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Groundwater and surface water interactions and impacts of human activities in the Hailiutu Catchment, Northwest China
Published in Zhi Yang, Quantitative Assessment of Groundwater and Surface Water Interactions in the Hailiutu River Basin, Erdos Plateau, China, 2018
In the last few decades more attention was given to the importance of interactions between groundwater and surface water in water resources management and ecological studies (Brunke and Gonser, 1997, Winter, 1999, Sophocleous, 2002). The exchanges of surface water and water in the hyporheic zone as well as groundwater play very important roles for stream ecosystems (Findlay, 1995), hence in the consequence for ecology, river restoration and conservation (Boulton, et al., 2010). Understanding of the interactions between groundwater and surface water is also vital for the protection of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (Zhou, et al., 2013, Bertrand, et al., 2014). The surface water ecology can be affected by exchanges of groundwater through sustaining baseflow and moderating water-level fluctuations of groundwater-fed lakes (Hayashi and Rosenberry, 2002). The interaction between groundwater and surface water can be measured by a number of methods (Kalbus, et al., 2006, Brodie, et al., 2007), but their applicability depend on temporal and spatial scales.
Key Legal Issues in Western Water Management and Climate Adaptation
Published in Kathleen A. Miller, Alan F. Hamlet, Douglas S. Kenney, Kelly T. Redmond, Water Policy and Planning, 2017
Governance issues in groundwater management are very much in flux because the field is still evolving. Groundwater pumping has led to Supreme Court litigation when surface flows in a river are affected; conflicts between states over aquifer pumping have led to calls for compacts comparable to those governing surface waters, and some communities have organized among themselves for voluntary agreements on pumping rates. Scientists have shown the importance of protecting groundwater-dependent ecosystems, such as wetlands, from groundwater pumping. Australia has pioneered legal protection for these systems, but in the United States, there is only sporadic protection. Long ignored, groundwater law and policies are moving to the forefront of water discussions in some regions.
Transform Techniques for Solute Transport in Ground Water
Published in M. Thangarajan, Vijay P. Singh, Groundwater Assessment, Modeling, and Management, 2016
Mritunjay Kumar Singh, Vijay P. Singh, Shafique Ahamad
In daily life, the importance of water is realized only when one can face the scarcity of water. The challenge for any country is to have sustainable water security In most countries, water resources are mainly surface and/or groundwater. Groundwater is part of the hydrological cycle that flows through the saturated zone at rates that are influenced by gravity, pressure, and the characteristics of geologic formations. Groundwater is one of the main sources of water supply for meeting agricultural, domestic, environmental, and industrial demands in many areas. Indeed, it is the source of water supply for many various cities and towns, especially in the United States and several western countries. Groundwater is also an important environmental asset that provides base flow to streams and supports wetlands and other groundwater-dependent ecosystems. In India, it is an important resource for potable water for both urban and rural areas and is the source of drinking water for more than 90% of the rural population that does not have access to a public water supply system. About 42% of the water used for irrigation comes from groundwater. Groundwater is an integral part of the environment. Its availability depends on rainfall and recharge conditions.
Pathogen contamination of groundwater systems and health risks
Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2023
Yiran Dong, Zhou Jiang, Yidan Hu, Yongguang Jiang, Lei Tong, Ying Yu, Jianmei Cheng, Yu He, Jianbo Shi, Yanxin Wang
Groundwater, invisible from the surface, is a pivotal water resource on Earth (Wang et al. 2023). Accounting for ∼99% of all liquid freshwater, groundwater provides at least half of the domestic water for urban and rural residents and contributes to agricultural activities for ∼25% of irrigation water consumption, especially in developing economies (Alegbeleye & Sant’Ana, 2020; United Nations, 2022). The seemingly closed groundwater systems are hydrologically linked with groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) (e.g., streams, rivers, wetlands, and riparian zones in arid environments), which support significant ecosystem services. Aquatic and terrestrial GDEs can provide habitats, preserve biodiversity, buffer floods and droughts, provide food production, and protect aquifers from contamination (Christian and Maria, 2015; United Nations, 2022). Meanwhile, groundwater also exhibits cultural services by forming large water bodies in caves that constitute tourist attractions and hot springs for recreation. Thus, groundwater and GDEs are critical to pressing issues such as poverty reduction, food supply, water security, environmental protection, and climate change.
A review of the risks to shared water resources in the Murray–Darling Basin
Published in Australasian Journal of Water Resources, 2023
Jamie Pittock, Samantha Corbett, Matthew J. Colloff, Paul Wyrwoll, Jason Alexandra, Sara Beavis, Kate Chipperfield, Barry Croke, Patrick Lane, Andrew Ross, John Williams
With expanding populations and increased demand for water, greater proportions of the water resources in many river basins are diverted for consumptive use (Palmer et al. 2008). Several major river basins have become ‘closed’ due to high consumptive use (Falkenmark and Molden 2008). Closure, in this sense, refers to conditions by which additional water requirements for domestic, industrial and environmental uses cannot be met during part or all of a year (ibid.). Increasing water scarcity leads to greater water insecurity and the likelihood that short-term management approaches will exacerbate risks, such as over-exploitation and depletion of groundwater resources, with adverse effects on groundwater-dependent ecosystems (Nelson 2022; Ross, Evans, and Nelson 2022).
The intention of irrigators to adopt water use efficient measures: case studies in the north and south of the Murray–Darling Basin
Published in Australasian Journal of Water Resources, 2018
Jenifer L. Ticehurst, Allan L. Curtis
Changing from flood irrigation to overhead sprinklers can reduce evaporation but can also lead to a reduction in local groundwater recharge, as well as a reduction in surface water run-off into streams (i.e. reducing return flow). On-farm WUE gains are expected to reduce return flows to surface and groundwater by about 10–50% of those gains (Qureshi et al. 2010). These impacts could reduce the water available for irrigation from both surface and groundwater sources in other parts of the system. There may also be impacts on environmental flows and groundwater-dependent ecosystems, particularly if the pumping of groundwater for irrigation continued to the extent that groundwater became disconnected from surface flow.