Extreme precipitation drives groundwater recharge: the Northern High Plains Aquifer, central United States, 1950–2010

Abstract

Abstract:Future extreme precipitation (EP, daily rainfall amount over certain thresholds) is projected to increase with global climate change; however, its effect on groundwater recharge has not been fully explored. This study specifically investigates the spatiotemporal dynamics of groundwater recharge and the effects of extreme precipitation (daily rainfall amount over the 95th percentile, which is tagged by ranking the percentiles in each season for a base period) on groundwater recharge from 1950 to 2010 over the Northern High Plains (NHP) Aquifer using the Soil Water Balance Model. The results show that groundwater recharge significantly (p < 0.05) increased in the eastern NHP from 1950 to 2010, where the highest annual average groundwater recharge occurs compared to the central and the western NHP. In the eastern NHP, 45.1% of the annual precipitation fell as EP, which contributed 56.8% of the annual total groundwater recharge. In the western NHP, 30.9% of the annual precipitation fell as extreme precipitation, which contributed 62.5% of the annual total groundwater recharge. In addition, recharge by extreme precipitation mainly occurred in late spring and early summer, before the maximum evapotranspiration rate, which usually occurs in mid-summer until late fall. A dry site in the western NHP and a wet site in the eastern NHP were analysed to indicate how recharge responds to EP with different precipitation regimes. The maximum daily recharge at the dry site exceeded the wet site when there was EP. When precipitation fell as non-extreme rainfall, most recharge was less than 5 mm at both the dry and wet sites, and the maximum recharge at the dry site became lower than the wet site. This study shows that extreme precipitation plays a significant role in determining groundwater recharge.

Global Isotope Hydrogeology―Review

“…Assessing annual recharge rates is important for estimating the extent to which groundwater pumping impacts groundwater storage and discharge (Theis, , ). Yet understanding recharge rates at shorter (i.e., seasonal) timescales is also important in order to (i) forecast changes to annual recharge rates under changing seasonal climate conditions (e.g., Ajami et al, ; Earman et al, ; Earman & Dettinger, ; Meixner et al, ; Niraula et al, ), (ii) develop more sophisticated conceptual models detailing hydrological processes and conditions conducive to groundwater replenishment (e.g., Alsaaran, ; Dripps, ; Dripps & Bradbury, ; Flerchinger et al, ; Gat & Tzur, ; Gates, Edmunds, Ma, et al, ; Hammarlund & Edwards, ; Liefert et al, ; Nasta et al, ; Pavlovskii et al, ; Rathay et al, ; Wilson & Guan, ; Zhang et al, ), (iii) interpret paleoclimate conditions from fossil groundwater and speleothem isotopic records (e.g., Bar‐Matthews et al, ; Benson & Klieforth, ; Denniston et al, ; Fairchild et al, ; Johnson, Hu, et al, ; Johnson, Ingram, et al, ; Jones et al, ; Simpson et al, ; Treble et al, ), and (iv) understand the ways that plants obtain water, and the relationships among vegetation, runoff, and recharge (e.g., Grossiord et al, ; Guswa & Spence, ; Kim & Jackson, ; Vico et al, ).…”

Groundwater Level Dynamics in Bengaluru City, India

“…This suggests that groundwater recharge from extreme rainfall is quite significant in Bengaluru, despite being predominantly built-up. In the literature, significant recharge events from extreme precipitation have been reported [38][39][40] in agricultural regions. In urban areas, however, the conventional narrative is that groundwater recharge is impeded by the dominance of built-up, impervious areas (e.g., [27]).…”

Natural and Human-Induced Drivers of Groundwater Sustainability: A Case Study of the Mangyeong River Basin in Korea

“…Groundwater recharge can be evaluated by using water budget with seepage meters [42,43], tracers [44,45], modelling [46,47], and groundwater level change [48]. To analyze the water budget and estimate the groundwater recharge in the MRB area, we used the soil-water balance (SWB) model, which has been applied in various studies to understand the impact of future climate change and anthropogenic effects on groundwater resources [49][50][51]. The SWB model integrates GIS-gridded datasets (land-use classification, soil properties, flow direction, and available soil-water capacity) with observed climate data (precipitation, air temperature, and evaporation).…”