scholarly journals A Machine Learning Approach to Predict Groundwater Levels in California Reveals Ecosystems at Risk

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa M. Rohde ◽  
Tanushree Biswas ◽  
Ian W. Housman ◽  
Leah S. Campbell ◽  
Kirk R. Klausmeyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Management ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
The State ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Sustainable Groundwater Management ◽  
Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems

Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are increasingly threatened worldwide, but the shallow groundwater resources that they are reliant upon are seldom monitored. In this study, we used satellite-based remote sensing to predict groundwater levels under groundwater dependent ecosystems across California, USA. Depth to groundwater was modelled for a 35-years period (1985–2019) within all groundwater dependent ecosystems across the state (n = 95,135). Our model was developed within Google Earth Engine using Landsat satellite imagery, climate data, and field-based groundwater data [n = 627 shallow (< 30 m) monitoring wells] as predictors in a Random Forest model. Our findings show that 1) 44% of groundwater dependent ecosystems have experienced a significant long-term (1985–2019) decline in groundwater levels compared to 28% with a significant increase; 2) groundwater level declines have intensified during the most recent two decades, with 39% of groundwater dependent ecosystems experiencing declines in the 2003–2019 period compared to 27% in the 1985–2002 period; and 3) groundwater declines are most prevalent within GDEs existing in areas of the state where sustainable groundwater management is absent. Our results indicate that declining shallow groundwater levels may be adversely impacting California’s groundwater dependent ecosystems. Particularly where groundwater levels have fallen beneath plant roots or streams thereby affecting key life processes, such as forest recruitment/succession, or hydrological processes, such as streamflow that affects aquatic habitat. In the absence of groundwater monitoring well data, our model and findings can be used to help state and local water agencies fill in data gaps of shallow groundwater conditions, evaluate potential effects on GDEs, and improve sustainable groundwater management policy in California.

scholarly journals Shallow groundwater in sub-Saharan Africa: neglected opportunity for sustainable intensification of small-scale agriculture?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Gowing ◽  
Geoff Parkin ◽  
Nathan Forsythe ◽  
David Walker ◽  
Alemseged Tamiru Haile ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Sustainable Intensification ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

Abstract. There is a need for an evidence-based approach to identify how best to support development of groundwater for small scale irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We argue that it is important to focus this effort on shallow groundwater resources which are most likely to be used by poor rural communities in SSA. However, it is important to consider constraints, since shallow groundwater resources are likely to be vulnerable to over-exploitation and climatic variability. We examine here the opportunities and constraints and draw upon evidence from Ethiopia. We present a methodology for assessing and interpreting available shallow groundwater resources and argue that participatory monitoring of local water resources is desirable and feasible. We consider possib le models for developing distributed small-scale irrigation and assess its technical feasibility. Because of power limits on water lifting and also because of available technology for well construction, groundwater at depths of 50 m or 60 m cannot be regarded as easily accessible for small-scale irrigation. We therefore adopt a working definition of shallow groundwater as < 20 m depth. This detailed case study in the Dangila woreda in Ethiopia explores the feasibility of exploiting shallow groundwater for small-scale irrigation over a range of rainfall conditions. Variability of rainfall over the study period (9 % to 96 % probability of non-exceedance) does not translate into equivalent variability in groundwater levels and river baseflow. Groundwater levels, monitored by local communities, persist into the dry season to at least the end of December in most shallow wells, indicating that groundwater is available for irrigation use after the cessation of the wet season. Arguments historically put forward against the promotion of groundwater use for agriculture in SSA on the basis that aquifers are unproductive and irrigation will have unacceptable impacts on wetlands and other groundwater-dependent ecosystems appear exaggerated. It would be unwise to generalise from this case study to the whole of SSA, but useful insights into the wider issues are revealed by the case study approach. We believe there is a case for arguing that shallow groundwater in sub-Saharan Africa represents a neglected opportunity for sustainable intensification of small-scale agriculture.

Workshop 7a (synthesis): sustainable groundwater management

2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 163-164
Author(s):  
A. Shady ◽  
O. Varis ◽  
C. Tortajada
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Management ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Sustainable Groundwater Management ◽  
The World

Groundwater, the hidden part of the hydrological cycle, is often overlooked in the freshwater discourse, partly because the damage and changes that human activities cause are not immediately visible. Increasingly across the world, groundwater resources are strained with serious consequences.

scholarly journals An overview on the state of art on IAH coastal aquifer dynamics and coastal zone website

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Sappa ◽  
Flavia Ferranti
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Zone ◽  
Coastal Aquifer ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Coastal Zone Management ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
The State ◽  
Web Gis ◽  
Monitoring Methods ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Aquifer Dynamics

The website of the IAH Coastal Aquifer Dynamics and Coastal Zone Management (CAD-CZM) Network, linkable at the web address www.iah-cad-czm.net, aims at improving the knowledge about coastal aquifer for supporting worldwide the assessment, development and management of water resources endangered by saltwater intrusion. The overall target of this project is promoting the development of web-GIS that gathers coastal aquifer data from different sources to assist, by the support of researchers, professionals, stakeholders and water managers to make the correct choices for the sustainable use of these precious resources. The CAD-CZM network tries to satisfy the interest expressed in the recommendations issued on different occasions by UNESCO and IAEA for studying coastal areas in the frame of joint programs in cooperation with other international agencies. The CADCZM website structure aims to collect information coming from any kind of source, as technical as scientific, and its target is to make them available in the aim of taking under control the rate of exploitation and the management of these vulnerable groundwater resources. The website organization is like that anyone could find the specific coastal zone, he is interested in gaining information, only looking for it on the google earth link, present inside the website. Once identified the area of interest, it is possible to download, if present, the specific sheet including all the information collected, checked and uploaded, by the scientific committee of the website. Starting from the analysis of a database of more than 70 coastal aquifer, reporting information about lithology, hydrogeological and geochemical characteristics, salinity sources, applied monitoring methods, management strategies, and seawater and brackish groundwater desalination technologies adopted, an updated overview of the state of the knowledge about seawater intrusion all over the world is presented.

Torreele's water re-use facility enabled sustainable groundwater management in de Flemish dunes (Belgium)

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Van Houtte ◽  
ir. Johan Verbauwhede
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Recharge ◽  
Groundwater Management ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Effluent Treatment ◽  
Reliable Technique ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Public Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sustainable Groundwater Management ◽  
Start Up

In 2002 IWVA started reusing secondary wastewater effluent for groundwater recharge of the existing dune water catchment ‘St-André’. This integration enabled sustainable groundwater management as the natural groundwater extraction was reduced. Consequently groundwater levels increased and on the long term, risk of seawater intrusion no longer is a point of concern. The public response towards this project is generally positive. The Torreele plant, where the infiltration water is produced, is built besides the wastewater treatment plant of Wulpen, which is managed by Aquafin. The treatment at Torreele combines ultrafiltration (UF), using the submerged ZeeWeed system, and reverse osmosis (RO), using brackish water low energy membranes. UF has proved to be a reliable technique for effluent treatment and a good pretreatment before RO. The UF system proved sustainable thanks to the use of air and the combination of filtrate backwashes with periodic extended backwashes adding hypochlorite. The maintenance cleaning of the membranes could be limited to once every month. Despite the use of UF filtrate as source for the RO treatment an additional bio-fouling prevention scheme is in place. By dosing hypochlorite and ammonium-chloride to the UF filtrate, monochloramines are formed. This proved effective in controlling bio-fouling : after 4 and a half years of operation the same membranes are still in place. Scaling of the RO membranes is prevented by combining pH adjustment and dosing of scale inhibitor. Chemical cleanings of the RO membranes are performed on average 5 times every year. This is done alternating alkaline and acid cleanings or alkaline and biocide cleanings. Up to now the normalized fluxes still recover to around the initial values after cleaning. Since the start-up of the Torreele plant, many optimizations have been performed, resulting in lower energy and chemical consumption. The RO filtrate produced in Torreele is pumped to the dunes of St-André. Just a small pH correction is performed. The groundwater recharge has proved to be effective : the groundwater level in the dunes increased enhancing not only the quality of this groundwater but also the natural values. The hardness of the drinking-water substantially decreased resulting in a higher comfort for the customer.

scholarly journals Ecosystem Shifts: Implications for Groundwater Management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Encarna Esteban ◽  
Elena Calvo ◽  
Jose Albiac
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Management ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Regime Shifts ◽  
Critical Threshold ◽  
Management Problem ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Freshwater Habitats ◽  
Groundwater Management Problem ◽  
Health Function

AbstractFreshwater ecosystems provide a large number of benefits to society. However, extensive human activities threat the viability of these ecosystems, their habitats, and their dynamics and interactions. One of the main risks facing these systems is the overexploitation of groundwater resources that hinders the survival of several freshwater habitats. In this paper, we study optimal groundwater paths when considering freshwater ecosystems. We contribute to existing groundwater literature by including the possibility of regime shifts in freshwater ecosystems into a groundwater management problem. The health of the freshwater habitat, which depends on the groundwater level, presents a switch in its status that occurs when a critical water level (‘tipping point’) is reached. Our results highlight important differences in optimal extraction paths and optimal groundwater levels compared with traditional models. The outcomes suggest that optimal groundwater withdrawals are non-linear and depend on the critical threshold and the ecosystem’s health function. Our results show that the inclusion of regime shifts in water management calls for a reformulation of water policies to incorporate the structure of ecosystems and their interactions with the habitat.

scholarly journals Modelling the Impacts of Climate Change on Shallow Groundwater Conditions in Hungary

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 668
Author(s):  
Attila Kovács ◽  
András Jakab
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Predictive Modelling ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Groundwater Levels

The purpose of the present study was to develop a methodology for the evaluation of direct climate impacts on shallow groundwater resources and its country-scale application in Hungary. A modular methodology was applied. It comprised the definition of climate zones and recharge zones, recharge calculation by hydrological models, and the numerical modelling of the groundwater table. Projections of regional climate models for three different time intervals were applied for the simulation of predictive scenarios. The investigated regional climate model projections predict rising annual average temperature and generally dropping annual rainfall rates throughout the following decades. Based on predictive modelling, recharge rates and groundwater levels are expected to drop in elevated geographic areas such as the Alpokalja, the Eastern parts of the Transdanubian Mountains, the Mecsek, and Northern Mountain Ranges. Less significant groundwater level drops are predicted in foothill areas, and across the Western part of the Tiszántúl, the Duna-Tisza Interfluve, and the Szigetköz areas. Slightly increasing recharge and groundwater levels are predicted in the Transdanubian Hills and the Western part of the Transdanubian Mountains. Simulation results represent groundwater conditions at the country scale. However, the applied methodology is suitable for simulating climate change impacts at various scales.

scholarly journals Participatory GIS Mode of Sustainable Surface and Groundwater Management Practices Involving NGOs in India

2020 ◽  
pp. 602-608
Author(s):  
L. Murali Krishnan ◽  
N. Kumarasamy ◽  
K. C. Sivabalan ◽  
S. Oliyarasan ◽  
R. Ravikumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Management ◽  
Geographical Information Systems ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Environmental Conservation ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Participatory Gis ◽  
Groundwater Availability ◽  
Sustainable Groundwater Management ◽  
Surface And Groundwater

Groundwater resources plays important role in agro-biodiversity and environmental conservation perspectives. Surface and groundwater have played a significant role in the agrarian economics in the developing economics particularly in India. At the same time, the tropical and sub-tropical India is the largest groundwater user in the world through unregulated construction and utilization of millions of private wells in the last five decades exploited groundwater availability and sustainable regeneration issues. Hence, in order to improve the surface and groundwater conservation, regeneration, management and protection for sustainable utilization of Groundwater requires a participatory and coordinated action. Nationwide, many national and regional Non Government Organisations (NGOs) are functioning in the line of effective surface and ground water management the community. The recent Geographical Information Systems (GIS) based technologies also supports for drought mitigation and climate change adaptation. This study highlights the important NGOs led sustainable Groundwater management practices under various local hydro geological settings and agro economic realities for up scaling the community driven sustainable Groundwater management.

Joint actions for more efficient management of common groundwater resources in Estonia and Latvia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aiga Krauze ◽  
Jaanus Terasmaa ◽  
Elve Lode ◽  
Janis Bikše ◽  
Kersti Türk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Management ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Joint Actions ◽  
Volunteer Monitoring ◽  
Efficient Management ◽  
Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems ◽  
Status Assessment ◽  
Groundwater Resources Management

&lt;p&gt;European water policy requires to carry out nine tests for characterisation of groundwater bodies status, including the development of joint transboundary groundwater management principles.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gauja/Koiva and Salaca/Salatsi Rivers have a joint, Estonian/Latvian transboundary water cycle, including the groundwater recharge and discharge cycling. Despite the fact that groundwater is the only drinking water source in Gauja/Koiva and Salaca/Salatsi River basins and ensures the existence of many groundwater dependent ecosystems, the overall awareness of integrated cross-border management practice is still poorly understood and poorly linked in implementation of concrete groundwater protection actions.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Taking into account the above-mentioned aspects, Latvian and Estonian groundwater and groundwater dependent ecosystems specialists from research, nature protection and groundwater resources management institutions have joined forces in the project funded by the Interreg Estonia-Latvia program: &quot;Joint actions for more efficient management of common groundwater resources in Estonia and Latvia &quot;(WaterAct).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The ongoing Est-Lat project &amp;#8220;WaterAct&amp;#8221; (2020&amp;#8211;2022) of joint transboundary groundwater management project organised into the three activity blocks: (1) The capacity building of the joint groundwater transboundary management through exchange of knowledge and best management practices between project partners and key experts in other European Union countries; (2) Assessment of groundwater resources in transboundary River basins to improve groundwater management in accordance with valid international directives; (3) Dissemination and outreach activities to increase the overall awareness of ecosystems friendly groundwater management and protection of key actors working with groundwater assessments and locals.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Firstly, the joint cross-boundary principles of identification and status assessment of shared groundwater bodies will be developed. Adaptation of existing knowledge, cross-boundary harmonization and development of needed methodologies will be used.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, the joint cross-boundary assessment principles will be implemented into groundwater resources management. The status assessment of shared groundwater bodies will be carried out in close cooperation between project partners to create materials necessary for the development of last River Basin Management Plans (2022-2027), required by the Water Framework Directive and Groundwater Directive.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thirdly, the dissemination of project results will be carried out (1) by compilation of Guidelines of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems for different levels and fields of decision making and experts, (2) by compilation of Spring Water Monitoring Guide for Volunteers and starting volunteer monitoring. For volunteer monitoring, a special web-based map application will be developed (allikad.info).&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The project of &amp;#8220;Joint actions for more efficient management of common groundwater resources&amp;#8221; (WaterAct, Est-Lat155) funded by ERDF Interreg Estonia-Latvia cooperation programme.&lt;/p&gt;

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