Parallels between stream and coastal water quality associated with groundwater discharge

PLoS One. 2019 Oct 28;14(10):e0224513. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0224513. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Groundwater-surface water interactions drive water quality in both streams and the coastal ocean, where groundwater discharge occurs in streams as baseflow and along the coastline as submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). Groundwater contributions to streams and to the coastal ocean were quantified in three urban streams in Kāne'ohe Watershed, Hawai'i. We used radon as a groundwater tracer to show that baseflow contributions to streams ranged from 22 to 68% along their reaches leading to the coast of Kāne'ohe Bay. Total SGD was 4,500, 18,000, and 23,000 m3/day for the northwest, central, and southern sectors of the bay, respectively. Total groundwater (stream baseflow + SGD) dissolved nutrient fluxes were significantly greater than those sourced from stream surface runoff. The studied streams exhibited increasing nutrient levels downstream from groundwater inputs with high nutrient concentrations, negatively impacting coastal water quality. SGD dynamics were also assessed during the anomalously high perigean spring tides in 2017, where SGD was four times greater during the perigean spring tide compared to a spring tide and resulted in strong shifts in N:P ratios, suggesting that rising sea level stands may disrupt primary productivity with greater frequency. This study demonstrates the importance of considering baseflow inputs to streams to coastal groundwater budgets and suggests that coastal water quality may be improved through management and reduction of groundwater contaminants.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Environmental Monitoring*
  • Groundwater / chemistry*
  • Rivers / chemistry*
  • Seawater / chemistry*
  • Water Movements*
  • Water Quality*

Grants and funding

This research was supported by University of Hawai’i Sea Grant (NOAA Grant #NA14OAR4170071) (HD), NSF REU Award #1560196, and the University of Hawai’i Graduate Student Organization Merit Based Award for Research (TM). This paper is funded in part by a grant/cooperative agreement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Project R/WR-1, which is sponsored by the University of Hawai’i Sea Grant College Program, SOEST, under Institutional Grant No. NA14OAR4170071 from NOAA Office of Sea Grant, Department of Commerce. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or any of its subagencies. UNIHI-SEAGRANT-JC-17-28. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of this manuscript.