XXXVIII IAH Congress

Groundwater Quality Sustainability Krakow, 1217 September 2010

Extended Abstracts

Editors: Andrzej Zuber Jarosaw Kania Ewa Kmiecik

University of Silesia Press 2010

abstract id:

322
Groundwater quality sustainability 1.1 Evaluation and management of groundwater sustainable exploitation

topic: 1

title:

Regional spatial-temporal assessment of groundwater exploitation sustainability in the south of Portugal

author(s): Tibor Stigter Geo-Systems Centre/CVRM Instituto Superior Te cnico, Portugal, tibor.stigter@ist.utl.pt Jos P. Monteiro Geo-Systems Centre/CVRM Universidade do Algarve, Portugal, jpmontei@ualg.pt Lus M. Nunes Geo-Systems Centre/CVRM Universidade do Algarve, Portugal, lnunes@ualg.pt Lus Ribeiro Geo-Systems Centre/CVRM Instituto Superior Te cnico, Portugal, luis.ribeiro@ist.utl.pt Rui Hugman Geo-Systems Centre/CVRM Instituto Superior Te cnico, Portugal, ruitwohigh@yahoo.com keywords: groundwater, sustainable yields, climate change, Algarve, inite element models

Krakow, Poland 2010

1. Groundwater quality sustainability

INTRODUCTION Groundwater was the main source for public supply in the Algarve, in the south of Portugal, untiltheendofthe20thcentury,afterwhichitwasreplacedbysurfacewatersuppliedbylarge reservoirs. The large droughtthat hit the regionin 2004 and 2005 revealed the problems re lated to a water supply strategy based on a single source. It is wellknown that in semiarid regions such as the Algarve, the seasonal and annual variations in rainfall are extreme. The intensityandfrequencyofoccurrenceofextremedroughtswillmostlikelyincreasesignificant ly in the future (Giorgi, 2006; Santos, Miranda, 2006). Research on climate scenarios and im pactsforgroundwaterresourcesanddependentecosystemsintheAlgarveiscurrentlyongoing, inthescopeoftheCIRCLEMedprojectCLIMWAT(Stigteretal.,2009b),usingregionalclimate modeldatafromthePRUDENCEandENSEMBLESprojects.Integratedwaterresourcemanage mentwillbeessentialinthenearfuture,includingsurfaceandgroundwaterresources,aswell asalternativeresourcessuchastreatedwastewaterforirrigation.Withinthisscope,aqualita tive and quantitative screening of groundwater sources for integration into the public water supply system of the Algarve region has been performed (Stigter et al., 2009a). Current work aimstoaddresstheregionalquantificationofgroundwateravailabilityandexploitationsustai nability,aswellastheirdependenceonfactorssuchasthespatialandtemporaldistributionof recharge,aquiferheterogeneityandthelocationofthepumpingwells. GROUNDWATERRECHARGEVERSUSCONSUMPTION ThepresentstateofdevelopmentoftheAlgarvehydrogeologyallowsthedefinitionof17aqui fersystemswithregionalimportance,showninFig.1(Almeidaetal.,2000).Themostproduc tiveaquifersarebuiltupofkarstifiedlimestonesanddolomites.Thesixmostimportantaqui fersforpublicwatersupplyarecharacterizedinTab.1.Manyoftheotheraquifersystemsare directlyandindirectlyexploitedforirrigation.Duetoitslargeareaandsignificantrecharge,as wellasthehighdegreeofkarstification,aquifersystemM5,knownasQuerenaSilves,consti tutesthemostimportantgroundwaterreservoir.
Table1.CharacterizationofaquifersystemswithregionalexpressionintheAlgarve. Aquifersystem M2 AlmdenaOdexere M3 MexilhoeiraGrandePortimo M5 QuerenaSilves M8 S.BrsdeAlportel M9 AlmansilMedronhal M14 Malho Mainaquiferlithology lmst,dlmt lmst,dlmt,sand lmst,dlmt lmst,dlmt lmst,dlmt lmst,dlmt Area(km2) 63.49 51.71 317.85 34.42 23.35 11.83 Recharge(hm3yr1) 16.6 10 93.4 5.5 6.5 3

XXXVIII IAH Congress

1.1. Evaluation and management of groundwater sustainable exploitation

124000
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Municipal wells: Public supply wells (mostly deactivated) Reactivated during the drought of 2005

Wells of the Water Utility (AdA)

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A0: Paleozoic basement M0: Non-differentiated area with local aquifers M1-M17: Regional aquifer systems
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Figure 1.LocationandgeometryoftheaquifersystemsintheAlgarvealsoshownisthelocationofthethe municipalwells(mostlyabandoned)andsurfacewaterreservoirs.

The estimation of aquifer recharge is a crucial and continuously ongoing task. Stigter et al. (2009a)provideanoverviewofsomeoftheappliedmethods.Recentresearchhastakeninto account parameters such as daily precipitation, soil texture, moisture content and vegetation cover,allowingadeeperinsightintotheprocessescontrollingrechargeanditstemporalevolu tion(MendesOliveira,2009).Fig.2presentstheestimatedmeanannualrechargevolumesfor theentireMesocenozoicstrip(M0M17inFig.1),the17mainaquifersystems(M1M17) and thesixmostrelevantaquifersforpublicwatersupply.
M0-M17 M1-M17 M2, M3, M5, M8, M9, M14 M5 Surface Surface water water reservoirs reservoirs + Odelouca 0 100

269 57% of recharge

19181

216 51% of recharge

10751

135 36% of recharge

5027

93 44% of recharge

3179

Groundwater Surface water Consumption

298 400

180 266 53% of recharge

Storage capacity Average annual recharge Agriculture Public supply Private, Industry, Golfe 12000 16000 20000

32% of recharge

200

300

400 4000 8000 Water volumes (millions m3)

Figure 2. Storage capacity, mean annual recharge and water consumption volumes for groundwater and surface water in the Algarve; for groundwater the three categories refer to: the Mesocenozoic strip (M0 M17),theaquifersystems(M1M17)andthemainaquifersforpublicsupply(M2,M3,M5,M8,M9,M14); forconsumption,thelabelsindicatetotalvolumesasapercentageofmeanannualrecharge.

Krakow, Poland 2010

1. Groundwater quality sustainability

Fortheareaofnondifferentiatedaquifersandaquitards(M0)rechargewasconsidered10%of mean precipitation calculated in a GIS using the data Nicolau (2002). Roughly estimated total storagecapacitiesarealsopresentedinFig.2,consideringanaquiferthicknessof100mandeffec tiveporosityof10%.Thoughtheseestimatesareextremelysimplified,theyallowagoodpercep tionoftheirmagnitudeascomparedtosurfacewaterstorage,alsopresentedinFig.2(basedon observedvalues).Forinstance,thetotalestimatedstorageoftheMesocenozoicstripisabout50 timeshigherthanthatofthesurfacereservoirsincludingOdelouca,currentlyinthephaseofcom pletion.Itisalso70timesthemeanannualgroundwaterrechargevolume.Thequestioniswhat fractionofstorageisexploitable,bothonashortterm(i.e.yearly)andlongtermbasis. Fig. 2 also presents the presentday groundwater consumption volumes, and there distribution amongusers.Thenumbers arebasedon adetailed studyof available data, providedbythe Re gional Water Utility, the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture and literature (Do e Monteiro, 2006).Agricultureisbyfarthemainconsumerofgroundwater,withatotalofapproximately150 hm3withdrawnfromtheMesocenozoicstrip,47%ofmeanannualrecharge.Totalconsumption amounts to 57% of recharge. Though groundwater is the main source for irrigation (165 hm3), irrigationwithsurfacewaterisgainingimportance,allocatingincreasingwatervolumes. SUSTAINABLEYIELDANALYSIS SafeyieldwasinitiallydefinedbySophocleous(1997)astheattainmentandmaintenanceofa longterm balance between the amount of groundwater withdrawn annually and the annual amountofrecharge.Subsequently,theemphasisshiftedtosustainableyield(e.g.Sophocleous, 2000;Custodio,2002),whichreservesafractionofsafeyieldforecologicaldemands.Thisfrac tion depends on factors such as climate (variability), hydrogeological setting, location of the wellsandthepresenceofgroundwaterdependentecosystems.Theconceptofsustainableyield (or volume) can be studied by analyzing different groundwater recharge/capture/discharge scenarios.. Capture is defined by Lohman et al. (1972) as the sum of the increase in recharge and decrease in discharge, caused by abstractions due to pumping. Capture predominantly results in a decrease of groundwater discharge and a removal of water from storage. In this papertheanalysisisperformedforthelargestaquifersystem,QuerenaSilves(M5),andcom pared to the simulation results of a groundwater flow model. A period of six (hydrological) years is considered, starting in October 2001, when the MPWSS was fully operational and groundwaterconsumptionwascomparabletothepresentdaypicture. Theanalysisstartswiththedefinitionofasocalledsafestoragevolume(Ssafe),belowwhich undesirableeffectsmayoccurasaresultofoverexploitation,suchasthedryingupofground waterdependentstreamsandwetlandsortheintrusionofseawater.Themeanannualrecharge isconsideredtoadequatelyrepresentthesafestoragevolume.Consideringasimpleblackbox model, the hypothetical evolution of aquifer storage is then calculated for different discharge scenarios,usingthefollowingequations:

St (1 f ) ( St 1 Rn( t 1),t W( t 1),t Ra( t 1),t ) Q( t 1),t f ( S ( t 1),t Rn( t 1),t W( t 1),t Ra( t 1),t )
Rn(t 1),t P( t 1),t P Rn

(1) (2) (3)

XXXVIII IAH Congress

1.1. Evaluation and management of groundwater sustainable exploitation

where:StandSt1aretheaquiferstorageattimetandt1,respectively,withadiscretetimestep ofonehydrologicalyear,P{(t1),t}isprecipitationbetweenhydrologicalyearst1andt,Rn{(t1),t}is natural recharge, W{(t1),t} is withdrawal Ra{(t1),t} is artificial recharge (irrigation return flow) and Q{(t1),t}isgroundwaterdischargeforthesameperiod; fisthefractionofsurpluscontribut ing to discharge. Surplus is the defined as the storage at the beginning of the preceding year plus the difference between natural and artificial recharge and abstractions throughout the year. Equation2 indicates that a higher surplus will result in a higher discharge. For the first consideredyear(St=1), S0isconsidered75%ofthenaturalrechargeoftheprecedingyear.The latteriscalculatedasaratioofobservedtomeanannualprecipitationtimesmeanannualre charge(Equation3). Onaverage45hm3ofwaterispumpedyearlyfromtheQuerenaSilvesaquifersystem,withan average annual recharge rate of 93 hm3. In the dry year of 2005 abstractions are believed to havebeenexceeded70hm3.Thehypotheticalscenariosofavailablewatervolumearegenerat edbyvaryingparameter fbetween0(nooutflow)and1(100%outflow).Thecurvesdefining eachofthesixscenarios(0,20,40,60,80and100%groundwateroutflow)aredrawninFig.3, whereSisplottedasafractionofSsafestoragevolume.
300%
Calculated storage in aquifer system M5 for discharge scenarios of 0-100% of surplus Evolution of aquifer storage with additional dry year (05/06 with recharge/consumption values of 04/05) Observed groundwater head in discharge area of Querena-Silves aquifer system (west) Modelled groundwater head in discharge area of Querena-Silves aquifer system (west) Modelled evolution of groundwater head with additional dry year

250%

200% S, (% of Ssafe = 93.4 hm3)

0% groundwater discharge (100% groundwater storage) 20%

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Figure 3.Scenariosoftheevolutionofavailablewatervolumesasapercentageofsafestoragevolumein the QuerenaSilves aquifer system (M5), as well as modeled and observed time series of groundwater levelsinthedischargearea.Dashedlinesindicatepotentialevolutionwithasecondconsecutivedryyear.

Inthescenarioof0%groundwaterdischarge,naturallyunrealistic,allsurplusisstoredinthe aquifer. In the opposite, equally unrealistic scenario of 100% outflow, no surplus exists and availablewatervolumesare0%ofsafestorage.Theremainingfourdischargescenariosareall hypotheticallyrealistic,butthequestioniswhichone,ifany,representsamoreorlesstruthful simulation of reality. Naturally, the equations greatly simplify the actual behavior of the sys tems.Forinstance,groundwaterdischargedependsonthespatialandtemporaldistributionof recharge,whereastheimpactofabstractionsalsodependsonthelocationofthepumpingwells. Moreover, in reality discharge is not a fixed percentage of the available water volume in the aquifer,butwillbehigherinwetyearsandlowerindryyears.

Krakow, Poland 2010

1. Groundwater quality sustainability

Inordertointerprettheaccuracyofthescenarios,theycanbecomparedtoobservedgroundwa terheadtimeseries,whicharerelatedtoaquiferstoragevolume.TimeseriesareshowninFig.3, forawelllocatedinthedischargeareaoftheaquifersystem.Firstofallitcanbeseenthatthe yearly trends are correctly portrayed by this simple analysis. Second, it appears that the 40% surplusdischargescenario(f =0.4)mostcorrectlyfollowstheobservedwaterleveltrend.The choiceoftheaxislimits(minimumandmaximumwaterlevels)forthetimeseriesplotmaybea matterofdebate.Themaximumobservedvaluesareconsideredtoprovideacorrectindication ofthe100%aquiferstoragevolume,whereas0mrepresentsthelimitbelowwhichoverexploita tionoccurs,resultinginzerodischargeatthespringsandcausingseawaterintrusion. When considering the 40% outflow scenario, total storage can be calculated for the six main public supply aquifers, based on known (estimated) abstractions and recharge rates. Fig. 4 providestheresults,as%ofmaximumstorage,133hm3.Thefigurealsogivesanideaofpoten tialstorageanddischargevolumesforhigherpumpingratesandcomparesvaluestoreservoir storageevolution.Thiscomparisoncannotbestraightforward,since0%availablevolumeinan aquifer implies overexploitation with possible negative consequences, whereas in reservoirs 0%indicatesadryreservoir,withnofurtherpossibilityofexploration.
150%
All surface reservoirs (266 hm3) Funcho+Arade reservoirs (69 hm3) M2,M3,M5,M8,M9,M14 (133 hm3, groundwater discharge is 40% of annual surplus) Annual discharge Annual discharge with 10 hm3 increase in groundwater consumption (except in 04/05) Annual discharge with 20 hm3 increase in groundwater consumption (except in 04/05)

Available water volume (% of safe storage volume)

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Figure 4.Evolutionofannualstorageanddischargevolumesinthesixmainpublicsupplyaquifers,using f=0.4(40%ofsurplusisoutflow).Alsoshownarehigherconsumptionscenarios(dashedlines).

The development of steadystate and transient groundwater flow models for the M5 aquifer systemisdescribedanddiscussedbyMonteiroetal.(2006,2007)andStigteretal.(2009a).The conceptual flow model was translated to a finite element mesh with 11663 nodes and 22409 triangular finite elements. Transmissivity values were optimized by inverse calibration of the model and allowed a significant improvement of the simulation reliabilityof the observedre gional flow pattern (Stigter et al., 2009a). Current work focuses on further calibration of the transient model, which involves optimization of the storage coefficient, among others. Fig. 3 showstheresultsofasimulationrunforthegroundwaterheadofthesameobservationwell. Despitethelowersimulatedgroundwaterlevels,thetendencyandamplitudeofoscillationare

XXXVIII IAH Congress

1.1. Evaluation and management of groundwater sustainable exploitation

correctly simulated. During calibration of the transient model it was clearly noticed that groundwaterpumpingfromprivatewellsin2005startedearlierthanusual,namelyinJanuary (ratherthaninMay).Tosimulatethelargerdrawdownsinthatyear,17hm3hadtobeaddedto theannual31hm3consideredinthemodelforirrigation.Thisfactclearlyindicatesthedouble negative aspect of droughts, i.e. lower recharge and higher (uncontrolled) pumping. When simulating a second consecutive dry year following 2004/2005, with the same recharge and extraction values as 2005, it was observed that the groundwater head in the discharge area dropped to values close to 0 m above mean sea level (msl). Longer droughts could therefore potentiallyleadtooverexploitation,gradientinversion,dryingupofspringsandlocalseawater intrusionatthewesternborder. REFERENCES AlmeidaC.,1985:HidrogeologiadoAlgarveCentral.Ph.D.,Univ.deLisboa,Lisbon. CustodioE.,2002:Aquiferoverexploitation:whatdoesitmean?,Hydrog.J.10:pp.254277. DoA.,MonteiroJ.P.,2006: Estimao da procura real de gua no Algarve por sectores.InProc. VCongressoIbricosobreGestoePlaneamentodagua,Faro,48Dec.,10p. Giorgi F., 2006: Climate change hotspots. Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L08707, doi:10.1029/ 2006GL025734. LohmanS.W.,BennettR.R.,BrownR.H.,CooperJr.H.H.,DrescherW.J.,FerrisJ.G.,JohnsonA.I., McGuinness C.L., Piper A.M., Rorabaugh M.I., Stallman R.W., Theis C.V., 1972: Definitions of se lected groundwater terms: revisions and conceptual refinements.USGeol.Survey,WaterSupply Paper1988,21p. MonteiroJ.P.,RibeiroL.,ReisE.,MartinsJ.,MatosSilvaJ.,2007: Modelling streamgroundwater interactions in the QuerenaSilves aquifer system. In: Proc. XXXV IAH Congress, Groundwater andEcosystems,Lisbon,1721September2007,10p. MonteiroJ.P.,VieiraJ.,NunesL.,YounesF.,2006: Inverse Calibration of a Regional Flow Model fortheQuerenaSilvesAquiferSystem(AlgarvePortugal).In:Proc.oftheInternationalCongress on IWRM and Challenges of the Sustainable Development, Marrakech, 2325 May 2006, p. 44 (CD6p.). NicolauR.,2002: Modelao e mapeamento da distribuio espacial da precipitao Uma apli caoaPortugalContinental(Modelingandmappingofthespatialdistributionofrainfall).Ph.D., Univ.NovadeLisboa,Lisbon. MendesOliveiraM.,OliveiraL.,LoboFerreiraJ.P.,2008: Estimativa da recarga natural no Siste ma Aqufero de QuerenaSilves (Algarve) pela aplicao do modelo BALSEQ_MOD. Estimation of naturalrechargeintheQuerenaSilvesaquifersystem(Algarve).In:Proc.9.Congressodagua, Cascais,24April2008,CD15p. Santos F. D., Miranda P. (Eds.), 2006: Alteraes climticas em Portugal. Cenrios, Impactos e MedidasdeAdaptao(ClimatechangeinPortugal.Scenarios,ImpactsandAdaptationMeasures) ProjectSIAMII,Gradiva,Lisbon,Portugal,2006. Sophocleous M., 1997: Managing water resources systems: Why "safe yield" is not sustainable. GroundWater,35,561,1997.

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1. Groundwater quality sustainability

SophocleousM.,2000:FromsafeyieldtosustainabledevelopmentofwaterresourcestheKansas experience.J.Hydrol.,235,2743,2000. StigterT.Y.,MonteiroJ.P.,NunesL.M.,VieiraJ.,CunhaM.C.,RibeiroL.,NascimentoJ.,LucasH., 2009a: Screening of sustainable groundwater sources for integration into a regional drought pronewatersupplysystem.HydrologyandEarthSystemSciences13:pp.115. StigterT.,RibeiroL.,OliveiraR.,SamperJ.,FakirY.,MonteiroJ.P.,NunesJ.P.,PisaniB.,Tavares P. C. F., 2009b: Assessing and managing the impact of climate change on coastal groundwater resources and dependent ecosystems: the CLIMWAT project.InternationalConferenceonEcohy drologyandClimateChange,Tomar,1012September,2009.

XXXVIII IAH Congress

International Association of Hydrogeologists

AGH University of Science and Technology

2-vol. set + CD ISSN 0208-6336 ISBN 978-83-226-1979-0