Inclined Physical Subsurface Barriers for Saltwater Intrusion Management in Coastal Aquifers

Saltwater intrusion (SWI) has a negative environmental impact on groundwater quality in coastal areas. Therefore, effective management strategies are required to preserve fresh groundwater resources. Historically, vertical barriers have been exclusively considered in both numerical studies and practical applications. The novelty of this study consists in investigating the SWI mitigation effectiveness of inclined physical subsurface barriers (PSBs), and specifically cutoff walls (CWs) and subsurface dams (SDs). An initial benchmark analysis of the Henry problem was performed. Following verification, the proposed model was applied to a real case study - the Biscayne aquifer (Southeastern Florida, USA). The model simulations run for different scenarios considering the vertical placement of the PSB, an inclined placement of the PSB according to different slopes (1/4, 1/2 and 1/1, at sea- and landside) and the combination of the best scenario. The results showed that CWs are more effective in limiting SWI in comparison with SDs. The most positive impact in both cases was achieved for a slope of 1/4, indicating that a moderate vertical inclination of the PSB better preserve coastal groundwater resources. The model presented in this work can be a valuable tool for policy makers in predicting the coastal aquifer response. However, a comprehensive cost–benefit analysis is required to further account for the feasibility and the economic costs related to the construction of inclined PSBs.

     

Development and Implementation of Support Vector Machine Regression Surrogate Models for Predicting Groundwater Pumping-Induced Saltwater Intrusion into Coastal Aquifers

Predicting the extent of saltwater intrusion (SWI) into coastal aquifers in response to changing pumping patterns is a prerequisite of any groundwater management framework. This study investigates the feasibility of using support vector machine regression (SVMr), an innovative artificial intelligence-based machine learning algorithm for predicting salinity concentrations at selected monitoring wells in an illustrative aquifer under variable groundwater pumping conditions. For evaluation purpose, the prediction results of SVMr are compared with well-established genetic programming (GP) based surrogate models. SVMr and GP models are trained and validated using identical sets of input (pumping) and output (salinity concentration) datasets. The trained and validated models are then used to predict salinity concentrations at specified monitoring wells in response to new pumping datasets. Prediction capabilities of the two learning machines are evaluated using different proficiency measures to ensure their practicality and generalisation ability. The performance evaluation results suggest that the prediction capability of SVMr is superior to GP models. Also, a sensitivity analysis methodology is proposed for assessing the impact of pumping rates on salt concentrations at monitoring locations. This sensitivity analysis provides a subset of most influential pumping rates, which is used to construct new SVMr surrogate models with improved predictive capabilities. The improved prediction capability and the generalisation ability of the SVMr models together with the ability to improve the accuracy of prediction by refining the input set for training makes the use of proposed SVMr models more attractive. Prediction models with more accurate prediction capability makes it potentially very useful for designing large scale coastal aquifer management strategies.     

Analysing the Combined Effect of Barrier Wall and Freshwater Injection Countermeasures on Controlling Saltwater Intrusion in Unconfined Coastal Aquifer Systems

Water Resources Management - Freshwater recharge wells and underground flow barriers are among several methods proposed for controlling saltwater intrusion (SWI) into coastal aquifers. In this...     

Management of Saltwater Intrusion in Data-scarce Coastal Aquifers: Impacts of Seasonality,Water Deficit,and Land Use

Coastal aquifers are vulnerable to saltwater intrusion (SWI) due to several drivers particularly increased water demand and groundwater overexploitation associated with population growth, reduced groundwater recharge, and lately climate change. This study examines the status of SWI in four data scarce coastal aquifers located along the Eastern Mediterranean by assessing how water cycle seasonality, water deficits, and changes in land use and land cover (LULC) have contributed to increased salinity. A framework that combines field monitoring with hydro-geochemical techniques, as well as multivariate and inferential statistical analysis was used to identify the main SWI drivers at play at each aquifer. The overall assessment showed that all four pilot areas exhibited signs of salinization with different severities. The current state of the aquifers ranged from slightly saline (TDS < 1500 ppm) to highly saline (15,000 < TDS < 31,000 ppm). While the level of the SWI was significantly correlated to the dominant land uses at each site, the extent of the water deficit played a dominant role in explaining the occurrence and intensity of observed SWI rates. The findings suggest a synergistic effect between increased water deficits and urbanization and SWI. Site specific measures are discussed for mitigating the impacts of land use, water demand and deficit towards the sustainable management of the groundwater aquifers.

     

Modeling Groundwater Flow and Seawater Intrusion in the Coastal Aquifer of Wadi Ham,UAE

Groundwater pumping from Kalbha and Fujairah coastal aquifer of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has increased significantly during the last two decades to meet the agriculture water demands. Due to the lack of natural replenishment from rainfall and the excessive pumping, groundwater levels have declined significantly causing an intrusion of seawater in the coastal aquifer of Wadi Ham. As a result, many pumping wells in the coastal zone have been terminated and a number of farms have been abandoned. In this paper, MODFLOW was used to simulate the groundwater flow and assess the seawater intrusion in the coastal aquifer of Wadi Ham. The model was calibrated against a five-year dataset of historical groundwater levels and validated against another eleven-year dataset. The effects of pumping on groundwater levels and seawater intrusion were investigated. Results showed that reducing the pumping from Khalbha well field will help to reduce the seawater intrusion into the southeastern part of the aquifer. Under the current groundwater pumping rates, the seawater will continue to migrate inland.     

渭河傍河水源地开采地下水数值模拟

根据关中盆地水文地质条件及地下水分布特点,概化出区域地下水流数学模型和水文地质概念模型,在此基础上利用Visual Modflow建立了关中盆地区域地下水数值模拟模型,并利用地下水位长观孔对模型参数进行了识别,使模型具有较好的模拟仿真度。利用识别后的模型研究了引汉济渭后傍河水源地开采对渭河径流量及区域地下水位的影响,结果表明,傍河水源地开采激发渭河补给量占总开采量的73.3%,引汉济渭后通过减少傍河水源地开采量可增加渭河干流水量,并使得渭河沿线城市地下水位有不同程度的回升。     

滨海平原地下建库供水开源防止海水入侵技术研究

本项研究重点对地下水库建库研究成果作了介绍，其成果有，地下水库水资源量计算应用参数成果，地下坝设计孔距计算及板墙厚度计算应用公式成果，地下水库不同回灌工程补给强度成果（建闸蓄水回灌），地下坝物理力学指标成果，地下建库预期目标及完成情况，并结合建库设计需要，首次提出了建库设计水源计算以及高喷建坝设计计算应用的变参方程。解决了建库供水水源计算以及高喷坝设计计算的难题，为滨海平原缺水地区供水开源兴建地下     

Planning Groundwater Development in Coastal Deltas with Paleo Channels

In this study, a management model is presented for planning groundwater development in costal deltas with paleo channels. It is demonstrated that paleo channels are the best locations for locating the wells for large-scale pumping. Groundwater flow in these aquifers is simulated using a three-dimensional (3-D) density-dependent flow and transport model SEAWAT, which is suitable for a coastal and deltaic environment. A simulation-optimization model is used to determine the optimal locations and pumpages for groundwater development for a group of production wells, while limiting the salinity below desired levels. The mixed integer problem is solved using the Simulated Annealing algorithm and the SEAWAT simulation model. A trained Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is used as the virtual SEAWAT model to perform the simulations, in order to reduce the computational burden for application of the model on desktop computers. The applicability of the model is demonstrated on a hypothetical, but near-real, delta system.     

钱塘江河口咸水入侵长历时预测、对策的实践检验

杭州市供水主要取自钱塘江河口，长历时咸水入侵预报对确保其供水安全十分必要。本文对钱塘江河口咸水入侵数值预测方法进行了分析，认为对短历时（15d）可联合求解一维水流运动和氯度对流扩散方程进行预测，但对长历时（半年）高强度河床淤积、天文潮的月际变化，须还要耦合不平衡泥沙输移和河床变形方程的动床数学模型或基于实测资料的统计模型。在实测资料分析和氯度验证的基础上，采用建立的长历时预报模型研究了钱塘江河口的咸水入侵，通过新安江水库增大下泄量，采用“大潮多泄、小潮少泄”的非均匀放水的顶潮拒咸对策，可以有效减少取水口处氯度值及连续超标天数和总超标时间。30多年的预报实践表明采用本预报模型得到的富春江电站下泄的最小流量能满足杭州市各取水口不同时期超标时间的要求，节约了大量的水资源量，取得巨大的社会经济效益。     

A Standardized Index for Assessing Seawater Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers: The SITE Index

A large number of coastal aquifers worldwide are impacted by seawater intrusion. A major aim of European Directives 2000/60/EC and 2006/118/EC is to achieve good ecological status in groundwater bodies, including coastal aquifers. To this goal, information is needed about the current state of, and changes over time in, individual aquifers. This information can be obtained by applying methods that determine the status of aquifers in an uncomplicated manner. Methods for this type of assessment must comply with three essential criteria. First, calculation of the index must be straightforward and should be based on easy-to-obtain or commonly available data. Next, the index should be able to highlight important characteristics in understandable terms. Finally, the results should be objective and should be expressed in such a way that different time periods and different aquifers can be compared. In this paper we describe the development of a method to characterize seawater intrusion that meets these criteria and is based on four basic parameters: surface area, intensity, temporality, and evolution. Each parameter is determined by specific calculations derived from the groundwater chloride concentrations. Results are specified as a numerical index and an alphanumeric code. This index, known as SITE, has been applied to four Mediterranean coastal aquifers. The standardized results allowed us to discriminate between, and objectively compare the status of these groundwater bodies. Further, this index will make it possible to prioritize management actions and evaluate the effectiveness of these actions over time.     

Transient Investigation of the Critical Abstraction Rates in Coastal Aquifers: Numerical and Experimental Study

This research investigated the transient saltwater upconing in response to pumping from a well in a laboratory-scale coastal aquifer. Laboratory experiments were completed in a 2D flow tank for a homogeneous aquifer where the time evolution of the saltwater wedge was analysed during the upconing and the receding phase. The SEAWAT code was used for validation purposes and to thereafter examine the sensitivity of the critical pumping rate and the critical time (the time needed for the saltwater to reach the well) to the well design and hydrogeological parameters. Results showed that the critical pumping rate and the critical time were more sensitive to the variations of the well location than the well depth. The critical time increased with increasing the location and depth ratios following a relatively linear equation. For all the configurations tested, the lowest critical pumping rate was found for the lower hydraulic conductivity, which reflects the vulnerability of low permeability aquifers to salinization of pumping wells. In addition, higher saltwater densities led to smaller critical pumping rate and shorter critical time. The influence of the saltwater density on the critical time was more significant for wells located farther away from the initial position of the interface. Moreover, increasing the dispersivity induced negligible effects on the critical pumping rate, but reduced the critical time for a fixed pumping rate.     

北京房山岩溶水应急水源地地下水流数值模拟及预测

为分析北京房山岩溶水应急水源地的持续开采能力,在概化区域水文地质条件的基础上,建立了区域地下水流数值模型,模拟水位与实测水位拟合较好。利用验证后的模型,进行了枯水年条件下三种开采方案的预测评价。结果表明,以现状开采量持续开采至2014年末(2 332×104 m3/a),岩溶水系统处于动态平衡状态,地下水位没有明显变化;若增加一倍开采量,则地下水位下降速率为3.17m/a,泉水流量减小;开采量为7 300×104 m3/a时,地下水位下降速率增大到8.96m/a,且泉水出现断流。维持现状开采量是合理的持续开采方案。研究结果为应急水源地持续开采提供了依据。     

Groundwater Vulnerability Modeling to Assess Seawater Intrusion: a Methodological Comparison with Geospatial Interpolation

Seawater intrusion has become a growing threat in coastal urban cities due to overexploitation of groundwater. This study examines the accuracy of the commonly used geospatial quality assessment models (GQA) and groundwater vulnerability assessment models (GVA) in determining the extent of seawater intrusion in urban coastal aquifers. For that purpose, interpolation methods (kriging, IDW and co-kriging) and vulnerability assessment models (DRASTIC, EPIK) were compared using groundwater salinity criteria (TDS, Cl^?) collected at three pilot areas along the eastern Mediterranean (Beirut, Tripoli, Jal el Dib). The results showed that while the GIS-based interpolation methods and the vulnerability assessment models captured elements of the groundwater quality deterioration, both had a limited ability to accurately delineate saltwater intrusion. This emphasizes that while interpolation methods and conventional vulnerability models may give general information about groundwater quality, they fail to capture the status of the aquifer at a finer spatial resolution.

     

Simulation-Optimization Modeling for Sustainable Groundwater Development: A Moroccan Coastal Aquifer Case Study

A transient simulation model characterizing groundwater flow in the coastal aquifer of Rhis-Nekor was constructed and calibrated. The flow model was then used in conjunction with a genetic algorithm based optimization model to explore the optimal pumping schemes that meet current and future water demands while minimizing the risks for several adverse environmental impacts, such as saltwater intrusion prevention, avoiding excessive drawdown, as well as controlling waterlogging and salinity problems. Modeling results demonstrate the importance of this combined simulation-optimization methodology for solving groundwater management problems associated with the Rhis-Nekor plain.     

Simulation Modeling for Efficient Groundwater Management in Balasore Coastal Basin,India

The Balasore coastal groundwater basin in Orissa, India is under a serious threat of overdraft and seawater intrusion. The overexploitation resulted in abandoning many shallow tubewells in the basin. The main intent of this study is the development of a 2-D groundwater flow and transport model of the basin using the Visual MODFLOW package for analyzing the aquifer response to various pumping strategies. The simulation model was calibrated and validated satisfactorily. Using the validated model, the groundwater response to five pumping scenarios under existing cropping conditions was simulated. The results of the sensitivity analysis indicated that the Balasore aquifer system is more susceptible to the river seepage, recharge from rainfall and interflow than the horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivities and specific storage. Finally, based on the modeling results, salient management strategies are suggested for the long-term sustainability of vital groundwater resources of the Balasore groundwater basin. The most promising management strategy for the Balasore basin could be: a reduction in the pumpage from the second aquifer by 50% in the downstream region and an increase in the pumpage to 150% from the first and second aquifer at potential locations.     

A Model for the Optimal Allocation of Water Resources in a Saltwater Intrusion Area: A Case Study in Pearl River Delta in China

This paper presents a model for the optimal allocation of water resources in saltwater intrusion areas. The model is comprised of four modules: a joint operation of river and reservoirs module (JORRM), a saltwater intrusion analysis module (SIAM), an economic analysis and in-stream ecology demand module (EAIEDM) and a water allocation module (WAM). Considering the social, economic and environmental aspects, the model has three objectives: the maximization of economic interest (OF ₁), maximization of social satisfaction (OF ₂) and the minimization of the amounts of polluted water (OF ₃). A genetic algorithm is also employed to optimize the module. The model has then been applied to a case study of optimization of water resources for the Pearl River Delta in China. The results indicate that there is water shortage in Pearl River Delta and engineering projects are needed to satisfy water demand during the dry season when saltwater intrusion happens. The model provides a useful tool for the operation of reservoirs and freshwater allocation in saltwater intrusion area.     

A Strategy for Controlling Groundwater Depletion in the Sa'dah Plain,Yemen

Over-exploitation of the groundwater resources is the major problem leading to groundwater depletion in the Sa'dah Plain, one of the major semi-arid highland basins of Yemen. Groundwater-irrigated agriculture is the chief economic activity in the Plain. Consequently, depletion places socioeconomic development in jeopardy. Owing to the lack of institutional arrangements and management instruments, government intervention is not likely to alleviate the crisis. One non-governmental approach that takes advantage of the existing local sociopolitical structure and customary law would be to adopt an annual abstraction quota. Approaching the crisis at a grass-roots level and relying on the conformity of the local citizens with customary law are the main characteristics of this strategy, the optimum objective of which is sustainable utilization of water resources.     

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.     

Simulation-Optimization Modelling for Sustainable Groundwater Management in a Coastal Basin of Orissa, India

The Balasore coastal groundwater basin of Orissa in eastern India is under a serious threat of overdraft and seawater intrusion. Two optimization models were developed in this study for the efficient utilization of water resources in Balasore basin during non-monsoon periods: (a) a non-linear hydraulic management model for optimal pumpage, and (b) a linear optimization model for optimal cropping pattern in integration with a calibrated and validated groundwater flow simulation model. Based on the simulation-optimization modeling results, optimal pumping schedules, cropping patterns, and corresponding groundwater conditions are presented for three scenarios viz., wet, normal and dry years. It was found that optimal pumping schedules and corresponding cropping patterns differed significantly under the three scenarios, and the groundwater levels improved significantly under the optimal hydraulic conditions compared to the existing condition. In dry years, the groundwater levels under the present pumping pattern and the optimal pumpage indicated that the non-monsoon pumpage should not exceed the optimal pumpage in the absence of remedial measures in the basin. It is concluded that in order to ensure sustainable groundwater utilization in the basin, the optimal cropping pattern and pumping schedule should be adopted by the farmers.     

Impacts of Receding of the Lakes Located in the Arid and Semi-arid Areas on the Coastal Groundwater: Integrated Modeling and Experimental Study

The dropping of the water level of the lakes located in the arid lands leads to salt concentration increase. In this study, a combined experimental-computational method is developed to explore the effect of seawater concentration on the elevation of groundwater table and the rate of saltwater intrusion, while the lake water level is dropping. At the laboratory tank scale, we have collected experimental data by varying the saltwater concentration by 2.0 and 2.5 times its initial value while measuring the height of the groundwater table. Our simulation has shown an unexpected increase in height of groundwater by 5.0 and 13.0% relative to the head difference at the boundaries of the domain. Also, the intrusion rate of saltwater wedge increased by 2.0 and 3.0 times, respectively. We have used the verified model for a field state and found that if density variations are neglected in simulation, the calculated groundwater level is affected more than 2 times in response to fluctuation of lake water level (relative to simulations by including the effect of fluid density changes). Based on the results density variations can counteract; even reverse, the effect of water table changes. Remarkably, our simulations have shown that despite a severe decrease in the water level of a saline lake over time, the saltwater wedge has indeed intruded further because of the substantial increase in the density of the lake water due to the rising salinity. Based on the findings, to reach a reasonable result in the study of interaction between saline water of shrinking lakes with coastal groundwater, saltwater concentration as well as saline water density in the modeling must be considered.