Total Groundwater Resources Research Articles

Hydrological response of the largest inland tectonic basin in Japan

The Itoigawa-Shizuoka tectonic line formed the largest inland tectonic basin in Japan. Taking advantage of the characteristics of the large tectonic basin, this study aims to clarify the hydrological response related to groundwater recharge and discharge in this area from field measurements such as monthly spring discharge measurements in the spring belt, infiltration measurements of irrigation recharge in rice paddy fields and analysis of stable isotopic ratios of oxygen and hydrogen. Volumetric water flow measurements in the tectonic basin demonstrate that the hydrological response function (HRF) is expressed as a linear equation. Despite the complex topography and geology of the mountain catchment and artificial recharge within the basin, this HRF is maintained, except for forced artificial irrigation in August when the natural water supply is significantly reduced, and except in March and April when snowmelt flows into the river. This study clarifies that monthly fluctuations in total groundwater flow within a basin can be estimated by applying HRF to monitoring data of total surface flow at the farthest downstream. The field measurements demonstrate that the rainfall in the mountain catchment area and artificial irrigation recharge in the basin greatly influence the fluctuation of groundwater flow rate, especially on the fluctuation of the spring water in the spring belt. Field data inferred that the frequent depletion of the springs in the inland tectonic basin, where all groundwater emerges at the most downstream, depends on the rapid decline in annual rainfall in mountain catchment areas. These observations suggest that the total groundwater resource in this region was affected not only by reduced irrigation recharge due to the historical paddy acreage reduction program implemented in Japan from 1971 to 2018, and by excessive groundwater extraction, but also by rapid decline in annual rainfall in mountain catchments that occurs non-periodically.

Study on the Carrying Capacity and Change Trend of Groundwater Resources in Coal Mining Area: A Case Study of a Coal Mine in Northwest China

The groundwater resources carrying capacity is a comprehensive metric that assesses the ability of groundwater resources in a region to support industrial production and socioeconomic development. In arid regions, the calculation and analysis of the carrying capacity of groundwater resources are of paramount importance for guiding sustainable mining practices in coal mines. This study utilized a combination of the Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE) method and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to analyze the carrying capacity of groundwater resources in the coal mine located in northwest China. The results showed that the groundwater resources carrying capacity in the study coal mine was at a low level from 2011 to 2020 and the development and utilization of groundwater will reach its limit. The change trend of the carrying capacity showed a slight increase following a decline, with the highest value 0.5021 and the lowest 0.3518. The factors that significantly impacted the size of the carrying capacity included the total groundwater resources, the degree of groundwater development and utilization, and the per unit GDP of water consumption. To ensure sustainable development, the optimization of coal mining technology and the improvement of groundwater utilization efficiency should be promoted, while the rate of groundwater development should be slowed. The findings of this study offer valuable insights for guiding the sustainable development of groundwater resources in the coal mine of arid areas in the future and have practical implications.

Multi-objective optimization of the coastal groundwater abstraction for striking the balance among conflicts of resource-environment-economy in Longkou City, China

Rational coastal groundwater planning is of great significance to freshwater supply for sustainable social-economic development, and to environmental protection in case of seawater intrusion (SI). Quantifying the relation among groundwater quality, quantity, and the related social-economic benefits in a coastal region with intense spatio-temporal variation in groundwater abstraction is helpful to the restoration of the coastal aquifer, and the practical policymaking. However, due to the comprehensive reality involving interdisciplinary principles, it is usually difficult to integrate all the main attributes of groundwater resources into a mono-policymaking process, which might lead to biased decisions, producing a series of adverse impacts on the environment and the social economy. This study thereby develops a combined simulation-optimization model (S-O model) in the coastal part of Longkou City, China, for striking the balance among the three main attributes of groundwater, i.e., the groundwater quantity, groundwater quality or its environmental function, and its related economic yield involving the agricultural and industrial sectors. It is seen that the industrial sector contributed over 80% of the economic yield by consuming over 10% of the total groundwater resource, and the massive agricultural use of groundwater was mainly responsible for the SI. The results of the multi-objective optimization provided practical alternative schemes for groundwater abstraction in terms of maximizing economic yield and minimizing SI. Moreover, the decision discrepancy caused by partial management only considering the groundwater quantity and quality would lower the water use efficiency, and then cause unacceptable economic losses for the enterprises and the government. Our research highlights that the interdisciplinary management of groundwater resources based on the S-O model could significantly improve practicability in groundwater policymaking, and provides a typical reference for the other developing regions facing difficulty in groundwater management during coastal urban planning and economic transformation.

Estimating groundwater resources of the Içá-Solimões Aquifer System in the Urucu Oil Province Central Amazon Region, Brazil, focused on a balance between availability and water demand

ABSTRACT Hydrogeologic information is still scarce in the Amazon region being required more studies for improving the understanding of local hydrogeologic contexts. The goal of this paper, focused on the Urucu Oil Province, Brazilian Central Amazon, is to quantitatively estimate groundwater resources of the Içá-Solimões Aquifer System (ISAS) in the region. The work focuses on a balance between availability and water demand, considering current and future uses, contributing to a sustainable and integrated use of groundwater. Cartographic, lithologic and geophysical logs were analyzed coupled with ISAS hydraulic data (transmissivity, hydraulic conductivity, and storativity) and its local aquifer geometries, as well as the potentiometric surface map to estimate values of total and renewable groundwater resources, sustainable yields, and well-field facility capacities. Results showed the portion of the Içá-Solimões Aquifer System has a total groundwater resource of 0.45 km3. As there is a groundwater consumptive projection to 2050 close to 2.7 x 10-3 km3 yr–1 and the aquifer system has a sustainable yield of 3 x 10-3 km3 yr–1, the current resource allocation for future consumption rate appears to be sustainable.

Quantifying the Degree of Water Resource Utilization Polarization: A Case Study of the Yellow River Basin

The overexploitation of water resources has a substantial influence on their sustainable utilization and the ecological environment in a river basin. Quantification of the development and utilization of water resources plays an important role in guiding the rational utilization of water resources. Based on this, this paper develops the concept of water resource utilization polarization (WRUP) in order to qualitatively analyze whether water resources are being overexploited in the process of utilization. An index model of WRUP was built to quantify the degree of water resources overexploitation. In addition, taking seven secondary basins of the Yellow River as examples, the available quantity, overdraft and polarization indexes of surface water and groundwater resources were calculated. The results show that there are 34.49×108 m3 of surface water available, which accounts for 56.21% of the total surface water volume. A total of 5.84×108 m3 of groundwater is available, which is 58.74% of the total groundwater resources. We also found that the water resources are heavily overexploited and that there is extensive polarization in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. The highest polarization of water resources occurs from Lanzhou to Toudaoguai where the polarization index is 19.88 and from Longmen to Sanmenxia where it is 11.81. There is no polarization above Longyangxia or from Toudaoguai to Longmen. Overall, the polarization of water resources is 7.95 over the entire Yellow River area. These results provide a reference for the availability of water resources that can be used to determine the degree of overexploitation of the water resources in the Yellow River.

Groundwater potential of the eastern Kalahari region of South Africa

Abstract An integrated approach involving geological, borehole data, hydrogeochemical and environmental isotope analyses was used to determine the groundwater potential of the eastern Kalahari region of South Africa, an area to the west of Mahikeng that stretches northward from the Orange River into Botswana. The total groundwater resource potential for the eastern Kalahari region of South Africa is estimated at 10127 Mm3/a, with the Kalahari Group aquifer showing the greatest potential, comprising 51% of the total resource. The storage capacity of the Kalahari Group aquifer (7130 Mm3) is also impressive, estimated to be more than twice that of the dolomite aquifer (2728 Mm3). Despite having such great potential, the aquifer is not actively recharged and is often associated with very saline water that is not suitable for human and livestock consumption. The limestone and dolomite aquifers of the Campbell Rand Subgroup, as well as the weathered granitic rocks of the Archaean basement, are considered as the most prospective water bearing formations, with a groundwater resource potential estimate of 1981 Mm3/a and 1845 Mm3/a, respectively. Aquifers with the least potential in the project area comprise the fractured basement rocks of the Kraaipan - Amalia greenstone belt, with a groundwater resource potential of 26 Mm3/a, and the fractured sedimentary rocks of the Asbestos Hills Subgroup, with a groundwater resource potential of 108 Mm3/a. The calculated groundwater storage and resource potential in the eastern Kalahari region of South Africa satisfies a large proportion of the water demand in the region.

Architectural Units and Groundwater Resource Quantity Evaluation of Cretaceous Sandstones in the Ordos Basin, China

Sandstone is a common lithology in a number of groundwater reservoirs. Studying the skeleton sandstone architectural units, therefore, lays the basis for characterizing aquifer systems, groundwater quality, and resource evaluation. This comprehensive analysis of Cretaceous aquiferous sandstones in the Ordos basin, China, shows that there exists a basin-scale skeleton sandstone in the Luohe Formation which contains 11 isolated barrier beds, 12 small skeleton sandstone bodies in Huanhe Formation, and 3 in the Luohandong Formation. The spatial structure and superimposed relationship as well as the medium properties of these skeleton sandstones and isolated barrier beds can be shown by 3D visualization models. Simultaneously, resource quantity can be evaluated with the 3D inquiry functions. The comparison between property models and structural models indicates that the salinity of groundwater of the Luohe Formation has a close connection with the locations of isolated barrier beds that contain abundant gypsum. Through quantitative calculation, groundwater resource of the Cretaceous Luohe and Luohandong formations is estimated to be 1.6×1012 m3, and the total groundwater resource of the Cretaceous system in the Ordos basin is more than 2×1012 m3.

The Global Drain: Why China's Water Pollution Problems Should Matter to the Rest of the World

Chinese and international media have recently reported that more than 80% of the shallow groundwater in large parts of northern China is affected by pollution, rendering it unusable for drinking without treatment.This is by no means the first such report; in 2013, China's largest ever national groundwater quality survey estimated that more than half of the nation's total groundwater resource, including shallow and deep aquifers, was polluted to some degree. The sources of include industrial waste and agricultural chemical runoff, which enter shallow aquifers predominantly by seepage from the surface, although there is also evidence of illegal waste injection directly underground using pollution disposal wells. In both of these widely publicized groundwater quality surveys the data used to determine the overall prevalence of came from thousands of government monitoring wells installed around the country: a large sample size that ensures the data are statistically significant over a wide range of geographic areas. These data and other recent reports indicate that no region of China is unaffected by serious groundwater pollution. The situation is also dire with respect to surface water quality, with a large proportion of monitored rivers and lakes recently failing to meet water quality standards.

An Integrated Study on Sustainable Development of Groundwater Resources in Coastal Environs, Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh-A Watershed Approach

The study area, centered around the Madhurawada structural dome, lies in Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh State on the east coast of India. Covering 192 km 2 , the area consists of two non-perennial drainage basins of the Peddagedda River and Maddigedda rivulet. The average annual rainfall of the area ranges from 1000 to 1200 mm. There are about 50 surface water bodies of which eight are perennial. The population of the area in 2010 is estimated at 63,668. In this study, topographic maps, satellite images and geologic maps of the study area have been used to generate thematic maps of drainage, geomorphology, lineaments and land use/land cover. Cultivation is the major land use in the upper and lower reaches of the Peddagedda River whereas urban built-up occupies the watershed of Maddigedda rivulet. Twenty-four dug wells monitored during pre- and post-monsoon periods in 2010 revealed the area configuration of the water table. Analyses of these data in ArcGIS 9.2 environment helped to delineate zones with groundwater potential. Quality of groundwater revealing higher contents of hardness and fluoride in few villages have been affecting arthritis and mild gastrointestinal disorders as reported by Public Health Center. Following the guidelines of the Groundwater Estimation Committee-1997, studied available groundwater resources, current discharge and future requirements for the year 2025. The study area has been divided into run-off zones (about 57 km 2 ) and recharge zones (about 135 km 2 ) corresponding to hills and plains, respectively. The study area has total groundwater resources of 77,715,280 m 3 . The groundwater requirement in 2025 is estimated at 1,621 h.m/day. The study revealing surplus groundwater resources, population boom and recent developments have significant impact which leads to stress on groundwater. Keeping in view of this, drainage and geology were intersected and buffered to locate potential areas for artificial recharge of groundwater for sustainable occurrence to meet

Parameterization and quantification of recharge in crystalline fractured bedrocks in Galicia-Costa (NW Spain)

Abstract. Quantifying groundwater recharge in crystalline rocks presents great difficulties due to the high heterogeneity of the underground medium (mainly, due to heterogeneity in fracture network, which determines hydraulic parameters of the bedrock like hydraulic conductivity or effective porosity). Traditionally these rocks have been considered to have very low permeability, and their groundwater resources have usually been neglected; however, they can be of local importance when the bedrock presents a net of well-developed fractures. The current European Water Framework Directive requires an efficient management of all groundwater resources; this begins with a proper knowledge of the aquifer and accurate recharge estimation. In this study, an assessment of groundwater resources in the Spanish hydrologic district of Galicia-Costa, dominated by granitic and metasedimentary rocks, was carried out. A water-balance modeling approach was used for estimating recharge rates in nine pilot catchments representatives of both geologic materials. These results were cross-validated with an independent technique, i.e. the chloride mass balance (CMB). A relation among groundwater recharge and annual precipitation according to two different logistic curves was found for both granites and metasedimentary rocks, thus allowing the parameterization of recharge by means of only a few hydrogeological parameters. Total groundwater resources in Galicia-Costa were estimated to be 4427 hm3 yr−1. An analysis of spatial and temporal variability of recharge was also carried out.

Groundwater resource evaluation of the Kathmandu valley

This article briefly deals with the nature of the aquifers and total groundwater reserves of the Kathmandu Valley. It is attempted ·to evaluate and estimate the total groundwater resources in the Valley. Based on the present condition it is suggested to prevent over exploitation situation of groundwater resource and to increase the perennial yield through artificial methods of groundwater recharge.

Development of Australia's Groundwater Resources: ABSTRACT

Most of Australia has no perennial streams hence groundwater has been important in meeting the demand for water. Groundwater was used chiefly for stock and domestic supplies until about 1950 when extraction was greatly increased for irrigation. Groundwater also has been significant in urban water supply in Australia. Usage of groundwater in Australia in 1971 was about 2.5 × 109 cu m and, although some aquifer systems already are fully or overdeveloped, total groundwater resources are well in excess of usage. Half of the groundwater used in Australia comes from aquifers in the larger sedimentary basins. Most of the remainder is drawn from alluvium and other unconsolidated aquifers. Fractured and weathered zones in hard rocks are important locally. Groundwater in Australia is used by both the public and private sectors within the overall control, planning, and coordination of the Australian Water Resources Council. Several cases illustrate the interplay of hydrogeologic setting, economics, technologic change, and social attitudes in the pattern of groundwater use. Few records are available on the use of groundwater prior to the discovery of the Great Artesian basin in 1878. Rapid exploration and development of groundwater with consequent declining yields and inefficient water use resulted in increased investigations. End_Page 1442------------------------------ Groundwater in coastal sands and the alluvium of rivers was used during early settlement but the main growth in usage for irrigation has occurred in the last two decades. The Burdekin delta and the Hunter River Valley are examples. In the Murray-Darling River system interest in groundwater was intensified by waterlogging and soil salinization following intensive irrigation of the riverine plains. Water is supplied from the surface, although recent investigations have shown that many areas contain valuable groundwater resources. In the Perth basin, ground and surface water are being used for expanding urban and industrial developments. Groundwater sources now are incorporated into the existing system. Development of new mineral fields in northwest Australia has depended on availability of large quantities of water. Only groundwater has been able to provide the quantities needed. To meet the increasing demands for water in Australia from new groundwater sources, the main requirement is for groundwater to be economically, socially, environmentally, and regionally managed. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1443------------