Where Does the Ground Water in Small Watersheds Come From?

Abstract

Surface water and ground water watersheds commonly do not coincide. This condition is particularly relevant to understanding biogeochemical processes in small watersheds, where detailed accounting of water and solute fluxes commonly are done. Ground water watersheds are not as easily defined as surface watersheds because (1) they are not observable from land surface; (2) ground water flow systems of different magnitude can be superimposed on one another; and (3) ground water divides may move in response to dynamic recharge and discharge conditions. Field studies of relatively permeable terrain in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska indicate that lakes and wetlands in small watersheds located near the lower end of extensive ground water flow systems receive ground water inflow from shallow flow systems that extend far beyond their surface watershed, and they may also receive ground water inflow from deeper regional flow systems that pass at depth beneath local flow systems. Field studies of mountainous terrain that have low‐permeability deposits in New Hampshire and Costa Rica also indicate that surface water bodies receive ground water inflow from sources beyond their local surface watersheds. Field studies of lakes and wetlands in North Dakota, Nebraska, and Germany indicate that ground water divides move in response to changing climate conditions, resulting in a variable source of ground water inflow to those surface water bodies.

Interaction of groundwater and shallow lakes on outwash sediments in the sub-humid Boreal Plains of Canada

“…Along the topographic gradient between the three lakes in the study area, Lake 17 receives little to no input from groundwater sources and is sensitive to annual precipitation as a hydrologic input, as shown by the decline in stage over the duration of this study. For the same climatic conditions, lakes progressively lower in the topographic gradient should capture more groundwater flow system (Townley and Davidson, 1988;Winter et al, 2003). Thus, lower lakes are more resistant to periodic water deficit conditions than shallow, upgradient ponds within the same climate zone.…”

“…The present study of the hydrologic controls on shallow lake and pond permanence in coarse-textured sediments followed this earlier work, and explicitly considered an area of sand and gravel outwash deposits and sand dunes. Such coarsetextured substrate is common on glaciated plains and is considered to be a significantly transmissive hydrologic unit in a watershed (Winter, 2001;Winter et al, 2003) because of more active groundwater interactions than normally associated with finetextured substrate.…”

Desenvolvimento De Redes De Canais E Pirataria De Água Subterrânea: Bacia Do Rio Do Bananal (Rj/Sp)

“…Segundo esses autores, as diferenças topográfi cas entre vales adjacentes favoreceria esta pirataria, podendo incrementar em até 10% o fl uxo de base da cabeceira receptora de fl uxos. Geomorfologia, São Paulo, v.16, n.1, (Jan-Mar) p.107-122, 2015 Cabe ressaltar, entretanto, que o fenômeno da pirataria de água subterrânea ora focalizado se diferencia da "transferência de água subterrânea entre bacias" citada por outros autores como Genereaux et al (2002), Winter et al (2004) Neste trabalho busca-se testar o modelo de pirataria de água subterrânea em associação ao crescimento da rede de canais, levando-se em conta o conhecimento científi co advindo dos estudos pretéritos sobre a evolução da bacia do rio do Bananal em tempo geológico recente (DIETRICH et al, 1991;COELHO NETTO et al, 1994), assim como dos estudos sobre os processos atuais de crescimento regressivo de canais do tipo voçoroca, citados anteriormente. et al (1991; 1993).…”

Analytic element modelling for strip aquifers

“…Though hydrogeologic studies of unconfined aquifers commonly assume that watershed and groundwater flow-divides overlay, groundwater elevation and topography rarely agree (Winter et al, 2003;Haitjema and Mitchell-Bruker 2005). According to Woo (2004), when an artificial boundary encloses an area smaller than the hydrological domain, the analysis becomes insensitive to external influences.…”