Describing Near Surface, Transient Flow Processes in Unconfined Aquifers below Irrigated Lands: Model Application in the Western San Joaquin Valley, California

In order to rigorously examine near surface, field to field interactions between irrigation management regimes and a shallow fluctuating water table, an enhanced deforming finite element (DFE) model was recently developed. The enhanced DFE model, through a process of iteration within each time step, avoids making common assumptions regarding the changing geometry of an aquifer free surface. This paper demonstrates the usefulness and effectiveness of the model by employing it to an irrigated region in the western San Joaquin Valley, Calif., where shallow subsurface tile drains have been installed to control shallow water tables. By virtue of the problems created by the need to dispose off the drainage water, this region has been the focus of several important regional scale modeling exercises, which have evaluated the utility of management strategies, such as source control, groundwater pumping, and land retirement. By refining the focus of the analysis, the enhanced DFE model is found to be able to show that both sources control and managed pumping could be more effective drainage control strategies than predicted based on the results of regional models.     

Reassessing the Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers through the lens of reciprocity

ABSTRACT

In spite of groundwater’s growing importance, the 2008 Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers have yet to be fully adopted by the international community. As states contemplate the future of the draft articles, this article aims to reassess them through the lens of the legal principle of reciprocity. To do so, this article provides a framework for the analysis of law via reciprocity, followed by its application to the draft articles. Although this article primarily finds that they follow a reciprocal structure, it also identifies areas to be revisited, including sovereignty and recharge zone states.     

Character of Organic Matter in Soil-Aquifer Treatment Systems

The objective of this study was to investigate the character and fate of bulk organics in reclaimed water used for groundwater recharge via soil-aquifer treatment (SAT). The study design followed a watershed guided approach considering hydraulically corresponding samples of drinking water sources, SAT-applied wastewater effluents, and subsequent post-SAT samples representing a series of different travel times in the subsurface. Water samples were fractionated into hydrophobic acids, transphilic acids, and hydrophilic carbon using a XAD resin-based protocol. Extensive characterization of organic carbon in the different samples was performed using state-of-the-art analytical techniques including excitation–emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography, carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13C-NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and elemental analysis. During SAT, transphilic and hydrophilic organic matter were preferentially removed. The results generally demonstrated that naturally derived (NOM) and effluent-derived organic matter after SAT overlap extensively in molecular weight distribution, amount and distribution of hydrophobic and hydrophilic carbon fractions, and chemical characteristics based on elemental analysis and 13C-NMR and FTIR spectroscopy. However, the residual portion of the dissolved organic carbon contained both effluent-derived organic matter and NOM.     

Simplified Kernel Method for Flow to Large Diameter Wells

A computationally simple kernel method is proposed for obtaining drawdowns due to unsteady pumping of large diameter wells. The kernels can be worked out even on a hand-held calculator. The new method can also be used to obtain residual drawdowns. The new method yields results as good as those obtained using earlier methods.     

Well Loss Estimation: Variable Pumping Replacing Step Drawdown Test

An optimization method is presented for simultaneous estimation of aquifer parameters and well loss parameters utilizing all the drawdowns observed during a variable rate pumping or multiple step pumping test. The proposed method does not require any graphical analysis. It is shown that a variable rate pumping test is a better substitute for the conventional step drawdown test to estimate well loss parameters. It suggests that the pumping rate may be changed frequently without waiting for a near steady state to be reached (or a selected duration, say 60 min) in each step of a conventional step drawdown test. This can result in a substantial saving of time and money involved in conducting a step drawdown test with a view to estimate well loss parameters. This gives a greater number of distinct discharges, which improves the estimates of the well loss parameters. Application of the method is demonstrated on published data sets, the results of which show that the parameters estimated using the new method are more reliable as compared to those obtained using prior methods.     

Simulation of Varada Aquifer System for Sustainable Groundwater Development

Groundwater flow modeling has been used extensively worldwide with varying degrees of success. The ability to predict the groundwater flow is critical in planning and implementing groundwater development projects under increasing demand for fresh water resources. This paper presents the simulation of the aquifer system for planning the groundwater development of Varada basin, Karnataka, India using the Galerkin finite-element method. The government of Karnataka State, India is implementing the World Bank assisted project, “Jal Nirmal” for a sustainable development of the region, thereby ensuring a safe supply of drinking water to the northern districts of the state. Varada basin is one of the beneficiaries of the project in Haveri district. Field tests carried out in the study area indicate that the region is predominantly a confined aquifer with transmissivity and storage coefficients ranging from 5.787×10?6?m2/s (0.500?m2/day) to 4.213×10?3?m2/s (3.640×102?m2/day) and 0.011–0.001×10?2, respectively. This study mainly emphasizes the spatial and temporal variability of groundwater potential under different developmental scenarios. The model predictions were reasonably good with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.78 to 0.91 with the root mean square error of about 0.46–0.78 during calibration and validation. The stated accuracies are based on comparisons between measured and calculated heads. The outcome of the study would be a useful input for the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater planning for the sustainable development of the region.     

Storage Coefficient and Transmissivity from Residual Drawdowns

A computationally simple method is proposed for the estimation of transmissivity and storage coefficient from only residual drawdowns at an observation well, the calculations for which can be performed using a calculator. The method does not require the last pumping drawdown, however, duration of pumping is required. Different estimates of storage coefficient during pumping and recovery can be obtained using the new method if applied on such data sets affected by the hysteresis in storage coefficient during pumping versus recovery. The new method may be suited for advanced analysis of pumping/residual drawdowns, such as storage coefficient increasing with recovery. It is able to identify the nonideal aquifer condition (other than infinite confined aquifer) from only residual drawdowns if applied on such data. It can yield reliable estimates of aquifer parameters, which are as good as that obtained using an optimization approach developed previously by the author.     

Efficacy of Genetic Algorithm to Investigate Small Scale Aquitard Leakage

The movement of water from a shallow aquifer to a semiconfined aquifer through a localized area of leakage in an aquitard, designated as an aquitard window, is an area of concern in certain gulf coastal plain aquifer settings. Locating these windows, or areas of leakage, has been historically arduous. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a genetic algorithm (GA) technique as an inverse technique for locating highly probable areas of leakage based upon aquifer head data near the suspected area of leakage. The GA technique has previously been tested on synthetic data alone, and this research offers insight into the capabilities of the technique with actual field data from a site with a known aquitard window. Research sites with historical and ongoing data collection efforts are rare and offer the best opportunity for robust evaluation of new methodologies. Based upon the GA technique, the steady-state accretion flux to the Memphis aquifer at the Shelby Farms study site was determined to be 12,346 m3/day with a standard deviation of 821 m3/day and compared well with the range from 510 to 9,911 m3/day previously determined for the site.     

Simulating the Effect of Liquid CO2 on Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts in Aquifer Material

The effects of liquid CO2 injection on the viability of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts were evaluated. A laboratory study was designed to test the effects of saturated CO2, freeze–thaw cycles and different freezing protocols on C. parvum oocysts in aquifer material. Oocysts were exposed to a saturated solution of CO2 at room temperature for 1-, 4-, 8-, and 12-h intervals and their viability was compared with controls. One- and three-cycle freeze–thaw experiments on oocyst survival were conducted. Inactivation of oocysts was assessed for: (1) rapid freezing and rapid thawing and (2) gradual freezing and rapid thawing. Exposure to 1 atm of CO2 in water at room temperature had a negligible effect on oocyst viability. Average oocyst viability after the one- and three-cycle freeze–thaw experiments was 24.7 and 2.7%, repsectively. The average oocyst viability associated with the rapid freeze–thaw and gradual freeze–thaw experiments was 11.3 and 26.2%, respectively. Freezing associated with injection of liquid CO2 into aquifers would be the factor inactivating oocysts; to cause a 3-log decrease in oocyst viability multiple injections may be required.     

Theory of Seepage into an Auger Hole in a Confined Aquifer

A steady-state theory is presented for predicting flow into an auger hole partially penetrating a homogeneous and anisotropic confined aquifer that is underlain by an impermeable layer. The developed equations can be directly applied (i.e., without resorting to a coordinate transformation) to translate the rate of rise of the water in a pumped auger hole into directional conductivities of soil. The study shows that the conductivity values calculated by neglecting the confining pressure of an artesian aquifer (i.e., by applying the existing unconfined auger-hole seepage theories to experimental auger data obtained from a confined aquifer) may lead to serious error; hence, the confining head of an aquifer must be considered while the conductivity values are computed. Further, the distance of the outer layer also plays an important role in determining the flow to an auger hole penetrating a confined aquifer, and this parameter must therefore be included in the theoretical analysis of the problem. The validity of the proposed theory is checked by comparing a few results obtained from the theory with corresponding results obtained from numerical and analytical works. The developed theory is an addition to already existing auger-hole seepage theories for water-table aquifers; together with the available theories, the proposed solution is expected to cover the most commonly encountered auger hole experimental flow situations in the field.