Groundwater-Quality Data in the Mojave Basin Shallow Aquifer Study Unit, 2018: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project

Dates

Publication Date: 2019-05-08
Start Date: 2018-01-29
End Date: 2018-05-31

Citation

Groover, K.D., Goldrath, D.A., Bennett, G.L., Johnson, T.D., and Watson, E.E., 2019, Groundwater-Quality Data in the Mojave Basin Shallow Aquifer Study Unit, 2018: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project: U.S. Geological Survey data release, http://doi.org/10.5066/P9C7U6DW.

Summary

The U.S. Geological Survey collected groundwater samples from 49 wells used for domestic and small system drinking water supplies and 10 monitoring wells in San Bernardino County, California in 2018. The wells were sampled for the Mojave Basin (MOBS) Shallow Aquifer Study Unit of the California State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project’s assessment of the quality of groundwater resources used for domestic and small system drinking water supplies. Domestic and small-system wells commonly are screened at shallower depths than public-supply wells. The MOBS study unit covered the Upper, Middle, and Lower Mojave River groundwater basins, the El Mirage groundwater [...]

Summary

The U.S. Geological Survey collected groundwater samples from 49 wells used for domestic and small system drinking water supplies and 10 monitoring wells in San Bernardino County, California in 2018. The wells were sampled for the Mojave Basin (MOBS) Shallow Aquifer Study Unit of the California State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project’s assessment of the quality of groundwater resources used for domestic and small system drinking water supplies. Domestic and small-system wells commonly are screened at shallower depths than public-supply wells. The MOBS study unit covered the Upper, Middle, and Lower Mojave River groundwater basins, the El Mirage groundwater basin, and part of the Harper groundwater basin [California Department of Water Resources, CA DWR basin designations 6-42, 6-41, 6-40, 6-43, 6-47] in the Desert hydrogeologic province (California Department of Water Resources, 2003; Johnson and Belitz, 2003). Wells in the MOBS study unit generally tap unconsolidated alluvial aquifers composed of sediment eroded from granitic and metamorphic rocks, with portions of aquifer material in the northeast part of the study unit eroded from volcanic rock. The MOBS study unit was divided into two study areas, the floodplain study area along the course of the Mojave River, and the regional study area covering the rest of the study unit. The study areas were further divided into equal area grid cells, with 35 grid cells of 85 square-kilometers each in the regional study area, and 15 grid cells of 29 square-kilometers in the floodplain study area. Domestic or small-system wells were sampled in 48 of the 50 grid cells. The 11 understanding wells (10 monitoring wells and 1 domestic well) were selected to provide additional data for evaluation of the effect of septic systems on groundwater resources used for domestic drinking water supply. Groundwater samples were analyzed for field water-quality parameters, volatile organic compounds, pesticides and pesticide degradates, nutrients, major ions and trace elements, hexavalent chromium, perchlorate, gross alpha and gross beta particle activities, noble gases, tritium, carbon-14 in dissolved inorganic carbon, stable isotopic ratios of water and dissolved nitrate, and microbial indicators. Groundwater levels were measured in nearly all of the sampled wells. All results are presented in this data release, except results for pesticide and pesticide degradates, sulfur hexafluoride, and noble gases.

These data support the following publication:
Groover, K.D., and Goldrath, D.A., 2019, Groundwater quality in shallow aquifers of the western Mojave Desert, California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 4 p. (In Press)

References cited:
California Department of Water Resources, 2003, California’s Groundwater: California Department of Water Resources Bulletin 118, 246 p., http://www.water.ca.gov/groundwater/bulletin118/update_2003.cfm (accessed August 2018)
Johnson, T.D., and Belitz, K., 2003, Hydrogeologic Provinces for California based upon established groundwater basins and watershed polygons: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 03-470, digital data, https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr03470

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Contacts

Point of Contact :: Krishangi Groover, U.S. Geological Survey
Originator :: Krishangi D. Groover, Dara A. Goldrath, George L. Bennett, Tyler D. Johnson, Elise E. Watson
Metadata Contact :: Krishangi Groover, U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher :: U.S. Geological Survey
Distributor :: U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
SDC Data Owner :: California Water Science Center
USGS Mission Area :: Water Resources

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Groundwater_Quality_Data_in_the_Mojave_Basin_Shallow_Aquifer_Study_Unit_Metadata.xml Original FGDC Metadata	View	12.22 KB	application/fgdc+xml
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Related External Resources

Type: catalogItemUrl

Digital Data	https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis

Type: Related Primary Publication

Izbicki, J.A., Groover, K.D., and Seymour, W.A., 2023, Arsenic, chromium, uranium, and vanadium in rock, alluvium, and groundwater, western Mojave Desert, southern California: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2023–5089, 96 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20235089.	https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20235089

Purpose

This data release presents the data collected for the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project MOBS Shallow Aquifer Study Unit in 2018. These data include: study unit and grid cell boundaries, site information for the 48 grid wells, and 11 understanding wells; water-quality results for samples collected from these 59 sites, water-quality results for quality-control samples collected from 17 sites, and 4 equipment blank quality control samples. Subsequent publications will present analysis and interpretation of these data. This document provides information necessary to understand the results presented in 10 tables provided in this data release.

Groundwater-Quality Data in the Mojave Basin Shallow Aquifer Study Unit, 2018: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project

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