Mixed-Unit-Model-Based and Quantitative Studies on Groundwater Recharging and Discharging between Aquifers of Aksu River

Abstract

The confined aquifer in the Aksu River Basin is the main aquifer for drinking water within the area. In this study, the unconfined aquifer and the confined aquifer in the Aksu River Basin were divided into different water circulation units through analysis of their flow field. After the hydrochemistry and isotope characteristics of each unit were analyzed, these data were used as water volume quantitative information of the aquifer according to the mixed-unit model. With this quantitative information, the transformation relationship between the unconfined aquifer and the confined aquifer, the recharging source, recharging amount, recharging proportion, and discharging amount of the confined aquifer were revealed. The results showed that the confined aquifer receives a recharge of 21.48 × 106 m3/a from the unconfined aquifer. The recharging sources of the confined aquifer in the middle and upper stream of the Aksu River mainly included side recharging and leakage recharging from the unconfined aquifer, while the confined aquifer received little recharging from unconfined aquifer downstream of the Aksu River and did not receive recharging from the unconfined aquifer in the southeast of the basin. Additionally, drainage methods of the confined aquifer were mainly lateral flowing and artificial well-group pumping. The side discharging volume through the whole area was 15.67 × 106 m3/a, and the artificial pumping volume was 21.20 × 106 m3/a. The confined aquifer was in a negative balance state from the middle-upper stream to the downstream. The downstream confined aquifer and its unconfined aquifer had a plane laminar flow movement, and the unconfined aquifer provided very little recharging to the confined one, which was further enhanced by the artificial well pumping and caused an accumulating negative balance state of the downstream aquifer.