Assessing artificial groundwater recharge on irrigated land using the MODFLOW model

Abstract

Water-resource deficits have led to the need for artificial groundwater-recharge techniques to provide drinking water for rural communities in southeastern Kazakhstan, especially those with a small number of inhabitants. The Kishi-Tobe settlement located in the Karatal agricultural area on the right bank of the Karatal River in southeastern Kazakhstan has severe water-supply shortages. In this study, the groundwater-flow model MODFLOW was used to simulate complex hydrogeological and irrigation conditions for a quantitative assessment of artificial groundwater recharge from infiltration pools. The aim of these pools was to solve the water shortage in the Kishi-Tobe settlement. New findings showed that the maximum rate of artificial groundwater recharge from the infiltration pool can reach 1000 m 3 day −1 , corresponding to an infiltration rate of 0.2 m day −1 , which creates a groundwater mound with a radius of around 500 m from the center of the pool. The groundwater mound also serves as a hydrodynamic barrier, preventing inflow of contaminated groundwater from irrigated fields and rice checks to the pumping wells. The potential rate of groundwater pumping from two water-supply wells can reach up to 7350 m 3 day −1 over 10 years, providing a maximum drawdown in the wells of about 24 m. The water required by the Kishi-Tobe settlement can be supplied at a rate of 864 m 3 day −1 , achieving both available drawdowns by the end of the forecast period and balanced provision of the groundwater resource.

Changes in land use/land cover and net primary productivity in the transboundary Ili-Balkhash basin of Central Asia, 1995–2015

“…As of 1995 irrigated cropland was primarily distributed along the Ili, Künes, and Tekes rivers in the upper valley of China. In Kazakhstan, irrigation was common along the Karatal River (Mirlas et al 2015) and in the Akdala district (Dostaj et al 2006, Pueppke et al 2018b just upstream of the Ili River delta, as well as on steppes and in smaller valleys extending from the northern slopes of the Trans Ili and Dzungarian Alatau in Kazakhstan, where rivers and smaller streams serve as hydrological channels to transport water down from the mountains (Golomb 1959, Dostaj et al 2006. Most rain-fed cropland was adjacent to and sometimes intermingled with irrigated lands, especially along the Trans Ili and Dzungarian Alatau, as well as in the upper Tekes River valley of China (figure 1), one of the rare areas of the upper basin capable of sustaining crop-based agriculture under natural climatic conditions (Christiansen and Schöner 2004).…”

Groundwater quality evaluation of Shiraz City, Iran using multivariate and geostatistical techniques

“…Population explosion and growing living standards are enhancing the requirement of water in urban areas and this requirement has put enormous pressure on the inadequate water resources [6]. The over utilization of groundwater associated with nominal renew leads to groundwater degradation and scarcity [7].…”

Assessment of Managed Aquifer Recharge through Modeling—A Review

“…Hence, modeling is used to select and evaluate suitable sites for the application of infiltration ponds and basins and to optimize their design [163][164][165][166][167][168][169] (Figure 4). The planning of recharge basins as well as the evaluation of different management options is done by modeling [170][171][172][173][174].…”