Assessing specific-capacity data and short-term aquifer testing to estimate hydraulic properties in alluvial aquifers of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA

Newman, Connor P.; Kisfalusi, Zachary D.; Holmberg, Michael J.

doi:10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100949

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The control of hydraulic properties on irrigation return flow dynamics is explored by using four K-values ranging from 3 to 100 m/d (3, 10, 30, 100 m/d) and two values of specific yield (0.2, 0.3). These values are typical of alluvial aquifers in mountainous alluvial valleys in Western Colorado (Colorado Department of Water Resources, 2016; United States Forest Service, 2018; Newman et al, 2021). The effects of stage and recharge boundary conditions are explored by using four different magnitudes of stream stage amplitude (0, 0.5, 1, and 2 m), three values of net annual irrigation recharge (10, 20, 30 cm), two magnitudes of surficial natural recharge (10 and 20 cm) each with two mountain block recharge magnitudes (25, 50%).…”

Section: Experiments Groupsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Physical Controls on Irrigation Return Flow Contributions to Stream Flow in Irrigated Alluvial Valleys

Ferencz

Tidwell

2022

Front. Water

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Irrigation can be a significant source of groundwater recharge in many agricultural regions, particularly in arid and semi-arid climates. Once infiltrated, irrigation recharge can travel via subsurface flowpaths that return to the river system in a lagged manner, supplementing natural streamflow weeks, months, or even years from when the irrigation was applied. In regions that experience low flows during summer and early fall, return flows can be a significant source of supplementary streamflow. Many water planning and operations models either ignore return flows or roughly approximate them with analytical solutions. Thus, return flows represent an important but often overlooked component of the hydrological exchange and overall water balance in agricultural regions. This study uses groundwater models to explore a wide range of factors that control irrigation return flow timing in irrigated alluvial valleys. A sensitivity analysis approach is used to assess how factors such as the extent of irrigated land adjacent to a stream, irrigation recharge rate, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, aquifer thickness, water table configuration, and seasonal fluctuations in stream stage control the timing of subsurface return flows. Modeling is conducted using MODFLOW models representing an irrigated alluvial valley adjacent to a stream. While a simplification of the full complexity in real systems, the models are a significant advancement from the analytical solution and provide new insight into the timescales of return flows over a broad range of possible conditions. To contextualize our modeling results, they are compared to an analytical solution commonly used for approximating return flows to evaluate its performance. Our findings show what factors and conditions influence return flow timing and control whether they contribute to streamflow over short term (months) or longer term (seasonal) time scales.

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Section: Experiments Groupsmentioning

confidence: 95%