For the purpose of making a Groundwater Environmental Indicator determination, how do I address groundwater-to-surface-water interaction?
In cases where groundwater is being discharged to surface water, you should, as a general matter, focus your groundwater environmental indicator evaluation on the question of whether or not contaminated groundwater is significantly impairing the quality of the surface water body. A positive environmental indicator determination would generally be appropriate where the groundwater is not significantly affecting the surface water body in a way that leads it to fail basic water-quality criteria.
