Ken Belitz (Former Employee)

Chemical data from 43 334 wells were used to examine the role of land surface–soil–aquifer connections in producing elevated manganese concentrations (>300 μg/L) in United States (U.S.) groundwater. Elevated concentrations of manganese and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in groundwater are associated with shallow, anoxic water tables and soils enriched in organic carbon, suggesting soil...

Data from 11 000 public supply wells in 87 study areas were used to assess the quality of nearly all of the groundwater used for public supply in California. Two metrics were developed for quantifying groundwater quality: area with high concentrations (km2 or proportion) and equivalent-population relying upon groundwater with high concentrations (number of people or proportion)...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) previously identified and mapped 62 Principal Aquifers (PAs) in the U.S., with 57 located in the conterminous states. Areas outside of PAs, which account for about 40% of the conterminous U.S., were collectively identified as “other rocks.” This paper, for the first time, subdivides this large area into internally-consistent features, defined here as...

Groundwater-quality data were collected from 502 wells as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Program and are included in this report. Most of the wells (500) were sampled from January through December 2015, and 2 of them were sampled in 2013. The data were collected from five types of well networks: principal aquifer...

We estimate the location and population served by domestic wells in the contiguous United States in two ways: (1) the “Block Group Method” or BGM, uses data from the 1990 census, and (2) the “Road-Enhanced Method” or REM, refines the locations by using a buffer expansion and shrinkage technique along roadways to define areas where domestic wells exist. The fundamental assumption is that...

Groundwater-quality data were collected from 559 wells as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Program from January through December 2014. The data were collected from four types of well networks: principal aquifer study networks, which are used to assess the quality of groundwater used for public water supply; land...