Research Article

River–aquifer interactions in a semi-arid environment stressed by groundwater abstraction

  1. Andrew M. McCallum1,*,
  2. Martin S. Andersen1,2,
  3. Beatrice M. S. Giambastiani3,
  4. Bryce F. J. Kelly1,2,
  5. R. Ian Acworth1,2

Article first published online: 13 APR 2012

DOI: 10.1002/hyp.9229

Additional Information

How to Cite

McCallum, A. M., Andersen, M. S., Giambastiani, B. M. S., Kelly, B. F. J. and Ian Acworth, R. (2012), River–aquifer interactions in a semi-arid environment stressed by groundwater abstraction. Hydrol. Process.. doi: 10.1002/hyp.9229

Author Information

  1. 1

    Connected Waters Initiative, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

  2. 2

    National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT), Australia

  3. 3

    Earth Sciences Department, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

*Andrew M. McCallum, Connected Waters Initiative, University of New South Wales, 110 King Street, Manly Vale, NSW, 2093.
E-mail: a.mccallum@unsw.edu.au

Publication History

  1. Article first published online: 13 APR 2012
  2. Accepted manuscript online: 11 FEB 2012 12:35AM EST
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 2 FEB 2012
  4. Manuscript Received: 5 JUL 2011

Funded by

  • the Cotton Catchment Communities CRC
  • National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training
  • Australian Research Council and the National Water Commission

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (8837K)

Keywords:

  • river–aquifer interactions;
  • stream depletion;
  • semi-arid;
  • conjunctive water management

Abstract

Rivers and aquifers are, in many cases, a connected resource and as such the interactions between them need to be understood and quantified for the resource to be managed appropriately. The objective of this paper is to advance the understanding of river–aquifer interactions processes in semi-arid environments stressed by groundwater abstraction. This is performed using data from a specific catchment where records of precipitation, evapotranspiration, river flow, groundwater levels and groundwater abstraction are analysed using basic statistics, hydrograph analysis and a simple mathematical model to determine the processes causing the spatial and temporal changes in river–aquifer interactions. This combined approach provides a novel but simple methodology to analyse river–aquifer interactions, which can be applied to catchments worldwide.

The analysis revealed that the groundwater levels have declined (~ 3 m) since the onset of groundwater abstraction. The decline is predominantly due to the abstraction rather than climatic changes (r = 0.84 for the relationship between groundwater abstraction and groundwater levels; r = 0.92 for the relationship between decline in groundwater levels and magnitude of seasonal drawdown). It is then demonstrated that, since the onset of abstraction, the river has changed from being gaining to losing during low-flow periods, defined as periods with flow less than 0.5, 1.0 or 1.5 GL/day (1 GL/day = 1 × 106 m3/day). If defined as < 1.0 GL/day, low-flow periods constitute approximately 65% of the river flows; the periods where the river is losing at low-flow conditions are thus significant. Importantly, there was a significant delay (> 10 years) between the onset of groundwater abstraction and the changeover from gaining to losing conditions. Finally, a relationship between the groundwater gradient towards the river and the river flow at low-flow is demonstrated. The results have important implications for water management as well as water ecology and quality. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (8837K)