Assistant Professor Ryan Smith’s research connecting groundwater depletion to arsenic contamination was cited in a New York Times article entitled “America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow.” Below is an excerpt from the article:

“In general, as people drill deeper wells, the likelihood of arsenic contamination increases, according to Dr. Smith, now a professor at Colorado State University. And as shallower groundwater supplies are depleted, he said, more people are drilling deeper wells.

The technology exists to filter out arsenic from drinking water, Dr. Smith said. But that imposes a cost on low-income families, he added. And it works only if people know their wells have become contaminated in the first place, which can be a particular problem for private well owners, who might not realize what has happened to their water.”

Read the full NYT article here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/28/climate/groundwater-drying-climate-change.html 

Smith is continuing his research on groundwater sustainability with the help of a recent NSF grant for a groundwater study in southwest Utah.