Nitrate and Pesticides in Private Wells

Clean Water Council

December 18, 2017

Kim Kaiser
Hydrologist
MDA Fertilizer Management Unit
and
Jeff Paddock
Hydrologist
MDA Monitoring & Assessment Unit
Hydrologist Staff for TTP/PWPS Programs
Brennon Schaefer –St. Paul
Nikol Ross-St. Paul
Jaime Nielsen-St. Paul
Ryan Meyer-Staples
Ben Bruening-Rochester
Lauren Bammert-Mankato
Adam McCullough-Rochester>Detroit Lakes
Dylan Timm-data manager

Supervisors: Larry Gunderson and Bill VanRyswyk

 Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Plan

• The NFMP is the state’s blueprint to minimize

groundwater impacts from the use of nitrogen
fertilizer.
• The plan calls for an assessment of nitrate
concentrations in private wells (township scale) and
public wells.
• Voluntary and regulatory components
• DRAFT Nitrogen Fertilizer Rule:
http://www.mda.state.mn.us/nfr
 Assessment: Groundwater Testing

Private wells Public wells

• Data source: MDA • Data source: MDH

• Township Testing Program • Drinking Water Protection Program

 Private Well Township Assessment: NFMP Levels

Mitigation Mitigation Mitigation Mitigation

Prevention Mode
Level One Level Two Level Three Level Four

10% ≥10 10% ≥10

Nitrate Levels <5% ≥ 10 mg/L 5-9% ≥ 10 mg/L 15% ≥10 mg/L
mg/L mg/L
Increasing

BMP Adoption
Acceptable or Undetermined Not Acceptable

Regulatory Status
Voluntary Regulatory
Township Testing : Where do we start?
Township Testing Program Overview

• Prioritize by working in
townships with vulnerable
groundwater and significant row
crops
• over 300 townships
• By 2019, offer testing to over
70,000 wells
• Voluntary
• No cost to owner – funded by the
Clean Water Fund
 Two Step Process

Step 1 – Initial test

• Work with local partner (SWCDs or County)
• All well owners are offered a free nitrate test kit
• Homeowner collects sample and mails it in

Step 2 – If nitrate is detected

• Offer follow-up nitrate and pesticide samples
• Samples collected by trained staff
 Pesticide Sampling:
Private Well Pesticide Sampling Project

At the direction of the Minnesota Legislature ( HF1183 Article 2, Sec. 3, part b), Cite: Minn. Stat.; 2013 Minn.
Laws Chap. 137 Art. 2 Sec. 3(b) additional funds were appropriated:

“monitoring for pesticides when nitrate is detected”

The primary goal of the PWPS Project:

is to provide information to homeowners and the general public about the presence
of pesticides in private drinking water wells in areas of the State with vulnerable
groundwater and row crop agriculture.

• 2014 – 2015: MDA List 1 Pesticides (22 compounds)

• 2016-2017: 125 Pesticides, including Glyphosate

 Two Step Process

Step 1 – Initial Test

• Work with local partner (SWCDs or County)
• Verify that the townships are appropriate and
incorporate local geology maps if the Geologic Atlas or
other maps are available.
• Develop mailing list to well owners.
• Outreach to township boards and other local officials

• All well owners are offered a free nitrate test kit

• Homeowner collects sample and mails it in to the

certified lab
 Step One:
What’s in the Initial Nitrate Kit?

Well owners receive

• Invitation letter
• Sample bottle
• Sampling instructions
• Prepaid mailer
• Survey about their well
(construction type, depth, age,
when did you last test your
water and potential nitrate
sources)
• Typical response rates are 30%
 Initial Data Analysis

WHEN DID YOU LAST TEST YOUR WELL FOR

1. Summarize results by NITRATE?
township (OLMSTED COUNTY, 1057 WELL OWNERS)
Not available, <1 year, 4.40%
2. Summarize well surveys 12.60%
<3 years,
6.70%

3. Summarize all relevant

groundwater information
<10 years,
4. Results by aquifer 18.20%

• if unique ID is provided and a Not sure,

23.20%
well log is available
5. Initial results are posted on-
line in a short summary
after the first year.
Never tested, >10 years,
11.60% 23.30%
Initial Results For 2013-2016

Percent of Wells Number of

Townships
≥10 mg/L Nitrate-N

Less than 5% 53
5-9.9% 43
10% or more 71
Total 167

• Approximately 20,042 wells

were sampled in 19 counties
• 9.5% (1,912) of those wells were
greater than or equal to 10 mg/L
 Step Two:
MDA Follow-up Sampling:

Step Two:
Offer Follow-up nitrate sample, pesticide
sample and site visit when nitrate is detected
~ 50% of wells have a nitrate detection and ~ 50% of those
folks chose to participate.

A. Document well information

• Well type, depth and construction

B. Inventory other possible nitrate and pesticide

sources close to the well
• Construction problems
• Septic sources
• Animal sources
• Other sources-pesticide containers

C. Collect Nitrate and Pesticide Sample

 Step Two: Data Analysis for Nitrate

• Have results changed significantly since initial homeowner sample?

• Does the survey information accurately reflect the well site visit and well log
information?

• Are the wells > 5mg/L potentially impacted by commercial fertilizer? If not,
they are removed from the dataset.
Well Construction Problem Unsure of Water Source Point Source

?
No Unique Well ID
&
No Unique Well ID
&
Well Not Seen & No Site Visit &
Constructed Insufficient
before 1975 Information Hand Dug Wells
Reasons wells were removed from dataset-Examples

MORRISON
Point Source
18%
No Unique ID &
No Site Visit &
Insufficient Well Construction
Information Problem
34% 4%

Hand Dug Wells

27%
No Unique ID &
Well Not Seen &
Constructed
Unsure of Water
Before 1975
Source
14%
3%

There were 1222; 118 (10%) were removed

No Unique ID
No Unique ID & No
Well Unsure of & Well Not
Point Hand Dug Site Visit &
Construction Water Seen & Total
Source Wells Insufficient
Problem Source Constructed
Information
Before 1975
21 5 32 4 16 40 118
 Step Two:
Follow-up Sampling 2014-2016

• 10 counties have gone

through the entire process:
Benton, Dakota, Olmsted,
Otter Tail, Pope, Morrison,
Sherburne, Stearns,
Wadena, Washington
 Step Two:
2017 Follow-up Sampling

• In 2017, Approximately
2,400 homeowners in
10 counties, were
offered a follow-up
nitrate test and
pesticide sample.
• ~1100 agreed to
participate (46%)
 Step Two:
Final Nitrate Results

Percent of
Number of Townships
Wells
≥10 mg/L
Nitrate-N
Initial Final*

Less than 5% 27 48
5-9.9% 19 25
10% or more 28 20
Total 74 93
*For the 10 Counties that have been through both steps

After the final analysis, 2 townships still

had more than 40% of the wells over the
HRL

• Marshan TWP in Dakota County: 43%

• Agram TWP in Morrison County 47%
 How Township Testing Information is Used

• If nitrate levels in a township are low continue to promote and educate

about nitrogen BMPs.
• If nitrate levels in a township are high: Work with the agriculture
community in an effort to reduce nitrate in groundwater. This involves
following the steps outlined in the Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Plan
and proposed in the DRAFT rule.
• Form a local advisory team;
• Evaluate nitrogen BMP adoption after three growing seasons;
• Design/install a long term monitoring network;
• if BMPs are adopted, continue voluntary approach
• if BMPs are not adopted, use regulatory approach
For more information on the DRAFT Nitrogen Fertilizer Rule: http://www.mda.state.mn.us/nfr
 Private Well Pesticide Sampling (PWPS) Project

• Pesticide component of the

Township Testing Program
• Homeowners that had a
nitrate detection during the
initial Township Testing
Program sampling have the
opportunity to have their
well sampled for pesticides
Private Well Pesticide Sampling (PWPS) Project

• 2,625 wells sampled in 10 counties

from 2014-2016
• 1,100 wells sampled in 2017, results
pending
• Anticipate 6,300 wells sampled by
2020
• 2014-2015 wells were analyzed for 22
pesticides (MDA List 1) by contract
lab, six pesticide detections (0.3%)
• 2016 wells & beyond will be analyzed
for 125 pesticides by different
contract lab
• Will resample wells analyzed in 2014-
2015 as time and budget allow
 PWPS Project Results - Wells Sampled 2016

• Sampled 1,171 wells in 2016, mostly in five

counties
• 375 wells in Dakota County had already been
sampled in 2014-2015, remaining wells had
not been sampled
 PWPS Project Results – 2016 Overall Results

th
90 Health Health
Detection Maximum
Pesticide Analyte Median (ng/L) percentile Reference Reference
Frequency (ng/L)
(ng/L) Value Value Type

Metolachlor ESA 70% 69 870 6,900 800,000 HRL

Alachlor ESA 55% 65 1,500 12,000 50,000 RAA

Metolachlor OXA 45% <MRL 420 12,000 800,000 HRL

Acetochlor ESA 21% <MRL 81 2,300 300,000 HRL

Desethylatrazine 19% <MRL 78 380 3,000 Parent HRL

Atrazine 19% <MRL 53 320 3,000 HRL

Bentazon 8% <MRL <MRL 2,900 30,000 HRL

Alachlor OXA 7% <MRL <MRL 5,300 50,000 RAA

Metribuzin DADK 6% <MRL <MRL 7,400 10,000 RAA

• Pesticide or pesticide degradates were detected in 76% of the wells sampled in

2016
• 53 pesticides and degradates were detected above the Method Reporting
Limits (MRL)
• Metolachlor ESA (corn herbicide degradate) was the most frequently detected
pesticide (70%)
• Most of the detections were very low level
• One diuron exceedance in Sherburne County
 PWPS Project Results – 2016 Overall Results
(continued)

• Pesticides detections were:

Number of Wells Percentage of
– 83 % Herbicide degradates Pesticide Detections
Sampled Wells
0 284 24.3%
– 14% Herbicides
1 139 11.9%
– 2% Insecticides 2 158 13.5%

– 1% Fungicides 3 171 14.6%

4 128 10.9%
• Six neonicotinoids (insecticides) were 5 134 11.4%
analyzed, three were detected 6 55 4.7%
7 43 3.7%
• Glyphosate was not detected, AMPA 8 26 2.2%
(glyphosate degradate) was detected in one 9 18 1.5%
sample in Morrison County 10 7 0.6%
11 4 0.3%
• 12% of the wells sampled had a single 12 3 0.3%
pesticide detection, maximum detected 13 0 0.0%
pesticides in a single well was 15 14 0 0.0%
15 1 0.1%
• Cumulative Risk Assessment
1,171 100%
 2016 County Comparison Results

Number of
Wells Detection Pesticides
County Sampled Frequency Detected
Dakota County 375 93% 31
Sherburne County 120 84% 24
Morrison County 232 79% 31
Otter Tail County 407 57% 41
Pope County 28 46% 12

• Detection frequency per county ranged

from 46%-93%
• Number of pesticides detected per
county ranged from 12-41
 Comparison with MDA Ambient Monitoring Network

• The MDA has 10 PMR’s (Pesticide

Monitoring Regions) throughout the state
• PMR 4 – Central Sands
– Large glacial outwash sand plains
– Highly sensitive to surface activities
– Irrigated fields are common
– Four of the five PWPS Counties
sampled in 2016
 Comparison with MDA Ambient Monitoring Network
(continued)

PWPS PMR 4
PWPS PMR 4 PWPS PMR 4
Detection Detection
Pesticide Analyte Detections/Total Detections/Total Maximum Maximum
Frequency Frequency
Samples Samples (ng/L) (ng/L)
(%) (%)
Metol a chl or ESA 479/794 78/88 60 89 6,900 16,900
Al a chl or ESA 300/794 19/88 38 22 12,000 1,740
Metol a chl or OXA 238/794 45/88 30 51 12,000 6,730
Acetochl or ESA 123/794 39/88 15 44 2,300 7,660
Des ethyl a tra zi ne 78/794 6/88 10 7 360 222
Atra zi ne 68/794 5/88 9 6 320 285
Metri buzi n DADK 67/794 18/88 8 20 7,400 2,370
Benta zon 46/794 21/88 6 24 2,900 24,500

• Specific pesticides and pesticide degradates that were detected compared

favorably.
• Frequency & concentrations were typically higher in the ambient monitoring
wells
• Likely due to location & depth
Nitrate & Pesticide Co-occurrence
 Summary

• Local partners and private well owners are the cornerstone of this program
• Approximately 20,042 wells were sampled for nitrate in 19 counties
between 2013-2016
• Nitrate concentrations in 9.5% (1,912) of those wells were greater than or
equal to 10 mg/L
• By the end of 2019, over 30,000 homeowners will have tested their well for
nitrate
• Pesticides were detected in 76% of the wells sampled in 2016,
concentrations were generally very low & compare to results from the
MDA’s ambient monitoring program
• Most commonly detected pesticides were also similar to the MDA’s ambient
monitoring program
• More likely to see pesticide detections in wells with elevated nitrate
 For Additional Information

For more information:

Township Testing Program

• Visit www.mda.state.mn.us/townshiptesting

Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Plan

• Visit www.mda.state.mn.us/nfmp

Draft Nitrogen Fertilizer Rule:

• Visit www.mda.state.mn.us/nfr

Private Well Pesticide Sampling

• Visit www.mda.state.mn.us/pwps

Pesticide Monitoring Well Network

• Visit www.mda.state.us.mn/monitoring.
 Questions?

• Kim Kaiser
• Kimberly.Kaiser@state.mn.us

• 651-201-6280

• Jeff Paddock
• Jeff.Paddock@state.mn.us

• 651-201-6560