Groundwater recharge to a structurally complex aquifer system on the island of Tobago (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago)

Abstract

Trinidad and Tobago is a developing two-island nation in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean. Tobago is the smaller island and has small highly heterogeneous aquifers composed of igneous and metamorphic crystalline rock with strong structural controls on the spatial distribution of permeability. Hydrogeologic analyses of the water budget and groundwater production suggest that portions of the island are underlain by prolific fractured-rock aquifer systems. This study quantifies the amount and spatial distribution of recharge, as well as the fraction of recharge captured by groundwater pumping, using historical data, new field data, remote sensing data, multiple storage quantification methods and stable isotope analysis. Despite extensive freshwater withdrawals, groundwater production reaches only ~10% of annual groundwater recharge. Groundwater capture zones are created using a first-order hydrologic balance approach and with backward particle tracking in a steady-state groundwater model. Both approaches to generating capture zones suggest that many wells capture water from outside their topographic watershed. The location of sustainable, high yield, fresh potable groundwater wells less than 1 km from the coast, that have fractured bedrock intakes well below sea level, supports the concept of a rigorous and active groundwater flow system. Understanding the hydrogeology of small bedrock island aquifers is critical to evaluating groundwater resources, especially in the Caribbean where there is strong seasonality in precipitation, finite surface-water storage and increases in potable water demand.