Analytical studies on transient groundwater flow induced by land reclamation

Abstract

In many coastal areas, land has been reclaimed by dumping fill materials into the sea. Land reclamation may have a significant effect on groundwater regimes, especially when the reclamation is at large scale. Analytical studies on the impact of land reclamation on steady‐state ground water flow conditions were conducted previously, but transient analytical solutions are not yet available. Transient analytical solutions are derived to illustrate the temporal change of groundwater systems in response to land reclamation using two hypothetical models: a hillside aquifer and an oceanic elongated island. The analytical solutions show that when time is short, the water level in the reclaimed area increases significantly after reclamation while that in the original aquifer remains almost unchanged. When time is great, the change of water level in the reclaimed site becomes small but the increase of water level propagates into the original aquifer. For the specific parameters and aquifer geometry used in the examples, it takes at least over 100 years for the whole system to approach a new equilibrium. The island example demonstrates that land reclamation on one side of the island will eventually modify the groundwater regimes over the entire island, including the water level, water divide, and submarine groundwater discharge. The degree of the modification of the groundwater system and the time required for the system to approach a new equilibrium depend mainly on the hydraulic conductivity and storativity of the fill materials and the reclamation length. It is suggested that for a large reclamation project, the response of the groundwater regime to reclamation should be studied in detail to evaluate the long‐term change of the flow system and the consequent environmental and engineering impacts.