Changes in the hydrological functioning of a playa‐lake complex under increasing agricultural pressures (Andalusia,Southern Spain)

The La‐Lantejuela playa‐lakes endorheic complex is a groundwater‐dependent ecosystem located within the Guadalquivir River Basin (Southern Spain) in an area mainly devoted to agriculture production with increasing groundwater extractions for irrigation from the Osuna‐La Lantejuela (O‐LL) aquifer. The O‐LL aquifer was hydrogeologically characterised in previous works made by the authors. New data and the combination of more field observations, together with the use of morphologic indexes of the playa lakes, has permitted to analyse the relationships between the aquifer and each one of the playa lakes in the complex, assessing whether their hydrological functioning would have been affected by the expansion of irrigated agriculture. Furthermore, the analysis of the results obtained has allowed establishing a hypothesis of the hydrological functioning of the whole system under natural conditions. This case study represents a useful example to understand how agriculture in semi‐arid environments can induce alterations on the wetlands hydrological functioning.     

熵权集对分析法在新疆塔里木盆地地下水水质评价中的应用

对于干旱地区来说,地下水水质评价是一项重要而必要的工作,其评价结果为当地的地下水资源开发利用保护提供科学依据。本文通过对新疆塔里木盆地162个地下水水样测试结果的分析,应用5元联系度的熵权集对分析法对研究区地下水水质进行评价。通过不同评价方法的比较分析发现,熵权集对分析法评价结果客观,计算简单、方便等优点,是一种有效的地下水水质评价方法。评价结果表明,巴州地区、塔里木河流域、开孔河流域的地下水水质较其他地区和流域差,阿克苏地区、阿克苏河流域、渭干河流域的地下水水质总体水平较好。     

Occurrence of cotton herbicides and insecticides in playa lakes of the High Plains of West Texas

During the summer of 1997, water samples were collected and analyzed for pesticides from 32 playa lakes of the High Plains that receive drainage from both cotton and corn agriculture in West Texas. The major cotton herbicides detected in the water samples were diuron, fluometuron, metolachlor, norflurazon, and prometryn. Atrazine and propazine, corn and sorghum herbicides, were also routinely detected in samples from the playa lakes. Furthermore, the metabolites of all the herbicides studied were found in the playa lake samples. In some cases, the concentration of metabolites was equal to or exceeded the concentration of the parent compound. The types of metabolites detected suggested that the parent compounds had been transported to and had undergone degradation in the playa lakes. The types of metabolites and the ratio of metabolites to parent compounds may be useful in indicating the time that the herbicides were transported to the playa lakes. The median concentration of total herbicides was 7.2 microg/l, with the largest total concentrations exceeding 30 microg/l. Organophosphate insecticides were detected in only one water sample. Further work will improve the understanding of the fate of these compounds in the playa lake area.     

Integrated Catchment Modelling as a Water Resources Management Tool

Groundwater models are becoming increasingly important in water resources management. Most aquifers in the UK are closely linked with river systems, to which they contribute baseflow from seepages and springs. As a result, major groundwater abstractions almost inevitably affect river flows. To assess with confidence the effect of utilizing ground-water resources, an aquifer and river system has to be linked within an integrated model which can simulate varying hydrogeological conditions throughout the catchment.
The main features of an integrated catchment management model, which links aquifer and river systems, are described in this paper. The model has been applied to a number of catchments in southern England including the River Darent in Kent, which is probably the most well-known and worst-affected of all rivers identified nationally as suffering from over-abstraction.
The process of model preparation and calibration is illustrated with reference to the River Darent. Twenty years of river flow and groundwater hydrograph records were used in producing a close simulation of modelled and actual hydrological conditions. The model was then operated to assess a large number of possible options for restoring flows to the river. Examples of various management strategy simulations are given, leading to formulation of a water resources management plan for the Darent. This involved (a) reductions in selected abstractions, (b) flow augmentation using river support boreholes, and (c) meeting peak groundwater supply demands in drought periods.     

The utility of multivariate statistical techniques in hydrogeochemical studies: an example from Karnataka,India

Quality of groundwater is controlled by many factors amongst which the interaction of river water with adjacent groundwater and mixing/non-mixing of different types of groundwater may be important. An attempt has been made to study these processes using multivariate statistical techniques such as factor and cluster analyses. The Nethravathi catchment (India) which is a tropical river basin draining the Precambrian crystalline province of peninsular India, has been selected for this study. Hydrogeochemical data for 56 groundwater samples were subjected to Q- and R- mode factor and cluster analysis. R-mode analysis reveals the inter-relations among the variables studied and the Q-mode analysis reveals the inter-relations among the samples studied. The R-mode factor analysis shows that Na and Cl with HCO3 account for most of the electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids of the groundwater. The 'single dominance' nature of the majority of the factors in the R-mode analysis indicates non-mixing or partial mixing of different types of groundwater. Both Q-mode factor and Q-mode cluster analyses shows that there is an exchange between the river water and the adjacent groundwater.     

Assessing the impact of changes in landuse and management practices on the diffuse pollution and retention of nitrate in a riparian floodplain

In many European lowland rivers and riparian floodplains diffuse nutrient pollution is causing a major risk for the surface waters and groundwater to not achieve a good status as demanded by the European Water Framework Directive. In order to delimit the impact of diffuse nutrient pollution substantial and often controversial changes in landuse and management are under discussion. In this study we investigate the impact of two complex scenarios considering changes in landuse and land management practices on the nitrate loads of a typical lowland stream and the riparian groundwater in the North German Plains. Therefore the impacts of both scenarios on the nitrate dynamics, the attenuation efficiency and the nitrate exchange between groundwater and surface water were investigated for a 998.1 km(2) riparian floodplain of the Lower and Central Havel River and compared with the current conditions. Both scenarios target a substantial improvement of the ecological conditions and the water quality in the research area but promote different typical riparian landscape functions and consider a different grade of economical and legal feasibility of the proposed measures. Scenario 1 focuses on the optimisation of conservation measures for all natural resources of the riparian floodplain, scenario 2 considers measures in order to restore a good status of the water bodies mainly. The IWAN model was setup for the simulation of water balance and nitrate dynamics of the floodplain for a perennial simulation period of the current landuse and management conditions and of the scenario assumptions. The proposed landuse and management changes result in reduced rates of nitrate leaching from the root zone into the riparian groundwater (85% for scenario 1, 43% for scenario 2). The net contributions of nitrate from the floodplain can be reduced substantially for both scenarios. In case of scenario 2 a decrease by 70% can be obtained. For scenario 1 the nitrate exfiltration rates to the river drop even below the infiltration rates from the river, the riparian floodplain in that scenario represents a net sink for river derived nitrate. As the nitrate contributions from the investigated riparian floodplain represent only a small proportion of the total nitrate loads within the river (1% p.a.) the overall impact of the scenario measures on the nitrate loads at the river outlet remains small. However, during the ecologically most sensitive summer periods under current conditions nitrate contributions from the riparian groundwater of the Lower and Central Havel River (which covers only 5% of the area of the Havel catchment) represent more than 20% of the river loads. By the implementation of the investigated landuse changes within the research area the groundwater derived nitrate contributions could be halved to only 10% during summer baseflow conditions.     

Gekoppelte Modellierung geohydraulischer und limnophysikalischer Vorgänge in Tagebaurestseen und ihrer Umgebung

In the abandoned lignite mine of Merseburg-Ost in Central Germany, the lakes 1a and 1b have been filled the natural recovery of the artificially lowered groundwater level for a period of several years. Recently the flooding from a nearby small river has started. The long-term conditions of the developing lakes, especially the degree of salt accumulation from deep saline groundwaters and the behaviour in time of the highly saline monimolimnia which formed at the base of the lakes were assessed. To reproduce the interaction between the groundwater flow and physical processes within the lakes, a 3D density-sensitive hydrogeological model to predict groundwater inflows and outflows was coupled with a limnophysical model of high vertical resolution. The results of a coupled hundred-years-prognosis is shown. Evidence is provided that the different behaviour of the two lakes is a consequence of the differences in the groundwater inflows.     

Hydrological analysis as a technical tool to support strategic and economic development: A case study of Lake Navaisha,Kenya

Effective integrated water resources management requires reliable estimation of an overall basin water budget and of hydrologic fluctuations between groundwater and surface‐water resources. Seasonal variability of groundwater‐surface water exchange fluxes impacts on the water balance. The long term lake water balance was calculated by Modflow using the stage‐volume rating curve of Lake Package LAK3. The long term average storage volume change is 8.4 × 10⁸ m³/month. The lake water balances suggests that the lake is not in equilibrium with the inflow and outflow terms. Using field abstraction data analysis and model simulation, the combined volume of lake‐groundwater used for industrial abstraction since the last three decades was estimated. This requires an average abstraction amount of 7.0 × 10⁶ m³/month with a long term trend of abstraction ratio 30% (groundwater) and 70% (lake water) since 1980. The amount resulted in a lake which might have been 4.8 m higher than was observed in the last stress period (2010). A long term regional groundwater budget is calculated reflecting all water flow in to and out of the regional aquifer. The model water balance suggests that lake Navaisha basin is in equilibrium with a net outflow about 1% greater than the inflow over the calibrated period of time (1932–2010). The regional model is best used for broad‐scale predictions and can be used to provide a general sense of groundwater to surface water and groundwater to groundwater impacts in the basin. A basin wide water resource management strategy can be designed by integrating the lake/wetland within the regional groundwater model to increase the level of sustainable production and good stewardship in Lake Navaisha. Such hydrological analysis is crucial in making the model serve as simulator of the response of lake stage to hydraulic stresses applied to the aquifer and variation in climatic condition.     

Regional water quality management for the Karun–Dez River basin, Iran

To achieve water quality goals in a river basin, a water quality management model (WQMM) has been developed through the geographic information system (GIS) approach and a mathematical water quality model. The developed model has been applied to the Karun and Dez Rivers, where water quality has decreased due to heavy pollutant loads from Khuzestan province cities and surrounding areas. Pollution sources, land use, geographic features and measured water quality data of the river basin were incorporated into the Arc‐View GIS database. With the database, the management model calculated management type and management cost for each management project in the river basin. Until now, river management policy for polluted rivers in Iran first penalizes pollution sources and then constructs treatment plants for the pollution sources whose wastewater is released untreated and for which the wastewater quality goal of the Iranian Department of Environment is not met. Different management projects with a time programme were proposed and they were compared with the results of the river quality without any management approach. It became clear that the results based on the management approach were much better than those for the unmanaged condition from the viewpoint of the achievement of water quality goals and cost optimization.     

Agriculture and groundwater nitrate contamination in the Seine basin. The STICS-MODCOU modelling chain

A software package is presented here to predict the fate of nitrogen fertilizers and the transport of nitrate from the rooting zone of agricultural areas to surface water and groundwater in the Seine basin, taking into account the long residence times of water and nitrate in the unsaturated and aquifer systems. Information on pedological characteristics, land use and farming practices is used to determine the spatial units to be considered. These data are converted into input data for the crop model STICS which simulates the water and nitrogen balances in the soil-plant system with a daily time-step. A spatial application of STICS has been derived at the catchment scale which computes the water and nitrate fluxes at the bottom of the rooting zone. These fluxes are integrated into a surface and groundwater coupled model MODCOU which calculates the daily water balance in the hydrological system, the flow in the rivers and the piezometric variations in the aquifers, using standard climatic data (rainfall, PET). The transport of nitrate and the evolution of nitrate contamination in groundwater and to rivers is computed by the model NEWSAM. This modelling chain is a valuable tool to predict the evolution of crop productivity and nitrate contamination according to various scenarios modifying farming practices and/or climatic changes. Data for the period 1970-2000 are used to simulate the past evolution of nitrogen contamination. The method has been validated using available data bases of nitrate concentrations in the three main aquifers of the Paris basin (Oligocene, Eocene and chalk). The approach has then been used to predict the future evolution of nitrogen contamination up to 2015. A statistical approach allowed estimating the probability of transgression of different concentration thresholds in various areas in the basin. The model is also used to evaluate the cost of the damage resulting of the treatment of drinking water at the scale of a groundwater management unit in the Seine river basin.     

Monitoring groundwater variation by satellite and implications for in-situ gravity measurements

In order to establish a new technique for monitoring groundwater variations in urban areas, the applicability of precise in-situ gravity measurements and extremely high precision satellite gravity data via GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) was tested. Using the GRACE data, regional scale water mass variations in four major river basins of the Indochina Peninsula were estimated. The estimated variations were compared with Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Transfer Scheme (SVATS) models with a river flow model of 1) globally uniform river velocity, 2) river velocity tuned by each river basin, 3) globally uniform river velocity considering groundwater storage, and 4) river velocity tuned by each river basin considering groundwater storage. Model 3) attained the best fit to the GRACE data, and the model 4) yielded almost the same values. This implies that the groundwater plays an important role in estimating the variation of total terrestrial storage. It also indicates that tuning river velocity, which is based on the in-situ measurements, needs further investigations in combination with the GRACE data. The relationships among GRACE data, SVATS models, and in-situ measurements were also discussed briefly.     

新疆阿瓦提绿洲灌区约束供水条件下地下水开采模式

针对干旱内陆河绿洲灌区地下水位上升及塔里木河源流区限额供水的现实条件,本文以新疆阿瓦提绿洲灌区为研究区域,通过MODFLOW建立地下水流数值模型,模拟了现状及限额供水后的预测结果,并根据灌区的实际情况提出合理的地下水开采方案,以达到有效调控地下水位的目的。此方案下地下水开采量为1.14×108m3/a,并在全区范围内合理控制地下水位,为防治土壤盐碱化、减少无效蒸发和区域水资源的优化配置提供了有益参考。     

Distribution of 1,4-dioxane in relation to possible sources in the water environment

The distribution of 1,4-dioxane was investigated in surface and groundwater in relation to possible sources. Water samples from river, coastal sea, and groundwater were collected and examined in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, from 1995 to 1998. Almost all samples were contaminated by 1,4-dioxane. On annual changes, the concentrations did not vary significantly in river water. However, some samples were still heavily polluted in groundwater. The highest correlation was between the concentration of 1,4-dioxane and 1,1,1-trichloroethane in the polluted groundwater samples. Soil and groundwater that was polluted by 1,1,1-trichloroethane in the past is still a possible source of 1,4-dioxane. In regard to a survey of other sources, effluents from the combined collection treatment from apartment houses, river basin sewage systems, and chemical plants were examined. The load unit of 1,4-dioxane from the treated effluent of domestic wastewater was assumed to be approximately 0.25 mg/person/day. This was derived from commonly used household chemicals, which contained 1,4-dioxane as a by-product. In river basin sewage systems, the concentrations in effluents varied significantly. High concentration inflows were probably not degraded and released. Although 50-60% of removal was recognized in acclimatized activated sludge from a chemical plant, 1,4-dioxane was easily desorbed with water from sludge.     

西南喀斯特小流域地下水数值模拟

本文以位于西南典型喀斯特地区的贵州普定后寨河流域为研究对象,采用等效连续导水介质体概化方法建立喀斯特流域地下水数值计算模型.运用MODFLOW中的排水沟渠子程序包以及河流子程序包,构建考虑地表河与地下河系统与含水层地下水流交换水动力过程模拟方法,分析后寨河流域地下水流运动特征,估算含水层补排水量.模型计算的地下水位动态...     

三工河流域地下水资源与可持续利用

三工河流域地处新疆天山北坡经济带,流域发源于天山博格达峰,是独立的小流域。而流域的自然景观和地貌单元的完整性,具有大流域的分布规律。目前流域供水水源以河道来水和开采地下水为主,由于长期的超采地下水,已经造成该流域地下水位持续下降。本文在系统地阐述流域地质条件以及含水层组特征的基础上,利用流域多年基础资料,采用水均衡方法,对现状进行水资源平衡分析、地下水平衡分析、耗水量平衡分析,构建出合理地下水数值模型,并进行了地下水水位、水量远景预报,确定出合理的地下水资源量以及合理的地下水可开采量。根据流域的不同地貌单元,制定出不同的地下水开发利用模式与保护区,按照限制开采、调蓄开采、调控开采和禁止开采等四个区域确定地下水利用模式。     

Lake Mundshtuchnoye,a unique natural monument of the Middle Ob basin

Lake Mundshtuchnoye is located in the basin of the Middle Ob, upstream from the influx of its big right-bank tributary, the Tym river. The lake is located within the boundaries of the Tomsk region and is a specially protected natural area of regional importance. Genetic and morphological characteristics of the lake allow us to consider it as a natural monument. It is an important point for conducting scientific research and organizing long-term environmental monitoring. The depth of Lake Mundshtuchnoye reaches 55 m, which is a unique phenomenon for the lowland part of the Ob basin. The shape of the lake basin is also unusual, sectionally resembling a crater. Structural-tectonic features of the area of the lake location allow to link its origin and development to the penetration of reservoir fluids. The lake water is very different from the lake waters of the Ob basin water logged catchment areas. Lake Mundshtuchnoye has low salinity (the amount of basic ions is 7.3 mg/dm³), and a significant concentration of silver. The lake water is clear, and thus very different from the dark-coloured water found in most regional lakes because of inflow from bogs and mires.     

Zeitliche und räumliche Skalen der Fluss-Grundwasser-Interaktion: Ein multidimensionaler hydrogeologischer Untersuchungsansatz

River-groundwater interactions show strong scale-dependencies and are often strongly transient. In this regard, small-scale flow conditions in the hyporheic zone at the interface between surface- and groundwater can be important for process-understanding. This especially includes questions concerning flow conditions in salmonid redds of gravel-bed rivers. The Swiss subalpine river Enziwigger was chosen as an example for a small channelized river with artificial steps within the riverbed. Several methods were developed, tested and combined that capture the four dimensions (three spatial and one temporal) of the interactions between surface water, the hyporheic zone and groundwater, for individual river segments. The setup of a monitoring network as well as the realization of field-measurements provided data for groundwater flow models. Continuous time series of hydraulic data, temperature and electrical conductivity within the river and the riverbed, as well as within the riverine groundwater, allowed identifying zones with significant exchange of surface water and groundwater. Additionally, the data helped describe the transient character of groundwater flow-paths under various hydrological boundary conditions. Results of the field-measurements in combination with transient groundwater flow modeling and scenario analyses illustrate the relevance of dynamically changing infiltration and exfiltration patterns within the riverbed.     

Climate-change impacts on hydrology and nutrients in a Danish lowland river basin

The Mike 11-TRANS modelling system was applied to the lowland Gjern river basin in Denmark to assess climate-change impacts on hydrology and nitrogen retention processes in watercourses, lakes and riparian wetlands. Nutrient losses from land to surface waters were assessed using statistical models incorporating the effect of changed hydrology. Climate-change was predicted by the ECHAM4/OPYC General Circulation Model (IPCC A2 scenario) dynamically downscaled by the Danish HIRHAM regional climate model (25 km grid) for two time slices: 1961-1990 (control) and 2071-2100 (scenario). HIRHAM predicts an increase in mean annual precipitation of 47 mm (5%) and an increase in mean annual air temperature of 3.2 degrees C (43%). The HIRHAM predictions were used as external forcings to the rainfall-runoff model NAM, which was set up and run for 6 subcatchments within and for the entire, Gjern river basin. Mean annual runoff from the river basin increases 27 mm (7.5%, p<0.05) when comparing the scenario to the control. Larger changes, however, were found regarding the extremes; runoff during the wettest year in the 30-year period increased by 58 mm (12.3%). The seasonal pattern is expected to change with significantly higher runoff during winter. Summer runoff is expected to increase in predominantly groundwater fed streams and decrease in streams with a low base-flow index. The modelled change in the seasonal hydrological pattern is most pronounced in first- or second-order streams draining loamy catchments, which currently have a low base-flow during the summer period. Reductions of 40-70% in summer runoff are predicted for this stream type. A statistical nutrient loss model was developed for simulating the impact of changed hydrology on diffuse nutrient losses (i.e. losses from land to surface waters) and applied to the river basin. The simulated mean annual changes in TN loads in a loamy and a sandy subcatchment were, respectively, +2.3 kg N ha(-1) (8.5%) and +1.6 kg N ha(-1) (6.9%). The rainfall-runoff model and the nutrient loss model were chained with Mike 11-TRANS to simulate the combined effects of climate-change on hydrology, nutrient losses and nitrogen retention processes at the scale of the river basin. The mean annual TN export from the river basin increased from the control to the scenario period by 7.7%. Even though an increase in nitrogen retention in the river system of 4.2% was simulated in the scenario period, an increased in-stream TN export resulted because of the simulated increase in the diffuse TN transfer from the land to the surface-waters.     

The water quality of the River Thame in the Thames Basin of south/south-eastern England

The water quality of the River Thame, a tributary of the River Thames in the Thames basin, is described in relation to point and diffuse contaminant inputs and runoff from permeable and impermeable bedrock geology with their own characteristic water quality. The data is examined to see if the market town of Aylesbury in the upper part of the catchment influences water quality. Previous studies highlighted the influence of Aylesbury sewage treatment works (STW) on soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations in the river before and after phosphorus (P) stripping at the STW. Variations in water quality along the river are described and the study indicates that, apart from SRP, water quality determinants seem to be relatively unaffected by Aylesbury. The Thame water quality is compared with other catchment typologies and it is very similar to that of the main stem of the Thames even though the Thames is mainly Chalk groundwater fed. Differences in water quality largely link to the amount of STW effluent within the rivers and to the endmember compositions of the groundwater and near surface water sources.     

The potential of pesticides to contaminate the groundwater resources of the Axios river basin. Part II. Monitoring study in the south part of the basin

A monitoring study was conducted during 1992-1994 in the south part of the Axios river basin, which constitutes one of the main rice-cultivated basins of Greece. The potential of pesticides to contaminate groundwater resources was assessed under realistic agricultural conditions using suction lysimeters. Pesticide residues were also measured in local drainage canals, the phreatic horizon and Axios river. Carbofuran, atrazine, alachlor, prometryne and propanil were regularly detected at concentrations exceeding 1 microg/l in the soil water of deeper soil layers and in the phreatic horizon of the fields. Residues of those pesticides were measured in the soil water and the phreatic horizon of all the studied fields even though they had only been applied in certain fields. This almost uniform distribution of pesticide residues across the whole of the studied area was attributed to rice cultivation. Soil water and its pesticidal content was horizontally transported from saturated soil conditions beneath rice paddies to adjacent corn or cotton-cultivated fields with lower soil moisture contents. The presence of high pesticide concentrations in the water of the Axios river, which was used for the irrigation of the studied area, had probably contributed to the generalized pesticide contamination of the soil water in the studied area. These results suggest that there is a high risk for groundwater contamination in the basin.