**ASSESSING GROUND WATER VULNERABILITY THROUGH STATISTICAL AND
MECHANISTIC METHODS**

## Trainers

## Sandra Eberts, USGS, 6480 Doubletree Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43229

Leon Kauffman, USGS, 810 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 206, West Trenton, NJ,
08628

Stephen Kraemer, USEPA, 960 College Station Road, Athens, GA, 30605-2700

Mathew Landon, USGS, 4165 Spruance Road, Suite 200, San Diego, CA,
92101-0812

Rob Malone, USDA, 2150 Pammel Drive, Ames, IA, 50011-4420

Mike Muse, USEPA, 1200 Pennsylvania, Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20460

Bernard Nolan, USGS, 413 National Center, Reston, VA, 20192

Jeffrey Starn, USGS, 101 Pitkin Street, East Hartford, CT, 06108

**Course Description**

This multiple presenter short course outlined some of the needs and
methods for assessing ground water vulnerability to contamination.
Presentations included material on USEPA\'s Wellhead Analytic Element
Model (WhAEM) for generating screening level contributing areas,
uncertainty associated with contributing area delineations, a data base
of contributing area summary statistics for assessing supply well
vulnerability in a variety of aquifer systems, considerations for
movement of contaminants across the unsaturated zone, statistical
methods for predicting ground water vulnerability at the regional scale,
ground water age as a surrogate for vulnerability, and depth dependent
sampling in pumping supply wells for improved understanding of
vulnerability.

**The Need for Multiple Methods to Assess GW Vulnerability-- A Policy
Perspective**

*Mike Muse, USEPA, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water,
<muse.mike@epa.gov>*

<http://www.epa.gov/safewater/protect.html>

<http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ssanp.html>

<http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/>*\
*

**Selected Mechanistic Methods**

-   Models for Evaluating the Role of Preferential Flow in the
    Unsaturated Zone\
    *Rob Malone, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, <malone@nstl.gov>\
    *[http://www.ars.usda.gov/Business/docs.htm?docid=6341](http://www.ars.usda.gov/Business/docs.htm?docid=6341 )

-   USEPA's Modeling Tools for Wellhead Protection\
    *Dr. Stephen Kraemer, USEPA, Ecosystems Research Division,
    <kraemer.stephen@epa.gov>*

<http://www.epa.gov/athens/software/whaem/index.html>

-   A Probabilistic Approach for Assessing Supply-Well Vulnerability\
    *Jeff Starn, USGS, National Water Quality Assessment Program,
    <jjstarn@usgs.gov>*

<http://ct.water.usgs.gov/pubs/southburyweb1.pdf>*\
*

**Selected Statistical Methods**

-   Process-Based Variables for Use in Statistically-Based Vulnerability
    Assessments\
    *Leon Kauffman, USGS, National Water Quality Assessment Program,
    <lkauff@usgs.gov>\
    *

-   Statistical Methods for Predicting Ground-Water Vulnerability\
    *Tom Nolan, USGS, National Water Quality Assessment Program,
    <btnolan@usgs.gov>\
    *<http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/nutrients/>

**Selected Sampling Methods**

-   Considerations and Tools for Interpreting Ground-Water-Age Tracer
    Data *\
    Sandra Eberts, USGS, National Water Quality Assessment Program,
    <smeberts@usgs.gov>\
    *<http://water.usgs.gov/lab/>

-   Sampling Public-Supply Wells with Depth During Pumping\
    *Matt Landon, USGS, National Water Quality Assessment Program,
    <landon@usgs.gov>*

<http://oh.water.usgs.gov/TANCweb/NAWQATANC.htm>