Recharge Estimation in Karst Aquifers by Applying Water Level Fluctuation Approach

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Publication Date

9-2-2017

Publication Title

International Journal of Earth Science and Geophysics

Volume Number

3

Abstract

In arid and semi-arid areas, quantifying groundwater recharge is an essential issue for groundwater resources management. Since recharge is a function of many parameters such as level of karst development and climatic conditions, then selecting the best technique of recharge estimation that takes these parameters into consideration is still an issue. This paper presents an alternative technique for estimating annual groundwater recharge using the fluctuation of water level within an aquifer during a specific time interval as a result of the water balance of inflows and outflows. The Western Aquifer Basin (WAB), West Bank and Israel, was depicted for a case study. The estimated amount of annual recharge was also correlated with monthly rainfall rates to study the effect of rainfall variation on the generated recharge. The results confirm that the high variations of annual recharge volumes are directly linked to monthly rainfall variation. For the WAB, the annual recharge is mainly dominated by the amounts of rainfall accumulated during the four wet months i.e. November, December, January and February. On the basis of these results a multi-regression equation has been developed to consider monthly distribution of rainfall as a chief factor in forecasting annual recharge within the aquifer. This equation can be applied in the future to generate any synthetic rainfall scenarios. The average annual recharge for WAB for the period 1970-2006 was estimated at 385 million cubic meters per year (Mm3/yr).

Document Type

Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

http://doi.org/10.35840/2631-5033/1813

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