4.5 Article

Groundwater sustainability and groundwater/surface-water interaction in arid Dunhuang Basin, northwest China

Journal

HYDROGEOLOGY JOURNAL
Volume 26, Issue 5, Pages 1559-1572

Publisher

SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10040-018-1743-0

Keywords

Numerical modeling; Groundwater/surface-water relations; Groundwater sustainability; Water budget; China

Funding

  1. National Key research and development program [2017YFC0406105]
  2. National Natural Science Foundations of China [NSFC-91325101]
  3. Grant for Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China [41521001]

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The Dunhuang Basin, a typical inland basin in northwestern China, suffers a net loss of groundwater and the occasional disappearance of the Crescent Lake. Within this region, the groundwater/surface-water interactions are important for the sustainability of the groundwater resources. A three-dimensional transient groundwater flow model was established and calibrated using MODFLOW 2000, which was used to predict changes to these interactions once a water diversion project is completed. The simulated results indicate that introducing water from outside of the basin into the Shule and Danghe rivers could reverse the negative groundwater balance in the Basin. River-water/groundwater interactions control the groundwater hydrology, where river leakage to the groundwater in the Basin will increase from 3,114 x 10(4) m(3)/year in 2017 to 11,875 x 10(4) m(3)/year in 2021, and to 17,039 x 10(4) m(3)/year in 2036. In comparison, groundwater discharge to the rivers will decrease from 3277 x 10(4) m(3)/year in 2017 to 1857 x 10(4) m(3)/year in 2021, and to 510 x 10(4) m(3)/year by 2036; thus, the hydrology will switch from groundwater discharge to groundwater recharge after implementing the water diversion project. The simulation indicates that the increased net river infiltration due to the water diversion project will raise the water table and then effectively increasing the water level of the Crescent Lake, as the lake level is contiguous with the water table. However, the regional phreatic evaporation will be enhanced, which may intensify soil salinization in the Dunhuang Basin. These results can guide the water allocation scheme for the water diversion project to alleviate groundwater depletion and mitigate geo-environmental problem.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.5
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available