Injection of fresh river water into a saline floodplain aquifer as a salt interception measure in a semi-arid environment

Alaghmand, Sina; Beecham, Simon; Woods, Juliette; Holland, Kate L.; Jolly, Ian; Hassanli, Ali; Nouri, Hamideh

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2014.11.014

Cited by 21 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The analytical solution given here is expected to serve as a valuable and informative screening tool for the existence of freshwater lenses under natural conditions, at least where the hydrology is somewhat stable (e.g., in the absence of variable pumping and episodic flooding) and where the lens is not expected to vary significantly in time. In particular, the method will have immediate relevance to regions where freshwater lenses are modified to optimize their benefit to floodplain vegetation [ Berens et al ., , Alaghmand et al ., ]. Remediation strategies for salinized floodplains are currently being trialed along reaches of the Lower River Murray with a focus on enhancing or preventing the degradation of existing freshwater lenses [ Alaghmand et al ., ], and yet no quantitative analysis has yet been undertaken to investigate lens controls.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, the method will have immediate relevance to regions where freshwater lenses are modified to optimize their benefit to floodplain vegetation [ Berens et al ., , Alaghmand et al ., ]. Remediation strategies for salinized floodplains are currently being trialed along reaches of the Lower River Murray with a focus on enhancing or preventing the degradation of existing freshwater lenses [ Alaghmand et al ., ], and yet no quantitative analysis has yet been undertaken to investigate lens controls.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[] and Alaghmand et al . [] used numerical modeling to examine the freshwater lens within Clark's floodplain, where a lens is artificially created in a naturally gaining reach through manipulation of the head gradients by pumping. The modeling results indicated that the lens could not be sustained under gaining river conditions; however, buoyancy effects were neglected.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Terrestrial freshwater lenses in stable riverine settings: Occurrence and controlling factors

Werner

Laattoe

2016

Water Resources Research

106

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Rivers in arid and semiarid regions often traverse saline aquifers, creating buoyant freshwater lenses in the adjoining riparian and floodplain zones. The occurrence of freshwater lenses where the river is otherwise gaining saline groundwater appears counterintuitive, given that both hydraulic and density forces act toward the river. In this paper, an analytical solution is presented that defines the extent of a stable, sharpinterface terrestrial freshwater lens (in cross section) in a riverine environment that otherwise contains saline groundwater moving toward the river. The method is analogous to the situation of an island freshwater lens, except in the riverine setting, the saltwater is mobile and the lens is assumed to be stagnant. The solution characterizes the primary controlling factors of riverine freshwater lenses, which are larger for situations involving lower hydraulic conductivities and rates of saltwater discharge to the river. Deeper aquifers, more transmissive riverbeds, and larger freshwater-saltwater density differences produce more extensive lenses. The analytical solution predicts the parameter combinations that preclude the occurrence of freshwater lenses. The utility of the solution as a screening method to predict the occurrence of terrestrial freshwater lenses is demonstrated by application to parameter ranges typical of the South Australian portion of the River Murray, where freshwater lenses occur in only a portion of the neighboring floodplains. Despite assumptions of equilibrium conditions and a sharp freshwater-saltwater interface, the solution for predicting the occurrence of riverine freshwater lenses presented in this study has immediate relevance to the management of floodplains in which freshwater lenses are integral to biophysical conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Terrestrial freshwater lenses in stable riverine settings: Occurrence and controlling factors

Werner

Laattoe

2016

Water Resources Research

106

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“…Further examples of anthropogenic TFLs are reported in studies of the saline floodplains of the River Murray in Australia [Berens et al, 2009;Alaghmand et al, 2014Alaghmand et al, , 2015. Here, losing river conditions are induced by pumping, with the intention of creating a TFL from which trees can access freshwater, thereby enriching the environmental assets within the floodplain.…”

Section: Known Terrestrial Freshwater Lensesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terrestrial freshwater lenses: Unexplored subterranean oases

Laattoe

Werner

Woods

et al. 2017

Journal of Hydrology

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Freshwater lenses are lenticular bodies of fresh groundwater that develop above more saline groundwater within the same host aquifer due in part to buoyancy. In contrast to the widely studied situation of freshwater lenses in coastal aquifers, the formation, location and persistence of freshwater lenses in terrestrial settings are poorly understood. This is despite inland aquifers commonly containing saline groundwater, particularly in arid and semi-arid climates, and the local occurrences of freshwater being critical for ecosystems and human endeavour. We identify and classify known terrestrial freshwater lenses (TFLs) using four formation categories, namely topography, geology, groundwater-surface water interaction and recharge mechanisms. The resulting typology highlights the importance of buoyancy in the formation of TFLs in otherwise unlikely situations, implying that TFLs may be more prevalent than previously thought. TFLs represent some of the most vulnerable and precious freshwater resources on Earth that require considerably more research into mechanisms of formation and threats to their existence.

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“…Van Ginkel et al (2014) studied the possibility of extracting saltwater below the freshwater injection to prevent the spreading of freshwater at the top of the aquifer. Alaghmand et al (2015) investigated fresh river water injection into a saline floodplain aquifer and developed a numerical model for the optimization of injection scenarios.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow dynamics in hyper-saline aquifers: hydro-geophysical monitoring and modeling

Haaken

Deidda

Cassiani

et al. 2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Saline-freshwater interaction in porous media is a phenomenon of practical interest particularly for the management of water resources in arid and semi-arid environments, where precious freshwater resources are threatened by seawater intrusion and where storage of freshwater in saline aquifers can be a viable option. Saline-freshwater interactions are controlled by physico-chemical processes that need to be accurately modeled. This in turn requires monitoring of these systems, a non-trivial task for which spatially extensive, high-resolution non-invasive techniques can provide key information. In this paper we present the field monitoring and numerical modeling components of an approach aimed at understanding complex saline-freshwater systems. The approach is applied to a freshwater injection experiment carried out in a hyper-saline aquifer near Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy). The experiment was monitored using time-lapse cross-hole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). To investigate the flow dynamics, coupled numerical flow and transport modeling of the experiment was carried out using an advanced three-dimensional (3-D) density-driven flow-transport simulator. The simulation results were used to produce synthetic ERT inversion results to be compared against real field ERT results. This exercise demonstrates that the evolution of the freshwater bulb is strongly influenced by the system's (even mild) hydraulic heterogeneities. The example also highlights how the joint use of ERT imaging and gravity-dependent flow and transport modeling give fundamental information for this type of study.

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Injection of fresh river water into a saline floodplain aquifer as a salt interception measure in a semi-arid environment

Cited by 21 publications

References 33 publications

Terrestrial freshwater lenses in stable riverine settings: Occurrence and controlling factors

Terrestrial freshwater lenses in stable riverine settings: Occurrence and controlling factors

Terrestrial freshwater lenses: Unexplored subterranean oases

Flow dynamics in hyper-saline aquifers: hydro-geophysical monitoring and modeling

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