Comparison of local- to regional-scale estimates of ground-water recharge in Minnesota, USA

Abstract

Summary Regional ground-water recharge estimates for Minnesota were compared to estimates made on the basis of four local-and basin-scale methods. Three local-scale methods (unsaturated-zone water balance, water-table fluctuations (WTF) using three approaches, and age dating of ground water) yielded point estimates of recharge that represent spatial scales from about 1 to about 1000 m 2 . A fourth method (RORA, a basin-scale analysis of streamflow records using a recession-curve-displacement technique) yielded recharge estimates at a scale of 10-1000s of km 2 . The RORA basin-scale recharge estimates were regionalized to estimate recharge for the entire State of Minnesota on the basis of a regional regression recharge (RRR) model that also incorporated soil and climate data. Recharge rates estimated by the RRR model compared favorably to the local and basin-scale recharge estimates. RRR estimates at study locations were about 41% less on average than the unsaturated-zone water-balance estimates, ranged from 44% greater to 12% less than estimates that were based on the three WTF approaches, were about 4% less than the age dating of ground-water estimates, and were about 5% greater than the RORA estimates. Of the methods used in this study, the WTF method is the simplest and easiest to apply. Recharge estimates made on the basis of the UZWB method were inconsistent with the results from the other methods. Recharge estimates using the RRR model could be a good source of input for regional ground-water flow models; RRR model results currently are being applied for this purpose in USGS studies elsewhere. ª

Temporal dynamics of soil water balance components in a karst range in southeastern Spain: estimation of potential recharge

“…In other cases, PR is estimated from soil water content (y) change monitored using automated data logging systems (Thomsen & Hougård, 1995;Delin et al, 2000Delin et al, , 2007Delin & Herkelrath, 2005). Recently-developed non-destructive techniques for automatic high-frequency, volumetric measurement of soil water content, such as time-domain-reflectometry (TDR), make it possible to estimate PR more accurately, and to estimate and validate soil water balance model components (Ladekarl, 1999;Ladekarl et al, 2005).…”

Karst Conduit Networks, Connectivity and Recharge Dynamics of a Sinkhole

“…Recharge to the aquifer was assessed using three methods; watertable fluctuation (WTF) (Delin et al, 2007), generalised CMB (Somaratne, 2015b) and the use of a MODFLOW (Harbaugh, 2005) based groundwater model (Wood, 2016).…”

A Case Study in the Use of 3-Dimensional Ground Water Modeling and Solute Transport Engines as a Tool in Site Assessment

“…The model cell area covered 5 square miles and included area around Hiniker Pond and Oxbow Lake, with US-14 ditch as the northern boundary and the Minnesota River on the Eastern boundary. An annual recharge rate of 28 inches per year and an annual evapotranspiration rate of 23 inches per year were applied to the model based local data (Delin et al, 2007). Hiniker Pond and Oxbow Lake were added as lake features, using depths provided by Minnesota DNR (Minnesota DNR, 2007).…”