Effect of surface water level fluctuations on the performance of near-bank managed aquifer recharge from injection wells

Peipeng Wu* (Corresponding Author), Jean-Christophe Comte, Lijuan Zhang, Shuhong Wang, Bin Chang

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Managed aquifer recharge operations are often conducted in near-bank areas to regulate water resources or reduce seawater intrusion. Yet little is known about the influence of surface water level fluctuations at different temporal scales on MAR performance. A generalized conceptual model was developed based on an investigation site in Western China as a basis to simulate the response surface water level fluctuations on the water table, artificially recharged water lens (formed by the artificially recharged water), groundwater flow paths and average travel times (which is an important control on how quickly contaminants are flushed out of aquifers), and the discharge of the artificially recharged aquifer during the surface water level fluctuation. The results showed a fluctuating groundwater table in the artificially recharged near-bank aquifer under the influence of surface water level fluctuations. The peak values of the increment of the groundwater table induced by artificial recharge decreased with the increase of the period and amplitude of surface water level fluctuation, but the trough values of the increment of water table increases with that. The penetration
depth of surface water into the aquifer with a fluctuating surface water level leads to a decreasing increment of the groundwater table which follows a power law. The fluctuating surface water level leads to dynamic changes of artificially recharged water lens morphology and a thinner artificially recharged water lens. A mixing zone of recharged water and ambient water could be found in the
artificially recharged near-bank area, which is expected to lead to modifications in the geochemical conditions in the artificially recharged near-bank aquifer. A longer period of surface water level fluctuation leads to a longer average travel time, but the larger penetration depth of surface water and amplitude lead to a shorter average travel time. The peak discharge of the near-bank aquifer was
found to decrease with the period of surface water level fluctuation, but it increases with penetration depth and amplitude. This study is important in providing insights into the performance of near-bank managed aquifer recharge with respect to surface water level fluctuation.
Original languageEnglish
Article number3013
Number of pages16
JournalWater
Volume13
Issue number21
Early online date27 Oct 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding: This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42102286, U1803241, 51779230), the Belt and Road Special Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering (Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute. Grant 2020nkms05), the Open Project Program of Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment (Jilin University), Ministry of Education (Grant No. 202105002KF), and the Natural Resources Science and Technology Project of Henan Province in 2020 (Henan Natural Resources Han [2020] No. 542-7), providing financial support for the collection of data, their analysis and the writing and publication of the results Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge valuable comments from the reviewers, which led to significant improvement of the paper.

Keywords

  • managed aquifer recharge
  • near-bank
  • surface water level fluctuations
  • groundwater flow

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