Effects of water extraction in a vulnerable phreatic aquifer: Consequences for groundwater contamination by pesticides, Sint-Jansteen area, The Netherlands

Pesticides are a potential threat to the quality of extracted groundwater when the water-supply area is used for agricultural activities. This problem is discussed for the water-supply area of Sint-Jansteen, The Netherlands, where measured pesticide concentrations in the extracted water regularly exceed EU limits (0.1 μg/L). Groundwater samples taken from the aquifer within the water-supply area show low contamination, but samples taken from the extracted water occasionally contain pesticides, making the water inadequate for drinking-water purposes. The more intense contamination of the extracted water is caused by the change in the natural groundwater flow pattern near the extraction wells. In this area, pesticide use cannot be avoided easily, and an approach is given to differentiate pesticide use in the area according to expected travel time toward the wells and the chemical characteristics of the pesticides. A groundwater flow model for the area is developed and the effects of groundwater extraction on the natural flow pattern are evaluated. Using particle tracking, the travel-time zones are determined. Combining these results and the degradation behavior of certain pesticides led to an optimal scheme to integrate agricultural activities and groundwater extraction in the area. This is illustrated for five different types of pesticides (atrazine, simazine, bentazone, MCPA, and mecoprop). Received, October 1998/Revised, July 1999, September 1999/Accepted, November 1999