Relation of Ground‐Water Quality to Land Use on Long Island, New York

Abstract

Water‐quality data from 90 monitoring wells screened within 50 feet of the water table in the unconfined upper glacial aquifer beneath five areas of differing land use in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Long Island, were compared to assess the effects of land use on ground‐water quality. The areas, which range from 22 to 44 square miles, represent suburban land sewered more than 22 years at the time of the study (long‐term sewered), suburban land sewered less than 8 years (recently sewered), suburban land without a regional sewer system, agricultural land, and undeveloped (forested) land. Comparison of water‐quality data from the 90 wells indicated that samples from the undeveloped area had the lowest and smallest range in concentrations of several human‐derived constituents, such as nitrate, alkalinity, boron, synthetic solvents, and pesticides. Concentrations of these constituents in samples from the three suburban areas and the agricultural area generally were intermediate to high and had the widest variation. Maximum‐likelihood logistic regression analysis of explanatory variables that characterize the type of land use and population density within a 1/2‐mile radius of each of the 90 wells was used to develop predictive equations for contaminant occurrence in ground water within 50 feet of the water table. Two logistic regression equations for the 90 monitoring wells were compared with equations developed independently from ground‐water quality data at more than 240 other wells throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties to evaluate the predictive value of the land‐use variables at the larger two‐county scale. The results demonstrate that the population density and amount of agricultural, commercial, and high‐ and medium‐density residential land within specified areas around wells can be reliable predictors of contaminant presence. The strength of the correlations supports the premise that land use affects the quality of water in water‐table aquifers overlain by highly permeable material because land use commonly determines the types and amounts of chemicals introduced at land surface. When coupled with GIS technology and accurate, detailed land‐use and water‐quality information, the methods and results of this study can be useful to local planning boards in evaluation of potential effects of development on ground‐water quality. The methods can also be useful to hydrologists in the analysis and design of ground‐water‐monitoring networks.