Kirsten E Faulkner
(She/her)Kirsten Faulkner is a Hydrologist specializing in groundwater age at the California Water Science Center.
Kirsten Faulkner began her career with the USGS California Water Science Center in 2018 after completing her M.S. in Geology from California State University, Long Beach. Her research is primarily focused on groundwater age and environmental tracers. She uses groundwater age models to understand water quality across 3-dimensional space and time. This information can be used to evaluate availability and susceptibility of drinking water resources. Prior to her work with the USGS, Kirsten worked in investment and finance.
Professional Experience
Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey, California Water Science Center
Education and Certifications
M.S., Geology, California State University, Long Beach
B.S., Geology, California State University, Long Beach
Science and Products
Groundwater-quality data in the Gilroy Hollister basin and surrounding areas Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit, 2022: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
The U.S. Geological Survey collected groundwater samples from 33 wells used for domestic and small system drinking water supplies in Santa Clara and San Benito Counties, California in 2022. The wells were sampled for the Gilroy Hollister basin and surrounding areas Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit of the State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Pro
Attributed California Water Supply Well Completion Report Data for Selected Areas, Derived from CA WCR OSCWR Data (ver. 3.0, July 2023)
This Well Completion Report geospatial dataset represents an index to a subset of records available from the California Department of Water Resources' (DWR) Online System for Well Completion Reports (OSWCR). This version of the release contains data from about 255,000 well completion reports (WCRs) for water supply wells from Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Merced,
Groundwater-quality data in the Kern County Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit, 2022: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
The U.S. Geological Survey collected groundwater samples from 33 wells used for domestic and small system drinking water supplies in Kern County, California in 2022. The wells were sampled for the Kern County Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit of the State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project’s assessment of the quality o
Data for Distribution of Groundwater Age in Aquifers Used for Public Supply in the Continental United States, 2004 - 2017 (Version 1.1: June 2022)
This data release documents seven tables that contain environmental tracer data and lumped parameter model (LPM) results that are used for assessing the distribution of groundwater age in 21 Principal Aquifers of the continental United States. Groundwater samples were collected from 1,279 sites and analyzed for environmental tracers: tritium, tritiogenic helium-3, sulfur hexafluoride, carbon-14, a
Data for assessing the penetration depth post-1950s water in the Central Valley aquifer system, California (July 2022)
This dataset provides groundwater ages estimates that were used in an assessment of the penetration depth of modern groundwater in the Central Valley aquifer system (CVAL). Groundwater ages were estimated by calibration of environmental tracers (tritium, tritiogenic helium-3, chlorofluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, carbon-14 and radiogenic helium-4) to lumped parameter models (LPMs) for samples
Groundwater data and age information from samples collected in Minnesota (ver. 2.0, January 2024)
Groundwater age distributions and susceptibility to natural and anthropogenic contaminants were assessed for selected wells, streambed piezometers, and springs in southeastern Minnesota. The data provide information to understand how long it will take to observe groundwater quality improvements from best management practices implemented at land surface to reduce losses of nitrate (and other chemic
Dissolved Noble Gas Concentrations and Modeled Recharge Temperatures for Groundwater from Northern Sierra Nevada Foothills Shallow Aquifer Assessment Study Units, 2015-2017: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
This data release documents 155 sets of dissolved noble gas analyses (neon, argon, krypton, xenon) and 153 modeled recharge temperatures for groundwater sampled from domestic water supply wells and springs throughout the northern Sierra Nevada foothills as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board's Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program in 2015-2017. Data fr
Data for Groundwater Age in the Western Principal Aquifers, 2004-2018
Groundwater age distribution and susceptibility to natural and anthropogenic contaminants were assessed for selected principal aquifers of the Western United States: the Central Valley aquifer system (CVAL), the Basin and Range basin-fill aquifers (BNRF), the Rio Grande aquifer system (RIOG), the High Plains aquifer (HPAQ), the Columbia Plateau basaltic-rock aquifers (CLPT), and the Colorado Plate
Basin-scale responses of groundwater-resource quality to drought and recovery, San Joaquin Valley, California
Groundwater-resource quality is assumed to be less responsive to drought compared to that of surface water due to relatively long transit times of recharge to drinking-supply wells. Here, we evidence dynamic perturbations in aquifer pressure dynamics during drought and subsequent recovery periods cause dramatic shifts in groundwater quality on a basin scale. We used a novel application of time-ser
Authors
Zeno Levy, Bryant Jurgens, Kirsten Faulkner, Jennifer S. Harkness, Miranda S. Fram
Modeling the dynamic penetration depth of post-1950s water in unconfined aquifers using environmental tracers: Central Valley, California
The penetration depth of post-1950s recharge (D-1950) in aquifers is a marker that is frequently used to identify groundwater that is susceptible to anthropogenic contamination. Here, we compute D-1950 values at wells, interpolate them in space, and project them across time to map the moving front of modern recharge in four dimensions in the Central Valley aquifer system, California, USA. Tracers
Authors
Kirsten Faulkner, Bryant Jurgens, Stefan Voss, Danielle Dupuy, Zeno Levy
Over a third of groundwater in USA public-supply aquifers is Anthropocene-age and susceptible to surface contamination
The distribution of groundwater age is useful for evaluating the susceptibility and sustainability of groundwater resources. Here, we compute the aquifer-scale cumulative distribution function to characterize the age distribution for 21 Principal Aquifers that account for ~80% of public-supply pumping in the United States. The aquifer-scale cumulative distribution function for each Principal Aquif
Authors
Bryant Jurgens, Kirsten Faulkner, Peter B. McMahon, Andrew Hunt, Gerolamo C. Casile, Megan B. Young, Kenneth Belitz
Critical aquifer overdraft accelerates degradation of groundwater quality in California’s Central Valley during drought
Drought-induced pumpage has precipitated dramatic groundwater-level declines in California’s Central Valley over the past 30 years, but the impacts of aquifer overdraft on water quality are poorly understood. This study coupled over 160,000 measurements of nitrate from ∼6,000 public-supply wells with a 30-year reconstruction of groundwater levels throughout the Central Valley to evaluate dynamic r
Authors
Zeno Levy, Bryant Jurgens, Karen R. Burow, Stefan Voss, Kirsten Faulkner, Jose Alfredo Arroyo-Lopez, Miranda S. Fram
Effects of montane watershed development on vulnerability of domestic groundwater supply during drought
Climate change is expected to reduce recharge to montane aquifers in the western United States, but it is unclear how this will impact groundwater resources in watersheds where intensive surface-water development has disrupted the natural hydrologic regime. To better understand sources of recharge and associated vulnerabilities of groundwater supply in this setting, we made a detailed geochemical
Authors
Zeno Levy, Miranda S. Fram, Kirsten Faulkner, Charles N. Alpers, Evelyn M Soltero, Kimberly A. Taylor
Science and Products
Groundwater-quality data in the Gilroy Hollister basin and surrounding areas Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit, 2022: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
The U.S. Geological Survey collected groundwater samples from 33 wells used for domestic and small system drinking water supplies in Santa Clara and San Benito Counties, California in 2022. The wells were sampled for the Gilroy Hollister basin and surrounding areas Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit of the State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Pro
Attributed California Water Supply Well Completion Report Data for Selected Areas, Derived from CA WCR OSCWR Data (ver. 3.0, July 2023)
This Well Completion Report geospatial dataset represents an index to a subset of records available from the California Department of Water Resources' (DWR) Online System for Well Completion Reports (OSWCR). This version of the release contains data from about 255,000 well completion reports (WCRs) for water supply wells from Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Merced,
Groundwater-quality data in the Kern County Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit, 2022: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
The U.S. Geological Survey collected groundwater samples from 33 wells used for domestic and small system drinking water supplies in Kern County, California in 2022. The wells were sampled for the Kern County Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit of the State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project’s assessment of the quality o
Data for Distribution of Groundwater Age in Aquifers Used for Public Supply in the Continental United States, 2004 - 2017 (Version 1.1: June 2022)
This data release documents seven tables that contain environmental tracer data and lumped parameter model (LPM) results that are used for assessing the distribution of groundwater age in 21 Principal Aquifers of the continental United States. Groundwater samples were collected from 1,279 sites and analyzed for environmental tracers: tritium, tritiogenic helium-3, sulfur hexafluoride, carbon-14, a
Data for assessing the penetration depth post-1950s water in the Central Valley aquifer system, California (July 2022)
This dataset provides groundwater ages estimates that were used in an assessment of the penetration depth of modern groundwater in the Central Valley aquifer system (CVAL). Groundwater ages were estimated by calibration of environmental tracers (tritium, tritiogenic helium-3, chlorofluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, carbon-14 and radiogenic helium-4) to lumped parameter models (LPMs) for samples
Groundwater data and age information from samples collected in Minnesota (ver. 2.0, January 2024)
Groundwater age distributions and susceptibility to natural and anthropogenic contaminants were assessed for selected wells, streambed piezometers, and springs in southeastern Minnesota. The data provide information to understand how long it will take to observe groundwater quality improvements from best management practices implemented at land surface to reduce losses of nitrate (and other chemic
Dissolved Noble Gas Concentrations and Modeled Recharge Temperatures for Groundwater from Northern Sierra Nevada Foothills Shallow Aquifer Assessment Study Units, 2015-2017: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
This data release documents 155 sets of dissolved noble gas analyses (neon, argon, krypton, xenon) and 153 modeled recharge temperatures for groundwater sampled from domestic water supply wells and springs throughout the northern Sierra Nevada foothills as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board's Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program in 2015-2017. Data fr
Data for Groundwater Age in the Western Principal Aquifers, 2004-2018
Groundwater age distribution and susceptibility to natural and anthropogenic contaminants were assessed for selected principal aquifers of the Western United States: the Central Valley aquifer system (CVAL), the Basin and Range basin-fill aquifers (BNRF), the Rio Grande aquifer system (RIOG), the High Plains aquifer (HPAQ), the Columbia Plateau basaltic-rock aquifers (CLPT), and the Colorado Plate
Basin-scale responses of groundwater-resource quality to drought and recovery, San Joaquin Valley, California
Groundwater-resource quality is assumed to be less responsive to drought compared to that of surface water due to relatively long transit times of recharge to drinking-supply wells. Here, we evidence dynamic perturbations in aquifer pressure dynamics during drought and subsequent recovery periods cause dramatic shifts in groundwater quality on a basin scale. We used a novel application of time-ser
Authors
Zeno Levy, Bryant Jurgens, Kirsten Faulkner, Jennifer S. Harkness, Miranda S. Fram
Modeling the dynamic penetration depth of post-1950s water in unconfined aquifers using environmental tracers: Central Valley, California
The penetration depth of post-1950s recharge (D-1950) in aquifers is a marker that is frequently used to identify groundwater that is susceptible to anthropogenic contamination. Here, we compute D-1950 values at wells, interpolate them in space, and project them across time to map the moving front of modern recharge in four dimensions in the Central Valley aquifer system, California, USA. Tracers
Authors
Kirsten Faulkner, Bryant Jurgens, Stefan Voss, Danielle Dupuy, Zeno Levy
Over a third of groundwater in USA public-supply aquifers is Anthropocene-age and susceptible to surface contamination
The distribution of groundwater age is useful for evaluating the susceptibility and sustainability of groundwater resources. Here, we compute the aquifer-scale cumulative distribution function to characterize the age distribution for 21 Principal Aquifers that account for ~80% of public-supply pumping in the United States. The aquifer-scale cumulative distribution function for each Principal Aquif
Authors
Bryant Jurgens, Kirsten Faulkner, Peter B. McMahon, Andrew Hunt, Gerolamo C. Casile, Megan B. Young, Kenneth Belitz
Critical aquifer overdraft accelerates degradation of groundwater quality in California’s Central Valley during drought
Drought-induced pumpage has precipitated dramatic groundwater-level declines in California’s Central Valley over the past 30 years, but the impacts of aquifer overdraft on water quality are poorly understood. This study coupled over 160,000 measurements of nitrate from ∼6,000 public-supply wells with a 30-year reconstruction of groundwater levels throughout the Central Valley to evaluate dynamic r
Authors
Zeno Levy, Bryant Jurgens, Karen R. Burow, Stefan Voss, Kirsten Faulkner, Jose Alfredo Arroyo-Lopez, Miranda S. Fram
Effects of montane watershed development on vulnerability of domestic groundwater supply during drought
Climate change is expected to reduce recharge to montane aquifers in the western United States, but it is unclear how this will impact groundwater resources in watersheds where intensive surface-water development has disrupted the natural hydrologic regime. To better understand sources of recharge and associated vulnerabilities of groundwater supply in this setting, we made a detailed geochemical
Authors
Zeno Levy, Miranda S. Fram, Kirsten Faulkner, Charles N. Alpers, Evelyn M Soltero, Kimberly A. Taylor