Estimating Groundwater Mounding in Sloping Aquifers for Managed Aquifer Recharge

Abstract

Design of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) for augmentation of groundwater resources often lacks detailed data, and simple diagnostic tools for evaluation of the water table in a broad range of parameters are needed. In many large-scale MAR projects, the effect of a regional aquifer base dip cannot be ignored due to the scale of recharge sources (e.g., wadis, streams, reservoirs). However, Hantush's (1967) solution for a horizontal aquifer base is commonly used. To address sloping aquifers, a new closed-form analytical solution for water table mound accounts for the geometry and orientation of recharge sources at the land surface with respect to the aquifer base dip. The solution, based on the Dupiuit-Forchheimer approximation, Green's function method, and coordinate transformations is convenient for computing. This solution reveals important MAR traits in variance with Hantush's solution: mounding is limited in time and space; elevation of the mound is strongly affected by the dip angle; and the peak of the mound moves over time. These findings have important practical implications for assessment of various MAR scenarios, including waterlogging potential and determining proper rates of recharge. Computations are illustrated for several characteristic MAR settings.

Artificial aquifer recharge and pumping: transient analytical solutions for hydraulic head and impact on streamflow rate based on the spatial superposition method

“…Fourth and last, other line-sink solutions can be applied to consider other aquifer settings, provided that corresponding governing partial differential equation is linear and the use of the spatial superposition method. A similar theoretical approach was used by Zlotnik et al (2017), who estimated the groundwater mounding of a rectangular basin in a sloping aquifer from the appropriate well solution (Hantush, 1964a, b). However, as Molden et al (1984), their solution assumes that the mound's height is negligible compared to the initial saturated thickness and no solution including aquifer limits or stream was proposed.…”

“…Additional solutions were developed for considering other boundary conditions; these included a recharging area in aquifers with no-flow and constant-head boundaries (Marino, 1974;Sarma, 1981, 1984;Latinopoulos, 1984;Molden et al, 1984;Manglik et al, 1997), or pumping wells near the MAR structure (Manglik et al, 2004). A recent solution also considered sloping aquifers (Zlotnik et al, 2017). Carleton (2010) conducted numerical experiments for evaluating the effect of vertical anisotropy in hydraulic conductivity on the shape of mounding; his results showed that the greater the horizontal hydraulic conductivity (i.e.…”

Managed Aquifer Recharge in the Gulf Countries: A Review and Selection Criteria

“…Different methods of MAR techniques that are in practice include aquifer storage and recovery (ASR), aquifer storage transfer and recovery (ASTR), soil aquifer treatment (SAT), percolation pond, infiltration galleries, check dam, river bank filtration (RBF), and rain water harvesting (RWH), dry wells, dune filtration, underground dams, sand dams [19]. The criteria for adopting a particular method of MAR depend on the land use, geological conditions (topography, drainage, type of formation, rocks), aquifer types (confined, unconfined and semi-confined), and water quality [20][21][22]. Water from different sources (stormwater, reclaimed water, mains water, desalinated seawater, rainwater, and groundwater from other aquifers) of different quality can be used for MAR with appropriate pretreatment before recharge.…”

Interpretation of Heat‐Pulse Tracer Tests for Characterization of Three‐Dimensional Velocity Fields in Hyporheic Zone

“…This equation is easier to solve analytically than its counterpart (1) (e.g., Cardiff et al, ; Zlotnik et al, ). To find the temperature distribution in the field system, one needs to establish a relationship between these two systems.…”