Improving assessment of groundwater-resource sustainability with deterministic modelling: a case study of the semi-arid Musi sub-basin, South India

Since the 1990s, Indian farmers, supported by the government, have partially shifted from surface-water to groundwater irrigation in response to the uncertainty in surface-water availability. Water-management authorities only slowly began to consider sustainable use of groundwater resources as a prime concern. Now, a reliable integration of groundwater resources for water-allocation planning is needed to prevent aquifer overexploitation. Within the 11,000-km² Musi River sub-basin (South India), human interventions have dramatically impacted the hard-rock aquifers, with a water-table drop of 0.18 m/a over the period 1989–2004. A fully distributed numerical groundwater model was successfully implemented at catchment scale. The model allowed two distinct conceptualizations of groundwater availability to be quantified: one that was linked to easily quantified fluxes, and one that was more expressive of long-term sustainability by taking account of all sources and sinks. Simulations showed that the latter implied 13 % less available groundwater for exploitation than did the former. In turn, this has major implications for the existing water-allocation modelling framework used to guide decision makers and water-resources managers worldwide.     

A case of normal regression with sea level transgression: Example from the Ganurgarh shale,Vindhyan basin,Maihar area,M.P., India

The Ganurgarh shale, a formation belonging to the Bhander Group of Vindhyan basin is investigated using field based detailed lithofacies and petrofacies analyses in order to interpret the depositional environment in a sequence stratigraphic context. Five major lithofacies have been recognized consisting of calcareous sandstones, laminated mudstones, rippled siltstones, red-grey shales and sandy limestones characterized by small to large-scale cross-bedding, ripple cross-lamination of wave and current origin, parallel lamination, low-angle horizontal bedding, flaser and lenticular bedding, mud-cracks, salt pseudomorphs, convolute bedding and load structures. The constituent lithofacies are recurring and grouped into three lithofacies associations where, the association A is composed of fining upwards and B with coarsening upwards cycles at the lower and middle levels of the succession respectively, are dominantly arenaceous whereas, the association C occurring at upper levels is fining upwards (FU) and becomes calcareous with meager representation of clastics. Petrographically, the section offers three main petrofacies viz., (a) sandstone- (b) siltstone- (c) sandy limestone-petrofacies. Lithofacies characters complimented with petrography show that deposition occurred within the shoreface (subtidal) to foreshore intertidal domain involving tidal flats with sub-environments ranging from intertidal to supratidal. However, lithofacies associations within the Ganurgarh shale of Maihar area represent a case of normal regression during sea level transgression. In the beginning, probably because of excessive sediment supply the sea level had a falling trend during an overall transgressive phase ultimately culminating into limestone sedimentation.     

The tin potential of Precambrian rare-metal bearing pegmatites of Bastar district,M.P., India

In Central India, Precambrian metasediments with intrusive metabasics suffered granite tectonism in the middle Proterozoic (1345±22 Ma) and which culminated in the emplacement of pegmatites. The rare-metal mineralisation is predominently associated with those pegmatites intruded into metabasics. The primary cassiterite occurs as discrete crystals, disseminations and occasionally as small veinlets, mainly in a quartz core; columbite-tantalite occurs in solid solution with cassiterite, as well as separately. The intensity of Sn-Nb-Ta ore mineralisation is directly dependent on the intensity and extension of imposed albitisation and greisenisation. However, the potential tin-ore deposits of the area are essentially confined to various Quaternary/sub-Recent eluvial, deluvial and alluvial placers. The typomorphic trace and ore elements of the pegmatites, together with their occurrence in the Precambrian metasediments/metabasics of the peninsular shield, places the tin-ore association of Bastar district, Madhya Pradesh of the Indian sub-contintent, as tin-bearing rare-metal type. They are of hypabyssal high-volatile type and can be assumed to be a part of world-wide occurrences of Precambrian tin mineralisation, predominantly associated with pegmatites.     

An integrated hydrogeological study to support sustainable development and management of groundwater resources: a case study from the Precambrian Crystalline Province,India

The rapid expansion of agriculture, industries and urbanization has triggered unplanned groundwater development leading to severe stress on groundwater resources in crystalline rocks of India. With depleting resources from shallow aquifers, end users have developed resources from deeper aquifers, which have proved to be counterproductive economically and ecologically. An integrated hydrogeological study has been undertaken in the semi-arid Madharam watershed (95 km²) in Telangana State, which is underlain by granites. The results reveal two aquifer systems: a weathered zone (maximum 30 m depth) and a fractured zone (30–85 m depth). The weathered zone is unsaturated to its maximum extent, forcing users to tap groundwater from deeper aquifers. Higher orders of transmissivity, specific yield and infiltration rates are observed in the recharge zone, while moderate orders are observed in an intermediate zone, and lower orders in the discharge zone. This is due to the large weathering-zone thickness and a higher sand content in the recharge zone than in the discharge zone, where the weathered residuum contains more clay. The NO₃ ^? concentration is high in shallow irrigation wells, and F^? is high in deeper wells. Positive correlation is observed between F^? and depth in the recharge zone and its proximity. Nearly 50 % of groundwater samples are unfit for human consumption and the majority of irrigation-well samples are classed as medium to high risk for plant growth. Both supply-side and demand-side measures are recommended for sustainable development and management of this groundwater resource. The findings can be up-scaled to other similar environments.     

Investigation of physicochemical parameters in drinking water resources and health risk assessment: a case study in NW Iran

In this study, the amount of cyanide in gold mine tailings is modeled as conceptual, statistical, and mathematical to determine environmental risk level and also to estimate the fate and transport of cyanide in tailings. Therefore, 116 points were selected for sampling from three levels of gold mine tailings and analyzed by colorimetric method. As a matter of fact, new hybrid modeling methods such as AdaBoost, Support Vector Machine, Linear Discriminant Analysis, and Random Forest were used in estimation. In current study, The AdaBoost method was qualified as the best one by minimum estimation error (less than 10%). The model derived from the AdaBoost method shows an average variation of 581 g/day in the volume of cyanide tailings. Thus, the important results of this paper are the presentation of 3D numerical and especially conceptual models according to the 3D cyanide variation in the sulfide gold mine tailings and governing physic/chemical parameters. These qualitative and quantitative results can be used for the management of tailings dam and prevention of the contaminant extension.     

Alternative water resources in granitic rock: a case study from Kinmen Island,Taiwan

Kinmen Island is a small, tectonically stable, granitic island that has been suffering from a scarcity of fresh water resources due to excessive annual evapotranspiration over annual precipitation. Recent studies further indicate that shallow (0–70 m) sedimentary aquifers, the major sources of groundwater supply, have already been over-exploited. Therefore, this preliminary study is to investigate the existence of exploitable water resources that can balance the shortage of fresh water on this island. Site characterization data are obtained from island-wide geophysical surveys as well as small-scale tests performed in a study area formed by three deep (maximum depth to 560 m) vertical boreholes installed in mid-east Kinmen northeast to Taiwu Mountain. Vertical fracture frequency data indicate that the rock body is fractured with a spatially correlated pattern, from which three major fracture zones (depths 0–70, 330–360, and below 450 m) can be identified. Geologic investigations indicate that the deepest fracture zone is caused by the large-scale, steeply dipping Taiwushan fault. This fault may have caused a laterally extensive low-resistivity zone, a potential fractured aquifer, near Taiwu Mountain. The middle fracture zone is induced by the Taiwushan fault and intersects the fault approximately 21 m southeast of the study area below a depth of 350 m. Slug testing results yield fracture transmissivity varying from 4.8 × 10⁻⁷ to 2.2 × 10⁻⁴ m²/s. Cross-hole tests have confirmed that hydraulic connectivity of the deeper rock body is controlled by the Taiwushan fault and the middle fracture zone. This connectivity may extend vertically to the sedimentary aquifers through high-angle joint sets. Despite the presence of a flow barrier formed by doleritic dike at about 300 m depth, the existence of fresh as well as meteoric water in the deeper rock body manifests that certain flow paths must exist through which the deeper fractured aquifers can be connected to the upper rock body. Therefore, groundwater stored within the Taiwushan fault and the associated low-resistivity zone can be considered as additional fresh water resources for future exploitation.     

Hydrogeochemical investigation and qualitative assessment of surface water resources in West Bokaro coalfield,India

A hydrogeochemical study of surface water of the West Bokaro coalfield has been undertaken to assess its quality and suitability for drinking, domestic and irrigation purposes. For this purpose, fourteen samples collected from rivers and ponds of the coalfield were analysed for pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), major cations (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺), major anions (HCO₃^-, F^-, Cl^-, SO₄^2- and NO₃^-) and trace metals. The pH of the analysed water samples varied from 7.3 to 8.2, indicating slightly alkaline in nature. The electrical conductivity (EC) value varied from 93 μs cm^-1 to 906 μs cm^-1 while the TDS varied from 76 mg L^-1 to 658 mg L^-1. HCO₃^- and SO₄^2- are the dominant anion and Ca²⁺ and Na⁺ the cation in the surface water. The concentration of alkaline earth metals (Ca²⁺ + Mg²⁺) exceed the alkali metals (Na⁺ + K⁺) and HCO₃^- dominates over SO₄^2- + Cl^- concentrations in the majority of the surface water samples. Ca²⁺ -Mg²⁺ -HCO₃^- and Ca²⁺ -Mg²⁺ -Cl^- are the dominant hydrogeochemical facies in the surface water of the area. The water chemistry is mainly controlled by rock weathering with secondary contribution from anthropogenic sources. For quality assessment, analyzed water parameter values compared with Indian and WHO water quality standard. In majority of the samples, the analyzed parameters are well within the desirable limits and water is potable for drinking purposes. However, concentrations of TDS, TH, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Fe are exceeding the desirable limits in some water samples and needs treatment before its utilization. The calculated parameters such as sodium absorption ration, percent sodium, residual sodium carbonate, permeability index and magnesium hazard revealed good to permissible quality and suitable for irrigation purposes, however, higher salinity, permeability index and Mg-ratio restrict its suitability for irrigation at few sites.     

基于Agent的水资源管理模型研究进展

基于Agent的模型(Agent-based models,ABM)研究已成为水资源管理研究理论与方法的重要补充。对水资源管理ABM研究进行归纳与展望,有助于探索优化中国水资源管理体制和机制。在阐述水资源管理ABM概念及内涵的基础上,提炼出主体决策规则和互作机制两个建模核心内容,并对其方法进行了归纳分析;从流域水资源优化配置、城镇居民用水管理和灌区水资源管理3个方面,对2009—2018年主要水资源管理ABM研究进行了综述;针对当前研究的难点与不足,提出未来研究重点:①拓展复杂适应理论在水资源管理领域的应用;②加强不确定性水资源管理ABM研究;③探索基于机器学习的决策规则建模方法;④重视参数校准和结果校验及检验方法;⑤加强模型表述格式标准化进程;⑥综合权衡水资源管理ABM框架。     

Slope stability assessment and design of remedial measures for Tungnath Temple at Uttarakhand,India: a case study

Natural Hazards - The present paper assesses the slope stability of the Tungnath Temple at Rudraprayag District, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and suggests the remedial measures. The...     

Hazard assessment of underwater landslide-generated tsunamis: a case study in the Padang region, Indonesia

Submarine landslides can generate local tsunamis with high run-ups, posing a hazard to human lives and coastal facilities. Both ancient (giant Storegga slide off Norwegian coast, 8200 B. P.) and recent (Papua New Guinea, 1998) events show high potential danger of tsunamigenic landslides and the importance of mitigation efforts. This contribution presents newly discovered landslides 70 km off Padang (Western Sumatra, Indonesia) based on recent bathymetry measurements. This highly populated city with over 750,000 inhabitants exhibits high tsunami vulnerability due to its very low elevation. We model tsunamis that might have been induced by the detected landslide events. Estimations of run-up heights extrapolated from offshore tsunami amplitudes for Padang and other locations in the northern Mentawai fore-arc basin yield maximum values of about 3 m. We also provide a systematic parametric study of landslide-induced tsunamis, which allows us to distinguish potentially dangerous scenarios for Padang. Inside the fore-arc basin, scenarios involving volumes of 0.5–25 km³ could endanger Padang. Apart from slide volume, the hazard distribution mainly depends on three landslide parameters: distance to Padang, water depth in the generation region, and slide direction.     

Integrative assessment of hydrological, ecological, and economic systems for water resources management at river basin scale

This study presents a basin-scale integrative hydrological, ecological, and economic (HEE) modeling system, aimed at evaluating the impact of resources management, especially agricultural water resources management, on the sustainability of regional water resources. The hydrological model in the modeling system was adapted from SWAT, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, to simulate the water balance in terms of soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and streamflow. An ecological model was integrated into the hydrological model to compute the ecosystem production of biomass production and yield for different land use types. The economic model estimated the monetary values of crop production and water productivity over irrigated areas. The modeling system was primarily integrated and run on a Windows platform and was able to produce simulation results at daily time steps with a spatial resolution of hydrological response unit (HRU). The modeling system was then calibrated over the period from 1983 to 1991 for the upper and middle parts of the Yellow River basin, China. Calibration results showed that the efficiencies of the modeling system in simulating monthly streamflow over 5 hydrological stations were from 0.54 to 0.68 with an average of 0.64, indicating an acceptable calibration. Preliminary simulation results from 1986 to 1995 revealed that water use in the study region has largely reduced the streamflow in many parts of the area except for that in the riverhead. Spatial distribution of biomass production, and crop yield showed a strong impact of irrigation on agricultural production. Water productivity over irrigated cropland ranged from 1 to 1640 USD/(ha·mm⁻¹), indicating a wide variation of the production conditions within the study region and a great potential in promoting water use efficiency in low water productivity areas. Generally, simulation results from this study indicated that the modeling system was capable of tracking the temporal and spatial variability of pertinent water balance variables, ecosystem dynamics, and regional economy, and provided a useful simulation tool in evaluating long-term water resources management strategies in a basin scale.     

Use of fuzzy synthetic evaluation for assessment of groundwater quality for drinking usage: a case study of Southern Haryana,India

A method based on concept of fuzzy set theory has been used for decision-making for the assessment of physico-chemical quality of groundwater for drinking purposes. Conventional methods for water quality assessment do not consider the uncertainties involved either in measurement of water quality parameters or in the limits provided by the regulatory bodies. Fuzzy synthetic evaluation model gives the certainty levels for the quality class of the water based on the prescribed limit of various regulatory bodies and opinion of the experts from the field of drinking water quality. In this paper, application of fuzzy rule based optimization model is illustrated with twenty groundwater samples from Sohna town of Gurgaon district of Southern Haryana, India. These samples were analysed for 15 different physico-chemical parameters, out of them nine important parameters were used for the quality assessment using fuzzy synthetic evaluation approach. From this study, it has been concluded that all the water samples are in acceptable category whose certainty level ranges from 44 to 100%. Water from these sources can be used for the drinking purposes if alternate water source is not available without any health concern on the basis of physico-chemical characteristics.     

Hydrochemistry of groundwater in a coastal region of Cuddalore district, Tamilnadu, India: implication for quality assessment

A hydrogeochemical investigation was conducted in a coastal region of Cuddalore district to identify the influence of saltwater intrusion and suitability of groundwater for domestic and agricultural purposes. The geology of the study area comprises of sandstone, clay, alluvium, and laterite soils of Tertiary and Quaternary age. A total of 18 groundwater samples were analyzed for 14 different water quality parameters and the result indicates higher concentrations of ions like Cl (3,509 mg/l), Na (3,123 mg/l), and HCO₃ (998 mg/l) when compared with WHO, BIS, and ISI standards. A positive correlation (r ²?=?0.82) was observed between Na and Cl, indicating its sources from salt water intrusion. Three factors were extracted with a total variance of 64% which indicates the sources of salinization, cation exchange, and anthropogenic impact to the groundwater. The Piper trilinear diagram indicates both Na–Cl and mixed Na–HCO₃–Cl-type, indicating that groundwater was strongly affected by anthropogenic activities. The plot of (Ca?+?Mg)/(K?+?Na) indicates evidences of cation exchange and salt water intrusion. The (Ca–0.33*HCO₃)/ SO₄ plot indicates salt water intrusion for elevated SO₄ levels rather than gypsum dissolution. The spatial distribution of total dissolved solid indicates the saline water encroachment along the SW part of the study area. As per sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), 50% of the samples with <10 SAR are suitable for irrigation and >10 SAR indicates that water is unsuitable for irrigation purposes. The residual sodium carbonate classification indicates that 50% of the samples fall in safe and 50% of the samples fall in bad zones and prolonged usage of this water will affect the crop yield. The Chloro Alkaline Index of water indicates disequilibrium due to a higher ratio of Cl?>?Na–K, indicating the influence of salt water intrusion. The Permeability Index of the groundwater indicates that the groundwater from the study area is moderate to good for irrigation purposes.     

Microbial mat-induced sedimentary structures in siliciclastic sediments: Examples from the 1.6 Ga Chorhat Sandstone, Vindhyan Supergroup, M.P., India

This paper addresses macroscopic signatures of microbial mat-related structures within the 1.6Ga-old Chorhat Sandstone of the Semri Group — the basal stratigraphic unit of the Vindhyan succession in Son valley. The Chorhat Sandstone broadly represents a prograding succession of three depositional facies ranging from shallow shelf to coastal margin with aeolian sandsheet. The mat-mediated structures were generated because of plastic or brittle deformation of sand, turned cohesive and even thixotropic because of microbial mat growth. Mat growth also favoured abundant preservation of structures that usually have low preservation potential. Prolific growth of microbial mat in the subtidal to intertidal zone of the Chorhat sea was facilitated due to lack of grazing and burrowing activities of organisms in the Precambrian. It further indicates low rate of sedimentation between the storms, as also attested by frequent superposition of storm-beds, even near the storm wave base. It also reduces erosion and that, in turn, would imply low sediment concentration in flows leading to development of bedforms that are likely to be smaller in size and isolated from each other in a single train in contrast to those that form in mat-free sands.     

Influence of physicochemical parameters on surface water quality: a case study of the Brahmani River,India

This investigation is intended to evaluate the surface water quality of Brahmani River in order to determine its uses for different purposes. The water samples were collected from the strategic locations of the river from February 2014 to July 2015 and analyzed for physicochemical parameters such as water temperature; pH; electrical conductivity (EC); dissolved oxygen (DO); total dissolved solids (TDS); major cations, e.g., Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺; and major anions, e.g., F^?, Cl^?, \( {\mathrm{SO}}_4^{2-} \), \( {\mathrm{NO}}_3^{-} \), \( {\mathrm{PO}}_4^{2-} \), and alkalinity. The water quality index (WQI) being a valuable and unique rating scale to depict the overall water quality status in a single term has been employed to determine the feasibility of using the river water as a source for various activities. The parameters with higher impact on water quality were selected to derive WQI of each selected sampling station. Results showed significant deterioration in quality of water at some of the sampling stations. WQI of Brahmani River ranged from 37.87 to 62.36 which falls in the range of good to poor quality of water. Pearson’s correlation matrix was derived to find possible interrelations among water quality parameters.     

基于SPA的喀斯特地区水安全评价——以贵州省为例

根据目前公认的水安全内涵,将水安全分为三个子系统。水资源子系统、水环境子系统和水灾害子系统。三者相互联系、相互作用,形成了复杂、时变的水安全系统。基于水安全的基本原理和喀斯特区域特有的水循环机理,依据 “驱动力（D）—压力（P）—状态（S）—影响（I）—响应（R）”模型建立了贵州省喀斯特区域水安全评价指标体系。基于集对分析理论,引入能够体现系统确定性和不确定性的同异反联系度计算公式,建立了城市水安全的评价模型。将集对分析法运用到水安全的评价中, 可以先通过计算评价样本与评价指标之间的联系度对样本作初步的排序, 再对样本作进一步的同一、差异、对立的集对分析,以判断出评价样本的等级。研究结果表明:（1）在水资源安全状态方面,贵州省9个州市中4个处于安全状态,2个处于基本安全状态,2个处于不安全状态,1个处于危机状态;（2）在水环境安全状态方面,2个处于安全状态,4个处于基本安全,3个处于不安全;（3）在水灾害安全状态方面,1个处于非常安全,4个处于安全,1个处于基本安全,2个处于不安全,1个处于危机;（4）在水安全综合状态下,有3个处于安全状态,有4个处于基本安全状态,有2个处于不安全状态,没有处于非常安全和危机状态。