Groundwater sustainability and groundwater/surface-water interaction in arid Dunhuang Basin,northwest China

The Dunhuang Basin, a typical inland basin in northwestern China, suffers a net loss of groundwater and the occasional disappearance of the Crescent Lake. Within this region, the groundwater/surface-water interactions are important for the sustainability of the groundwater resources. A three-dimensional transient groundwater flow model was established and calibrated using MODFLOW 2000, which was used to predict changes to these interactions once a water diversion project is completed. The simulated results indicate that introducing water from outside of the basin into the Shule and Danghe rivers could reverse the negative groundwater balance in the Basin. River-water/groundwater interactions control the groundwater hydrology, where river leakage to the groundwater in the Basin will increase from 3,114?×?10⁴ m³/year in 2017 to 11,875?×?10⁴ m³/year in 2021, and to 17,039?×?10⁴ m³/year in 2036. In comparison, groundwater discharge to the rivers will decrease from 3277?×?10⁴ m³/year in 2017 to 1857?×?10⁴ m³/year in 2021, and to 510?×?10⁴ m³/year by 2036; thus, the hydrology will switch from groundwater discharge to groundwater recharge after implementing the water diversion project. The simulation indicates that the increased net river infiltration due to the water diversion project will raise the water table and then effectively increasing the water level of the Crescent Lake, as the lake level is contiguous with the water table. However, the regional phreatic evaporation will be enhanced, which may intensify soil salinization in the Dunhuang Basin. These results can guide the water allocation scheme for the water diversion project to alleviate groundwater depletion and mitigate geo-environmental problem.     

Hydrological connectivity of alluvial Andean valleys: a groundwater/surface-water interaction case study in Ecuador

The Andean region is characterized by important intramontane alluvial and glacial valleys; a typical example is the Tarqui alluvial plain, Ecuador. Such valley plains are densely populated and/or very attractive for urban and infrastructural development. Their aquifers offer opportunities for the required water resources. Groundwater/surface-water (GW–SW) interaction generally entails recharge to or discharge from the aquifer, dependent on the hydraulic connection between surface water and groundwater. Since GW–SW interaction in Andean catchments has hardly been addressed, the objectives of this study are to investigate GW–SW interaction in the Tarqui alluvial plain and to understand the role of the morphology of the alluvial valley in the hydrological response and in the hydrological connection between hillslopes and the aquifers in the valley floor. This study is based on extensive field measurements, groundwater-flow modelling and the application of temperature as a groundwater tracer. Results show that the morphological conditions of a valley influence GW–SW interaction. Gaining and losing river sections are observed in narrow and wide alluvial valley sections, respectively. Modelling shows a strong hydrological connectivity between the hillslopes and the alluvial valley; up to 92 % of recharge of the alluvial deposits originates from lateral flow from the hillslopes. The alluvial plain forms a buffer or transition zone for the river as it sustains a gradual flow from the hills to the river. Future land-use planning and development should include concepts discussed in this study, such as hydrological connectivity, in order to better evaluate impact assessments on water resources and aquatic ecosystems.     

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.     

Fractured bedrock and saprolite hydrogeologic controls on groundwater/surface-water interaction: a conceptual model (Australia)

Hydrologic conceptual models of groundwater/surface-water interaction in a saprolite-fractured bedrock geological setting often assume that the saprolite zone is hydraulically more active than the deeper bedrock system and ignore the contribution of deeper groundwater from the fractured bedrock aquifer. A hydraulic, hydrochemical, and tracer-based study was conducted at Scott Creek, Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia, to explore the importance of both the deeper fractured bedrock aquifer system and the shallow saprolite layer on groundwater/surface-water interaction. The results of this study suggest that groundwater flow in the deeper fractured bedrock zone is highly dynamic and is an important groundwater flow pathway along the hillslope. Deep groundwater is therefore a contributing component in streamflow generation at Scott Creek. The findings of this study suggest that hydrologic conceptual models, which treat the saprolite-fractured bedrock interface as a no-flow boundary and do not consider the deeper fractured bedrock in hydrologic analyses, may be overly simplistic and inherently misleading in some groundwater/surface-water interaction analyses. The results emphasise the need to understand the relative importance of subsurface flow activity in both of these shallow saprolite and deeper bedrock compartments as a basis for developing reliable conceptual hydrologic models of these systems.     

Modeling groundwater/surface-water interactions in an Alpine valley (the Aosta Plain,NW Italy): the effect of groundwater abstraction on surface-water resources

A groundwater flow model of the Alpine valley aquifer in the Aosta Plain (NW Italy) showed that well pumping can induce river streamflow depletions as a function of well location. Analysis of the water budget showed that ～80% of the water pumped during 2 years by a selected well in the downstream area comes from the baseflow of the main river discharge. Alluvial aquifers hosted in Alpine valleys fall within a particular hydrogeological context where groundwater/surface-water relationships change from upstream to downstream as well as seasonally. A transient groundwater model using MODFLOW2005 and the Streamflow-Routing (SFR2) Package is here presented, aimed at investigating water exchanges between the main regional river (Dora Baltea River, a left-hand tributary of the Po River), its tributaries and the underlying shallow aquifer, which is affected by seasonal oscillations. The three-dimensional distribution of the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer was obtained by means of a specific coding system within the database TANGRAM. Both head and flux targets were used to perform the model calibration using PEST. Results showed that the fluctuations of the water table play an important role in groundwater/surface-water interconnections. In upstream areas, groundwater is recharged by water leaking through the riverbed and the well abstraction component of the water budget changes as a function of the hydraulic conditions of the aquifer. In downstream areas, groundwater is drained by the river and most of the water pumped by wells comes from the base flow component of the river discharge.     

Combined electrical resistivity tomography and magnetic resonance sounding investigation of the surface-water/groundwater interaction in the Urema Graben,Mozambique

This study focusses on the hydrogeology of Urema Graben, especially possible interactions between surface water and groundwater around Lake Urema, in Gorongosa National Park (GNP). Lake Urema is the only permanent water source for wildlife inside GNP, and there are concerns that it will disappear due to interferences in surface-water/groundwater interactions as a result of changes in the hydraulic environment. As the lake is the only permanent water source, this would be a disaster for the ecosystem of the park. The sub-surface geology in Urema Graben was investigated by 20 km of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and three magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) surveys. The average depth penetration was 60 and 100 m, respectively. The location of the ERT lines was decided based on general rift morphology and therefore orientated perpendicular to Urema Graben, from the transitional areas of the margins of the Barue platform in the west to the Cheringoma plateau escarpments in the east. ERT and MRS both indicate a second aquifer, where Urema Lake is a window of the first upper semi-confined aquifer, while the lower aquifer is confined by a clay layer 30–40 m thick. The location and depth of this aquifer suggest that it is probably linked to the Pungwe River which could be a main source of recharge during the dry season. If a dam or any other infra-structure is constructed in Pungwe River upstream of GNP, the groundwater level will decrease which could lead to drying out of Urema Lake.     

平原地下水水质评价方法探讨

本文从平原地下水水质评价标准的确定、评价指标的选择、单项和综合评价方法等方面建立了平原地下水水质评价的完整体系,它既考虑了地下水水体污染的随机性和模糊性,又能保证平原地下水水质评价结果的区域可比性,同时简便明了,适用于平原地下水资源评价面广点多的特点。     

Applicability of the most frequent value method in groundwater modeling

The Most Frequent Value Method (MFV) is applied to groundwater modeling as a robust and effective geostatistical method. The Most Frequent Value method is theoretically derived from the minimization of the information loss called the I-divergence. The MFV algorithm is then coupled with global optimization (Very Fast Simulated Annealing) to provide a powerful method for solving the inverse problems in groundwater modeling. The advantages and applicability of this new approach are illustrated by means of theoretical investigations and case studies. It is demonstrated that the MFV method has certain advantages over the conventional statistical methods derived from the maximum likelihood principle.

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Resumen El Método del Valor Mas Frecuente (VMF), es aplicado al modelamiento de agua subterránea, como un método geoestadístico simple y efectivo. Este método es derivado teóricamente de la acción de reducir al mínimo la pérdida de información, llamada así divergencia – I. El algoritmo del VMF es entonces acoplado con optimización global(Very Fast Simulated Annealing), para obtener así un método efectivo que resuelva los problemas inversos en el modelamiento de aguas subterráneas. Las ventajas y aplicabilidad de esta aproximación nueva son ilustradas a través de investigaciones teóricas y estudios de caso. Se demuestra que el método VMF tiene ciertas ventajas sobre los métodos estadísticos convencionales derivados del principio de la probabilidad máxima.

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Résumé On a appliqué la méthode de la valeur la plus fréquente (VPF) comme une méthode géostatistique robuste et efficace pour modéliser les eaux souterraines. Du point de vue théorique, la méthode de VPF part de la minimisation de linformation perdue, dénommée I-divergence. On couple après lalgorithme de la méthode de VPF avec la méthode doptimisation globale affin de réaliser une méthode performante pour résoudre le problème inverse dans le domaine des eaux souterraine. Les avantages et les possibilités dapplication de cette nouvelle approche sont illustrées par des investigations théoriques, ainsi que par des études de cas. On montre que la méthode de VPF présente certains avantages par rapport des méthodes statistiques conventionnelles basées sur le principe de la probabilité maximale.

     

基于区域Delaunay自动剖分的含水层参数反演

针对地下水有限元数值模拟中区域三角网格剖分复杂难以处理的情况,提出适合其特点的Delaunay三角网格自动剖分方法,并对含有多个参数分区的含水层进行网格剖分,最后利用遗传算法和有限元程序相耦合来反演含水层水文地质参数。结果表明此方法可大大简化地下水数值模拟的前处理工作,并能提高有限元网格剖分的有效性和准确性,从而得到令人满意的数值模拟结果。     

Landscape controls of surface-water/groundwater interactions on shallow outwash lakes: how the long-term groundwater signal overrides interannual variability due to evaporative effects

Hydrogeology Journal - The spatial and temporal controls on variability of the relative contributions of groundwater within and between flow systems to shallow lakes in the low-relief glaciated...     

沿海地区地下水模拟优化管理模型

针对中国一些沿海地区地下水超采及由此带来的海水入侵问题,将地表水补给、抽水量及地下水位等相嵌在一起,建立了沿海地区地下水模拟优化管理模型。将人工鱼群算法和基于MODFLOW2000的变密度地下水流及溶质运移模型耦合起来,对沿海地区地下水模拟优化管理模型进行求解。以山东省威海市节水示范区为例,验证模型的有效性和可靠性。结果表明,10、11、12月份抽水量最大,以后至第2年5月份依次是减少的;从区域分布上看,在临海区域1号井处抽水量是3500～1120m3/月,在其它井处是6540～2920m3/月;与现行方案相比,增加总有效供水1990m3,地下水平均水位升高0.29m,海水入侵问题能够得到解决。计算结果合理可行,为沿海地区地下水资源的科学管理和持续利用提供可靠依据。     

海底地下水排放:重要的海岸带陆海相互作用过程

沿海地区海底地下水排放在北美和欧洲等发达地区受到了越来越多的重视,被认为是一个重要的海岸带陆海相互作用过程。但这一过程在我国尚未引起足够认识,有关研究极少见。海底地下水排放的研究历史不长,只是近十多年才有了快速的发展,有了越来越多的定量研究成果。其研究方法主要有水文计算法、现场实测法和地球化学示踪法,各种方法之间的对比实验是目前的热点问题。沿海地下水排放具有重要的环境意义,它可以是陆地营养物质和污染物质的一个重要排放通道,可以对海岸带环境产生一定影响。我国沿海地区应该加强有关的研究工作,为海岸带环境管理作出贡献。     

An analytical method for predicting the groundwater inflow to tunnels in a fractured aquifer

Hydrogeology Journal - Based on the fracture network model and the cubic law of a single fracture with laminar flow, a method suitable for calculating hydraulic-head distribution and flow behaviors...     

一种改进的地下水模型结构不确定性分析方法

高斯过程回归（GPR）是一种基于贝叶斯理论的监督学习算法,在基于数据驱动（DDM）的模型结构不确定性分析中具有广泛应用。目前研究中通常假设物理参数和超参独立并进行联立识别,这会导致参数补偿。文章提出两步识别DDM量化模型结构误差,并通过2个地下水模型案例,分别在不考虑模型结构误差、考虑模型结构误差（联立识别DDM、两步识别DDM）的情况下,对比分析了参数识别和模型预测结果。结果表明,不考虑模型结构误差直接进行参数识别时,为补偿结构误差,物理参数会过度拟合,从而影响模型预测效果。基于DDM刻画模型结构偏差时,物理参数和超参的独立性假设会影响参数识别结果。提出的两步识别DDM法没有假设物理参数和超参独立,能够减少参数过度拟合效应,从而更准确刻画结构误差,有效提高了模型的预测性能。