Effects of a cattle feedlot on ground-water quality in the South Platte River Valley near Greeley, Colorado
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Abstract
Changes in water quality in an alluvial aquifer resulting from the operation of a feedlot stocked with 90,000 cattle have been minimal. Monitoring water quality in 19 observation wells from April 1974, prior to the operation of the feedlot, to June 1978, after about 4 years of operation, indicates that chloride concentrations have increased slightly in one well downgradient from a runoff-retention pond. Chemical analyses of water from two lysimeters installed in the unsaturated zone indicate that leachate from the feedlot has percolated to a depth of at least 5 feet but has not percolated to a depth of 20 feet. The small changes in ground-water quality caused by the feedlot are likely the result of the limited available recharge, a relatively impermeable manure pack, soil clogging under the cattle pens resulting in slow vertical movement of leachate through the unsaturated zone, soil clogging under the unlined runoff-retention ponds, and denitrification in the unsaturated zone.
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Effects of a cattle feedlot on ground-water quality in the South Platte River Valley near Greeley, Colorado |
| Series title | Water-Resources Investigations Report |
| Series number | 80-83 |
| DOI | 10.3133/wri8083 |
| Year Published | 1981 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Description | iv, 78 p. |
| Country | United States |
| State | Colorado |
| City | Greeley |
| Other Geospatial | South Platte River Valley |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |