Groundwater Project Research Articles

The future is transient: Barriers and opportunities for improved UK water resource climate change assessments using the enhanced Future Flows and Groundwater (eFLaG) climate service products

AbstractUK water resources face a number of challenges when planning for an uncertain future. Climate change impacts and what future droughts might look like can be a significant contributor to this uncertainty. Recent and potential future developments (e.g. ever‐finer resolutions) in climate modelling offer the potential for running bias‐corrected transient future scenarios through hydrological, hydrogeological and water supply models, providing users with droughts of differing severity, frequency, spatial extent and duration to those experienced historically, incorporating changes over time and an understanding of climate model uncertainty. The recent enhanced Future Flows and Groundwater (eFLaG) project sought to demonstrate a climate service using these transient scenarios, with the aim of enhancing the resilience of the water industry to drought events and complementing existing approaches. The project demonstrated the use of this transient climate change information within a water resource setting, using a variety of hydrological and water resource models to help illuminate potential gaps and issues with such an approach. If we are to realise the potential of transient scenarios, a number of barriers – both scientific and organisational – need to be overcome. We present a road map for the future based on outcomes from the eFLaG project, as well as ways the eFLaG projections could be used to improve system resilience in the present.

Case Study of Emerging Groundwater Management Issues at the Forefront of Large-scale Production from a Confined Aquifer: The Vista Ridge Project

Continued population growth, increased demands for water and declining water availability are statewide water concerns in Texas. The development and movement of water from where it is to where it is needed brings with it benefits to the receiving area and concerns for the area of origin. The Vista Ridge project serves as an on-point example and case study of such concerns and processes that can mitigate, in part, negative impacts that are informative to other Texans who will soon be facing similar pressures.. Impacts on the water levels in existing wells made the Vista Ridge Project a focus of significant public discussion in 2022, including Texas House and Senate interim session hearings. This paper spotlights groundwater management issues prominent in the Vista Ridge Project that will likely be of concern with other Texas groundwater projects in the near future. These issues involve well mitigation, significant impacts from groundwater production across groundwater conservation district boundaries, meaningful consideration of nine factors in Texas Water Code §36.108(d), the balance between limiting groundwater production, development of fair share doctrines, the role of the Texas Water Development Board in the

Prediction of groundwater quality index to assess suitability for drinking purpose using averaged neural network and geospatial analysis

Groundwater quality management is pivotal for ensuring public health and ecological resilience. However, the conventional water quality indices often face challenges related to parameter selection, geographic coverage, and scalability. The integration of machine learning and spatial analysis represents a promising methodological shift, allowing for high accuracy and adaptive management strategies. The Safe Groundwater Project in Unsupplied Areas (2017–2020) employed a comprehensive Groundwater Quality Index (GQI) to evaluate potable groundwater quality across South Korea, utilizing a large dataset comprising 28 water quality parameters and 3552 wells. This study revealed that over 50 % of the evaluated wells (Total 8326 wells) were inappropriate as sources of drinking water, indicating a pressing need for policy revision. The averaged neural network model achieved a high predictive accuracy of approximately 95 % for GQI grades, outperforming other classification models. The introduction of 2D spatial analysis in conjunction with machine learning algorithms notably increased the predictive accuracy for unevenly distributed groundwater samples. Moreover, this combined approach enabled the intuitive visualization of groundwater vulnerability across various regions, which can inform targeted interventions for effective resource allocation and management. This research represents a methodologically robust, interdisciplinary approach that holds significant implications for a framework for future groundwater quality management and vulnerability assessment.

Review of Colloid (Nano‐ and Micro‐Particle) Transport and Surface Interaction in Groundwater. William P. Johnson and Eddy F. Pazmino. The Groundwater Project. 111 pp. ISBN: 978‐1‐77470‐070‐9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21083/978‐1‐77470‐070‐9

Review of <i>Colloid (Nano‐ and Micro‐Particle) Transport and Surface Interaction in Groundwater</i>. William P. Johnson and Eddy F. Pazmino. The Groundwater Project. 111 pp. ISBN: 978‐1‐77470‐070‐9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21083/978‐1‐77470‐070‐9

Imperative Causes of Cost Overruns and Delay in Construction of Groundwater Projects in Nigeria

Imperative Causes of Cost Overruns and Delay in Construction of Groundwater Projects in Nigeria

Creating collaboration for contentious projects on managed aquifer recharge: two cases from Finland

In Finland, community water supply has increasingly relied on natural groundwater and artificially recharged groundwater as the raw water source. Several managed aquifer recharge (MAR) projects have been co-created with involved parties and have proceeded well, while some cases have raised considerable resistance among the stakeholders. It seems that success or failure in MAR cooperation is related to management cultures and the ways in which various interests are taken into account, from the very beginning and throughout the process. Empirically, this paper builds on comparison between two conflictual case studies in Finland: one in the Tampere region and the other in the Turku region. The study analyses the major constraints of these projects through the lens of collaborative rationality, also drawing upon discourse analysis and negotiation theory. The material is gathered through thematic interviews of stakeholders, newspaper articles and a stakeholder workshop. The results indicate that conventional management approaches, drawing from expert-based instrumental rationality, were insufficient in both cases. The collaborative rationality framework suggests that legitimacy for the groundwater projects should be gained through joint knowledge production and inclusive multiparty interaction for creating options for collaboration. Both cases lacked the tools and know-how for authentic dialogue and collaboration. The emerging paradigm emphasizes more collaborative approaches for natural resources management and urban planning. While MAR projects operate inside these areas and are highly complex in nature, it is essential to embrace the emerging paradigm in order to promote MAR systems along with their huge potential.

Groundwater resource exploration & development – Focus on groundwater to support surface water supply in the Lower Olifants River, South Africa

Many South-African towns in the Western Cape Province are dependent on surface water resources to satisfy the ever-increasing water demand. In recent years, the effects of climate change on the environment has challenged these areas continually and recently led to calls for major changes in water management. The Lower Olifants River Water Management Area experienced an extreme drought that persisted from 2016 to 2018, which led to the need for development of groundwater resources. The local economy of the Lower Olifants River is dependent on water releases from the Clanwilliam and Bulshoek Dams, located within the Olifants River Syncline (ORS), where ‘megafault’ zones form preferred flowpaths for groundwater in the Table Mountain Group (TMG) aquifers. The Lower Olifants River Water User Association (LORWUA) was mandated to proceed with the exploration and development of these aquifers to supplement the existing water use of the LORWUA. This will be available during periods of less rainfall and therefore increase the security of the water supplied. The groundwater project aimed at exploring and developing the fractured rock aquifers of the Peninsula (Op) and Skurweberg (Ss) Formations contained within the TMG. Through a high-level desktop assessment, remote sensing investigations and geophysical ground surveys, several target areas and drilling priorities were identified to obtain high borehole yields that access the resource in proximity to existing surface infrastructure. The projected water need from the groundwater resource was 8.6 million cubic metres per annum (Mm3/a). Faults/structure zones were the main hydrogeological targets, with drill target depths of structures planned for intersection deeper than 100 m below ground level (mbgl). Down-hole camera work and initial aquifer testing concluded that deep geological contact zones are prone to collapse when flow is induced in water-bearing fractures. This indicated the need for production borehole construction, even prior to aquifer testing for yield estimates. A major concern still to be resolved is the availability of water in storage and the realistic expectations of the well field over time. Although individual borehole testing provided information on the properties of specific water-bearing structures, long-term monitoring will provide a better understanding of the aquifer in response to abstraction and recovery in times of rest. The operating rules for the conjunctive use of the well field developed, with the existing surface water scheme, is still to be defined and modelled for optimisation, pending long-term monitoring.

Are Groundwater Level Data Collected by Citizen Scientists Trustworthy? A Cautionary Tale.

Public participation in groundwater projects is increasing, however, the efficacy of the data collected in such studies, is not well-documented in the literature. In this study, the authors describe a citizen science project focused on measuring and recording groundwater levels in an aquifer and evaluate whether the groundwater data collected by the participants are trustworthy. A total of 31 participants were initially recruited to measure and record groundwater levels from 29 monitoring wells on a barrier island. Following recruitment, the authors provided training to the citizen scientists by introducing groundwater concepts, and showing the participants how to measure, record and report groundwater level data (over an 81-day period) with an electronic water level meter. The water level data recorded by the citizen scientists (i.e., 35 time series datasets with over 450 unique measurements) were then compared to high frequency data recorded by automated water level loggers that were already deployed in the groundwater monitoring wells to assess the trustworthiness of the data. Trustworthiness was evaluated using measures of reliability (i.e., consistency in measuring the same thing), validity (i.e., degree to which results are truthful), and other standard graphical and statistical techniques. The results suggest that with proper training, guidance, and motivation, citizen scientists can collect trustworthy groundwater level data that could be useful for monitoring the sustainability of aquifers and managing of groundwater levels. It is noted however, that such positive outcomes require significant investments of time and effort on the part of the project managers.

Land subsidence and managed aquifer recharge in Pingtung Plain, Taiwan

Abstract. Taiwan is an oceanic nation with an area of approximately 36 000 km2. The Central Mountain Range was formed by the Eurasian and Philippine plates and stretches along the entire island from north to south, along the entire island, thus forming a natural line of demarcation for rivers on the eastern and western sides of the island. Pingtung Plain is formed by Quaternary alluvial fan material from the three main rivers. The aquifers comprise very coarse permeable sands and gravels under phreatic conditions in the north and less permeable sands under confined or even artesian conditions in the southern part of Pingtung Plain. The natural groundwater source is mainly from direct rainfall percolation and infiltration from the three main rivers, with their catchments lying partly outside the plain. The uncontrolled development of groundwater resources has led to undesirable effects, especially in the south, where aquaculture is concentrated. These effects are land subsidence, saline water intrusion, and lowering of water tables. It is thus one of the important key strategies in the solution of land subsidence, water resource development and flood control for sustainable development named Benefited Water Reuse from Storm Water in Pingtung, Taiwan. A serious of studies for this issue has been carried out. The feasibility study phase of the Artificial Recharge of Groundwater Project (ARGP) for Pingtung, Taiwan, was then implemented in 1997 using a MODFLOW simulation and an optimal model. Through the managed aquifer recharge model, the aquifer storage increases and the inundation scale decreases with land subsidence of the coastal area, as aimed at by the purpose of the controlled groundwater level. Infiltration mechanism simulation of artificial groundwater recharge, with the TOUGH2 model, was used to simulate the high infiltration behaviour in sequence in 2010. Both publications have been confirmed and approved by the Central Government and then approved by the environmental impact assessment. The ARGP was then implemented in May 2018 and operated for one wet season for the first phase with 50 ha and a total of 300 ha from May to October 2018. The sedimentation over the top of the recharge basin forms the clogging mechanism which has been analysed. The operation experience can further provide the mechanism process for research reference. The project, once implemented, can improve and mitigate land subsidence as well as formulate water banks for adapting and managing aquifer recharge.

Efficiency of tube settler at various angle of inclinations in controlled discharges

High-rate tube settlers are a cost-effective way to update and improve the capacity and efficiency of treatment plants, particularly sedimentation tanks. They take up far less area than traditional sedimentation tanks, in addition to being more efficient. For the Nayabazar Townplanning Groundwater Project (NTGWP), the study aims to calculate the turbidity removal efficiency of tube settlers at various angles of inclination with changing discharge . The study has been carried out at varying flows of 560 lit/min, 630 lit/min, and 690 lit/min for the 77° inclination angle and 60° inclination angle, and the data were analyzed to find the best flow conditions. The removal efficiencies of tube settlers increased for each flow condition at 60º inclination compared to 77° inclination, but decreased as the discharge increased.

Locating groundwater artificial recharge sites using random forest: a case study of Shabestar region, Iran

One of the most crucial design steps to guarantee the long life and the sustainability of artificial recharge of groundwater projects is to find the best locations. The present study focuses on identifying potential zones of groundwater artificial recharge in Shabestar region, northwest of Iran. For this purpose, random forest (RF) model, a learning method based on ensemble decision trees, was proposed for locating groundwater artificial recharge. Important factors, including slope and slope aspect, soil texture, erosion, land use, groundwater quality, permeability and geological lithology were integrated in a geographic information science (GIS). According to RF model, permeability and unsaturated zone thickness were identified as the most effective parameters for locating groundwater artificial recharge sites. Based on the proposed model, it was found that 14% of the region is located in suitable site for groundwater artificial recharge projects. The accuracy of the model was evaluated with receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the mean squared error (MSE). Low MSE and ROC curve of the model with the highest area under curve equal to 0.947, indicated high accuracy of random forest in locating groundwater artificial recharge.

VTEM ET: An improved helicopter time-domain EM system for near surface applications

Sampling the earliest possible transient EM decay in time-domain airborne electromagnetic data (TDEM) is critical for shallow near surface applications. In an effort to further improve near-surface resolution, starting in late 2015 and into 2016, Geotech continued by developing its new VTEM ET system that uses a re-designed broadband receiver sensor, a re-configured transmitter system, and a new digital acquisition system to achieve precise, distortion free measurements of the time-domain EM decay as early as 0.005 msec after the transmitter turn-off. The new receiver features a much larger frequency bandwidth for lower distortion measurements. The new transmitter delivers a sufficiently high dipole moment, a long pulse-width and faster turn-off time than previous systems, but similarly using a single transmitter pulse. The new digital acquisition system operates at a much higher sampling rate, with significantly more decay channels, particularly in early times, and with low noise levels. The result is a new category of VTEM system that is specifically is designed for precise near-surface applications, such as groundwater and environmental problems, but also with sufficient depth of investigation. We present forward modelling and field survey test results comparing the VTEM ET system with our standard VTEM Plus system with full-waveform processing over a groundwater project with ground geophysical and borehole controls in the upper 30-50 metres.

Greening campus experience: moving towards living laboratory action plan

Sustainability is a growing priority for higher education institutions around the world. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) through UTM Campus Sustainability Office ready to transform the campus as platform to inculcate the sustainability mind set of young people through education and empowering them to continue living the values in the future as stated in Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) development plan. In 2010, among the first institution supporting UI GreenMetric auditing, UTM was positioned at rank 85, and then gradually improving the performance to position ourself to rank 66 in 2017. To boost this effort, sustainability elements have been implemented in Universiti Global Plan III (2018-2020) and UTM Master Plan 2017-2037. One of the main strength of UTM in UI GreenMetric evaluation components is Setting and Infrastructure that incorporates environmental and social considerations in addition to the traditional cost, time and quality. Improvement through transnational researches which is under Water and Energy Nexus projects such as biomass utilization and groundwater projects are escalating the efforts. For developing more robust approach, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) has been incorporated in to six Living Labs (LL) initiatives. Positioning in global branding, integration across campus and regional level networking was aimed to leverage currents assets into further opportunities for research, teaching and institutional development.

Project Management Practice in Groundwater Construction Project in Ghana

The implementation of good project management practice effectively, is a way of improving future projects especially in groundwater construction projects. The lack of good project management principles may cause project delays, and higher costs. A fundamental principle of project management is that any project, regardless of its size or type, consists of three components: scope, budget, and schedule. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and examine how project Management practice in groundwater construction projects in Ghana. The research focuses on the issues of management practice in groundwater construction projects in order to recommend ways of improving management practices. The data were collected through a questionnaire survey sent to the managers, consultants and client’s representative who had been involved in the construction of groundwater projects in Ghana. The survey covered the project management lifecycle: project initiation, planning, executing, monitoring/controlling the closing/evaluating processes of the project. The result of the data analysis reveals that: all three groups (managers, consultant and clients representative) generally agreed that most of the problems in the groundwater construction projects are human and management related. Furthermore, the results indicated that most of the projects did not have project management processes and procedures. The paper concludes with recommendations that the scope of the project is defined and a project management plan is developed be taken in the early stages (conceptual and planning, and evaluating phases) of the groundwater construction projects.

Geophysical and Hydrogeological Groundwater Prospectivity Mapping in the Kraaipan Granite-Greenstone Terrain, Southeast Botswana

Application of regional geophysical methods for hydrogeological purposes has increased over the last two decades especially in arid and semi-arid areas. A project to map the Kraaipan granite-greenstone terrain in southeast Botswana has recently been undertaken using regional aeromagnetic and gravity data with the aim to map the rocks at depth to understand the geology while the secondary objective was to subsequently assess the mineralization and groundwater potential in the area. An integrated analysis of the aeromagnetic and gravity data and their derived/processed products is hereby investigated for groundwater for drinking and agricultural purposes. The studies include: subsurface characterisation and delineation of structural framework suitable for groundwater exploration and determination of petrophysical relationships used to link the geophysical properties (e.g., density) to hydrological properties (e.g., porosity). The results of interpretation indicate that the rocks are under ~50 m of Kalahari cover and the study area is composed of three aquifers: the extensive hard rock aquifer (granitic and volcanic), the important (fractured) karst aquifer and the minor sedimentary aquifer. The area is dissected by an ENE-to-EW-trending dyke swarm visible on the regional aeromagnetic data and much clearer on high resolution aeromagnetic data. Minor fault and/or dyke elements of NW-SE and NE-SW trend are observed. Spectral analysis reveals three main average ensample interfaces at depths of 0.7 km, 1.99 km and 4.8 km. The linear Euler solutions maps reveal that the majority depths to top of magnetic bodies range from 40 m to 400 m throughout the survey area. The shallowest depths are the most significant one in this case as they probably relate to depth of bedrock and thickness of regolith or thickest sediments. For 2695 existing boreholes analysed, maximum borehole depth is 482 m (mean 108 m), and almost half (1263) were dry with another 972 having low yield (1 - 5 m3/hr) and 432 yielding 6 - 49 m3/hr and only 28 above 50 m3/hr (maximum ~160 m3/hr) and an average water strike of 64 m. There is very little correlation between interpreted hydrogeological features and the existing borehole locations. The study shows the importance of preliminary geophysical investigations before ground borehole siting and drilling in order to improve borehole success rates and/or reduce costs inherent in groundwater projects.

Conjunctive Water Use Optimization for Watershed-Lake Water Distribution System under Uncertainty: a Case Study

In this research, a large-scale inexact optimization method was developed for the conjunctive use management of a watershed-lake water distribution system. The modeling framework has the advantages in taking into account the water balance of multi-reservoirs, satisfying the municipal industrial and agricultural water demands in the multi-period context, reflecting the relationship among multi-reservoirs, multiple water related projects, and maintaining the operational rules of certain lake levels. Moreover, such a method can also handle the uncertainty expressed as fuzzy membership functions through integrating the fuzzy credibility chance-constrained programming. The developed method was applied to the conjunctive use management of water resources in the lake Dianchi watershed, China. Cost-effective water allocation schemes for the groundwater project and the water transfer project, and optimal operational rules for the lake and multiple reservoirs were successfully obtained. Also, the annual water balance of the watershed-lake system and the system cost of the conjunctive water use were investigated and analyzed under multiple credibility levels of meeting the water demands for municipal, industrial and agricultural users.

Capture Zone of a Multi-Well System in Bounded Rectangular-Shaped Aquifers: Modeling and Application

The capture zone equations of a multi-well system in bounded confined and unconfined aquifers are derived. The aquifer is rectangular-shaped in plan view and bounded along all four sides. The boundaries could be in-flow (constant head) or no-flow (barrier) or a combination of both, and hence, six boundary configurations are formed. Using the method of images, the flow field in bounded aquifers is first transformed to its equivalent in extensive aquifers, and then, the complex velocity potential theory is applied for the generation of stream function delineating the capture envelope. We show that the derived solution is general, and it may be easily reformulated for some existing solutions of well capture zone. Our solution is flexible in terms of well number, well location, well type, extraction/injection rate, uniform regional flow rate and direction, and number of boundaries. The derived equations are presented in the form of capture type curves that may be used for the remediation of contaminated groundwater project design, containment of contaminant plumes, the evaluation of surface–subsurface water interaction, and the verification of numerical models. Drawdown equations for the above six boundary configurations are also derived.

A General Analytical Capture Zone model: A Tool for Groundwater Remediation

The capture zone equations of a multi-well system in bounded confined and unconfined aquifers are derived. The aquifer is rectangular shaped in plan view and bounded along all four sides. The boundaries could be in-flow (constant head) or no-flow (barrier) or a combination of both and hence six boundary configurations are formed. Using the image well theory the flow field in bounded aquifers is first transformed to its equivalent in extensive aquifers and then the complex velocity potential theory is applied for the generation of stream function delineating the capture envelope. We show that the derived solution is general and it may be easily reformulated for some existing solutions of capture zone. Our solution is flexible in terms of well number, well location, well type, extraction/injection rate, uniform regional flow rate and direction and number of boundaries. The derived equations are presented in form of dimensionless capture type curves that may be used for the remediation of contaminated groundwater project design, containment of contaminant plumes and the evaluation of surface-subsurface water interaction.

Getting Information from Modal Decomposition of Grain Size Distribution Curves

Abstract Soil samples may be difficult-to-identify mixtures of different layers. For environmental and groundwater projects, a detailed stratigraphy is needed because the coarse layers are highways for both water and dissolved contaminants. The paper proposes a method to decompose a grain size distribution curve (GSDC) into its 1, 2, or 3 log-normal components and their proportions. The proposed method can accurately decompose synthetic mixes of three lognormal modes, except when a mode contributes for less than about 2 %. In such a case, it is suggested to ignore this mode and describe the mix as a two mode mix. An example is given for an experimental site with many split-spoon soil samples. The suspected stratification was confirmed by the decomposition method, which found mixtures of only two soil components, fine sand and clayey silt, each of them with little variability. The large-scale permeability, as provided by a pumping test, corresponds to the horizontally composed permeability of the soil components: thus, it confirms the adequacy of the soil sample decomposition method.

Author's response to comments on “The future we want: Growth or sustainable development?”

Groundwater is both an invaluable and a vulnerable resource. Aquifer resources management, aiming at the responsible exploitation and adequate protection of the groundwater resources, is therefore of key importance and has to be based on sound hydrological, environmental, economic and social principles. Aquifer-wide groundwater projects are carried out to collect the required area-specific information, to understand ongoing processes, to identify the management issues to be addressed and to develop an adequate management strategy and action plan. The quality of the project results depends to a large extent on the science and methodologies adopted in the design and used during the implementation of the projects. In this context, a project was carried out recently to analyse the scientific aspects of—among others—the transboundary aquifer projects within the IW: Portfolio of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and to make recommendations for scientific strengthening and innovation. This paper presents the main outcomes of this analysis.In order to accomplish groundwater resources management goals in the case of transboundary aquifers, a balanced joint strategy is needed. Analysis of documentation on completed and on-going transboundary aquifer projects has shown a wide range of scientific activities that contribute positively to the development of such strategies. This analysis has also identified options for increasing the positive impacts of science on strategy development; some of these options have been pioneered already and deserve wider application other ones are relatively new. Important options are: integrating transboundary aquifer resource management in a wider environmental–socio-economical context (holistic approach); exploring causal chains to better understand the processes of change of groundwater resources; using this improved understanding for optimising groundwater assessment and monitoring programmes; and adaptive management. In addition, to obtain maximum benefit of the scientific results there is a general need to promote effective communication at all levels, between the scientific community and policy-/decision makers, as well as with the local community who have a major role to play in the use and conservation of the resources. All of this should be accompanied by the harmonisation of the legal instruments and co-operation agreements between countries and the communities involved.Two case studies, one in South America and one in Southern Africa, are added as examples of the setting and approach of the analysed transboundary aquifer projects.