Importance of poroelastic coupling in dynamically active aquifers of the Po River Basin, Italy

Abstract

Uncoupling between the flow field and the stress field in pumped aquifers is the basis of the classical groundwater hydrology. Recently, some authors have disputed the assumption of uncoupling with regard to both fluid dynamics and porous medium deformation. The issue is very important as it could undermine the traditional approach to simulate subsurface flow, analyze pumping tests, and predict land subsidence caused by fluid withdrawal. The present paper addresses the problem of coupling versus uncoupling in the Po river plain, a normally consolidated and normally pressurized basin which has experienced in the last 50 years a pronounced pore pressure drawdown because of water and gas removal and where a large hydromechanical database is available from the ground surface down to 4000 m depth. A numerical study is performed which shows that the matrix which relates flow to stress is very similar to the capacity matrix of the uncoupled flow equation. A comparison of results obtained with the finite element integration of the coupled and uncoupled models indicates that pore pressure is rather insensitive to coupling anywhere within the pumped formation while in the adjacent aquitard‐aquifer units, coupling induces a slight overpressure which quickly dissipates in time with a small initial influence on medium deformation, and specifically on land subsidence. As a major consequence the uncoupled solutions to the fluid dynamic and the structural problems appear to be fully warranted on any timescale of practical interest in a typical normally consolidated and pressurized basin.