Distributed Simulation‐optimization Model for Conjunctive Use of Groundwater and Surface Water Under Environmental and Sustainability Restrictions

Evolving optimal management strategies are essential for the sustainable development of water resources. A coupled simulation-optimization model that links the simulation and optimization models internally through a response matrix approach is developed for the conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water in meeting irrigation water demand and municipal water supply, while ensuring groundwater sustainability and maintaining environmental flow in river. It incorporates the stream-aquifer interactions, and the aquifer response matrix is generated from a numerical groundwater model. The optimization model is solved by using MATLAB. The developed model has been applied to the Hormat-Golina valley alluvial stream-aquifer system, Ethiopia, and the optimal pumping schedules were obtained for the existing 43 wells under two different scenarios representing with and without restrictions on stream flow depletion, and satisfying the physical, operational and managerial constraints arising due to hydrological configuration, sustainability and ecological services. The study reveals that the total annual optimal pumping is reduced by 19.75?% due to restrictions on stream flow depletion. It is observed that the groundwater pumping from the aquifer has a significant effect on the stream flow depletion and the optimal conjunctive water use plays a great role in preventing groundwater depletion caused by the extensive pumping for various purposes. The groundwater contribution in optimal conjunctive water use is very high having a value of 92?% because of limited capacity of canal. The findings would be useful to the planners and decision makers for ensuring long-term water sustainability.

     

Optimum Pumping Well Placement and Capacity Design for a Groundwater Lowering System in Urban Areas with the Minimum Cost Objective

High level of groundwater in urban areas may cause major problems in construction and mining projects. One effective solution is to implement drainage wells to lower the water table into the desired level through an appropriate pumping strategy. In this paper, placement and capacity of the dewatering wells are optimized by minimizing the total costs of a groundwater lowering system (GLS) through a simulation-optimization approach. For this purpose, MODFLOW, the groundwater simulation software, is coupled with the Firefly Optimization Algorithm (FOA) to find the optimal solution. The proposed FOA-MODFLOW model is tested in an urban area in east southern part of Iran, Kerman city’s ancient Mosque region. Results show that the obtained cost-effective design noticeably outperforms the consulting engineers’ proposal in terms of both the number of drilled wells and the associated costs with justifiable constraints. Optimal strategy satisfies the constraints by suggesting construction of two wells with totally pumping rate of 5503 m³/day while the water table is dropped 1.5 m with a ground subsidence less than 80 mm in the region. Additionally, an investigation on the value of various design parameters emphasizes on the sensitivity of the solutions to the permissible groundwater level and the well’s maximum pumping rates among the others.     

Groundwater Flow Modeling of the Arlington Basin to Evaluate Management Strategies for Expansion of the Arlington Desalter Water Production

Water supply reliability in Southern California is facing serious problems because of reduction in the availability of water from the State Water Project and Colorado River, drought, and growing concerns about environmental restoration. Groundwater sources supply more than fifty-five percent of domestic demands in the Western Riverside County. Western Municipal Water District is planning to increase water supply reliability by expanding the Arlington Desalter production which requires additional groundwater pumping from the Arlington Basin. Western was concerned that increasing groundwater pumping will cause excessive decline in groundwater levels, leading to decreased yields at existing Desalter wells. Three-dimensional groundwater flow model was developed for the Arlington Basin to investigate different water management strategies. Five groundwater management scenarios were run for a 30-year time period. The five model runs were used to determine the feasibility of the Arlington aquifer system to supply groundwater to the Arlington Desalter over the 30-year life of the facility. Model simulation results showed that long-term groundwater pumping from the existing Desalter wells is not sustainable without artificial recharge. However two of the modeling scenarios which incorporated a combination of artificial recharge and new production wells, were shown to meet the increased Desalter yield requirements as well as minimize adverse impacts.     

Design of Managed Aquifer Recharge for Agricultural and Ecological Water Supply Assessed Through Numerical Modeling

The Walla Walla Basin, in Eastern Oregon and Washington, USA, faces challenges in sustaining an agricultural water supply while maintaining sufficient flow in the Walla Walla River for endangered fish populations. Minimum summer river flow of 0.71 m³/s is required, forcing irrigators to substitute groundwater from a declining aquifer for lost surface water diversion. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) was initiated in 2004 attempting to restore groundwater levels and improve agricultural viability. The Integrated Water Flow Model (IWFM) was used to compute surface and shallow groundwater conditions in the basin under water management scenarios with varying water use, MAR, and allowable minimum river flow. A mean increase of 1.5 m of groundwater elevation, or 1.5 % of total aquifer storage, was predicted over the model area when comparing maximum MAR and no MAR scenarios where minimum river flow was increased from current level. When comparing these scenarios a 53 % greater summer flow in springs was predicted with the use of MAR. Results indicate MAR can supplement irrigation supply while stabilizing groundwater levels and increasing summer streamflow. Potential increase in long-term groundwater storage is limited by the high transmissivity of the aquifer material. Increased MAR caused increased groundwater discharge through springs and stream beds, benefiting aquatic habitat rather than building long-term aquifer storage. Judicious siting of recharge basins may be a means of increasing the effectiveness of MAR in the basin.     

Basement Groundwater as a Complementary Resource for Overexploited Stream-Connected Alluvial Aquifers

The use of groundwater from alluvial aquifers largely affects stream discharge by capturing the stream resources. This affects hydrological processes and riparian biodiversity. In this study, complementary water resources are investigated in an effort to ease human pressure on alluvial systems and, eventually, on stream-aquifer relationships. Discharge and hydrochemical data along a 5 km reach of the Tordera River (NE Spain) provide evidence that groundwater fluxes, associated with a regional hydrogeological system related to the basement fracture network, contribute to alluvial recharge and to stream flow. End-member mixing analysis considering upstream discharge, groundwater flows, and human inputs to the stream as major flow sources shows that regional basement groundwater fluxes are responsible for as much as 20 % of the total discharge, which also explains unexpected rises in stream flow. This suggests a possible new approach to local water resources planning, indicating that conjunctive use might actually be feasible.     

Exploring market-based environmental policy for groundwater management and ecosystem protection for the Great Lakes region: Lessons learned

The Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (the Compact) was created to protect future water supplies and aquatic ecosystems in the Great Lakes. The Compact requires the eight Great Lakes state to regulate, among other things, large withdrawals of groundwater and surface water so that they do not negatively affect stream flows and ecosystems within the Great Lakes Basin. Thus, the Compact raises the possibility of increased restrictions on groundwater withdrawals in many locations throughout the Great Lakes region. However, restricting withdrawals is likely to encounter opposition from water users when such restrictions are viewed as an infringement on existing water use rights and/or as negatively impacting local economic development. Such conflicts could hinder effective implementation of state and regional water policy. This paper explores the application of a market-based environmental management tool called “Conservation Credit Offsets Trading (CCOT)” that could facilitate allocation of groundwater withdrawals, and develops a framework for guiding the implementation of CCOT within the context of a groundwater permitting system. Using a watershed in southwestern Michigan, this study demonstrates how bio-physical information and input from various local stakeholders were combined to aid groundwater policy designed to achieve the objective of no net (adverse) impact on stream ecosystems. By allowing flexibility through trading of conservation credit offsets, this groundwater policy tool appears to be more politically acceptable than traditional, less flexible, regulations. The results and discussion provide useful lessons learned with relevance to other areas in the Great Lakes Basin.     

Delineating Capture Zone of a Pumping Well in a Slanting Regional Groundwater Flow to a Stream with a Leaky Layer

In this study, analytical and semi-analytical solutions are derived to delineate capture zone of a pumping well near a stream where a leaky layer exists between the aquifer and the stream. A groundwater regional flow is considered in the aquifer and allowed to have different angles with respect to the stream axis. Three critical pumping rates are introduced. At the first pumping rate, capture zone boundary tangents the interface between the aquifer and the leaky layer; called the in-homogeneity boundary. At the second pumping rate, capture zone boundary tangents the stream boundary and if the rate is increased, a part of pumped water would be withdrawn from the stream. The third pumping rate, which may be smaller or larger than the other two, is defined as the rate at which stream water begins to enter the leaky layer; it may or may not be captured by the pumping well. Four different capture zone configurations (cases) are analyzed for different values of pumping rates, groundwater flow directions, and leaky layer’s thickness and hydraulic conductivity. The first three cases analyze hydraulic situations whereby capture zone does not reach the stream, and hence, no pumped water is withdrawn from the stream. With the lowest pumping rate in the first case, no stream water enters the leaky layer. It enters the leaky layer but not the aquifer in the second, and enters the leaky layer and the aquifer in the third case. In the fourth case, where capture zone boundary intersects the stream, the fraction of pumped stream water to total pumped water is delineated.     

Ecological effects of groundwater pumping and a natural drought on the upper reaches of a chalk stream

The ecological effects are examined of a three-month test of a groundwater pumping scheme, which augmented flow in a chalk stream in autumn 1975. The impact on the macrophytes and invertebrates in the upper perennial stream which received pumped water were found to be minimal. After pumping ceased, a dry winter and spring led on to a major drought in summer 1976. This prompted operational use of the groundwater pumping scheme in late summer 1976 prior to heavy winter rains which resulted in a return to the normal pattern of discharge in 1977. The ecological effects of the drought, the operational pumping and its aftermath are assessed on three channel reaches: the intermittent zone of the stream, which remained dry throughout 1976; the upper perennial channel where changes in flow regime were most severe; and the lower perennial section of the stream. Drying of the intermittent section for over one year had more severe effects on the invertebrates and fish populations than on the macrophytes, which recovered rapidly after the return of flow. In the upper perennial section, the drought led to siltation of the river-bed, loss of macrophytes and limited habitat diversity for the invertebrate fauna. Further downstream, effects were still detectable, though less severe. Operational pumping brought immediate benefit to the perennial stream by increasing the river width, removing silt and encouraging growth of macrophytes, which provided habitat and food resources for invertebrates. However, in the upper perennial reach, where siltation and loss of macrophytes had been severe, regrowth of macrophytes was slow and the effects of the drought on both macrophytes and invertebrates were still apparent in autumn 1977. It is proposed that a pumping policy that maintains river flow above the level at which siltation and subsequent loss of macrophytes occurs could minimize undesirable ecological effects of extreme low flows.     

Effect of Substitute Water Projects on Tempo-Spatial Distribution of Groundwater Withdrawals in Chikugo-Saga Plain,Japan

Due to large-scale agricultural irrigation and industrial production, groundwater had been excessively employed to benefit the economy development and life improvement in Chikugo-Saga plain since the middle of last century, which led to many environmental problems such as land subsidence, flooding inundation and water shortage. In order to mitigate the impact of environmental hazards, some water supply projects have been performed to substitute surface water for groundwater since 1970s. For the purpose of comprehending the influence of substitute water projects on groundwater withdrawals, a tempo-spatial groundwater withdrawals assessment model with the resolution of one month in time and one kilometer in space was initially established based on various data concerning meteorology, agriculture, land use, soils, surface water consumption and groundwater utilization by using GIS. According to the development of the substitute water projects, a 28-year study period 1979–2006 was then divided into four stages (i.e. 1979–1984, 1985–1995, 1996–2000 and 2001–2006) and the tempo-spatial distribution of groundwater withdrawals for each stage was represented by means of the proposed model. The tempo-spatial variation of groundwater withdrawals for various water use categories under the effect of substitute water projects was finally analyzed by comparing the distributions of groundwater withdrawals at different stages. The results show that with the advance of the substitute water projects studied, the groundwater pumpage for irrigation, industry or waterworks varies geographically and phasically in the plain. From the first stage to the last stage, there is a significant decrease by approximately 23 % in mean annual total groundwater withdrawals. During the study period, dramatic declines are found in agriculture-use groundwater pumpage in the downstream land of Chikugo river at the third stage, in industry-use pumpage in eastern Saga area at the second stage and found in waterworks-use pumpage in western Saga area at the last stage, while little change in agriculture-use pumpage in western Saga area and in industry-use pumpage in Chikugo area without the corresponding substitution projects. Moreover, it is indicated that the proposed assessment model of groundwater withdrawals is helpful to figure out the regional groundwater exploitation and its impact on the environment, particularly when there is the lack of groundwater pumpage data recorded. It is necessary to develop new substitute water supply plans to reduce the agriculture-use groundwater withdrawals in western Saga area and the industry-use withdrawals in Chikugo area, for more effective management of regional water resources in future.     

Integrated Approach for Identifying Suitable Sites for Rainwater Harvesting Structures for Groundwater Augmentation in Basaltic Terrain

Integrated hydrological, geophysical and groundwater modeling studies has been carried out for identification of suitable sites for rainwater harvesting structures for groundwater augmentation in RRCAT Campus, Indore, M.P. Based on these studies ten check dams, two contour bunds and one earthen bund were recommended on the existing stream channels and in valley fills respectively. Likely water impoundment on these structures was calculated keeping in view the length and width of stream channels. Based on these study a groundwater flow model using MODFLOW were carried out keeping in view the geologic and hydrologic conditions of the area. The net rechargeable impounded rain water from these structures to groundwater regime was calculated for monsoon seasons which varied from 20 % to 48 % and net enhancement of groundwater recharge from all structures would be around 0.11 mcm/year and the water level in the existing well would rise by 2–3 m above its present level for future Groundwater augmentation.     

柳林县供水项目水源地覆盖层渗透系数的计算方法

通过设置三个抽水井、四个观测井进行的抽水试验,利用两种确定影响半径的公式,分别计算得出单井试验时覆盖层的渗透系数,并利用群井抽水试验,将三个抽水井假想成一个大口井,计算得出覆盖层渗透系数,通过综合比较这些不同结果,最后确定了采用的渗透系数。     

华北平原区地下水开采量估算研究

准确获取地下水开采量对于区域地下水资源评价和管理工作具有十分重要的意义。但由于地下水开采活动过于分散,目前管理和计量的手段不足,导致地下水开采量统计数据存在较大误差。通过建立华北平原地下水流区域数值模型,利用模拟水位与实际观测水位相拟合的方法,完成了华北平原开采量的反演估算,最终获得了华北平原2002年-2008年各年的地下水开采量,其平均年开采量为249.20亿m3。     

Managing Saline Water Intrusion in the Lower Indus Basin Aquifer

In view of the declining surface water sources for irrigated agriculture in Pakistan, farmers are compelled to extract groundwater in order provide to security against uncertain canal supplies during critical crop growth periods. However saline water intrusion can be a major hindrance to the sustainable groundwater development. Against this background, a study was conducted with a three dimensional finite element model (FEMGWST) based on the Galerkin weighted residual method being developed to simulate groundwater flow and the saline water intrusion from underlying poor quality aquifer in response to groundwater pumping through low capacity partially penetrated wells. The model was calibrated with field data collected in the district Khairpur of the Lower Indus Basin. The stability of the model for transient groundwater flow and solute transport against different time marching schemes were evaluated. This study showed that the explicit and the Crank-Nicolson time marching schemes developed the numerical oscillating, the global error and the convergence problem. The calibrated model was applied to predict the impacts of different well configurations on the pumped water quality and on the development of saline water mound at the bottom of the well. It was observed that the saline water intrusion into the fresh groundwater layer was directly related to the well discharge, pumping time and inversely to the thickness of fresh-saline water interface and the number of well strainers installed. The model results suggested that intermittent pumping through multi strainer wells could effectively be used to suppress the saline water intrusion. However multi strainers wells were found to induce saline water intrusion when the thickness of fresh-saline water interface was reduced to 4 m.     

Response of the benthic macroinvertebrate community in a northern Michigan stream to reduced summer streamflows

We evaluated the response of benthic macroinvertebrates in a Michigan trout stream to flow reduction by diverting water from a 602 m reach of Hunt Creek from June through August of 1994, 1997 and 1998. We also assessed the utility of the Physical Habitat Simulation system (PHABSIM) in predicting the response of benthic insects to water withdrawals by testing the assumption of a positive linear relationship between modelled habitat (weighted usable area, WUA) and the density of 13 benthic insect families. Our findings showed that the density of filter feeding and grazing insect taxa, as well as insects classified as obligate erosional zone taxa, declined significantly in the dewatered (treatment) zone (TZ) when 90% of flow was diverted. Density of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) taxa in the TZ was significantly lower when 90% of water was diverted as compared to density at baseflow or when flow was reduced by 50%. The density of all insects in an upstream reference zone riffle (RZ), where flow was not altered, did not change among experimental periods. Although overall reductions in the density of benthic insects at 90% flow reduction coincided with lower PHABSIM predictions of WUA, we found poor linear correlation between WUA at different flows and the density of the 13 benthic insect families for which WUA was modelled. The low proportion of variation explained by WUA for all families modelled suggests that WUA alone is not an accurate predictor of benthic insect density. Resource managers should consider the potential consequences of water withdrawals to all components of stream communities, including benthic macroinvertebrates. However, caution should be applied when using the PHABSIM technique in groundwater‐fed streams such as Hunt Creek, because most relationships between WUA and benthic insect density were insignificant. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Post Audit Analysis of a Groundwater Level Prediction Model in Developed Semiconfined Aquifer System

This paper assesses groundwater recharge under conditions of long-term groundwater pumping at the Ravnik pumping site in Croatia and analyses the groundwater level prediction model used in prior aquifer modelling. The results of model calibration revealed a very low net infiltration rate at the start of the pumping site’s operation. As the operation continued, the net infiltration rate slowly increased, while the percentage of infiltrated rainfall scaled up with increasing pumping rates. The predicted recharge of the covering aquitard amounts approximately 14–15 % of the mean annual precipitation. The aquifer recharge takes place from aquitard by seepage. A subsequent simulation of the pumping site’s operation was performed for the 9 years period on the assumption that the pumping rates and the groundwater recharge would be the same as those recorded during the final calibration years. Results show that the post audit measured levels correspond relatively well to the predicted levels and that increasing of the pumping rate causes changes in the water budget in advantage of net groundwater recharge as a consequence of spreading recharge area outside of previous model boundaries.     

Long-Term Quantification of Stream-Aquifer Exchange in a Variably-Saturated Heterogeneous Environment

A variably-saturated finite element model HYDRUS-2D was used to simulate the spatiotemporal dynamics of stream-aquifer exchange for a perennial stream flowing through an undulating catchment and underlain by heterogeneous geology. The model was first calibrated and validated using piezometric heads measured near the stream. The model was then used a) to quantify the long-term dynamics of exchange at stream-aquifer interface and the water balance in the domain, and b) to evaluate the impact of anisotropy of geological materials, thickness (w) and hydraulic conductivity (K _s ) of the low permeability layer at the streambed, and water table fluctuations on the extent of exchange. Simulated pressure heads in the domain revealed that seasonal groundwater fluctuations were more pronounced near the stream. Daily discharge to the stream varied from 0.05 to 0.3 mm/day, annual discharge ranged from 59 to 74 mm, and the overall water balance showed a discharge (?54 mm) from the domain during 2000–2012. A five-fold increase in K _s of the low permeability layer enhanced discharge to the stream by 14% (10 mm/year) whereas an increase in the thickness of the layer by 1 m had a low impact (2.4 mm/year). A 2-m drawdown of the water table transformed a connected and gaining system into a losing, disconnected system. These results suggest that depletion of groundwater due to climate change or excessive pumping could have a pronounced impact on the availability of water resources and sustainability of the existing water-dependent ecosystem.     

How much groundwater can we pump and protect environmental flows through time? Presumptive standards for conjunctive management of aquifers and rivers

Groundwater is a critically important source of water for river, wetland, lake, and terrestrial ecosystems, yet most frameworks for assessing environmental flows have ignored or not explicitly included the potential impacts of groundwater pumping on environmental flows. After assessing the processes and existing policies for protecting streamflow depletion from groundwater pumping, we argue that a new groundwater presumptive standard is critical as a placeholder to protect environmental flows in rivers lacking detailed assessments. We thus extend the previous presumptive standard to groundwater pumping, a different and important driver of changes to streamflow. We suggest that “high levels of ecological protection will be provided if groundwater pumping decreases monthly natural baseflow by less than 10% through time.” The presumptive standard is intended to be a critical placeholder only where detailed scientific assessments of environmental flow needs cannot be undertaken in the near term. We also suggest a new metric, the environmental flow response time, that allows water managers to quantify the timescales of the impacts of groundwater pumping on the loss or gain of environmental flows.     

Assessment of lake–groundwater interactions and anthropogenic stresses,using numerical groundwater flow model,for a Rift lake catchment in central Ethiopia

A steady-state groundwater flow model (MODFLOW) was used to study lake and groundwater interactions in a complex rift volcanic catchment. It also was used to assess the effects of water pumping from wells, and of variable recharge rates associated with climate and lake level changes, on the dynamics of the volcanic aquifers surrounding Lake Awassa. The model simulations were made after first developing a reasonable conceptual model, on the basis of conventional hydrogeological mapping, pumping test and hydrometeorological data analyses, and from ancillary information obtained from hydrochemical and isotope techniques. The model results indicated that the lakes and Rift aquifers are fed by large groundwater inputs that originate in the highlands. The lakes and rivers have important roles in recharging the aquifers in some locations. Lake Awassa receives a major groundwater inflow from its southern and eastern shorelines, while substantial water leakage from the lake occurs along the northern shoreline. The annual groundwater outflow from the catchment is estimated to 52.5 × 10⁶ m³. Scenario analyses revealed that increasing the current pumping rate from wells by fourfold will substantially reduce the groundwater level substantially, although the regional flow pattern would remain the same. There appears to be no immediate danger to the Rift aquatic environment from the current water pumping rate. Drying the small Lake Shalo and associated swamps, however, will cause a large change in the water balance of the larger Lake Awassa. Slight changes in groundwater recharge can cause large differences in groundwater levels for most of the Rift caldera floor far from the lake shores. This study provides a reasonable foundation for developing detailed transient predictive models, which can then readily be used as a decision support tool for development and implementation of sustainable water resources practices.     

Numerical Simulation of Submarine Groundwater Flow in the Coastal Aquifer at the Palmahim Area, the Mediterranean Coast of Israel

The lower sub-aquifers of the Mediterranean coastal aquifer of Israel, at the Palmahim area, are hypothesized to be laterally blocked to connection with the sea, and thus to seawater intrusion. This is mostly due to the detection of fresh water bodies at these sub-aquifers. This study examine this hypothesis by using two dimensional numerical model simulations of the groundwater flow system at this area, which conducted in order to reveal which hydrogeological setting enables the existence of these fresh water bodies in the lower sub-aquifers and to assess the on-land pumping rates that will prevent their salinization. The hydrogeological settings were examined by steady state simulations followed by simulations of the last 15,000 years sea level changes. These simulations imply that the presence of fresh water in the lower sub-aquifer, whether blocked or connected to the sea, requires offshore separation between the upper and lower sub-aquifers. On-land pumping simulations, with a well located inside the lower sub-aquifers at the shoreline, show a maximum pumping rate of 250 m³/m strip width/year, hereafter m²/year, to prevent the salinization of the lower sub-aquifers. The various pumping scenarios revealed differences in salinization trends between the scenarios with impermeable separating layers and those with semi permeable layers. Scenarios with extreme pumping rates emphasize these differences, and together with field test, can allow assessing the amount of separation between the sub-aquifers.     

Water quality as an indicator of hydrogeological conditions: a case study of the Belgrade Groundwater Source (Sava/Danube confluence area)

The City of Belgrade receives most of its drinking water supply from the alluvial aquifer of the Sava River. The wells are radial, placed in the lower part of the aquifer, so they partly run below the Sava riverbed. However, the groundwater quality of the wells in one part of the source (near the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers) is found to differ somewhat from the groundwater quality of the other wells. The finding gave rise to additional investigations. The results revealed the existence of a deeper, limestone aquifer which is isolated from upper alluvial sediments by a thick layer of clay in most of the terrain. The naturally potential hydraulic contact of the two aquifers was additionally maintained by well operation in this part of the source. According to multiple analyses of groundwater flow using a hydrodynamic mathematical model, a hydrogeological and hydraulic system of groundwater flow was defined. Although the wells are situated adjacent to the river, and some well laterals are below the riverbed, most of the groundwater that flows to the wells is partly from the wider zone of the alluvial aquifer, and partly from the deeper aquifer. The initial results of hydrochemical investigations also showed an unexpected, inverse oxic character of the groundwater in these two aquifers.