Aquifer (shaded area) is in a state of overdraft (http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/knowledge/Overdraft.html) owing to the current rate of water use. If withdrawals continue unabated, the aquifer could be depleted in only a few decades between the mountains and the existing western boundary of the Ogallala, so there is no longer water recharge being received from the Rockies.

The Ogallala is an unconfined aquifer, and virtually all recharge comes from rainwater and snowmelt. As the High Plains has a semiarid climate, recharge is minimal. Recharge varies by amount of precipitation, soil type, and vegetational cover and averages less than 25 millimeters (1 inch) annually for the region as a whole. In a few areas, recharge from surface water diversions has occurred.

Groundwater (http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/knowledge/Groundwater.html) does flow through the High Plains Aquifer, but at an average rate of only 300 millimeters (12 inches (http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/knowledge/Foot__unit_.html)) per day.

The depth to the water table of the Ogallala Aquifer varies from actual surface discharge to over 150 meters (500 feet). Generally, the aquifer is found from 15 to 90 meters (50 to 300 feet) below the land surface. The saturated thickness also varies greatly. Although the average saturated thickness is about 60 meters (http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/knowledge/60_metres.html) (200 feet), it exceeds 300 meters (1,000 feet) in west-central Nebraska and is only one-tenth that in much of western Texas. Because both the saturated thickness and the areal extent of the Ogallala Aquifer is greater in Nebraska, the state accounts for two-thirds of the volume of Ogallala groundwater, followed by Texas and Kansas, each with about 10 percent.

The Ogallala Aquifer, whose total water storage is about equal to that of Lake Huron in the Midwest, is the single most important source of water in the High Plains region, providing nearly all the water for residential, industrial, and agricultural use. Because of widespread irrigation, farming accounts for 94 percent of the groundwater use. Irrigated agriculture forms the base of the regional economy.

It supports nearly one-fifth of the wheat, corn, cotton, and cattle produced in the United States. Crops provide grains and hay for confined feeding of cattle and hogs and for dairies. The cattle feedlots support a large meatpacking industry. Without irrigation from the Ogallala Aquifer, there would be a much smaller regional population and far less economic activity.

Because of the Ogallala, the High Plains is the leading irrigation area in the Western Hemisphere. Overall, 5.5 million hectares (nearly 13.6 million acres) are irrigated in the Ogallala region. The leading state irrigating from the Ogallala is Nebraska (46%), followed by Texas (30%) and Kansas (14%).

The Ogallala Aquifer is being both depleted and polluted. Irrigation withdraws much groundwater, yet little of it is replaced by recharge. Since large-scale irrigation began in the 1940s, water levels have declined more than 30 meters (100 feet) in parts of Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. In the 1980s and 1990s, the rate of groundwater mining , or overdraft, lessened, but still averaged approximately 82 centimeters (2.7 feet) per year.

Increased efficiency in irrigation continues to slow the rate of waterlevel decline. State governments and local water districts throughout the region have developed policies to promote groundwater conservation and slow or eliminate the expansion of irrigation. Generally, management has emphasized planned and orderly depletion, not sustainable yield.


Center-pivot sprinklers are among the irrigation methods used in the High Plains. Large quantities of groundwater pumped from the Ogallala Aquifer allows these semiarid western lands to yield abundant harvests in reduced irrigation in areas with limited saturated thickness and increased energy cost in all areas as the depth to water increases.

The average specific yield for the High Plains Aquifer is about 0.15. This means that only 15 percent of all the water available in the aquifer can be recovered using irrigation pumps, while the rest remains unused and locked up in the unsaturated zone . Groundwater depletion problems could be forestalled if this presently nonrecoverable water could be forced to the saturated zone .

One experimental means of accomplishing this is by injecting air into the unsaturated zone, which breaks down capillary action and permits the movement of water down to the saturated zone. Air injection experiments have shown positive results for very localized areas. However, the widespread applicability of this technology has not yet proven effective.

Groundwater contamination in the Ogallala became an issue in the 1990s. In its natural state, the High Plains Aquifer is, for the most part, of high quality. The water is generally suitable for domestic use, stock watering, and irrigation without filtration (http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/knowledge/Filtration.html) or treatment.

Surveys of groundwater samples have detected traces of pesticides and nitrates. Sources include irrigated agriculture and confined livestock feeding operations. The percolation rates of contaminants from the surface to the water table have not been established in the areas where polluted water has been found.

The future economy of the High Plains depends heavily on the Ogallala Aquifer, the main source of water for all uses. The Ogallala will continue to be the lifeblood of the region only if it is managed properly to limit both depletion and contamination.

People in arid climates could stop insisting on living in ugly McMansions in covenant controlled areas that require bluegrass lawns.  Douglas County in Colorado is a prime example of how to mismanage an aquifer.  It's also home to large ugly houses complete with bluegrass lawns.

Colorado was also home to uranium processing facilities and many mines that are now leaching heavy metals into the groundwater and rivers.  But it's okay.   Our governor isn't afraid to make a public spectacle of himself by taking a drink from the Animas River.

Shasta