Model-derived estimates of groundwater mean ages, recharge rates, effective porosities and storage in a limestone aquifer

Abstract

The Edwards aquifer of south-central Texas, U.S.A., a highly fractured and faulted group of limestone formations, is the major water supply for the San Antonio area. A discrete-state compartment (DSC) model or mixing-cell model, based upon the conservation of environmental tritium within the aquifer, was used to obtain estimates of groundwater mean ages, recharge, effective porosities and storage in the Edwards aquifer in the vicinity of San Antonio, Texas. The model was calibrated and validated with the spatial and temporal (1953–1971) distributions of environmental 3H (tritium) in the groundwater. The final model consisted of 34 cells; eight of these cells represented the unconfined portion of the Edwards aquifer in the vicinity of the Balcones fault zone, an area where recharge occurs via streamflow infiltration and direct infiltration of precipitation. The model confirmed previous analyses of flow in the Edwards system: generally parallel to the Balcones fault zone with restricted flow perpendicular to this zone. Groundwater mean ages ranged from 16 to over 130 yr. The storage volume of the confined portion of the Edwards aquifer is ∼ 30.9 km 3, which corresponds to an average effective porosity of 4.8% (range: 1.9–8%). The average annual recharge to the Edwards aquifer during the period 1953–1971 was 0.614 km 3. The study demonstrated that discrete-state compartment models calibrated and validated with environmental tritium distributions can yield valuable hydrogeologic information that is difficult or expensive to obtain using traditional techniques. The approach used in the study is particularly suited to limestone aquifers, which are normally extremely difficult to analyze with traditional methods.