The National Ground Water Research and Education Foundation (NGWREF) recently announced the funding of two research projects, one on emerging contaminants and the other on the interactions between groundwater and streams. The two grants total $15,895.

The first grant goes to a team led by Matthew Currell, Ph.D, of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Melbourne, Australia. The project is receiving $7,895. The research is titled “Aquifer Storage and Recovery of Recycled Water: Identifying Emerging Contaminants in Source Water and Examining Their Fate and Transport.”

NGWREF says Currell’s research addresses a topic that it considers a priority, identifying emerging contaminants (such as pharmaceutical compounds) and other constituents of concern to waters used in aquifer storage and recovery (ASR). That study will be conducted at a site near Melbourne, Australia. NGWREF calls his research critical to development of safe and effective ASR policy.

A second project, led by Gretchen R. Miller, Ph.D, PE, of Texas A&M University, was granted $8,000.

Miller’s research, “Isotopic Analysis to Determine Groundwater and Stream Water Interactions in a Tropical Forest Catchment,” is expected to quantify cycling times of water through that ecosystem. NGWREF says the hydrologic processes at Miller’s study site and other mountainous tropical areas, have implications for downstream hydropower and water distribution. It says Miller’s research will aid the understanding of the interactions between groundwater and stream water.

 The NGWREF, founded in 1994, is the charitable arm of the National Ground Water Association. It is focused on conducting educational, research and other activities that promote a broader understanding of groundwater use and access. NGWA is a nonprofit that supports responsible development, management and use of water resources. It’s comprised of groundwater professionals ranging from contractors to equipment manufacturers to scientists and engineers. For more information, visit www.ngwa.org.