Groundwater recharge assessment in dry years

Justyna Kubicz,Joanna Kajewska-Szkudlarek,Paweł Bronisław Dąbek,Ireneusz Kajewski

doi:10.1007/s12665-019-8565-9

Abstract

The climate change that has been observed in recent years has affected the water balance, including the groundwater resources recharge. The paper is an attempt to evaluate the groundwater recharge in dry years. The initial stage of the research consisted of selecting the years when meteorological and hydrological droughts occurred, with use of the standardized indices Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Water Level Index (SWI). With the use of the WetSpass model for selected periods and for comparative long-term periods the volume of groundwater recharge was estimated. It was determined that the meteorological drought of 1982 led to a considerable decrease in the mean groundwater recharge to a negative level in the summer half-year in the Western Pomeranian region in Poland. On the other hand, the winter season was characterised by positive values, but they were still lower than those characteristic for the comparative long-term periods. The hydrological drought in 1992 did not have such noticeable consequences.

Highlights

Groundwater is one of the natural resources that are the most important for human and for the environment
In spite of reservations made by certain authors, who pointed to the potential limitations of the application of this indicator (Bloomfield and Marchant 2013) it is recommended by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for operational monitoring of drought risk (2012)
This selection was dictated by the results of Standardized Precipitation Index and Standardized Water Level Index analyses on a 1 year scale in the analysed area

Summary

Introduction

Groundwater is one of the natural resources that are the most important for human and for the environment. They provide potable water supply as well as water for industrial and agricultural use. Groundwater recharge is an informative indicator of the water located beneath the ground surface. It has a direct impact on the volume of groundwater renewable supplies and, to a large extent, determines the degree of groundwater vulnerability to contamination. It is of vital importance from the point of view of assessing the supplies, as well as protecting them against pollutants which penetrate an aquifer (Staśko et al 2012)

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Conclusion