Abstract
Abstract. We study the relation between surface infiltration and groundwater recharge during managed aquifer recharge (MAR) with desalinated seawater in an infiltration pond, at the Menashe site that overlies the northern part of the Israeli Coastal Aquifer. We monitor infiltration dynamics at multiple scales (up to the scale of the entire pond) by measuring the ponding depth, sediment water content and groundwater levels, using pressure sensors, single-ring infiltrometers, soil sensors, and observation wells. During a month (January 2015) of continuous intensive MAR (2.45 × 106 m3 discharged to a 10.7 ha area), groundwater level has risen by 17 m attaining full connection with the pond, while average infiltration rates declined by almost 2 orders of magnitude (from ∼ 11 to ∼ 0.4 m d−1). This reduction can be explained solely by the lithology of the unsaturated zone that includes relatively low-permeability sediments. Clogging processes at the pond-surface – abundant in many MAR operations – are negated by the high-quality desalinated seawater (turbidity ∼ 0.2 NTU, total dissolved solids ∼ 120 mg L−1) or negligible compared to the low-permeability layers. Recharge during infiltration was estimated reasonably well by simple analytical models, whereas a numerical model was used for estimating groundwater recharge after the end of infiltration. It was found that a calibrated numerical model with a one-dimensional representative sediment profile is able to capture MAR dynamics, including temporal reduction of infiltration rates, drainage and groundwater recharge. Measured infiltration rates of an independent MAR event (January 2016) fitted well to those calculated by the calibrated numerical model, showing the model validity. The successful quantification methodologies of the temporal groundwater recharge are useful for MAR practitioners and can serve as an input for groundwater flow models.
Highlights
Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is a common practice in water resources management in which excess water is stored in the aquifers for future consumption
Between the years 2000 and 2013 MAR in the Israeli Coastal Aquifer was mostly (88 %) from the soil aquifer treatment ponds at the Shafdan sites, where secondary effluents are delivered into infiltration ponds for tertiary treatment
In this paper we focus on infiltration and recharge dynamics during MAR with desalinated seawater (DSW)
Summary
Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is a common practice in water resources management in which excess water is stored in the aquifers for future consumption. In the Israeli Coastal Aquifer, MAR started in 1958 with Lake Kinneret water, surface runoff, and carbonateaquifer groundwater as the recharge sources (Sellinger and Aberbach, 1973). Between the years 2000 and 2013 MAR in the Israeli Coastal Aquifer was mostly (88 %) from the soil aquifer treatment ponds at the Shafdan sites, where secondary effluents are delivered into infiltration ponds for tertiary treatment. The remaining MAR can be primarily attributed to storm runoff according to the seasonal rainfall (Israel Hydrological Service, 2013). Desalinated seawater – a relatively new water source in Israel (Stanhill et al, 2015) – has been occasionally used as source water for MAR
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