Recharge processes: piston flow vs preferential flow in semi-arid aquifers of India

Sukhija, B. S.; Reddy, D. V.; Nagabhushanam, P.; Hussain, Syed Asim

doi:10.1007/s10040-002-0243-3

Cited by 48 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The rapid flow of the latter process avoids any significant evapotranspiration and interaction with the rock matrix, resulting in recharge of a very dilute component compared to that transferred by piston-flow movement (Legout et al, 2007). Tracer tests in the Maheshwaram watershed indicate that preferential flow outweighs the piston-flow process by more than two times (Sukhija et al, 2003). The hydrochemical logs recorded at shallow depth reveal the chemical nature of preferential flow, even if in some boreholes it may correspond to bypass along the borehole casing rather than to real preferential flow within the aquifer.…”

Section: Recharge Waters and Fluoride Contamination Of Groundwatermentioning

confidence: 94%

Hydrochemical borehole logs characterizing fluoride contamination in a crystalline aquifer (Maheshwaram, India)

Pauwels

Négrel

Dewandel³

et al. 2015

Journal of Hydrology

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Section: Recharge Waters and Fluoride Contamination Of Groundwatermentioning

confidence: 94%

Hydrochemical borehole logs characterizing fluoride contamination in a crystalline aquifer (Maheshwaram, India)

Pauwels

Négrel

Dewandel³

et al. 2015

Journal of Hydrology

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“…Similarly, if preferential pathways are present, but the sampling does not occur along it, recharge would be underestimated. This issue has been pointed out by several authors [23,58]. A possible way of overcoming this problem might be to compare the results with estimations based on the chloride mass balance method [1,59].…”

Section: Uncertainty and Shortcomings Of Recharge Estimates Using Peamentioning

confidence: 98%

“…A complete review is given by Koeniger et al [15]. Furthermore, tritium has been used as an artificial tracer in numerous studies in various climatic regions using different experimental procedures [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of groundwater recharge via deuterium labelling in the semi-arid Cuvelai-Etosha Basin, Namibia

Beyer

Gaj

Hamutoko

et al. 2015

Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies

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The stable water isotope deuterium ((2)H) was applied as an artificial tracer ((2)H2O) in order to estimate groundwater recharge through the unsaturated zone and describe soil water movement in a semi-arid region of northern central Namibia. A particular focus of this study was to assess the spatiotemporal persistence of the tracer when applied in the field on a small scale under extreme climatic conditions and to propose a method to obtain estimates of recharge in data-scarce regions. At two natural sites that differ in vegetation cover, soil and geology, 500 ml of a 70% (2)H2O solution was irrigated onto water saturated plots. The displacement of the (2)H peak was analyzed 1 and 10 days after an artificial rain event of 20 mm as well as after the rainy season. Results show that it is possible to apply the peak displacement method for the estimation of groundwater recharge rates in semi-arid environments via deuterium labelling. Potential recharge for the rainy season 2013/2014 was calculated as 45 mm a(-1) at 5.6 m depth and 40 mm a(-1) at 0.9 m depth at the two studied sites, respectively. Under saturated conditions, the artificial rain events moved 2.1 and 0.5 m downwards, respectively. The tracer at the deep sand site (site 1) was found after the rainy season at 5.6 m depth, corresponding to a displacement of 3.2 m. This equals in an average travel velocity of 2.8 cm d(-1) during the rainy season at the first site. At the second location, the tracer peak was discovered at 0.9 m depth; displacement was found to be only 0.4 m equalling an average movement of 0.2 cm d(-1) through the unsaturated zone due to an underlying calcrete formation. Tracer recovery after one rainy season was found to be as low as 3.6% at site 1 and 1.9% at site 2. With an in situ measuring technique, a three-dimensional distribution of (2)H after the rainy season could be measured and visualized. This study comprises the first application of the peak displacement method using a deuterium labelling technique for the estimation of groundwater recharge in semi-arid regions. Deuterium proved to be a suitable tracer for studies within the soil-vegetation-atmosphere interface. The results of this study are relevant for the design of labelling experiments in the unsaturated zone of dry areas using (2)H2O as a tracer and obtaining estimations of groundwater recharge on a local scale. The presented methodology is particularly beneficial in data-scarce environments, where recharge pathways and mechanisms are poorly understood.

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“…Groundwater studies have been devoted to field-based recharge estimation as the most crucial groundwater balance component in the semi-arid context (e.g., Rangarajan and Athavale, 2000;Sukhija et al, 2003), the development of a methodology for quantitative groundwater balance computation adapted to semi-arid hard-rock aquifers , a groundwater recharge model for the southern Indian rural context which enables to test the evolution of groundwater resource according to land use change (Anuraga et al, 2006), groundwater modeling in a large irrigation system (Chowdary et al, 2003). A Decision Support Tool was designed for the groundwater resource management in hard-rocks (Dewandel et al, , 2010.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing water availability in a semi-arid watershed of southern India using a semi-distributed model

Perrin¹,

Ferrant

Massuel

et al. 2012

Journal of Hydrology

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Recharge processes: piston flow vs preferential flow in semi-arid aquifers of India

Cited by 48 publications

References 14 publications

Hydrochemical borehole logs characterizing fluoride contamination in a crystalline aquifer (Maheshwaram, India)

Hydrochemical borehole logs characterizing fluoride contamination in a crystalline aquifer (Maheshwaram, India)

Estimation of groundwater recharge via deuterium labelling in the semi-arid Cuvelai-Etosha Basin, Namibia

Assessing water availability in a semi-arid watershed of southern India using a semi-distributed model

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