USING VIRUSES TO STUDY THE INTERACTION BETWEEN GROUNDWATER AND SURFACE WATER IN CLINTON, NEW YORK

Municipal wells in the unconsolidated alluvial aquifer in Clinton, New York are not considered to be under the direct influence of the nearby surface water of Oriskany Creek. However, studies by previous workers concluded that pumping wells induce infiltration from the stream. The earlier studies used indirect methods including discharge measurements and vertical streambed temperature profiles to evaluate the connection between the stream and the aquifer. The goal of our study to use human and bovine viruses as tracers to test the conclusions from the previous studies with a direct method. We collected simultaneous water samples from the stream and municipal wells and filtered the water through dialysis ultrafilters. We collected samples from July to December 2019 in order to include the seasonal variation of precipitation, stream discharge conditions, and manure spreading practices. We also collected water samples for hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratio analysis and deployed data loggers to measure head changes during pumping and non-pumping times. Results of one sampling round in July showed that there is a large viral load in Oriskany Creek and no viruses in the groundwater. We hope to determine if viruses can be used as tracers to determine an influence of surface water on groundwater in situations in which the standard method of microscopic particulate analysis indicates no connection.