A Coupled Hydrogeophysical Approach to Enhance Groundwater Resources Management in Developing Countries

Sustainable Development and Management of Groundwater Resources in Mining Affected Areas: A Review

Groundwater is a major source of water supply throughout the World. It is the largest available source of freshwater, which supports human health, socio-economic development, and ecological diversity. However, over-exploitation and the growing water pollution are threatening our ecosystems as well as the life of our future generations. How to maintain long-term sustainable yield from aquifers is a serious global concern, particularly in the developing countries. The main intent of this chapter is to highlight the constraints and challenges of sustainable development and management of groundwater resources in the developing nations. This chapter also intends to suggest ways for improving water resources management in general and groundwater management in particular. Firstly, the importance of freshwater is highlighted followed by an overview of growing problem of water crisis in the World and India. Secondly, the constraints and challenges of groundwater management in the developing nations are described. Thirdly, the modern concepts of water management, together with the principles of sustainable groundwater management are discussed. Finally, considering the enormity and severity of water problems in the developing countries (including India), a wakeup call is sounded. It is emphasized that the modern concepts coupled with emerging tools and techniques for water management hold a great promise for the sustainable management of groundwater resources in the developed and developing countries.

A steady state finite difference model, MODFLOW, is developed to quantify groundwater in Jamwa Ramgarh, Jaipur (Dt) Rajasthan, using Groundwater data from 06 observation wells. ArcGIS was used to generate various shapefiles required as input files in Visual MODFlow Flex. The findings indicate that the calculated contours of groundwater levels closely correspond to the observed contours. The sustainable utilization and management of groundwater resources pose significant challenges for many countries worldwide. In recent years, groundwater modelling has emerged as an effective approach to tackle these challenges. Various modelling software tools are available to simulate groundwater flow, with MODFLOW being widely used to investigate the interactions between surface water and groundwater and to develop models for specific study areas. MODFLOW, a renowned groundwater modelling software, enables researchers and water resource professionals to understand and analyze the complex dynamics of groundwater systems. By utilizing MODFLOW, it becomes possible to assess the interactions between surface water and groundwater, evaluate the impacts of pumping or recharge activities, and make informed decisions regarding the sustainable management of groundwater resources. The utilization of MODFLOW and similar modelling software plays a crucial role in advancing our understanding of groundwater systems and supporting effective groundwater resource management practices.

Combining monitoring and modelling tools as a basis for city-scale concepts for a sustainable thermal management of urban groundwater resources

Groundwater resources at all times have provided and continue to provide a significant impact on the economic, social, and often political activities of any state, especially if the reserves of this strategic resource are limited. Coordinated groundwater resources management is one of the main conditions for the sustainable development of countries’ transboundary basins, affecting all aspects of human activity, including water supply, agriculture, industry, hydropower, water transport, environment, and the very quality of human life. Modern international trends in the field of transboundary groundwater resources management is undergoing significant changes. This article dwells upon the features of groundwater as a mineral, the structure of state groundwater management in the Russian Federation, the regulation of transboundary groundwater use, and protection at the international and domestic levels are analyzed. The system of management of the transboundary aquifers of Kazakhstan and Belarus is considered in more detail. The unitization approach used for coordinated development of oil and gas fields can, to some extent, serve as a model for managing common groundwater aquifers located on the border of neighboring states. Dogmatic and comparative legal methods consisting of analyzing the applicable legal regulations on the use and protection of groundwater were used. Several recommendations for improving the system of state sustainable management of groundwater resources at the global level are proposed.

Approaches to achieve sustainable use and management of groundwater resources in Qatar: A review

Application of a basin management approach to groundwater utilization in the Otavi Mountain Land, Namibia

Nigeria has greater challenges when it comes to groundwater development and management. The management of the resource is lagging behind the pace of development, and often, very little control is exercised in its exploitation. The current groundwater resources development and supply status is unacceptably low and needs a major transformation. With the rapid growth in population, urbanization, industrialization and competition for economic development, groundwater resource has become vulnerable to depletion and degradation. Management of this valuable resource is determined by its acceptability and utilizability in terms of quantity and quality. Due to imbalance between demand and availability, management approaches are facing various ethical dilemas. Against this context, relevant questions present themselves: What is the real extent of the problems? Why are the present efforts so limited? ; and what can be done to change the situation, to start on a path to more sustainable and equitable development and management of groundwater resources? To be able to adequately address the questions and devise intelligent answers, an analysis of the present impediments deserves attention. Only by clarifying the constraints and addressing them, will any significant changes be possible, let alone occur. This paper therefore emphasizes that the machinery of groundwater resources development and management needs an urgent overhauling with the aim of streamlining the overlapping functions of the various agencies that have operated the system up till now. More importantly, the paper suggested integrated approaches/strategies for sustainable management as well as offers some relevant policy recommendations for groundwater management in Nigeria. Key words: Groundwater resources, groundwater management, groundwater policy, sustainability, groundwater utilization, Nigeria.

Uncertainty in hydrogeological structures and properties has limited the effectiveness of traditional frameworks for aquifer characterization, groundwater monitoring and modelling in practical applications. How to properly deal with uncertainty is highly relevant for robust decision-making in sustainable management of groundwater resources, which are increasingly stressed between water use and climate change impacts for many drinking water supply sites worldwide that are strongly dependent on groundwater. Previous innovative studies, which rely strongly on the stochastic approach, are predominantly explored in synthetic and scientific cases, creating a gap in presenting how practical and efficient these frameworks can be at regional and local scales. In this work, we developed a holistic approach to better understand and manage uncertainties in hydrogeological structures and properties through groundwater flow modelling. We tested the developed approach for a local drinking water supply site in eastern Germany, which consists of a porous aquifer of glacial-fluvial unconsolidated sediments and is characterized by strong heterogeneity and anisotropy of its hydraulic properties. A large borehole dataset was analyzed to characterize the geological variability and form the basis for a detailed 3D subsurface model. Multiple subsurface structure realizations were generated using ArchPy to represent plausible hydrogeological interpretations of hydraulic conductivity and the groundwater flow dynamics were simulated using MODFLOW 6. The results highlight that hydrogeological uncertainty significantly affects simulated groundwater flow patterns and limits the reliability of deterministic models. The multi-model ensemble approach, incorporating probabilistic assessments, proved to be a robust framework for groundwater management in heterogeneous systems. More specifically, the results highlight the efficiency of the proposed approach to couple ArchPy with MODFLOW via FloPy to incorporate and acknowledge the propagated spatial uncertainty on simulated groundwater dynamics into a robust decision-making process of sustainable groundwater management. Furthermore, this research showed that a highly simplified or highly complex representation of hydraulic conductivity uncertainty almost equally leads to a less reliable and practical groundwater model. The study advances hydrogeological research by providing a practical approach to uncertainty in groundwater modelling that addresses some of the significant implications for sustainable water resource management and provides a framework that is transferable to similar systems facing challenges of aquifer variability and uncertainty.

Enhancing citizens' sense of personal responsibility and risk perception for promoting public participation in sustainable groundwater resource management in Rayong Groundwater Basin, Thailand

Accurate information about groundwater level prediction is crucial for effective planning and management of groundwater resources. In the present study, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN), optimized with a Genetic Algorithm (GA-ANN), was employed for seasonal groundwater table depth (GWTD) prediction in the area between the Ganga and Hindon rivers located in Uttar Pradesh State, India. A total of 18 models for both seasons (nine for the pre-monsoon and nine for the post-monsoon) have been formulated by using groundwater recharge (GWR), groundwater discharge (GWD), and previous groundwater level data from a 21-year period (1994–2014). The hybrid GA-ANN models’ predictive ability was evaluated against the traditional GA models based on statistical indicators and visual inspection. The results appraisal indicates that the hybrid GA-ANN models outperformed the GA models for predicting the seasonal GWTD in the study region. Overall, the hybrid GA-ANN-8 model with an 8-9-1 structure (i.e., 8: inputs, 9: neurons in the hidden layer, and 1: output) was nominated optimal for predicting the GWTD during pre- and post-monsoon seasons. Additionally, it was noted that the maximum number of input variables in the hybrid GA-ANN approach improved the prediction accuracy. In conclusion, the proposed hybrid GA-ANN model’s findings could be readily transferable or implemented in other parts of the world, specifically those with similar geology and hydrogeology conditions for sustainable planning and groundwater resources management.

The National Water Act (NWA) of 1998 has been promulgated in South Africa to support the attainment of sustainable water resource use. Before the Act was promulgated, landowners were entitled to unlimited groundwater use. The Act rectified this anomaly; however, the practical application of sustainable development concepts in groundwater resource management will be complex. A multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach was used to identify critical alternative courses of action and to develop a decision-making framework for sustainable groundwater management. Through applying the decision model described in this paper a number of strategies have been proposed which are aligned to the legislative requirements of the NWA. Water SA Vol. 32(2) 2006: pp.119-128

Efficacy of machine learning techniques in predicting groundwater fluctuations in agro-ecological zones of India

This study explores the groundwater potential in Aladja, Udu, Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria, using an integrated approach combining electrical resistivity techniques with Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) methods. The primary aim is to delineate aquifers and comprehensively assess groundwater resources. Methods include Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) to gather resistivity data, RS and GIS for analyzing geological and hydrological parameters such as lineament density, drainage density, slope, soil type, and land use. The resistivity values ranged from 147 to 460.50 Ωm, with aquifer thicknesses varying between 6.50 and 36.30 m. The RS and GIS analysis indicated high groundwater potential in regions characterized by significant lineament density and moderate slopes. The study highlights the complementarity of VES and RS/GIS in groundwater exploration, revealing substantial groundwater resources in the northwestern regions of the study area. This approach underscores the importance of integrating these methods for a more accurate assessment of groundwater potential. The novelty of this study lies in validating RS and GIS findings with VES data, ensuring reliable groundwater potential mapping and effective resource management. This integrated methodology offers a robust framework for sustainable groundwater resource assessment and management in similar geological settings.

Climate change induced effects on surface-water resources in Africa have been widely reported. However, characterising climate change effects on groundwater resources in the continent is largely complicated due to uncertainty and multi-scale heterogeneity in climate models. Thus, there is need to evaluate groundwater resources availability and sustainability in the continent under climate change scenario. This paper is an assessment of sustainable development and management of groundwater resources in Africa in relation to climate change. Current knowledge gaps and needs on climate change effects on groundwater resource availability and sustainability in Africa are presented.