Lower Elkhorn NRD eyes expansion of management area in Pierce, Madison counties

Norfolk Daily News :

The Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District has three primary reasons for contemplating an expansion of its groundwater management areas in Pierce and Madison counties.

They are:

• Concern for groundwater quality
• Growing health concerns for the public
• A desire to further implement best management practices to prevent groundwater contamination.

The district’s current Phase 2 area was first established in 1997 and included a 110 square mile area of Pierce County. In 2005, the Phase 2 area was expanded to include all of Pierce County with the exception of Eastern Township in the extreme northeast corner of the county.

Concerns about high nitrates in the district have risen as long-term monitoring has shown increasing levels of nitrate concentration in much of the groundwater in Pierce County and, most recently, in small portions of northern Madison County.

Results indicate that of the approximately 40 percent of the registered wells sampled in Pierce County, the average nitrate-nitrogen level is 11.7 parts per million (ppm). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set a maximum contaminant level of 10 ppm for nitrate-nitrogen in public water supplies.