The contamination of river basins by selenium is a common problem in many watersheds of the world. Selenium contamination of groundwater and surface water in the western United States particularly is acute. Our research deals with assessing the source and mobilization of selenium, its reactive transport through the aquifer and stream network, and water- and land-management practices that could be implemented to remediate the contamination in the Lower Arkansas River Valley (LARV) in southeastern Colorado. Since selenium is affected chemically by nitrate, nitrate fate and transport often is included in data collection and modeling.

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A review article on Selenium in the environment can be found here.

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We have developed several modeling tools to simulate selenium fate and transport in aquifers, rivers, and watershed systems:

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UZF-RT3D: groundwater reactive transport of nitrogen species in irrigated aquifer-stream systems

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RT3D-OTIS: coupled groundwater and surface water reactive transport of nitrogen species in irrigated aquifer-stream systems.

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These models have been applied to assess the implementation of BMPs on nitrate in surface water and groundwater.

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