Dominant Influencing Factors of Groundwater Recharge Spatial Patterns in Ergene River Catchment, Turkey

Abstract

Groundwater is of great significance in sustaining life on planet earth. The reliable estimation of groundwater recharge is the key understanding the groundwater reservoir and forecasting its potential accessibility. The main objective of this study was to assess the groundwater recharge and its controlling factors at the Ergene river catchment. A grid-based water balance model was adopted to determine the spatially distributed long-term groundwater recharge and other water budget components, relying upon the hydro-climatic variables, land-use, soil, geology, and relief of the investigated area. The model calculations were performed for the hydrological reference horizon of 20 years at a spatial resolution of 100 × 100 m. The base flow index (BFI) separation concept was applied to split up the simulated total runoff into groundwater recharge and direct runoff. Subsequently, the statistical methods of Pearson product–moment correlation and principal component analysis (PCA) were combined for identifying the dominant catchment and meteorological factors influencing the recharge. The average groundwater recharge over the investigated area amounts to 95 mm/year. The model validation and statistical analysis indicate that the difference between simulated and observed total runoff and recharge values is generally under 20% and no significant inconsistency was observed. PCA indicated that recharge is controlled, in order of significance, by land-use, soil, and climate variables. The findings of this research highlight the key role of spatial variables in recharge determination. In addition, the generated outputs may contribute to groundwater resource management in the Ergene river catchment.

Baseflow Age Distributions and Depth of Active Groundwater Flow in a Snow‐Dominated Mountain Headwater Basin

“…Topographic controls have also long been recognized as controlling local, intermediate, and regional groundwater flow systems (Toth, 1963; Winter et al, 2001) and have been identified as the single most important control on catchment‐scale transport (McGuire et al, 2005). Additionally, the influence of precipitation magnitude and type (Carroll et al, 2017), vegetation (Rukundo & Doğan, 2019), bedrock lithology (Onda et al, 2006), and subsurface connectivity (Tetzlaff et al, 2009) have been found to influence recharge and subsequent groundwater flow to streams. The spatial distribution of water inputs may also matter.…”

Normalized difference vegetation index as the dominant predicting factor of groundwater recharge in phreatic aquifers: case studies across Iran

“…Kim and Jackson 21 and Bekele et al 14 reviewed estimation methods for phreatic aquifers including groundwater residence time, soil water balance method, soil water flux, inverse modeling, water table fluctuation, groundwater balance, and isotope and tracer profile. No single reliable and comprehensive estimation technique can yet be identified to estimate the aquifer replenishment from the spectrum of those developed 23 . Owing to uncertainties involved in each approach arise from available data, local geographic and topographic conditions, spatial and temporal scale required, Scanlon et al 24 suggested using multiple techniques to increase the reliability of the results.…”

“…In Parmelia aquifer, a deep phreatic aquifer in Western Australia, groundwater levels have risen between up to 55 cm/year over the last three decades due to the replacement of deep-rooted native vegetation with pasture and annual crops 14 . Applying a grid-based water balance model, the spatial variation in Ergene river catchment, Turkey is controlled in order of significance by vegetation land-use, soil group types, and climate 23 . The relationships have also been found for NDVI and changes in groundwater levels 40 and groundwater flow discharge 41 .…”

Groundwater Recharge in the Cerrado Biome, Brazil—A Multi-Method Study at Experimental Watershed Scale

“…The correct characterization of this hydrological process is fundamental to integrated water resources management [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], although it is complex and difficult to quantify [8][9][10]. Temporal and spatial variability adds to the lack of data and resources, which prevents the actions taken by managers and researchers from being correctly fulfilled when facing scenarios of overexploitation, inordinate land use, pollution, and other environmental damage [11][12][13][14]. Depending on the particularities of a region, the extent of the groundwater recharge process can go beyond even national political and administrative borders [15,16].…”

“…Some methods, for example, those based on flow direct measurements, can generate good results when obtaining point values, but may be unable to characterize the spatial variability of the process. Distributed methods are typically avoided due to the amount and variety of data required [7,12,13,29]. This methodological difficulty is not restricted to groundwater recharge research, and a way to overcome it is through the adoption of an experimental watershed as the study area.…”