Discussion of Hill on Ground-Water Storage

Hill, Raymond A.; Jarvis, C. S.; Charles, John R.; Sopp, C. W.; Bradley, J.; Crosby, Irving B.; Drummond, Glenn; Kazmann, Raphael G.; Baker, Donald M.; Forbes, Hyde

doi:10.1061/taceat.0005932

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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Section: Net Inflowsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…The term fell into disuse in the two decades following the Hill discussion and was independently proposed by Butler et al (2016). Hill (1946) noted that net inflow would vary much less than typical hydrologic phenomena, consistent with our findings in the Kansas HPA (Butler et al 2020a). Theis (1940), in one of the fundamental papers underlying our discipline, pointed out that water pumped from a well must be "balanced by a loss of water somewhere."…”

Section: Definition and Determinationsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…The term "net inflow" was first proposed by Hill (1946) in a six-page discussion following a paper by Conkling (1946). Hill appears to have developed an approach similar to that described above by taking a method used in surface reservoir studies and applying it to aquifers.…”

Section: Definition and Determinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Net Inflow: An Important Target on the Path to Aquifer Sustainability

Butler¹,

Bohling

Perkins

et al. 2022

Groundwater

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Aquifers supporting irrigated agriculture are a resource of global importance. Many of these systems, however, are experiencing significant pumping‐induced stress that threatens their continued viability as a water source for irrigation. Reductions in pumping are often the only option to extend the lifespans of these aquifers and the agricultural production they support. The impact of reductions depends on a quantity known as “net inflow” or “capture.” We use data from a network of wells in the western Kansas portions of the High Plains aquifer in the central United States to demonstrate the importance of net inflow, how it can be estimated in the field, how it might vary in response to pumping reductions, and why use of “net inflow” may be preferred over “capture” in certain contexts. Net inflow has remained approximately constant over much of western Kansas for at least the last 15 to 25 years, thereby allowing it to serve as a target for sustainability efforts. The percent pumping reduction required to reach net inflow (i.e., stabilize water levels for the near term [years to a few decades]) can vary greatly over this region, which has important implications for groundwater management. However, the reduction does appear practically achievable (less than 30%) in many areas. The field‐determined net inflow can play an important role in calibration of regional groundwater models; failure to reproduce its magnitude and temporal variations should prompt further calibration. Although net inflow is a universally applicable concept, the reliability of field estimates is greatest in seasonally pumped aquifers.

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Section: Net Inflowsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Definition and Determinationsupporting

confidence: 77%

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Net Inflow: An Important Target on the Path to Aquifer Sustainability

Butler¹,

Bohling

Perkins

et al. 2022

Groundwater

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Estimation of Specific Yield for Regional Groundwater Models: Pitfalls, Ramifications, and a Promising Path Forward

Liu

Wilson

Bohling

et al. 2022

Water Resources Research

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Specific yield (Sy) is one of the most important aquifer parameters in groundwater models with large storage changes. However, it has received limited attention from the modeling community and there are few, if any, approaches that can be widely applied for determination of Sy at the scale required for regional aquifer studies. Despite the limitations of parameter estimation methods and of direct measurements of aquifer storage properties in the field, the large uncertainty in model Sy values is typically ignored and Sy is incorrectly assumed to be a known quantity. These practices can introduce errors into model predictions of aquifer budget components, such as recharge and storage depletion. In turn, aquifer management and planning can be greatly impacted, as estimates of aquifer responses to pumping changes are highly dependent on those simulated budget components. In this work, we use a groundwater model of a portion of the High Plains aquifer in the central United States to illustrate the impacts of inappropriately large Sy values on model predictions and the related water management ramifications. Building on our recent work, we propose a data‐driven approach for determining specific yield for regional groundwater models. Results demonstrate that this new approach can improve model reliability and lead to more robust predictions of aquifer responses to management scenarios.

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Discussion of Hill on Ground-Water Storage

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Net Inflow: An Important Target on the Path to Aquifer Sustainability

Net Inflow: An Important Target on the Path to Aquifer Sustainability

Estimation of Specific Yield for Regional Groundwater Models: Pitfalls, Ramifications, and a Promising Path Forward

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