Scientists say weather extremes from drought to heavy rains will have an effect on Midwest drinking water.

(mniebuhr/Getty Images)

A weather phenomenon thought to be caused by global climate change, dubbed "weather whiplash," will likely deteriorate the quality of drinking water across the Midwest and drive up the cost for consumers, a new study says.

Weather whiplash is a term used to describe the abruptvacillation between drought and heavy rains in an area, triggered by. These extremes are thought to be induced by global climate change.

In a study , researchers from the University of Kansas found that weather whiplash will likely "drive the deterioration ofwaterquality," and subsequently, drive up the cost of drinking water across the Midwest.

"As rainfall patterns change with climate change, it's predicted there will be more times of drought, and more times of excessive rainfall — really big storms," Terry Loecke, assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of Kansas and lead author of the new investigation, .

The authors came to their conclusion after examining the drought and flood cycle that struck the Midwest in 2012-2013and triggered a nitrogen spike in surface waters.

According to the scientists' observations, extremes of drought and rainfall changehow nutrients like nitrogen that comes from fertilizer are stored in the ground.

"Farmers put on their normal amount of fertilizer, but when we have a drought, plants don't grow as big and dn't take up as much nitrogen," Loecke told phys.org. "Instead of going into the plants, which would be harvested, it stays in the soil — and no water is flushing it away."

In contrast, as heavy rains hit a drought-stricken area, the build up of nitrogen stored in the groundis washed into tributaries and rivers that supply communities with drinking water.

Co-author Amy Burgin compares the soil to a sponge, saying that when the soil is dry, nitrogen "stays put," but "as soon as you wet it, like when you wring a sponge, the nitrogen can flood into the rivers."

The authors say remediation of the high levels of nitrogen from municipal water supplies across the Midwest could put a heavy burden on communities, and on tax-paying residents.

Ground zero for this phenomenon at the moment appears to be in Iowa. The nitrate spike in 2012-2013 prompted officials at the Des Moines Water Works to construct a $4.1 million nitrate removal plant that costs $7,000 per day to operate.

Loecke and Burgin noted that as weather whiplash increases in America's heartland, nitrate spikes on surface water will become more widespread, forcing communities to deal with the problem, which will, in turn, drive up the cost of drinking water for consumers.

"The average person will pay more to have clean drinking water, like in the city of Des Moines," Loecke told phys.org. "A city can't predict how many days they'll have to run a nitrate-removal facility. When they run it a lot, it's a huge hit to their budget, and they have to pass it on to their citizens, and it will spread out to rest of the Midwest. Midwesterners will have to pay more fordrinking watergoing forward."

Loecke and Burgin said they hoped their research will enable farmers, policymakers, water departments and the general public to plan effectively for the future as climate change provokes more weather whiplash.