In southern Iran’s Gareh Bygone Plain, water-supply qanats in four mixed farming communities were desiccated by over-pumping of illegal dug wells throughout the area. Emergency situations developed, resulting in city-ward migration. Since 1983, 193 million m³ of water has been supplied to those communities by floodwater spreading (FWS) to facilitate spate irrigation of sandy rangeland (2,034 ha) and artificial recharge of groundwater (ARG), of which 76 % has recharged the aquifer. This resulted in a reverse migration of the population. The irrigated area in the 2010–2011 growing season increased 13.2 fold when compared to the pre-FWS period, and year-round forage for about 700 sheep has been provided since 1991. The ARG is a logical alternative to building large dams in Iran; 420,000 km² of coarse-grained alluvium provides capacity to store 5,000 km³ of water, representing more than ten times the annual precipitation of the whole country. As the equivalent cost for building dams to accommodate that volume is estimated at US$12.5 × 10¹², the potential value of the alluvium may be realized. ARG on the recharge areas of 33,000 of the desiccated qanats eventually could rejuvenate them. As agricultural commodities absorb 19 % of the monetary value of Iran’s imports, and ARG activities could supply the water to produce them, alluvium is even more valuable than oil, which provides foreign exchange. More importantly, ARG on 140,000 km² of the alluvium could strengthen the capacity to adapt to droughts and reduce the number and impact of water-related emergency situations.

An approach is presented to investigate the regional evolution of groundwater in the basin of the Amacuzac River in Central Mexico. The approach is based on groundwater flow cross-sectional modeling in combination with major ion chemistry and geochemical modeling, complemented with principal component and cluster analyses. The hydrogeologic units composing the basin, which combine aquifers and aquitards both in granular, fractured and karstic rocks, were represented in sections parallel to the regional groundwater flow. Steady-state cross-section numerical simulations aided in the conceptualization of the groundwater flow system through the basin and permitted estimation of bulk hydraulic conductivity values, recharge rates and residence times. Forty-five water locations (springs, groundwater wells and rivers) were sampled throughout the basin for chemical analysis of major ions. The modeled gravity-driven groundwater flow system satisfactorily reproduced field observations, whereas the main geochemical processes of groundwater in the basin are associated to the order and reactions in which the igneous and sedimentary rocks are encountered along the groundwater flow. Recharge water in the volcanic and volcano-sedimentary aquifers increases the concentration of HCO₃ –, Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ from dissolution of plagioclase and olivine. Deeper groundwater flow encounters carbonate rocks, under closed CO₂ conditions, and dissolves calcite and dolomite. When groundwater encounters gypsum lenses in the shallow Balsas Group or the deeper Huitzuco anhydrite, gypsum dissolution produces proportional increased concentration of Ca²⁺ and SO₄ ²–; two samples reflected the influence of hydrothermal fluids and probably halite dissolution. These geochemical trends are consistent with the principal component and cluster analyses.

Overexploitation of groundwater resources in Sana’a Basin, Yemen, is causing severe water shortages associated water quality degradation. Groundwater abstraction is five times higher than natural recharge and the water-level decline is about 4–8 m/year. About 90 % of the groundwater resource is used for agricultural activities. The situation is further aggravated by the absence of a proper water-management approach for the Basin. Water scarcity in the Wadi As-Ssirr catchment, the study area, is the most severe and this area has the highest well density (average 6.8 wells/km²) compared with other wadi catchments. A local scheme of groundwater abstraction redistribution is proposed, involving the retirement of a substantial number of wells. The scheme encourages participation of the local community via collective actions to reduce the groundwater overexploitation, and ultimately leads to a locally acceptable, manageable groundwater abstraction pattern. The proposed method suggests using 587 wells rather than 1,359, thus reducing the well density to 2.9 wells/km². Three scenarios are suggested, involving different reductions to the well yields and/or the number of pumping hours for both dry and wet seasons. The third scenario is selected as a first trial for the communities to action; the resulting predicted reduction, by 2,371,999 m³, is about 6 % of the estimated annual demand. Initially, the groundwater abstraction volume should not be changed significantly until there are protective measures in place, such as improved irrigation efficiency, with the aim of increasing the income of farmers and reducing water use.

The applicability of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to adequately represent broad-scale patterns of groundwater storage (GWS) variations and observed trends in groundwater-monitoring well levels (GWWL) is examined in the Canadian province of Alberta. GWS variations are derived over Alberta for the period 2002–2014 using the Release 05 (RL05) monthly GRACE gravity models and the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) land-surface models. Twelve mean monthly GWS variation maps are generated from the 139 monthly GWS variation grids to characterize the annual GWS variation pattern. These maps show that, overall, GWS increases from February to June, and decreases from July to October, and slightly increases from November to December. For 2002–2014, the GWS showed a positive trend which increases from west to east with a mean value of 12 mm/year over the province. The resulting GWS variations are validated using GWWLs in the province. For the purpose of validation, a GRACE total water storage (TWS)-based correlation criterion is introduced to identify groundwater wells which adequately represent the regional GWS variations. GWWLs at 36 wells were found to correlate with both the GRACE TWS and GWS variations. A factor f is defined to up-scale the GWWL variations at the identified wells to the GRACE-scale GWS variations. It is concluded that the GWS variations can be mapped by GRACE and the GLDAS models in some situations, thus demonstrating the conditions where GWS variations can be detected by GRACE in Alberta.

The Thiem equation of radial groundwater flow to a well is more than 100 years old and is still commonly used. Here, deviations caused by some of its simplifications are quantified by comparing the analytical to a numerical model that allows the implementation of more complex geometries. The assumption of horizontal flow in the Thiem equation, which necessitates uniform inflow over the entire screen length of the fully penetrating well, was found to cause deviations from actual pumping wells where the pump is placed above the screen, resulting in non-uniform inflow and additional drawdown. The same applies to partially penetrating wells, where inflow peaks and additional drawdown occur, especially when the well is screened in the lower part of the aquifer. The use of the Thiem equation in the near-field of a well should thus be restricted to situations where the screen inflow is relatively uniformly distributed, e.g. when it covers large portions of the aquifer thickness. The presence of a gravel pack and a background gradient, on the other hand, are of limited importance.

Al-Mazraa is a heavily populated suburb of Damascus (Syria) with agricultural activity. It is adjacent to the Cretaceous Qassioun Mountain Range, from which it is structurally separated by the Damascus fault. Al-Mazraa waterworks abstracts from a shallow Quaternary aquifer, whose recharge processes are unidentified. The functions of Qassioun Mountain, the Damascus fault, the agricultural activities, the ascending deeper groundwater, and the through-flowing Tora River are not well understood and they are, hence, subject to study. The application of hydrochemical parameters and ratios in combination with signatures of δD and δ¹⁸O revealed that recharge predominantly occurs in the outcropping Cretaceous rocks through subsurface passages rather than through influent conditions of the Tora River or through direct rainfall. Interestingly, high Na/Cl ratios indicate contact with volcanic rocks which exist within the Cretaceous anticline and also in the subsurface of the studied Quaternary aquifer. Evidence for deeper circulating groundwater is given, since replenishing waters are up to 4 °C warmer and have much lower nitrate concentrations than the groundwater in the study area. From these points, it is indicated that the Damascus fault is conductive in respect to groundwater, rather than being impermeable, as it is elsewhere.

In arid and semi-arid regions, a close relationship exists between groundwater and supergene eco-environmental issues such as swampiness, soil salinization, desertification, vegetation degradation, reduction of stream base flow, and disappearance of lakes and wetlands. When the maximum allowable withdrawal of groundwater (AWG) is assessed, an ecology-oriented regional groundwater resource assessment (RGRA) method should be used. In this study, a hierarchical assessment index system of the supergene eco-environment was established based on field survey data and analysis of the supergene eco-environment factors influenced by groundwater in the Tuwei River watershed, Shaanxi Province, China. The assessment system comprised 11 indices, including geomorphological type, lithology and structure of the vadose zone, depth of the water table (DWT), total dissolved solids content of groundwater, etc. Weights for all indices were calculated using an analytical hierarchy process. Then, the current eco-environmental conditions were assessed using fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE). Under the imposed constraints, and using both the assessment results on the current eco-environment situation and the ecological constraint of DWT (1.5–5.0 m), the maximum AWG (0.408 × 10⁸ m³/a or 24.29 % of the river base flow) was determined. This was achieved by combining the groundwater resource assessment with the supergene eco-environmental assessment based on FCE. If the maximum AWG is exceeded in a watershed, the eco-environment will gradually deteriorate and produce negative environmental effects. The ecology-oriented maximum AWG can be determined by the ecology-oriented RGRA method, and thus sustainable groundwater use in similar watersheds in other arid and semi-arid regions can be achieved.

In northern Puerto Rico (USA), subsurface conduit networks with unknown characteristics, and surface features such as springs, rivers, lagoons and wetlands, drain the coastal karst aquifers. In this study, drain lines connecting sinkholes and springs are used to improve the developed regional model by simulating the drainage effects of conduit networks. Implemented in an equivalent porous media (EPM) approach, the model with drains is able to roughly reproduce the spring discharge hydrographs in response to rainfall. Hydraulic conductivities are found to be scale dependent and significantly increase with higher test radius, indicating scale dependency of the EPM approach. Similar to other karst regions in the world, hydraulic gradients are steeper where the transmissivity is lower approaching the coastline. This study enhances current understanding of the complex flow patterns in karst aquifers and suggests that using a drainage feature improves modeling results where available data on conduit characteristics are minimal.

El trabajo forma parte de las memorias del II Encuentro de Investigadores Ambientales, desarrollado del 3 al 5 de julio del 2013 en la ciudad de Arequipa. Este proyecto propone el diseño de una estación de tratamiento de aguas residuales ecoeficiente, factible y sustentable, mediante la implementación, y el estudio de tecnologías avanzadas, que servirá para el reciclaje de nutrientes para abonos o generación de energía en forma de metano, entre otras posibilidades, y tiene la intensión de ser aplicable a diversas ciudades de nuestra nación, previa caracterización de sus efluentes. Esta planta de tratamiento de aguas residuales de alta tecnología permitirá convertir las aguas residuales de los núcleos urbanos en recursos tan esenciales como energía o agua de riego. | 8 | Biblioteca Ambiental

Numerous modeling approaches are available to provide insight into the relationship between climate change and groundwater recharge. However, several aspects of how hydrological model choice and structure affect recharge predictions have not been fully explored, unlike the well-established variability of climate model chains—combination of global climate models (GCM) and regional climate models (RCM). Furthermore, the influence on predictions related to subsoil parameterization and the variability of observation data employed during calibration remain unclear. This paper compares and quantifies these different sources of uncertainty in a systematic way. The described numerical experiment is based on a heterogeneous two-dimensional reference model. Four simpler models were calibrated against the output of the reference model, and recharge predictions of both reference and simpler models were compared to evaluate the effect of model structure on climate-change impact studies. The results highlight that model simplification leads to different recharge rates under climate change, especially under extreme conditions, although the different models performed similarly under historical climate conditions. Extreme weather conditions lead to model bias in the predictions and therefore must be considered. Consequently, the chosen calibration strategy is important and, if possible, the calibration data set should include climatic extremes in order to minimise model bias introduced by the calibration. The results strongly suggest that ensembles of climate projections should be coupled with ensembles of hydrogeological models to produce credible predictions of future recharge and with the associated uncertainties.