Assessing sustainability of groundwater resources on Jeju Island, South Korea, under climate change, drought, and increased usage

El-Kadi, Aly I.; Tillery, Suzanne; Whittier, Robert B.; Hagedorn, Benjamin; Mair, Alan; Ha, Kyoochul; Koh, Gi-Won

Assessing sustainability of groundwater resources on Jeju Island, South Korea, under climate change, drought, and increased usage | Bewertung der Nachhaltigkeit von Grundwasservorkommen auf Jeju Island, Südkorea, unter Klimawandel, Dürre und erhöhtem Verbrauch Evaluer la durabilité des ressources en eau souterraine de l’île de Jeju, Corée du Sud, du fait du changement climatique, de la sècheresse et de l’augmentation des usages Evaluación de la sustentabilidad de los recursos de agua subterránea en la Isla Jeju, Corea del Sur, bajo South Korea, bajo el cambio climático, las sequías, y el incremento del uso تقييم استدامة مصادر المياه في جزيرة جي جو بكوريا الجنوبية في ظل تغير المناخ والجفاف وتزايد الطلب 评价气候变化、干旱和使用量增加的情况下韩国Jeju岛地下水资源的可持续性 기후변화와 가뭄, 사용량 증가에 따른 제주도 지하수의 지속가능성 평가 بررسی پایداری منابع آب زیرزمینی جزیره جیجو، کره جنوبی، تحت تغییر اقلیم، خشکسالی و بهرهبرداری بیرویه Avaliação da sustentabilidade dos recursos de água subterrânea da Ilha de Jeju, Coreia do Sul, face às alterações climáticas, à seca e ao incremento na utilização İklim değişikliği, kuraklık ve su kullanımındaki artış karşısında Güney Kore’nin Jeju Adasındaki yeraltısuyu kaynaklarının sürdürülebilirliğinin değerlendirilmesi

2014

Numerical groundwater models were used to assess groundwater sustainability on Jeju Island, South Korea, for various climate and groundwater withdrawal scenarios. Sustainability criteria included groundwater-level elevation, spring flows, and salinity. The latter was studied for the eastern sector of the island where saltwater intrusion is significant. Model results suggest that there is a need to revise the current estimate of sustainable yield of 1.77 × 10⁶m³/day. At the maximum extraction of 84 % of the sustainable yield, a 10-year drought scenario would decrease spring flows by 28 %, dry up 27 % of springs, and decrease hydraulic head by an island-wide average of 7 m. Head values are particularly sensitive to changes in recharge in the western parts of the island, due to the relatively low hydraulic conductivity of fractured volcanic aquifers and increased groundwater extraction for irrigation. Increases in salinity are highest under drought conditions around the current 2-m head contour line, with an estimated increase of up to 9 g/L under 100 % sustainable-yield use. The study lists recommendations towards improving the island’s management of potable groundwater resources. However, results should be treated with caution given the available data limitations and the simplifying assumptions of the numerical modeling approaches.

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