Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is being used at Western Kentucky University to understand and ameliorate threats to water quality. Inadequate protection of surface and groundwater causes many citizens to drink unhealthy water and threatens ecosystems.

To understand how the quality of drinking water sources can be improved, land use practices and water quality relationships are being studied in eight demonstration watersheds throughout Kentucky. Land use within these watersheds has been classified through remote sensing techniques and transposed into a GIS for storage, analysis, and visualization. Land use data, along with water contaminant analyses, biological assessments, and hydrogeologic inventories, are being used to develop management strategies that better protect watersheds and improve drinking water quality.

Petroleum exploration is another source of surface and groundwater contamination. In the early 1990s, a small oil boom began along the southwestern edge of Mammoth Cave National Park. A spill in January 1997 dumped over 2,000 liters of crude oil into the park. While an emergency effort prevented the oil from sinking into the karst aquifer, the spill highlighted the threat posed by these wells, and demonstrated the need for a better understanding of the area's hydrogeology.

In order to prepare for future threats, scientists and students of Western Kentucky University and Mammoth Cave National Park are cooperating in the development of a GIS that depicts the hydrogeology, karst features, access roads, and water flow routes adjacent to these oil facilities. The resulting database and map will speed planning and response in the event of future environmental emergencies.