Managed Aquifer Recharge as a Tool to Enhance Sustainable Groundwater Management in California

A growing population and an increased demand for water resources have resulted in a global trend of groundwater depletion. Arid and semi-arid climates are particularly susceptible, often relying on groundwater to support large population centers or irrigated agriculture in the absence of sufficient surface water resources. In an effort to increase the security of groundwater resources, managed aquifer recharge (MAR) programs have been developed and implemented globally. MAR is the approach of intentionally harvesting and infiltrating water to recharge depleted aquifer storage. California is a prime example of this growing problem, with three cities that have over a million residents and an agricultural industry that was valued at 47 billion dollars in 2015. The present-day groundwater overdraft of over 100 km3 (since 1962) indicates a clear disparity between surface water supply and water demand within the state. In the face of groundwater overdraft and the anticipated effects of climate change, many new MAR projects are being constructed or investigated throughout California, adding to those that have existed for decades. Some common MAR types utilized in California include injection wells, infiltration basins (also known as spreading basins, percolation basins, or recharge basins), and low-impact development. An emerging MAR type that is actively being investigated is the winter flooding of agricultural fields using existing irrigation infrastructure and excess surface water resources, known as agricultural MAR. California therefore provides an excellent case study to look at the historical use and performance of MAR, ongoing and emerging challenges, novel MAR applications, and the potential for expansion of MAR. Effective MAR projects are an essential tool for increasing groundwater security, both in California and on a global scale. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the most common MAR types and applications within the State of California and neighboring semi-arid regions

Monitoring hydraulic processes with automated time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ALERT)

Hydraulic processes in porous media can be monitored in a minimally invasive fashion by time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). The permanent installation of specifically designed ERT instrumentation, telemetry and information technology (IT) infrastructure enables automation of data collection, transfer, processing, management and interpretation. Such an approach gives rise to a dramatic increase in temporal resolution, thus providing new insight into rapidly occurring subsurface processes. In this paper, we discuss a practical implementation of automated time-lapse ERT. We present the results of a recent study in which we used controlled hydraulic experiments in two test cells at reduced field scale to explore the limiting conditions for process monitoring with cross-borehole ERT measurements. The first experiment used three adjacent boreholes to monitor rapidly rising and falling water levels. For the second experiment we injected a saline tracer into a homogeneous flow field in freshwater-saturated sand; the dynamics of the plume were then monitored with 2D measurements across a 9-borehole fence and 3D measurements across a 3x3 grid of boreholes. We investigated different strategies for practical data acquisition and show that simple re-ordering of ERT measurement schemes can help harmonise data collection with the nature of the monitored process. The methodology of automated time-lapse ERT was found to perform well in different monitoring scenarios (2D/3D plus time) at time scales associated with realistic subsurface processes. The limiting factor is the finite amount of time needed for the acquisition of sufficiently comprehensive datasets. We found that, given the complexity of our monitoring scenarios, typical frame rates of at least 1.5–3 images per hour were possible without compromising image quality

A standardised method for measuring in situ denitrification in shallow aquifers: numerical validation and measurements in riparian wetlands

A tracer test to examine in situ denitrification in shallow groundwater by a piezometer with a packer system used bromide as a tracer of dilution and acetylene (10%) to block the denitrification process at the nitrous oxide stage. During the test, dissolved oxygen, nitrate (NO3-), bromide (Br-), nitrous oxide (N2O) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were measured. To calibrate the experimental method, comparison with numerical simulations of the groundwater transfer were carried out, taking into account the environmental characteristics. The method was tested by measurements undertaken in different environmental conditions (geology, land use and hydrology) in two riparian wetlands. Denitrification rates measured by this method ranged from 5.7 10-6 g N-NO3-L-1 h-1 to 1.97 10-3 g N-NO3-L-1 h-1 The method is applicable in shallow aquifers with a permeability from 10-2 to 10-4m s-1

How serious are groundwater over-exploitation problems in India?: a fresh investigation into an old issue

Groundwater developmentAssessmentRechargeAquifersWater balanceWellsTube wellsPumpingCostsEconomic impact

Analytical Solution for Well Design with Respect to Discharge Ratio

For a well in the vicinity of a surface water body, a formula is developed that relates the share of bank filtrate on total pumpage, that is, the discharge ratio, on one side, to basic well and aquifer characteristics on the other. The application of the formula is demonstrated for solving the inverse problem: for an aimed discharge ratio, well characteristics (pumping rate, distance to shore) can be determined. Other useful applications of the formula are outlined

Vacuum Technology for Ion Sources

The basic notions of vacuum technology for ion sources are presented, with emphasis on pressure profile calculation and choice of pumping technique. A Monte Carlo code (Molflow+) for the evaluation of conductances and the vacuum-electrical analogy for the calculation of time-dependent pressure variations are introduced. The specific case of the Linac4 H- source is reviewed.Comment: 40 pages, contribution to the CAS-CERN Accelerator School: Ion Sources, Senec, Slovakia, 29 May - 8 June 2012, edited by R. Bailey, CERN-2013-00

Regional assessment of groundwater recharge in the lower Mekong Basin

Groundwater recharge remains almost totally unknown across the Mekong River Basin, hindering the evaluation of groundwater potential for irrigation. A regional regression model was developed to map groundwater recharge across the Lower Mekong Basin where agricultural water demand is increasing, especially during the dry season. The model was calibrated with baseflow computed with the local-minimum flow separation method applied to streamflow recorded in 65 unregulated sub-catchments since 1951. Our results, in agreement with previous local studies, indicate that spatial variations in groundwater recharge are predominantly controlled by the climate (rainfall and evapotranspiration) while aquifer characteristics seem to play a secondary role at this regional scale. While this analysis suggests large scope for expanding agricultural groundwater use, the map derived from this study provides a simple way to assess the limits of groundwater-fed irrigation development. Further data measurements to capture local variations in hydrogeology will be required to refine the evaluation of recharge rates to support practical implementations