A New Method for Estimating Recharge to Unconfined Aquifers Using Differential River Gauging. Issue 2 (2nd April 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McCallum, Andrew M.; Andersen, Martin S.; Acworth, R. Ian
• Is Part Of: Ground water. Volume 52:Issue 2(2014:Mar./Apr.)
• Page Start: 291
• Page End: 297
• Publication Date: 2013-04-02
• Subjects: Groundwater -- Periodicals; Wells -- Periodicals; Eau souterraine -- Périodiques; Puits -- Périodiques; Grondwater; Eau souterraine; Puits; Electronic journals; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 551.49
• DOI: 10.1111/gwat.12046
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0017-467X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>In semiarid and arid environments, leakage from rivers is a major source of recharge to underlying unconfined aquifers. Differential river gauging is widely used to estimate the recharge. However, the methods commonly applied are limited in that the temporal resolution is event‐scale or longer. In this paper, a novel method is presented for quantifying both the total recharge volume for an event, and variation in recharge rate during an event from hydrographs recorded at the upstream and downstream ends of a river reach. The proposed method is applied to river hydrographs to illustrate the method steps and investigate recharge processes occurring in a sub‐catchment of the Murray Darling Basin (Australia). Interestingly, although it is the large flood events which are commonly assumed to be the main source of recharge to an aquifer, our analysis revealed that the smaller flow events were more important in providing recharge.</p> </abstract>