PUB00070

• Year: 1998
• Title: Ground Water and Surface Water A Single Resource U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1139
• CWCB Section: Interstate & Federal
• Author: T.C. Winter, J.W. Harvey, O.L. Franke, W.M. Alley
• Description: Overview of current understandimg of interaction of ground water and surface water in terms of quality and quantity
• Publications - Doc Type: Historical

Hyporheic zones also serve as sites for nutrient
uptake, A study of a coastal mountain stream in northern
California indicated that transport of dissolved oxygen,
dissolved carbon, and dissolved nitrogen in stream water into
the hyporheic zone stimulated uptake of nitrogen by microbes
and algae attached to sediment. A model simulation of
nitrogen uptake (Figure F-2) indicated that both the physical
process of water exchange between the stream and the
hyporheic zone and the biological uptake of nitrate in the
hyporheic zone affected the concentration of dissolved
nitrogen in the stream,

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Figure F-2. Nitrate injected into Little Lost Man Greek in
northern Gaiiiomia was stored and taken up by aigae and
microbes in the hyporheic zone, (Modified from Kim, 8,K.A.,
Jackman, AP" and Triska, F,J" 1992, Modeiing biotic uptake
by periphyton and transient hyporheic storage of nitrate in a
natural stream: Water Resources Research, v, 28, no,10,
p, 2743-2752.)

1800

1000 1400

Little Lost Man Creek, California. (Photograph by
Judson Harvey.)

"

The importance of biogeochemical processes that take
place at the interface of ground water and surface water in
improving water quality for human consumption is shown by
the following example, Decreasing metal concentrations
(Figure F-3) in drinking-water wells adjacent to the River Glatt
in Switzerland was attributed to the interaction of the river with
subsurface water. The improvement in ground-water quality
started with improved sewage-treatment plants, which
lowered phosphate in the river, Lower phosphate concentra-
tions lowered the amount of algal production in the river,
which decreased the amount of dissolved organic carbon
flowing into the riverbanks, These factors led to a decrease in
the bacteria-caused dissolution of manganese and cadmium
that were present as coatings on sediment in the aquifer, The
result was substantially lower dissolved metal concentrations
in ground water adjacent to the river, which resulted in an
unexpected improvement in the quality of drinking water.

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Figure F-3. A decline in manganese and cadmium concen-
trations after 1990 in drinking-water wells near the River Glatt
in Switzerland was attributed to decreased phosphate in the
river and hydrologic and biogeochemical interactions between
river water and ground water, (Modified from von Gunten,
H,R" and Lienert, Gh" 1993, Decreased metai concentrations
in ground water caused by controls on phosphate emissions:
Nature, v, 364, p, 220-222,) (Reprinted with permission from
Nature, Macmiifan Magazines Limited,)

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