Potential for agricultural chemical contamination of aquifers in Illinois: 1995 revision

This report and the accompanying set of maps are a revision of Potential for Agricultural Chemical Contamination of Aquifers in Illinois (McKenna and Keefer 1991). The original report and maps were produced in response to the need to predict the sensitivity of Illinois aquifers to contamination through the agricultural use of pesticides and nitrogen fertilizers. Since the publication of the previous report and maps (McKenna and Keefer 1991), Schock et al. (1992) confirmed that depth to the uppermost aquifer can be a useful criterion for evaluating the probability of contamination of rural, private well water by agricultural chemicals. This report describes the rationale and methods used to develop a series of statewide and county maps describing the leaching characteristics of soils and the sensitivity of aquifers to contamination by pesticides and nitrate. -from Author