Significance of stemflow in groundwater recharge. 1: Evaluation of the stemflow contribution to recharge using a mass balance approach

Stemflow was evaluated in a water balance and its contribution to groundwater recharge determined. Gross precipitation, throughfall and stemflow were measured for one year in a pine forest (Tsukuba, Japan) to determine each component of the water balance in the forest. Groundwater recharge rates by stemflow and throughfall were calculated from a mass balance method using chloride in subsurface waters. The stemflow in the water balance was relatively small when estimated as a value per canopy projected area of the tree in the forest. However, the results for the mass balance of chloride in subsurface waters indicated that it was impossible to disregard the stemflow in determining groundwater recharge. Although the ratio of stemflow to the net precipitation was small in the water balance, the effect of stemflow on groundwater recharge was relatively large.     

Spatial average aquifer recharge through atmospheric chloride mass balance and its uncertainty in continental Spain

The atmospheric chloride mass balance (CMB) method allows spatial evaluations of the average diffuse aquifer recharge by rainfall () in large and varied territories when long‐term steady conditions can be assumed. Often, the distributed average CMB variables necessary to calculate have to be estimated from the available variable‐length data series, which may be of suboptimal quality and spatial coverage. This paper explains the use of these data and the reliability of the results in continental Spain, chosen as a large and varied territory. The CMB variables have been regionalized by ordinary kriging at the same 4976 nodes of a 10 km × 10 km grid. Nodal values vary from 14 to 810 mm year^–1, 90% ranging from 30 to 300 mm year^–1. The recharge‐to‐precipitation ratios vary from 0.03 in low‐permeability formations and semiarid areas to 0.65 in some carbonate massifs. Integrated average results for the whole of continental Spain yield a potential aquifer recharge of 64 km³ year^?1, the net recharge over permeable formations (40% of the territory) being 32 km³ year^?1. Two main sources of uncertainty affecting (given by the coefficient of variation, CV), induced by the inherent natural variability of the variables (CV_R) and from mapping (), have been segregated. The average CV_R is 0.13 and could be improved with longer data series. The average is 0.07 and may be decreased with better data coverage. The estimates were compared with other regional and local recharge estimates, being 4% and 1% higher, respectively. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Groundwater recharge in the Akaki catchment,central Ethiopia: evidence from environmental isotopes (δ18O, δ2H and 3H) and chloride mass balance

Recharge patterns, possible flow paths and the relative age of groundwater in the Akaki catchment in central Ethiopia have been investigated using stable environmental isotopes δ¹⁸O and δ²H and radioactive tritium (³H) coupled with conservative chloride measurements. Stable isotopic signatures are encoded in the groundwater solely from summer rainfall. Thus, groundwater recharge occurs predominantly in the summer months from late June to early September during the major Ethiopian rainy season. Winter recharge is lost through high evaporation–evapotranspiration within the unsaturated zone after relatively long dry periods of high accumulated soil moisture deficits. Chloride mass balance coupled with the isotope results demonstrates the presence of both preferential and piston flow groundwater recharge mechanisms. The stable and radioactive isotope measurements further revealed that groundwater in the Akaki catchment is found to be compartmentalized into zones. Groundwater mixing following the flow paths and topography is complicated by the lithologic complexity. An uncommon, highly depleted stable isotope and zero‐³H groundwater, observed in a nearly east–west stretch through the central sector of the catchment, is coincident with the Filwoha Fault zone. Here, deep circulating meteoric water has lost its isotopic content through exchange reactions with CO₂ originating at deeper sources or it has been recharged with precipitation from a different rainfall regime with a depleted isotopic content. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimating groundwater recharge using the chloride mass-balance method in the West Bank,Palestine

Abstract

The quantification of natural recharge rate is a prerequisite for efficient and sustainable groundwater resources management. Since groundwater is the only source of water supply in the West Bank, it is of utmost importance to estimate the rate of replenishment of the aquifers. The chloride mass-balance method was used to estimate recharge rates at different sites representing the three groundwater basins of the Mountain Aquifer in the West Bank. The recharge rate for the Eastern Basin was calculated as between 130.8 and 269.7 mm/year, with a total average replenishment volume of 290.3 × 10⁶ m³/year. For the Northeastern Basin, the calculated recharge rate ranged between 95.2 and 269.7 mm/year, with a total average recharge volume of 138.5 × 10⁶ m³/year. Finally, the recharge rate for the Western Basin was between 122.6 and 323.6 mm/year, with a total average recharge volume of 324.9 × 10⁶ m³/year. The data reveal a replenishment potential within the estimated replenishment volumes of previous studies for the same area. Also, the range was between 15 and 50% of total rainfall, which is still within the range of previous studies. The geological structure and the climate conditions of the western slope were clearly play an important role in the increment of total volume. In some cases, such as the geological formations in the Northeastern Basin, the interaction between Eocene and Senonian chalk formations result in minimum recharge rates.

Citation Marei, A., Khayat, S., Weise, S., Ghannam, S., Sbaih, M. & Geyer, S. (2010) Estimating groundwater recharge using the chloride mass-balance method in the West Bank, Palestine. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(5), 780–791.     

Groundwater recharge in an arid grassland as indicated by soil chloride profile and multiple tracers

Previous studies have shown that shallow groundwater in arid regions is often not in equilibrium with near‐surface boundary conditions due to human activities and climate change. This is especially the case where the unsaturated zone is thick and recharge rate is limited. Under this nonequilibrium condition, the unsaturated zone solute profile plays an important role in estimating recent diffuse recharge in arid environments. This paper combines evaluation of the thick unsaturated zone with the saturated zone to investigate the groundwater recharge of a grassland in the arid western Ordos Basin, NW China, using the soil chloride profiles and multiple tracers (²H, ¹⁸O, ¹³C, ¹⁴C, and water chemistry) of groundwater. Whereas conventional water balance and Darcy flux measurements usually involve large errors in recharge estimations for arid areas, chloride mass balance has been widely and generally successfully used. The results show that the present diffuse recharge beneath the grassland is 0.11–0.32 mm/year, based on the chloride mass balance of seven soil profiles. The chloride accumulation age is approximately 2,500 years at a depth of 13 m in the unsaturated zone. The average Cl content in soil moisture in the upper 13 m of the unsaturated zone ranges from 2,842 to 7,856 mg/L, whereas the shallow groundwater Cl content ranges from 95 to 351 mg/L. The corrected ¹⁴C age of shallow groundwater ranges from 4,327 to 29,708 years. Stable isotopes show that the shallow groundwater is unrelated to modern precipitation. The shallow groundwater was recharged during the cold and wet phases of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene humid phase based on palaeoclimate, and consequently, the groundwater resources are nonrenewable. Due to the limited recharge rate and thick unsaturated zone, the present shallow groundwater has not been in hydraulic equilibrium with near‐surface boundary conditions in the past 2,500 years.     

Quantifying annual groundwater recharge and storage in the central Sierra Nevada using naturally occurring 35S

Identifying aquifer vulnerability to climate change is of vital importance in the Sierra Nevada and other snow‐dominated basins where groundwater systems are essential to water supply and ecosystem health. Quantifying the component of new (current year's) snowmelt in groundwater and surface water is useful in evaluating aquifer vulnerability because significant annual recharge may indicate that streamflow will respond rapidly to annual variability in precipitation, followed by more gradual decreases in recharge as recharge declines over decades. Hydrologic models and field‐based studies have indicated that young (<1 year) water is an important component of streamflow. The goal of this study was to utilize the short‐lived, naturally occurring cosmogenic isotope sulfur‐35 (³⁵S) to quantify new snowmelt contribution to groundwater and surface waters in Sagehen Creek Basin (SCB) and Martis Valley Groundwater Basin (MVGB) located within the Tertiary volcanics of the central Sierra Nevada, CA. Activities of ³⁵S were measured in dissolved sulfate (³⁵SO₄^2?) in SCB and MVGB snowpack, groundwater, springs, and streamflow. The percent of new snowmelt (PNS) in SCB streamflow ranged from 0.2 ± 6.6% during baseflow conditions to 14.0 ± 3.4% during high‐flow periods of snowmelt. Similar to SCB, the PNS in MVGB groundwater and streamflow was typically <30% with the largest fractions occurring in late spring or early summer following peak streamflow. The consistently low PNS suggests that a significant fraction of annual snowmelt in SCB and MVGB recharges groundwater, and groundwater contributions to streamflow in these systems have the potential to mitigate climate change impacts on runoff.     

Quantifying chloride retention and release in urban stormwater management ponds using a mass balance approach

Chloride (Cl⁻) in urban waterways largely originates from runoff containing deicing salts. Cl⁻ is retained in watersheds after deicing ends, resulting in deleterious effects on aquatic biota. Stormwater management ponds (SWMPs), designed to mitigate ‘flashy’ urban runoff response, are known to impact pollutant transport. However, there is little information on what role SWMPs play in the timing and magnitude of Cl⁻ transport over different timescales. This study quantifies the mass of Cl⁻ retained in two SWMPs over varying timescales. Both ponds are in an urbanizing watershed in south-central Ontario; one drains a commercial area, the other, a residential area. High frequency measurements of water level and specific conductivity, from which flow and Cl⁻ concentration were derived, were taken with sensors at pond inlets and outlets. For one SWMP, data were also collected upstream and downstream of the confluence of the pond outflow and the receiving creek to quantify the in-stream response to Cl⁻-laden pond outflows. The findings suggest that SWMPs likely play a role in watershed-scale Cl⁻ retention; one SWMP consistently retained Cl⁻ while the other had variable retention and release of Cl⁻. In the receiving creek, Cl⁻ concentrations downstream of the pond exceeded the acute toxicity threshold for aquatic organisms twice as often as concentrations upstream of the pond, and Cl⁻ pulses corresponded to Cl⁻ release events from the pond. The results of this study suggest that SWMPs concentrate spatially distributed salt inputs and modify the timing and magnitude of their release to receiving streams. Stream reaches that receive water inputs from SWMPs may be more vulnerable to Cl⁻ toxicity than reaches that do not receive flow via SWMPs. The results of this study will help parameterize the role of SWMPs in watershed-scale Cl⁻ transport models and geospatial models of salt vulnerable areas.     

Estimation of sub-annual inter-catchment groundwater flow using short-term water balance method

Predicting inter-catchment groundwater flow (IGF) is essential because IGF greatly affects stream water discharge and water chemistry. However, methods for estimating sub-annual IGF and clarifying its mechanisms using minimal data are limited. Thus, we quantified the sub-annual IGF and elucidated its driving factors using the short-term water balance method (STWB) for three forest headwater catchments in Japan (named here catchment A, B and As). Our previous study using the chloride mass balance indicated that annual IGF of catchment A (49.0 ha) can be negligible. Therefore, we calculated the daily evapotranspiration (ET) rate using the Priestley–Taylor expression and the 5-year water balance in catchment A (2010–2014). The sub-annual IGF of the three catchments was then calculated by subtracting the ET rate from the difference between rainfall and stream discharge during the sub-annual water balance periods selected using the STWB. The IGF rates of catchment B (7.0 ha), which is adjacent to catchment A, were positive in most cases, indicating that more groundwater flowed out of the catchment than into it, and exhibited positive linear relationships with rainfall and stream discharge. This suggested that as the catchments became wetter, more groundwater flowed out of catchment B. Conversely, the IGF rates of catchment As (5.3 ha), included in catchment A, were negative in most cases, indicating that more groundwater flowed into the catchment than out from it, and exhibited negative linear relationships with rainfall and stream discharge. Given the topography of the catchments studied, infiltration into the bedrock was the probable reason for the IGF outflow from catchment B. We hypothesized that in catchment As, the discrepancy between the actual hydrological boundary and the surface topographic boundary could have caused an IGF inflow. This study provides a useful tool for determining an IGF model structure to be incorporated into rainfall-runoff models.     

Groundwater recharge and flow in a small mountain catchment in northern Ethiopia

Abstract

The hydrodynamic behaviour of a sloped phreatic aquifer in the Tigray Highlands in northern Ethiopia is described. The aquifer is situated in the soils of a plateau on top of a basalt sequence and lies on steep slopes; the latter lead to hydraulic gradients that can cause high discharge fluxes. Distinct wet and dry seasons characterize the climate of the Tigray Highlands and recharge is absent during the dry season. Because of the fertile vertisols that have developed, the plateau is heavily cultivated and thus has great local economic, and hence social, importance. Water for land irrigation is almost exclusively delivered by rainfall, which is largely restricted to the period June—September. During the dry season, the water table drops dramatically and the aquifer drains nearly completely, under the strong gravity-driven, sustained discharges. This study strives to give insights into recharge and discharge mechanisms of the aquifer, in order to improve the effectiveness of the implemented water conservation measures.     

Aquifer recharge from flash floods in the arid environment: A mass balance approach at the catchment scale

Estimation of the infiltration/natural recharge to groundwater from rainfall is an important issue in hydrology, particularly in arid regions. This paper proposes the application of The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) mass balance model to develop infiltration (F)–rainfall (P) relationship from flash flood events. Moreover, the NRCS method is compared with the rational and the Ф-index methods to investigate the discrepancies between these methods. The methods have been applied to five gauged basins and their 19 sub-basins (representative basins with detailed measurements) in the southwestern part of Saudi Arabia with 161 storms recorded in 4 years. The F–P relationships developed in this study based on NRCS method are: F = 39% P with R² = 0.932 for the initial abstraction factor, λ = 0.2. However, F = 77% P with R² = 0.986 for λ = 0.01. The model at λ = 0.01 is the best to fit the data, therefore, it is recommended to use the formula at λ = 0.01. The results show that the NRCS model is appropriate for the estimation of the F–P relationships in arid regions when compared with the rational and the Ф index methods. The latter overestimates the infiltration because they do not take λ into account. There is no significant difference between F–P relationships at different time scales. This helps the prediction of infiltration rates for aquifer recharge at ungauged basins from monthly and annual rainfall data with a single formula.     

Estimation of the percentage of annual groundwater recharge with bomb tritium using a cumulative mass balance method

The bomb tritium (³H) distribution patterns in the aquifer beneath an abandoned landfill at the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Borden, Ontario, and in a sandy aquifer at Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishments (WNRE) Pinawa, Manitoba, all in Canada, were delineated in great detail. A sampling and monitoring network of multilevel samplers and bundle piezometers were used. The directions of groundwater flow were established, and the boundary between the tritiated and non-tritiated zones of the two aquifers were closely demarcated. Using a cumulative mass balance method, the³H input mass into the aquifers was compared with the³H mass in groundwater storage to estimate the percentages of annual groundwater recharge from 1953 to 1978. Two recharge calculations for theeffective recharge zone and thetotal recharge area of the aquifers as established from the flownet analysis, and the distributions of dissolved geochemical constitutents showed that theeffective recharge zone calculations gave higher values of 30.6 cm/yr for CFB Borden and 20.1 cm/yr for WNRE while thetotal recharge areas gave lower values of 19.1 and 10.1 cm/yr for the Borden and WNRE aquifers respectively. The two recharge values provide possible minimum and maximum recharge estimates for the two study areas.     

Comparative performance of soil water balance models in computing semi-arid aquifer recharge

Abstract

Estimating groundwater recharge is essential to ensure the sustainable use of groundwater resources, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Soil water balances have been frequently advocated as valuable tools to estimate groundwater recharge. This article compares the performance of three soil water balance models (Hydrobal, Visual Balan v2.0 and Thornthwaite) in the Ventós-Castellar aquifer, Spain. The models were used to simulate wet and dry years. Recharge estimates were transformed into water table fluctuations by means of a lumped groundwater model. These, in turn, were calibrated against piezometric data. Overall, the Hydrobal model shows the best fit between observed and calculated levels (r² = 0.84), highlighting the role of soil moisture and vegetation in recharge processes.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor X. Chen

Citation Touhami, I., et al., 2014. Comparative performance of soil water balance models in computing semi-arid aquifer recharge. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 59 (1), 193–203.     

Methods of groundwater recharge estimation in eastern Mediterranean—a water balance model application in Greece,Cyprus and Jordan

Groundwater recharge studies in semi‐arid areas are fundamental because groundwater is often the only water resource of importance. This paper describes the water balance method of groundwater recharge estimation in three different hydro‐climatic environments in eastern Mediterranean, in northwest Greece (Aliakmonas basin/Koromilia basin), in Cyprus (Kouris basin and Larnaka area) and in Jordan (northern part of Jordan). For the Aliakmonas basin, groundwater recharge was calculated for different sub‐catchments. For the Upper Aliakmonas basin (Koromilia basin), a watershed‐distributed model was developed and recharge maps were generated on a daily basis. The mean annual recharge varied between 50 and 75 mm/year (mean annual rainfall 800 mm/year). In Cyprus, the mean groundwater recharge estimates yielded 70 mm/year in the Kouris basin. In the Larnaka area, groundwater recharge ranged from 30 mm/year (lowland) to 200 mm/year (mountains). In Jordan, the results indicated recharge rates ranging from 80 mm/year for very permeable karstified surfaces in the upper part of the Salt basin, where rainfall reaches 500 mm/year to less than 10 mm/year and to only about 1 mm/year in the southernmost part of the basin. For the north part of Jordan, a watershed‐distributed model was developed and recharge maps were generated. This water balance model was used for groundwater recharge estimations in many regions with different climatic conditions and has provided reliable results. It has turned out to be an important tool for the management of the limited natural water resources, which require a detailed understanding of regional hydro(geo)logical processes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Glacier mass balance simulation using SWAT distributed snow algorithm

Application of a temperature-index melt model incorporated into the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is presented to simulate mass balance (MB) and equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of three glaciers. The snow accumulation/melt parameters were adjusted to glacierized and free glacier areas, respectively. The SWAT snow algorithm enabled us to consider spatial variation of snow parameters by elevation bands across the sub-basins, while in the previous studies using SWAT, the related parameters were constant for an entire basin. The results show slight improvement in runoff simulation and significant improvement in simulated MB when considering ELA in model calibration. The results showed that SWAT can be applied to simulate MB, vertical MB distribution and annual ELA, with light calibration efforts for data-scarce catchments. The accuracy of the results depends on the modelled area of ablation zone from which most of the meltwater is released.     

Effect of bedrock flow on catchment rainfall‐runoff characteristics and the water balance in forested catchments in Tanzawa Mountains,Japan

In this paper, we examined the role of bedrock groundwater discharge and recharge on the water balance and runoff characteristics in forested headwater catchments. Using rigorous observations of catchment precipitation, discharge and streamwater chemistry, we quantified net bedrock flow rates and contributions to streamwater runoff and the water balance in three forested catchments (second‐order to third‐order catchments) underlain by uniform bedrock in Japan. We found that annual rainfall in 2010 was 3130 mm. In the same period, annual discharge in the three catchments varied from 1800 to 3900 mm/year. Annual net bedrock flow rates estimated by the chloride mass balance method at each catchment ranged from ?1600 to 700 mm/year. The net bedrock flow rates were substantially different in the second‐order and third‐order catchments. During baseflow, discharge from the three catchments was significantly different; conversely, peak flows during large storm events and direct runoff ratios were not significantly different. These results suggest that differences in baseflow discharge rates, which are affected by bedrock flow and intercatchment groundwater transfer, result in the differences in water balance among the catchments. This study also suggests that in these second‐order to third‐order catchments, the drainage area during baseflow varies because of differences between the bedrock drainage area and surface drainage area, but that the effective drainage area during storm flow approaches the surface drainage area. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A water balance model to estimate climate change impact on groundwater recharge in Yucatan Peninsula,Mexico

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to estimate the effect that climate change will have on groundwater recharge at the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. The groundwater recharge is calculated from a monthly water balance model considering eight methods of potential and actual evapotranspiration. Historical data from 1961–2000 and climate model outputs from five downscaled general circulation models in the near horizon (2015–2039), with representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 are used. The results estimate a recharge of 118 ± 33 mm·year^–1 (around 10% of precipitation) in the historical period. Considering the uncertainty from GCMs under different RCP and evapotranspiration scenarios, our monthly water balance model estimates a groundwater recharge of 92 ± 40 mm·year^–1 (RCP4.5) and 94 ± 38 mm·year^–1 (RCP8.5) which represent a reduction of 23% and 20%, respectively, a result that threatens the socio-ecological balance of the region.     

Groundwater recharge assessment in a rural,arid, mid-mountain basin in North-Central Chile

ABSTRACT

A basic component of any hydrogeological study is the magnitude and temporal variation of groundwater recharge. This can be difficult to assess accurately, particularly in arid and semi-arid rainfed mid-mountain zones, as is the situation in the rural, low population density zones of North-Central Chile. In this study, recharge in the Punitaqui Basin, North-Central Chile, was characterized, contrasting the results of two methods: a modified Thornthwaite-Mather (MTM) and discharge recession analysis (DRA). We found a recharge rate of between 1 and 4% of average annual precipitation. Average recharge estimated by the MTM method is consistently higher than that estimated by DRA. Also, DRA tends to smooth the recharge values, resulting in a lower inter-annual variation coefficient. Both methods identified a threshold value of total annual precipitation, above which recharge can be expected to occur, of the order of 180 mm year^?1, consistent with values reported in similar areas.     

Deep drainage sensitivity to climate,edaphic factors,and woody encroachment,Oklahoma, USA

Because groundwater is Earth's largest pool of freshwater, understanding the sensitivity of deep drainage to climate, soils, and land cover is critical in managing water resources. To better understand controls on this critical flux in the context of woody encroachment, we determined the sensitivity of deep drainage to climate, soil texture, soil compaction, rooting depth, growing season duration, and plant–water stress response using Hydrus‐1D to simulate deep drainage. To evaluate the simulation results, we compared these results with ground measurements at two anchor sites. At both anchor sites, Hydrus‐1D predictions of deep drainage matched measured values within the errors inherent in ground measurements. Sensitivity analysis suggested greatest sensitivity of deep drainage to climate (24 mm yr^?1) and rooting depth (12 mm yr^?1), moderate sensitivity to growing season duration (5 mm yr^?1) and soil texture (4 mm yr^?1), and lowest sensitivity to topsoil compaction and plant–water stress response (3 mm yr^?1). The sensitivity analysis indicated the relative importance of the plant‐related factors considered, which, in decreasing order, were rooting depth, growing season duration, and plant–water stress response – factors that change concomitantly as a result of forestation or woody encroachment. Further ground‐truth measurements of woody encroachment effects on deep drainage are needed to confirm or refine the results of this simulation modelling study. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Groundwater recharge estimation in arid hardrock‐alluvium aquifers using combined water‐table fluctuation and groundwater balance approaches

This paper proposes an approach to estimate groundwater recharge using an optimization‐based water‐table fluctuation method combined with a groundwater balance model in an arid hardrock‐alluvium region, located at the Oman–United Arab Emirates border. We introduce an “effective hardrock thickness” term to identify the percentage of the considered hardrock thickness in which effective groundwater flow takes place. The proposed method is based upon a Thiessen polygon zoning approach. The method includes subpolygons to represent specific geologic units and to enhance the confidence of the estimated groundwater recharge. Two linear and 1 nonlinear submodels were developed to evaluate the model components for the calibration (October 1996 to September 2008) and validation (October 2008 to September 2013) periods. Long‐term annual groundwater recharge from rainfall and return flow over the model domain are estimated as 24.62 and 5.71 Mm³, respectively, while the effective groundwater flow circulation is found to occur in the upper 7% of the known hardrock thickness (42 m), confirming conclusions of previous field studies. Considering a total difference in groundwater levels between eastern and western points of the study area of the order of 220 m and a 12‐year monthly calibration period, a weighted root mean squared error in predicted groundwater elevation of 2.75 m is considered quite reasonable for the study area characterized by remarkable geological and hydrogeological diversity. The proposed approach provides an efficient and robust method to estimate groundwater recharge in regions with a complex geological setting in which interaction between fractured and porous media cannot be easily assessed.