Hydro-Geophysical Study for Well Design in Lower Reaches of Kasai River Basin, Eastern India

Saltwater intrusion and up coning in coastal aquifer is a common phenomenon brought either due to flow of seawater into freshwater aquifer originally caused by groundwater abstraction near the coast or due to wrong casing design of water wells. This necessitates a study of aquifer disposition along with demarcation of fresh water saline water interface of Kasai River basin, Eastern India to determine the depth to freshwater and recommend the borehole design. In this study geophysical and hydrogeological techniques were employed to map to demarcate fresh and saline water interface. The phenomenon of saline water up coning is also noticed and accordingly water wells have been designed. For the said study, twenty two geophysical logs, sixty five lithological logs and hydrogeological data of eighty eight sites spread across Kasai River basin were utilized. The study shows that there are three regional aquifers exist in the area. It is recommended that water wells in the study area is to be constructed with artificial gravel packing of size 2-3mm and screen slot size is suggested to be 1.2mm. Since the sites are affected with saline water, hence isolation of zone is mandatory with proper cementing material or packer. This research work is able to develop a design model for the boreholes located in the area. The work as a whole will serve as a vital role in scientific management of groundwater resource and enable the rational planning in coastal aquifers so as to avoid fresh and saline water intermixing and up-coning.

Integration of Numerical Models and InSAR Techniques to Assess Land Subsidence Due to Excessive Groundwater Abstraction in the Coastal and Lowland Regions of Semarang City

This study was carried out to assess land subsidence due to excessive groundwater abstraction in the northern region of Semarang City by integrating the application of both numerical models and geodetic measurements, particularly those based on the synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) technique. Since 1695, alluvial deposits caused by sedimentations have accumulated in the northern part of Semarang City, in turn resulting in changes in the coastline and land use up to the present. Commencing in 1900, excessive groundwater withdrawal from deep wells in the northern section of Semarang City has exacerbated natural compaction and aggravated the problem of land subsidence. In the current study, a groundwater model equivalent to the hydrogeological system in this area was developed using MODFLOW to simulate the hydromechanical coupling of groundwater flow and land subsidence. The numerical computation was performed starting with the steady-state flow model from the period of 1970 to 1990, followed by the model of transient flow and land subsidence from the period of 1990 to 2010. Our models were calibrated with deformation data from field measurements collected from various sources (e.g., leveling, GPS, and InSAR) for simulation of land subsidence, as well as with the hydraulic heads from observation wells for simulation of groundwater flow. Comparison of the results of our numerical calculations with recorded observations led to low RMSEs, yet high R2 values, mathematically indicating that the simulation outcomes are in good agreement with monitoring data. The findings in the present study also revealed that land subsidence arising from groundwater pumping poses a serious threat to the northern part of Semarang City. Two groundwater management measures are proposed and the future development of land subsidence is accordingly projected until 2050. Our study shows quantitatively that the greatest land subsidence occurs in Genuk District, with a magnitude of 36.8 mm/year. However, if the suggested groundwater management can be implemented, the rate and affected area of land subsidence can be reduced by up to 59% and 76%, respectively.

Dynamic Changes in Groundwater Level under Climate Changes in the Gnangara Region, Western Australia

The groundwater-dependent ecosystem in the Gnangara region is confronted with great threats due to the decline in groundwater level since the 1970s. The aim of this study is to apply multiple trend analysis methods at 351 monitoring bores to detect the trends in groundwater level using spatial, temporal and Hydrograph Analysis: Rainfall and Time Trend models, which were applied to evaluate the impacts of rainfall on the groundwater level in the Gnangara region, Western Australia. In the period of 1977–2017, the groundwater level decreased from the Gnangara’s edge to the central-north area, with a maximum trend magnitude of −0.28 m/year. The groundwater level in 1998–2017 exhibited an increasing trend in December–March and a decreasing trend in April–November with the exception of September when compared to 1978–1997. The rainfall + time model based on the cumulative annual residual rainfall technique with a one-month lag during 1990–2017 was determined as the best model. Rainfall had great impacts on the groundwater level in central Gnangara, with the highest impact coefficient being 0.00473, and the impacts reduced gradually from the central area to the boundary region. Other factors such as pine plantation, the topography and landforms, the Tamala Limestone formation, and aquifer groundwater abstraction also had important influences on the groundwater level.

Recharge mechanism and salinization processes in coastal aquifers in Nam Dinh province, Vietnam

In Nam Dinh province, in the Red River delta plain in Northern Vietnam, groundwater in the shallow Holocene aquifer shows elevated total dissolved solids up to 35 km from the coastline, indicating a saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Tonkin. High groundwater salinities have been encountered below and adjacent to the Red River in the deep Pleistocene aquifer. Since 1996, large-scale groundwater abstraction was initiated from the deep aquifer, and the observed elevated salinities now raise concerns about whether the groundwater abstraction is undertaken sustainably. We have conducted a study to obtain a fundamental understanding of the recharge mechanisms and salinization processes in the Nam Dinh province. A holistic approach with multiple methods including transient electromagnetic sounding and borehole logging, exploratory drilling, sampling and analyzing primary ion and stable isotope compositions of water and pore water, groundwater head monitoring, hydraulic experiments laboratory of clay layers, and groundwater modeling by using the SEAWAT code. Results reveal that saline river water is leached from the Red River and its distributaries into the shallow aquifers. The distribution and occurrence of salty pore water in the Holocene aquitard clay shows that meteoric water has not been flowing through these low permeable clay layers. Marine pore water has, however, been leached out of the Pleistocene clay. When this layer is present, it offers protection of the lower aquifer against high salinity water from above. Salinity as high as 80 % of oceanic water is observed in interstitial pore water of the transgressive Holocene clay. Saltwater is transported into the Pleistocene aquifer, where the Holocene clay is directly overlying the aquifer.

Artesian conditions in the Chilterns Chalk aquifer (North West of the London Basin) and the implications for surface water - groundwater interactions

The Chalk is a principal aquifer which provides an important resource in Southeast England. For two centuries, it allowed the establishment of a thriving watercress-growing industry, indirectly through diverted stream flow and directly, through the drilling of flowing artesian boreholes. The distribution of artesian boreholes across different catchments, suggests a regional control on vertical groundwater flow within the New Pit and Lewes Chalk units. Interrogation of location-specific information points to the confining role of a few key marls within the New Pit Chalk Formation, which can be traced up-catchment to where they naturally outcrop or have been exposed by quarrying. Evidence is found in geophysical logging of a number of boreholes across catchments, confirming a consistent pattern of the spatial distribution of such key markers. When tectonic stress was applied to the various Chalk Formations, the marl bands would have reacted producing more plastic deformation and less fractures in comparison with rigid rock strata. Such scenario would have created the conditions for secondary aquifer units, giving the Chalk confining or semi-confining hydraulic characteristics on a regional scale. This conceptual understanding helps explain the reasons that the river flow response to reductions in groundwater abstraction varies across the flow duration curve.

Evaluation of lithostratigraphic units and groundwater potential using the resolution capacities of two different electrical tomographic electrodes at dual-spacing

The selection of a choice electrode is pertinent to attenuating noise and improving geophysical tomographic inversion results. Besides, the detailed understanding of the geodynamic condition of subsurface formation is crucial to sustainable potable groundwater abstraction. Hence, the subsurface lithostratigraphic units and groundwater potential of two sites (i.e., Site 1 and Site 2) within the Universiti Sains Malaysia were evaluated using borehole-constrained electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and induced polarisation (IP) tomography. Both methods employed the resolution capacities of stainless-steel and copper electrodes at dual-spacing. The ERT and IP field data and inversion results for copper electrodes were generally robust due to the generated higher positive data points and lower RMS errors, percentage relative differences, and mean absolute percentage errors (MAPE) than the stainless-steel electrodes, especially at Site 1 with a profile length of 200 m and an electrode spacing of 5 m. However, both electrodes tend to produce inversion models with almost the same parameters at Site 2, using half the profile length and electrode spacing of Site 1, i.e., 100 m and 2.5 m, respectively. Thus, the sensitivities and resolution capacities of the tomographic electrodes are heavily influenced by electrode spacing, profile length, amount of injected current, and depth of investigation. The borehole lithostratigraphic units, typically sandy silt, sand, and silty sand, have good correlations with the ERT and IP inversion results. The variability in observed resistivity and chargeability values were due to heterogeneous weathered materials and saturating water fills within the fractured and deeply-weathered granitic bedrock, with <200 Ωm and a chargeability of >1.8 msec. The models' median depth of >40 m mapped for the weathered and/or fractured sections was suggestive of high groundwater-yielding capacity in boreholes to sustain a part of the university community.

Low-Level Groundwater Atrazine in High Atrazine Usage Nebraska Counties: Likely Effects of Excessive Groundwater Abstraction

Recent studies observed a correlation between estrogen-related cancers and groundwater atrazine in eastern Nebraska counties. However, the mechanisms of human exposure to atrazine are unclear because low groundwater atrazine concentration was observed in counties with high cancer incidence despite having the highest atrazine usage. We studied groundwater atrazine fate in high atrazine usage Nebraska counties. Data were collected from Quality Assessed Agrichemical Contaminant Nebraska Groundwater, Parameter–Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), and water use databases. Descriptive statistics and cluster analysis were performed. Domestic wells (59%) were the predominant well type. Groundwater atrazine was affected by well depth. Clusters consisting of wells with low atrazine were characterized by excessive groundwater abstraction, reduced precipitation, high population, discharge areas, and metropolitan counties. Hence, low groundwater atrazine may be due to excessive groundwater abstraction accompanied by atrazine. Human exposure to atrazine in abstracted groundwater may be higher than the estimated amount in groundwater.

Groundwater Resources Estimation in the Middle of Randublatung Groundwater Basin Based on Geoelectrical Investigation

The high groundwater use in the Randublatung Groundwater Basin area relates to groundwater abstraction for agriculture. Therefore, a question arises on how much groundwater resources in this area may support agricultural groundwater usage. This research has the objective to quantify the groundwater resources in this area. This research conducts a geoelectrical investigation to identify the aquifer’s lithology and observe the groundwater level. The research reveals that resistivity values of subsurface rock layers in the research area range from 0.13 to 124.86 Ωm. The aquifer layer consisted of two aquifer systems, with the hydraulic conductivity varies of the aquifer layer is 0.0001 cm/s until 0.01 cm/s. The aquifer layers estimated to be found at depths vary 5 – 90 m from the ground with thickness range from 10 to 70 m. Meanwhile, the aquiclude layers consisted of clay, silty clay, and sandy clay was estimated to be found at depths varies 0 – 50 m from the ground with thickness varies from 5 to 65 m. by combining those data with a hydraulic gradient of groundwater flow, the dynamic groundwater resources in the research area is estimated between 50 m3/day and 4,691 m3/day.

Groundwater contamination by salinity, microoorganisms and nitrogen compounds in Zahedan city, southeastern Iran

Generally, the quality and availability of groundwater resources can be affected by urbanization. In this research, various impacts of urbanization on the height of the water table and quality of groundwater in an urban aquifer has been investigated for Zahedan city, Iran. The investigations indicated that the widespread use of wastewater discharge wells in the city area had increased the elevation of the water table by 2 to 6 meters and had reduced the salinity of shallow groundwater. The effluent in the city's sewage channel with high EC had no effect on the groundwater quality in the city due to the fact that the channel was cement-lined within the city area. Microbial surveys showed that elevated total coliforms were present in groundwater throughout the city area while fecal coliforms were only present at a limited number of sampling sites. In the central areas of the city, where the groundwater abstraction takes place at high rates from deep wells, the pollution was less. The wastewaters had high level of total coliform and fecal coliform contamination due to the discharge of domestic wastewater through wells and the dumping of solids wastes. The urban water supply network and water treatment plants samples were free of any microbial contamination. Finally, nitrate concentrations in the groundwater were high (27-392 mg/L) and in the wastewater were much higher (up to 600 mg/L).

GMS-MODFLOW application in the investigation of groundwater potential in Concepcion, Tarlac, Philippines

This study used GMS-Modflow to investigate the ten-year groundwater potential in Concepcion, Tarlac. This region in Central Luzon, Philippines, with limited surface water, depends on groundwater as its primary freshwater source. The water demand projection estimated an increase of 38.5% from 2020 to 2030; hence, higher groundwater abstraction is perceived in the next ten years. To deviate from the risk associated with reliance on groundwater, this study, through GMS-MODFLOW, developed a groundwater model to mimic the aquifer’s current condition and investigated its behavior in response to future spatial and temporal variables. The simulation results generally showed a sustainable groundwater supply in Concepcion, Tarlac, for the next ten years, with no significant decline in hydraulic heads.