Groundwater response to snowmelt in a mountainous watershed

Flerchinger, G. N.; Cooley, Keith R.; Ralston, Dale R.

doi:10.1016/0022-1694(92)90260-3

Cited by 57 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Seasonally higher recharge in spring for the basins could be due to additional sources of snowmelt from winter (DJF) P which tend to melt at the beginning of spring when temperature is sufficient to melt but not high enough to lose a lot of water from evaporation (Dunne and Leopold, 1978;Clark and Fritz, 1997;Ajami et al, 2012;Jasechko et al, 2014) in addition to rain occurring in spring time. Several field monitoring studies in Sweden (Rodhe, 1981), Idaho (Flerchinger et al, 1992), and the United States mid-west (Delin et al, 2007;Dripps, 2012) have also found that the spring snowmelt constitutes the bulk of annual groundwater recharge at the middle latitudes examined here.…”

Section: Seasonality Of Rechargesupporting

confidence: 58%

Comparing potential recharge estimates from three Land Surface Models across the western US

Niraula

Meixner

Ajami

et al. 2017

Journal of Hydrology

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a b s t r a c tGroundwater is a major source of water in the western US. However, there are limited recharge estimates in this region due to the complexity of recharge processes and the challenge of direct observations. Land surface Models (LSMs) could be a valuable tool for estimating current recharge and projecting changes due to future climate change. In this study, simulations of three LSMs (Noah, Mosaic and VIC) obtained from the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS-2) are used to estimate potential recharge in the western US. Modeled recharge was compared with published recharge estimates for several aquifers in the region. Annual recharge to precipitation ratios across the study basins varied from 0.01% to 15% for Mosaic, 3.2% to 42% for Noah, and 6.7% to 31.8% for VIC simulations. Mosaic consistently underestimates recharge across all basins. Noah captures recharge reasonably well in wetter basins, but overestimates it in drier basins. VIC slightly overestimates recharge in drier basins and slightly underestimates it for wetter basins. While the average annual recharge values vary among the models, the models were consistent in identifying high and low recharge areas in the region. Models agree in seasonality of recharge occurring dominantly during the spring across the region. Overall, our results highlight that LSMs have the potential to capture the spatial and temporal patterns as well as seasonality of recharge at large scales. Therefore, LSMs (specifically VIC and Noah) can be used as a tool for estimating future recharge in data limited regions.

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Section: Seasonality Of Rechargesupporting

confidence: 58%

Comparing potential recharge estimates from three Land Surface Models across the western US

Niraula

Meixner

Ajami

et al. 2017

Journal of Hydrology

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“…Alterations in these parameters would invariable affect the volumetric and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge, particularly in cold-regions (Eckhardt and Ulbrich, 2003). Given that seasonal snowpacks play a significant role in the storage and redistribution of water resources (Bayard et al, 2005), several studies have addressed recharge and runoff processes attributed to spring onset snowmelt (Barnett et al, 2005;Buttle, 1989;Flerchinger, 1992;Nabi et al, 2011). However, with proposed temperature shifts possibly leading to reductions in seasonal snowpack duration and volume, the classic paradigm of winter snowpack water storage and spring on-set melt of snow may transition to multiple, ephemeral accumulation and melt cycles of snow throughout a winter/spring cycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The unique configuration of the Vers Chez le Brandt (VCB) study location, where this study takes place, allowed us to build upon these recharge studies and also take into consideration the array of methodologies for assessing snowmelt infiltration used in other lithologic settings (Bayard et al, 2005;Buttle, 1989;Flerchinger, 1992;Sutinen et al, 2008). While varied in approach, all these studies sought to relate snowpack basal outflow to an increase in recharge, via surficially accessed data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Snowmelt infiltration and storage within a karstic environment, Vers Chez le Brandt, Switzerland

Meeks

Hunkeler

2015

Journal of Hydrology

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Even though karstic aquifers are important freshwater resources and frequently occur in mountainous areas, recharge processes related to snowmelt have received little attention thus far. Given the context of climate change, where alterations to seasonal snow patterns are anticipated, and the often-strong coupling between recharge and discharge in karst aquifers, this research area is of great importance. Therefore, we investigated how snowmelt water transits through the vadose and phreatic zone of a karst aquifer. This was accomplished by evaluating the relationships between meteorological data, soil-water content, vadose zone flow in a cave 53 m below ground and aquifer discharge. Time series data indicate that the quantity and duration of meltwater input at the soil surface influences flow and storage within the soil and epikarst. Prolonged periods of snowmelt promote perched storage in surficial soils and encourage surficial, lateral flow to preferential flow paths. Thus, in karstic watersheds overlain by crystalline loess, a typical pedologic and lithologic pairing in central Europe and parts of North America, soils can serve as the dominant mechanism impeding infiltration and promoting shallow lateral flow. Further, hydrograph analysis of vadose zone flow and aquifer discharge, suggests that storage associated with shallow soils is the dominant source of discharge at time scales of up to several weeks after melt events, while phreatic storage becomes import during prolonged periods without input. Soils can moderate karst aquifer dynamics and play a more governing role on karst aquifer storage and discharge than previously credited. Overall, this signifies that a fundamental understanding of soil structure and distribution is critical when assessing recharge to karstic aquifers, particularly in cold regions.

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“…Numerous investigations have been conducted to define the geology of the watershed (Winkelmaier 1987, Mock 1988, and Stevens 1991 and to better understand the processes controlling the hydrologic response of this mountainous watershed (Cooley 1988, Flerchinger et al 1992, Flerchinger et al 1993, Unnikrishna et al 1995, Flerchinger et al 1996, Luce et al 1998). Flerchinger et al (2000) computed a ten-year water balance of the Upper Sheep Creek Watershed.…”

Section: Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Hydrologic Response to a Prescribed Fire on a Small Mountainous

Flerchinger¹,

Clark²

2003

2003, Las Vegas, NV July 27-30, 2003

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Prescribed fire is often used to control invasive weeds, improve habitat, and deter wildfire. The Northwest Watershed Research Center plans to burn a heavily studied 26-ha watershed. This paper investigates the potential hydrological response to that prescribed fire. Changes in water repellency and infiltration capacity were assumed not to limit the low intensity snowmelt input to the basin. Percolation, subsurface flow and runoff during the first runoff season are influenced by the soil moisture deficit created by pre-burn vegetation conditions and will likely not be influenced greatly by the fire. A year of reduced evapotranspiration following the fire is necessary to reduce the soil moisture deficit and increase percolation beyond the root zone and subsurface flow to the stream. Results indicate significant changes in streamflow in this subsurface-flow-dominated watershed may not be observed until the second snowmelt season following the fire and could increase by 25%. These results are unlike watersheds dominated by overland flow and surface runoff where increased flows are more likely to occur during the first year following a fire.

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Groundwater response to snowmelt in a mountainous watershed

Cited by 57 publications

References 6 publications

Comparing potential recharge estimates from three Land Surface Models across the western US

Comparing potential recharge estimates from three Land Surface Models across the western US

Snowmelt infiltration and storage within a karstic environment, Vers Chez le Brandt, Switzerland

Potential Hydrologic Response to a Prescribed Fire on a Small Mountainous

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