Theory and Method for Identifying Well Water Level Anomalies in a Groundwater Overdraft Area

The overexploitation of underground water leads to the continuous drawdown of groundwater levels, change of water quality and dry-up in dynamic water level observation wells. Due to land subsidence, the well pipes uplift and the observation piping systems are damaged. These environmental geology problems can present serious difficulties for the identification of earthquake anomalies by groundwater level observation. Basied on hydrogeological theories and methods, the paper analyzes the relations of the water balance state of aquifers with stress-strain conditions and the water level regime, and then discusses preliminarily the theory and method for identifying well water level anomalies in a groundwater overdraft area. The result shows that we can accurately judge the nature of the anomaly according to the diffusion character of the drawdown funnel in the well area in combination with the aforementioned theory and method and multi-year variation patterns obtained from existing data. The results of the research are helpful for distinguishing the influence of single centralized water pumping from the long-term overdraft of water on the water level, correctly recognizing water level anomalies in the groundwater overdraft area and increasing the level of earthquake analysis and prediction.

Theory and Method for Identifying Well Water Level Anomalies in a Groundwater Overdraft Area

The overexploitation of underground water leads to the continuous drawdown of groundwater levels, change of water quality and dry-up in dynamic water level observation wells. Due to land subsidence, the well pipes uplift and the observation piping systems are damaged. These environmental geology problems can present serious difficulties for the identification of earthquake anomalies by groundwater level observation. Basied on hydrogeological theories and methods, the paper analyzes the relations of the water balance state of aquifers with stress-strain conditions and the water level regime, and then discusses preliminarily the theory and method for identifying well water level anomalies in a groundwater overdraft area. The result shows that we can accurately judge the nature of the anomaly according to the diffusion character of the drawdown funnel in the well area in combination with the aforementioned theory and method and multi-year variation patterns obtained from existing data. The results of the research are helpful for distinguishing the influence of single centralized water pumping from the long-term overdraft of water on the water level, correctly recognizing water level anomalies in the groundwater overdraft area and increasing the level of earthquake analysis and prediction.