Grantee Research Project Results

GSI-Informed Urban Groundwater Monitoring Networks

EPA Grant Number: SU840160
Title: GSI-Informed Urban Groundwater Monitoring Networks
Investigators: Miller, Carol , Mitra, Rahul , Dabney, Brittanie , Ekhator, Kate , Hunt, Darrin , Linn, Colleen , Lyon, Natalie , O’Leary, Brendan , Pruett, Adam , Teimoori, Sadaf
Current Investigators: Miller, Carol , Mitra, Rahul , Dabney, Brittanie , Ekhator, Kate , Hunt, Darrin , Linn, Colleen , Lyon, Natalie , O’Leary, Brendan , Pruett, Adam , Teimoori, Sadaf , Kashian, Donna , Hatrick, James , Kakaris, Dimitrious , LaCroix, Ashley , Serreyn, Michelle , Kamjou, Amir S , Steis Thorsby, Jamie
Institution: Wayne State University
EPA Project Officer: Spatz, Kyle
Phase: I
Project Period: December 1, 2020 through November 30, 2021
Project Amount: $25,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2020) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Awards , P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

Objective:

The city of Detroit is a minority-majority city with a primarily low-income population and an aging city infrastructure that increases residents’ risk of exposure to environmental hazards. In metro-Detroit, data on groundwater flow and quality is extremely limited, despite an increasing number of groundwater-related vapor intrusion events. To lessen flooding impacts and frequency of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) the city of Detroit has developed a green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) program and incentivizes the installation of GSI. The objective of this project is to understand how GSI affects urban groundwater quality and flow by piloting a network of community-based groundwater monitoring stations surrounding GSI sites in Detroit, MI. The technical challenge is to develop a scalable model of relatively low-cost groundwater monitoring stations to measure groundwater flow and quality at the neighborhood scale. 

Our design is innovative in that it uses small groundwater monitoring wells to create a groundwater modelling system that is modular and low-cost, making it highly adaptable to the varying site conditions of GSI and urban soils. This project will benefit residents of the city of Detroit and surrounding communities by piloting a groundwater monitoring network that can elucidate connections between GSI and groundwater, identify potential exposure pathways for contaminants, and provide community education and engagement around the importance of groundwater resources in the Great Lakes Region. 

Approach:

The community-based groundwater quality monitoring network we propose provides an entry point for community engagement: campus and community-based monitoring stations will serve as centers where students, residents, and organizations can come to learn about the connections between groundwater and GSI in cities. This project embodies the P3 approach by integrating groundwater stewardship into the public discourse and empowering local communities to take an active role in understanding urban water-related issues; by informing GSI and urban re-development processes to better protect human health and public safety; and by increasing the scientific monitoring of our globally significant freshwater resources in the Great Lakes Region.   

Expected Results:

This proposal seeks to develop an understanding of horizontal groundwater movement and quality at the neighborhood scale and begin mapping directional groundwater flow in the city of Detroit, MI. Outputs of this project include an open-source data platform on groundwater quality in Detroit, Michigan that does not currently exist elsewhere; A low-cost modular system for groundwater monitoring at GSI sites; Initial development of neighborhood scale groundwater flow maps. Outcomes include increased public and scientific awareness about the importance of groundwater in the Great Lakes region; and identification of potential exposure pathways for contaminants through groundwater to better protect human health. 

Contribution to Pollution Prevention or Control: This project furthers the goals of pollution prevention and control by monitoring urban groundwater movement and transport of contaminants through urban water systems. The evaluation of GSI impact on groundwater movement and contaminant flow will inform GSI and urban development to better protect human health and limit exposure and transport of dangerous contaminants through groundwater-based vapor intrusion or connections to surface drinking water sources.
 

Supplemental Keywords:

Sustainable communities, resource security, GSI co-benefits, groundwater contamination, solution-based science, neighborhood hydrology, resilient cities, nutrient loading, microplastics, pathogens, Great Lakes region

Progress and Final Reports:

Final Report