Assessment of Ammonium–N and Nitrate–N Contamination of Shallow Groundwater in a Complex Agricultural Region, Central Western Taiwan

Abstract

The characteristics of nitrogen contamination of shallow groundwater were evaluated through current status analysis and trend detection of ammonium–N and nitrate–N concentrations under various cropping patterns to assess the effectiveness of rational fertilization in the Choushui River alluvial fan, central Western Taiwan. The influence of cropping patterns on both ammonium–N and nitrate–N contamination associated with redox conditions/dissolved oxygen (DO) in shallow groundwater was also discussed in this study. The analysis revealed that shallow groundwater beneath double rice cropping and rotational cropping regions is still characterized by high ammonium–N concentration despite rational fertilization promotion. However, very few monitoring wells showed an upward trend of ammonium–N/nitrate–N concentrations, indicating that shallow groundwater is not further deteriorated by nitrogen pollution in most parts of the study area. Therefore, the remediation of nitrogen contaminated groundwater will be a long-term process and more effort must be invested. Moreover, the strict redox conditions defined by a single DO threshold value may not account for groundwater nitrogen pollution in the study area. It is difficult to determine the redox conditions and predominant nitrogen pollution patterns of shallow groundwater purely from cropping patterns. Instead, contamination may have resulted from an integrated process governed by several other factors. Tracing the potential sources of nitrogen pollution and establishing a more integral monitoring network should be implemented to formulate a more comprehensive nitrogen pollution control strategy in this area.