Research efforts in my group during 1999 emphasized two primary areas: 1) transport and transformation of groundwater contaminants and 2) studies of groundwater-surface water interactions related to preservation and restoration of wetlands and springs. In the first area, we continued field and laboratory studies of in-situ biodegradation. This work has demonstrated the importance characterizing the spatial variability in redox conditions in both uncontaminated and contaminated portions of aquifers in order to evaluate the potential for bioremediation. Maddy Schreiber, whose dissertation work included tracer experiments, microcosm studies and modeling of in-situ and enhanced biodegradation, completed her PhD in the summer and then began an appointment as Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech. Pete Taglia, who joined this project in the summer of 1998, spent the summer and fall working the bugs out of in-situ microcosms for use at our Fort McCoy field site. Kurt Zeiler is investigating heterogeneous transport and contamination at another site, the former Badger Army Ammunitions complex near Baraboo. Ann Dansart has been assessing the role of fossil permafrost features as preferential pathways for contaminant migration from agricultural fields to the water table. With a fellowship from the Department of Energy, Tara Root is attempting to use a large database of groundwater chemistry to improve constraints on flow paths from the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
In the second area of emphasis, two grants from the WI Dept. of Natural Resources were funded in 1999 to continue studies of hydrogeologic controls on springs in the Token Creek and Nine Springs Watersheds. Graduate students Sue Swanson, Laura Parent, and Steve Domber are involved in these projects. This work indicates the importance of incorporating detailed hydrostratigraphy and preferential flow paths in models designed to evaluate the effects of development on springs and wetlands. These results provide some of the basis for refined conceptual and numerical models that will be employed in an interdisciplinary study of the effects of urbanization on water resources. Kristin Anderson, who started graduate work in the fall, will work on this EPA-funded project. Shaili Pfeiffer, who began her MS program in the fall of 1998 is also working on a wetland project, this one a study of groundwater contributions to a riparian wetland along the Lower Wisconsin River funded through the International Crane Foundation.
The hydro group headed south for spring break on a field trip to see the Edwards Aquifer in Texas. On the way down we stopped to see a demonstration of novel slug test methods by researchers at the Kansas Geological Survey including UW hydro group alumnus and recent U. Kansas PhD Geoff Bohling. On the way back to Madison we explored caves in Missouri.
An invitation to discuss graduate education at a meeting sponsored by AGI in Houston gave me a chance for a short visit with alumni Lisa Shepherd, Peter Drezwiecki, Kyle Lewallen, Ross Vandy, and Martha Gerdes. During the summer I had a chance to see Lisa again, as well as Jim Aiken, at the Twin Cities area wedding of former students Matt Swanson and Laura Pugh (WRM). I was looking forward to a little free time after completing my term as chair of the WRM Program in August. However, I soon found myself immersed in two new (and exciting) committee assignments: a National Research Council review of the proposed Everglades restoration and a study group for the Global Change Research Program charged with formulating a research agenda for the global water cycle.
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