Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Groundwater Pollution Risk Assessment Under Scenarios Of Climate And Land Use Change In The Northern Great Plains, Ruopu Li

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Modeling groundwater vulnerability to pollution is critical for implementing programs to protect groundwater quality. Traditionally, groundwater vulnerability was modeled based on current hydrogeology and land use conditions. However, groundwater vulnerability is strongly dependent on factors such as depth-to-water, recharge and land use conditions that may change in response to future changes in climate and/or socio-economic conditions. For example, global warming may lead to northward shifts in cropping patterns and changes in crop mixes (and use of farm chemicals). Meanwhile, growing demands for biofuels are resulting in expanding corn acreage, and may lead to pressures to remove land from the Conservation …