Jake Slobe | February 26, 2017

This week’s On The Radio segment discusses a new study focused on finding the age of groundwater in the Jordan Aquifer.

Transcript: A University of Iowa study has found that groundwater in Iowa’s Jordan Aquifer is much older than previously thought.

This is the Iowa Environmental Focus.

Researchers from the Iowa Geological Survey at the University of Iowa have partnered with the UI Geology Department, Grinnell College, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in a study that uses isotopic age dating to estimate the age of groundwater in the Jordan Aquifer.

The study found that groundwater in central and northern Iowa is somewhere between 69,000 and 178,000 years old. To assess the age of groundwater in the aquifer, the study sampled eight municipal wells located across the state.

The study also examined the use of aquifer water for ethanol production. From 2004 to 2013, annual use of groundwater from the aquifer for ethanol production increased approximately 7.4 billion liters per year. The study recommended that ethanol production should be based on the accessibility of sustainable groundwater resources, rather than locations where deep groundwater reserves are needed for production.

Although not a focus of this study, similar studies have found that increased pumping from the aquifer has potential to induce detrimental water quality changes, including an increase in radium and salinity levels.

To learn more about the aquifer study, visit iowaenvironmentalfocus.org.

From the UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, I’m Betsy Stone.