Spatial-temporal variations of nitrate levels in groundwater of Jeju Island, Korea: Evaluation of long-term (1993-2015) monitoring data

The spatio-temporal variations of nitrate concentrations in groundwater of Jeju Island were evaluated by an analysis of time series groundwater quality data (N = 21,568) that were collected from regional groundwater monitoring (number of wells = 4,835) for up to 20 years between 1993 and 2015. The median concentration of NO₃-N is 2.5 mg/L, which is slightly higher than those reported from regional surveys in other countries. Nitrate concentrations of groundwater in wells tend to significantly vary according to different water usage (of the well), administrative districts, and topographic elevations: nitrate level is higher in low-lying agricultural and residential areas than those in high mountainous areas. The Mann-Kendall trend test and Sen's slope analysis show that nitrate concentration in mid-mountainous areas tends to increase, possibly due to the expansion of agricultural areas toward highland. On the other hand, nitrate concentrations in the Specially Designated Groundwater Quality Protection Zones show the temporally decreasing trend, which implies the efficiency of groundwater management actions in Jeju. Proper measures for sustainable groundwater quality management are suggested in this study.