Estimating impacts of changed land use on recharge: review of modelling and other approaches appropriate for management of dryland salinity

To manage dryland salinity, one needs to know how changed land use affects groundwater recharge. Few techniques are available for comparing 'deep drainage' under different land uses. Soil-tracer methods, although good for replication and remote field sites, are subject to spatial variability. Lysimeters are good for comparisons but are difficult for drier areas and sloping land. Agronomic water-balance studies, where appropriate soil-water measurements exist, may be used with a soil-vegetation model to estimate long-term deep drainage. Complex models are required to analyze specific land-use differences, such as perenniality and root and leaf area dynamics, but models require intensive and extensive data for calibration. This approach is time-consuming, labour-intensive, and difficult in remote locations. Because of the one-dimensionality of most soil-vegetation models and the small fraction of the total water balance that is deep drainage, little success has occurred in extrapolating beyond the research plot, or to spatially heterogeneous systems such as alley farming. Some 'top-down' modelling and landscape disaggregation approaches have been partially successful in making catchment or regional-scale predictions. The direction for further work depends on the level of recharge reduction that is required for most groundwater systems and difficulties that it imposes. Electronic Publication     

Estimating groundwater recharge following land-use change using chloride mass balance of soil profiles: a case study at Guyuan and Xifeng in the Loess Plateau of China

Groundwater recharge is affected by land use in (semi)arid areas. A new application of the chloride-mass-balance approach has been developed to estimate the reduction in groundwater recharge following land-use change by comparing chloride concentrations below the root zone and above the base of the chloride accumulation zone, before and after the land-use conversion. Two sites in the Loess Plateau of central China have been selected for study. Results from the Guyuan terrace region show that groundwater recharge beneath natural sparse small-grass was 100?mm/year, but the conversion to winter wheat about 100?years ago has reduced groundwater recharge to 55?mm/year. At the Xifeng Loess Plain the conversion from winter wheat, with groundwater recharge at 33?mm/year, to apple orchard 7?years ago has led to chloride accumulation to 5?m below land surface, suggesting the recharge rate has been reduced. This is in agreement with previous studies in these areas which have shown that the regional afforestation and other land-use conversions have resulted in deep soil desiccation and have caused an upper boundary to form with low matrix potential, thus preventing the soil moisture from actually recharging the aquifer.     

长武黄土塬区土地利用变化对潜水补给的影响

通过长武黄土塬区不同土地利用方式下深剖面土壤水分的长期定位监测以及氢氧稳定同位素示踪技术的使用,分析了该区域土地利用变化对地下潜水补给的影响。结果表明:① 降水补给地下水过程中存在着活塞流和优先流两种机制,由活塞流补给的地下水量,以休闲地居高,低产农田次之,最后是高产农田;② 随着该区域农田生产力大幅提升以及大面积农田转换为果园,地下水活塞流补给量逐年减少,加之地下水开采量增加,导致地下水位逐年下降,年均降幅达0.3 m;③ 同位素证据表明,目前长武塬区地下水补给以优先流形式为主。为了实现黄土塬区潜水资源的有效补给与可持续利用,需要合理调控土地利用结构,保持适度生产力水平。     

Identifying potential sites for artificial groundwater recharge in sub-watershed of River Kanhan,India

Groundwater is an important decentralized source of drinking water. Being underground, it is relatively less susceptible to contamination. In addition to domestic needs, it is extensively used for irrigation and industrial purposes. It is therefore necessary to implement groundwater recharge systems by capturing the rainwater runoff. In the present study, GIS-based hydrological assessment of watershed has been used to identify the potential sites for locating the groundwater recharge structures. Based on land use, soil and topography, rainfall runoff modelling was carried out in GIS for a sub-watershed of River Kanhan, in Nagpur District, Maharashtra State, India. Five potential sites with maximum flow accumulation were delineated using the rational method for peak runoff estimation. As the groundwater recharge potential also depends on the geological and geomorphological characteristics of land, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with expert’s judgement was used for ranking the sites. The criteria considered in AHP were geological features, i.e. lineament density, depth to bedrock and soil cover; geomorphological features, i.e. drainage density, slope, landforms and land use/land cover; and water table level fluctuation. The site P5 with maximum flow accumulation and sandstone rock formation was ranked first. The site P1, where catchment has well-developed drainage and geological formation shows rock with secondary porosity, was ranked second.     

确定干旱—半干旱地区降水入渗补给量的新方法——氯离子示踪法

在干旱－半干旱地区由于入渗水分大部分滞留在包气带中，强烈地蒸发、蒸作用导致包气带中土壤水的氯离子浓度改变。氯离子示踪方法从质量守恒角度，通过比较土壤水分的氯离子浓度和降水输入的氯离子浓度大小，可以定量确定降水入渗量和降水入渗补给的历史变化过程。本文介绍了目前国外应用较普遍的氯离子均衡法和氯离子累积法，并讨论了方法应用时存在的一些问题。     

Morphometric Analysis and Hydrological Inference for Water Resource Management in Atrai-Sib River Basin,NW Bangladesh Using Remote Sensing and GIS Technique

Demand for irrigation water increases day by day along with meteorological vagaries and extension of irrigated area in the drought-prone Barind area of Bangladesh. This increasing stress on water resource is gradually making the area water scare. The study is aimed at studying the morphometric parameters of the Atrai-Sib river basin in the Barind area and on their relevance in water resource management based on satellite images and SRTM DEM. Computation and delineation of linear and areal aspects of the river basin and its morphometric components reveals that stream order ranges from first to eighth order showing dendritic drainage pattern. The basin represents homogeneity of soil texture; possibility of flash flood after heavy rainfall with low discharge of runoff; and is not largely affected by structural disturbance. Moderate drainage density of the river basin area indicates semipermeable soil lithology with moderate vegetation. Mean bifurcation ratio of the basin is calculated as 3.92 and elongation ratio 0.75, which indicate elongated shape of the river basin with low to moderate relief bounded in the east and west by ‘moderate to steep’ sloping land area. It reveals a flatter peak of runoff flow for longer duration and gravity flow of water. The gentle but undulating slope of the basin represents ‘excellent’ category for groundwater management as the site is favorable for infiltration due to maximum time of runoff water percolation. The east facing slopes of the basin show higher moisture content and higher vegetation than the west-facing slope. The land use pattern of the area shows that major part (95.29%) comes under the cultivated land which will support future river basin development and management. Results obtained from the study would be useful in categorization of river basins for future water resource development and management, and selection of suitable sites for water conservation structures such as check dam, percolation tank, artificial recharge of groundwater through MAR technique etc.     

天津平原地面沉降条件下的深层地下水资源组成

根据天津平原地面沉降监测结果，采用水量均衡法，计算出深层地下水开采量中，浅层地下水越流补给量占38.2％，粘土性压密释水量占41．3％，弹性释水量占5．6％，侧向流入量占14．9％。在控制地面沉降的条件下，深层地下水持续利用的对策是调整开采三维布局，适度开发利用浅层地下水对深层地下水的越流补给。     

河套灌区耕地-荒地-海子系统间不同类型水分运移转化

为了探明耕地-荒地-海子系统中不同类型水分的运移转化规律,在2018-2019年典型时期对系统内具有代表性的采样点进行水样采集,分析了不同时期内不同水体的δ¹⁸O变化特征,并利用二端元混合模型和土壤水动力学方法计算了不同类型水分转化贡献率。结果发现：①在灌溉期,82%的灌溉水储存于1 m土体中,18%的灌溉水通过渗漏补给了耕地地下水,渠系灌溉水通过地下侧向径流给耕地地下水贡献了76%。②灌溉水和降雨对耕地地下水平均贡献率为94%和6%;耕地地下水和降雨对荒地地下水的平均贡献率为71%和29%;荒地地下水和降雨对海子的平均贡献率为43%和57%。③渠系灌溉水通过侧向径流贡献给耕地地下水的水量基本全部迁移给了荒地地下水,地下水迁移转化是由渠系水侧向径流触发的。④灌后5 d,耕荒地交界土层0~40 cm存在饱和-非饱和侧向补给;灌后15 d和30 d,耕地和耕荒地交界处的地下水向根区40~60 cm、土层80 cm以及100 cm补给水分;灌后30 d,耕地中的灌溉水水分消失。⑤在非灌溉期,荒地地下水和海子耗水较多,应给海子补给水分。     

黑河流域地下水循环演化规律研究

大量野外调查研究表明，气候变化和人类活动对黑河流域地下水循环和更新演变具有重要影响；平原区浅层地下水主要是现代水补给，35％来自祁连山区基岩裂隙水通过地表径流转化补给，其他是降水和冰雪融水在山前戈壁带入渗补给，具有较强的更新能力；深层承压水主要形成于地质历史时期区域性补给，与现代水循环有联系；中游区人类活动是造成下游区地下水补给能力减弱、地下水水位持续下降和生态环境退化的重要因素。因此强化中游区人类活动的科学调控，是实现黑河流域地下水可持续利用和下游区生态环境有效保护的关键。     

GIS based groundwater modeling study to assess the effect of artificial recharge: A case study from Kodaganar river basin,Dindigul district,Tamil Nadu

Groundwater is a dynamic and replenishable natural resource. The numerical modeling techniques serve as a tool to assess the effect of artificial recharge from the water conservation structures and its response with the aquifers under different recharge conditions. The objective of the present study is to identify the suitable sites for artificial recharge structures to augment groundwater resources and assess its performance through the integrated approach of Geographic Information System (GIS) and numerical groundwater modeling techniques using MODFLOW software for the watershed located in the Kodaganar river basin, Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu. Thematic layers such as geology, geomorphology, soil, runoff, land use and slope were integrated to prepare the groundwater prospect and recharge site map. These potential zones were categorized as good (23%), moderate (54%), and poor (23%) zones with respect to the assigned weightage of different thematic layers. The major artificial recharge structures like percolation ponds and check dams were recommended based on the drainage morphology in the watershed. Finally, a threelayer groundwater flow model was developed. The model was calibrated in two stages, which involved steady and transient state condition. The transient calibration was carried out for the time period from January 1989 to December 2008. The groundwater model was validated after model calibration. The prediction scenario was carried out after the transient calibration for the time period of year up to 2013. The results show that there is 15 to 38% increase in groundwater quantity due to artificial recharge. The present study is useful to assess the effect of artificial recharge from the proposed artificial structures by integrating GIS and groundwater model together to arrive at reasonable results.     

Groundwater recharge mechanism in an integrated tableland of the Loess Plateau,northern China: insights from environmental tracers

Assessing groundwater recharge characteristics (recharge rate, history, mechanisms (piston and preferential flow)) and groundwater age in arid and semi-arid environments remains a difficult but important research frontier. Such assessments are particularly important when the unsaturated zone (UZ) is thick and the recharge rate is limited. This study combined evaluations of the thick UZ with those of the saturated zone and used multiple tracers, such as Cl, NO₃, Br, ²H, ¹⁸O, ¹³C, ³H and ¹⁴C, to study groundwater recharge characteristics in an integrated loess tableland in the Loess Plateau, China, where precipitation infiltration is the only recharge source for shallow groundwater. The results indicate that diffuse recharge beneath crops, as the main land use of the study area, is 55–71 mm yr^?1 based on the chloride mass balance of soil profiles. The length of time required for annual precipitation to reach the water table is 160–400 yrs. The groundwater is all pre-modern water and paleowater, with corrected ¹⁴C age ranging from 136 to 23,412 yrs. Most of the water that eventually becomes recharge originally infiltrated in July–September. The Cl and NO₃ contents in the upper UZ are considerably higher than those in the deep UZ and shallow groundwater because of recent human activities. The shallow groundwater has not been in hydraulic equilibrium with present near-surface boundary conditions. The homogeneous material of the UZ and relatively old groundwater age imply that piston flow is the dominant recharge mechanism for the shallow groundwater in the tableland.     

Effects of phosphate mining activity on groundwater quality at Wadi Queh, Red Sea, Egypt

The groundwater in Wadi Queh exists in two main hydrogeological units; fractured Precambrian basement and sedimentary rocks with high contribution for groundwater recharge. To study the impacts of phosphate mining activities on the groundwater quality in the area, three groundwater samples that represent all water wells in the area were collected and analysed for major ions and some heavy metals. In addition, three bulk samples representing the phosphatic sediments collected from upstream and downstream of the drainage basin were collected and analysed to understand the source of groundwater contamination. The total concentrations of dissolved solids suggest that the groundwater in the area grades from fresh to brackish water (961–1,580 mg/l), and is characterized by sodium–calcium–sulphate–chloride and sodium–magnesium–sulphate–chloride chemical types. The results showed high concentrations of the heavy metals in well nos. 1 and 2 in downstream parts compared to well no. 3 in upstream part reflecting their influence by the mining activities.     

基于DFOS的排灌水条件下土体变形响应模型试验研究

黏土层和砂土层交替变化的多层土体在强烈开采地下水作用下极易产生压密固结而引发地面沉降灾害。本文针对含水层释水引起地面沉降问题,研制了地面沉降试验装置,进行了排灌水条件下含水层系统的沉降及回弹试验。采用分布式光纤感测技术对土体内部应变分布及含水率变化进行耦合监测,并分析了各分层对水位变化的响应特征。结果表明:黏土层和砂土层均表现出了排水压缩和灌水回弹特点,黏土层变形较砂土层明显。各层变形与含水率变化具有良好的对应关系,表现为砂土层变形和含水率变化基本同步,而黏土层变形略微滞后于含水率变化。黏性土压缩曲线具有明显的分段特征,排水时当含水率低于液限后迅速减小,黏土层压缩速率明显加快;回灌时当含水率高于液限后,回弹速率明显加快。试验结果对研究地面沉降机理、评价地面沉降潜力及地下水利用具有重要意义。     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987115000390

The demand for fresh water in Hambantota District, Sri Lanka is rapidly increasing with the enormous amount of ongoing development projects in the region. Nevertheless, the district experiences periodic water stress conditions due to seasonal precipitation patterns and scarcity of surface water resources.Therefore, management of available groundwater resources is critical, to fulfil potable water requirements in the area. However, exploitation of groundwater should be carried out together with artificial recharging in order to maintain the long term sustainability of water resources. In this study, a GIS approach was used to delineate potential artificial recharge sites in Ambalantota area within Hambantota. Influential thematic layers such as rainfall, lineament, slope, drainage, land use/land cover, lithology, geomorphology and soil characteristics were integrated by using a weighted linear combination method. Results of the study reveal high to moderate groundwater recharge potential in approximately 49% of Ambalantota area.     

GIS and SBF for estimating groundwater recharge of a mountainous basin in the Wu River watershed,Taiwan

The temporal and spatial distributions of precipitation are extremely uneven; so, careful management of water resources in Taiwan is crucial. The long-term overexploitation of groundwater resources poses a challenge to water resource management in Taiwan. However, assessing groundwater resources in mountainous basins is challenging due to limited information. In this study, a geographic information system (GIS) and stable base-flow (SBF) techniques were used to assess the characteristics of groundwater recharge considering the Wu River watershed in central Taiwan as a study area. First, a GIS approach was used to integrate five contributing factors: lithology, land cover/land use, lineaments, drainage, and slope. The weights of factors contributing to the groundwater recharge were obtained from aerial photos, geological maps, a land use database, and field verification. Second, the SBF was used to estimate the groundwater recharge in a mountainous basin scale. The concept of the SBF technique was to separate the base-flow from the total streamflow discharge in order to obtain a measure of groundwater recharge. The SBF technique has the advantage of integrating groundwater recharge across an entire basin without complex hydro-geologic modelling and detailed knowledge of the soil characteristics. In this study, our approach for estimating recharge provides not only an estimate of how much water becomes groundwater, but also explains the characteristics of a potential groundwater recharge zone.     

Review: Groundwater management and groundwater/surface-water interaction in the context of South African water policy

Groundwater/surface-water interaction is receiving increasing focus in Africa due to its importance to ecologic systems and sustainability. In South Africa??s 1998 National Water Act (NWA), water-use licenses, including groundwater, are granted only after defining the Reserve, the amount of water needed to supply basic human needs and preserve some ecological integrity. Accurate quantification of groundwater contributions to ecosystems for successful implementation of the NWA proves challenging; many of South Africa??s aquifers are in heterogeneous and anisotropic fractured-rock settings. This paper reviews the current conceptualizations and investigative approaches regarding groundwater/surface-water interactions in the context of South African policies. Some selected pitfall experiences are emphasized. The most common approach in South Africa is estimation of average annual fluxes at the scale of fourth-order catchments (??500 km²) with baseflow separation techniques and then subtracting the groundwater discharge rate from the recharge rate. This approach might be a good start, but it ignores spatial and temporal variability, potentially missing local impacts associated with production-well placement. As South Africa??s NWA has already been emulated in many countries including Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya, the successes and failures of the South African experience dealing with the groundwater/surface-water interaction will be analyzed to guide future policy directions.     

包气带在干旱半干旱地区地下水补给研究中的应用

在干旱半干旱地区,包气带的溶质和同位素剖面不但可以提供较长时间尺度上的地下水补给信息,而且记录了过去气候变化与环境变化信息。本文基于学科组近10年的研究成果,以鄂尔多斯盆地为例（包括南部的黄土高原和北部的沙漠高原）,将包气带和饱和带结合起来,利用多种环境示踪技术,提升了包气带在干旱半干旱地区地下水研究中的潜力,并将其应用到地下水补给历史重建、地下水补给机制确定、植被变化对地下水补给影响评价和地下水污染物全过程示踪中。研究表明,由于在干旱半干旱地区,包气带较厚且补给量有限,地下水和现今的浅表水文过程未达到水力平衡,如在沙漠高原西部,近2 500 a降水尚储存在包气带13 m以浅,地下水是4 000 a以前补给的,其水化学特征与浅部包气带水差异巨大;而在黄土高原,补给量较大,但包气带巨厚,年降水仍需要几十到上百年时间入渗到地下水（但并不意味着没有补给,其土壤水在包气带中平均入渗速率为0.1~0.3 m·a-1）,包气带浅部溶质含量较深部和地下水中的高;典型黄土塬区的地下水均不含氚,地下水年龄在几百到上万年。黄土内部层状均匀的土壤质地特征和相对较老的地下水年龄揭示的均匀活塞流入渗是黄土塬区浅层地下水补给的主要方式。黄土高原退耕还林还草和沙漠区植被恢复导致地下水补给呈现不同程度的减少,反映在包气带上表现为溶质含量的增加,可用于定量化确定地下水补给量的变化。本文强化了包气带在干旱半干旱地区地下水补给研究中的作用,在未来地下水资源评价、地下水污染全过程刻画中应得到重视。     

Identification of potential groundwater recharge zones in Vaigai upper basin,Tamil Nadu,using GIS-based analytical hierarchical process (AHP) technique

Groundwater recharge is an important process for the management of both surface and subsurface water resources. The present study utilizes the application of analytical hierarchical process (AHP) on geospatial analysis for the exploration of potential zones for artificial groundwater recharge along Vaigai upper basin in the Theni district, Tamil Nadu, India. The morphology of earth surface features such as geology, geomorphology, soil types, land use and land cover, drainage, lineament, and aquifers influence the groundwater recharge in either direct or indirect way. These thematic layers are extracted from Landsat ETM+ image, topographical map, and other collateral data sources. In this study, the multilayers were weighed accordingly to the magnitude of groundwater recharge potential. The AHP technique is a pair-wise matrix analytical method was used to calculate the geometric mean and normalized weight of individual parameters. Further, the normalized weighted layers are mathematically overlaid for preparation of groundwater recharge potential zone map. The results revealed that 21.8 km² of the total area are identified as high potential for groundwater recharge. The gentle slope areas in middle-east and central part have been moderately potential for groundwater recharge. Hilly terrains in south are considered as unsuitable zone for groundwater recharge processes.     

Spatio-temporal variation of groundwater recharge in response to variability in precipitation, land use and soil in Yanqing Basin, Beijing, China

It is important to understand how groundwater recharge responds to precipitation variability in space and time, especially in those areas such as Yanqing Basin (China), where groundwater represents the sole water resource. A simple soil-water balance method is applied for spatio-temporal simulation of groundwater recharge in Yanqing Basin from 1981 to 2000. It was implemented on a monthly time step considering the effects of land use and soil texture. The area-average recharge associated with various land uses and soil textures was then compared with zonal analysis using a geographic information system (GIS). The main findings include: (1) the variation of groundwater recharge follows precipitation changes, either at yearly or seasonal intervals, (2) land use plays a more influential role in groundwater recharge than soil texture in this area, and (3) the water table quickly rises in response to recharge in the shallow parts of the aquifer, while there is a delay of 0.5–1.0?years where the groundwater level is at depth 4–10?m. The application demonstrates how spatio-temporal analysis can be utilized for groundwater-recharge estimation through distributed modeling and GIS.     

Estimating contamination potential at waste-disposal sites using a natural tracer

Chloride is a conservative, natural tracer found in precipitation, soil water, and groundwater. The chloride mass-balance approach, long used to estimate groundwater recharge, also provides a downward flux of moisture and solute at sites where there is a potential for groundwater contamination. The flux is obtained by dividing the product of the mean annual precipitation and total annual chloride input (via precipitation and dust) by the mean soil-water chloride content. Chlorideversusdepth profiles can also be used to determine optimum depth of waste burial to minimize deterioration of waste containers. The method has been applied to three sites in arid alluvial-basin settings in New Mexico, U.S.A.: a proposed landfill, a battery recycling plant, and a hazardous-waste disposal facility. It is concluded that the method is reliable, economical, and practical. Furthermore, it can be applied at any stage in the development of a site. The chloride method should apply in any recharge area where the base of the root zone is separated from the water table by at least 3 m or so and chloride in soil water comes only from precipitation and dust.