The spatial variability of streambed vertical hydraulic conductivity in an intermittent river, northwestern China

Streambed vertical hydraulic conductivity (K) plays an important role in river water and groundwater interaction. The K at the ten transects (Ts1–Ts10) at the Donghe River (an intermittent river) in the Ejina Basin, northwestern China, was measured to investigate its spatial variation. Based on the sediment characteristics and vertical hydraulic conductivity of the riverbed, the entire riverbed of the Donghe River could be divided arbitrarily into two parts: an upper part (starting at Ts1 and ending at Ts9, without an obvious and continuous clogging layer) and a lower part (the remaining riverbed, with an obvious and continuous clogging layer). In the upper part, although the K varied with depth within the 0–30 cm layer, the variability with depth could be ignored in practice. The arithmetic mean K of the upper part ranged from 12 to 27.6 m/day, three orders of magnitude larger than that of the lower part (0.06 m/day). The change of K along the river cross section was significant, and larger values of K often occurred in the parts of the channels with greater water depth. However, there were no consistent patterns of the variability of K at transects across the river, which was influenced by the variation in streambed characteristics. The results could be useful for the estimation of groundwater recharge from river and groundwater resources evaluation in the Ejina Basin.