Rain and channel flow supplements to subsurface water beneath hyper-arid ephemeral stream channels

Abstract

Summary In hyper-arid regions, ephemeral stream channels are important sources of subsurface recharge and water supply for riparian vegetation, but few studies have documented the subsurface water content dynamics of these systems. This study examines ephemeral channels in the hyper-arid western Sonoran Desert, USA to determine how frequently water recharges the alluvial fill and identify variables that affect the depth and persistence of recharge. Precipitation, stream stage, and subsurface water content measurements were collected over a three-year study at six channels with varying contributing areas and thicknesses of alluvial fill. All channels contain coarse alluvium composed primarily of sands and gravels, and some locations also have localized layers of fine sediment at 2–3 m depth. Rain alone contributed 300–400 mm of water input to these channels over three years, but water content responses were only detected for 36% of the rain events at 10 cm depth, indicating that much of the rain water was either quickly evaporated or taken up by plants. Pulses of water from rain events were detected only in the top meter of alluvium. The sites each experienced ⩽5 brief flow events, which caused transient saturation that usually lasted only a few hours longer than flow. These events were the only apparent source of water to depths >1 m, and water from flow events quickly percolated past the deepest measurement depths (0.5–3 m). Sustained saturation in the shallow subsurface only developed where there was a near-surface layer of finer consolidated sediments that impeded deep percolation.