A framework for quantitative analysis of surface water‐groundwater interaction: Flow geometry in a vertical section

Abstract

A numerical model is used to examine groundwater flow in vertical section near surface water bodies, such as lakes, wetlands, ponds, rivers, canals, and drainage and irrigation channels. Solutions are generated partly by superposition to achieve computational efficiency. A large number of flow regimes are identified, with their characteristics controlled by regional water table gradients, recharge to the aquifer, water body length, aquifer anisotropy, and the hydraulic resistance of the bottom sediments. Different flow regimes are distinguished by the presence and nature of groundwater mounds or depressions near the edges of a surface water body and by corresponding stagnation points. Ranges of values for dimensionless flow parameters over which particular regimes occur are determined for six representative geometries and presented in the form of transition diagrams. Increasing anisotropy or sediment resistance and decreasing the length of a water body relative to aquifer thickness are shown to have similar effects on flow geometry, the main effect being an increasing tendency for stagnation points to form in the interior of the aquifer. Flow‐through behavior becomes more prevalent with decreasing anisotropy and sediment resistance and increasing water body length.