Impact of climate change on waterlogging and salinity distributions in Huai Khamrian subwatershed, NE Thailand

Regional Assessment of Groundwater Recharge in the Lower Mekong Basin

“…While these estimations exceed our conservative estimates of less than 170 mm/year in Northeast Thailand (Figure 4), they confirm that recharge rates in this region are positively correlated to rainfall, in agreement with Equation (5). The ratios (recharge/rainfall) obtained with the HELP3 model in the Huai Khamrian catchment (around 16%) are well aligned with our estimations mapped in Figure 6, suggesting that rainfall values used by [8] are greater than those in Aphrodite product, used in Equation (5). In Northern Thailand, groundwater recharge rates corresponding to different land uses were modeled in a 6500 km 2 catchment with the WetSpass model [50].…”

“…Our estimations of recharge rates can also be compared with more localized studies [8][9][10][50][51][52][53][54]. Baseline recharge rates estimated with the HELP3 hydrologic model and projected under the ECHAM GCM A2 and B2 scenarios were used to predict groundwater recharge rates in the Huai Khamrian catchment in Northeast Thailand, yielding values of 253, 351, and 329 mm/year, respectively [8].…”

“…At broad scale, groundwater recharge occurs either in diffuse form (from rainfall infiltration via the unsaturated soil zone), or more locally via water seepage through riverbeds and other water bodies such as lakes and reservoirs. Very few studies have attempted to quantify groundwater recharge in the Mekong Basin [3,[8][9][10].…”

Use of Alternative Hydrogeological Conceptual Models to Assess the Potential Impact of Climate Change on Groundwater Sustainable Yield in Central Huai Luang Basin, Northeast Thailand

“…Intensive research into climate change indicates that impacts on the hydrological system and water resources will occur at a global scale [11][12][13][14]. The main focus of the research on climate change related to groundwater has been the impacts of changing the amount and pattern of precipitation and temperature (e.g., [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]). Changes in climatic variables can significantly alter the hydrologic cycle and groundwater recharge, which control water level and salinity distribution.…”

“…Changes in climatic variables can significantly alter the hydrologic cycle and groundwater recharge, which control water level and salinity distribution. These consequences could affect the ground surface and land capability for agriculture activities [15,20,23,24], especially in Northeast Thailand, which already has problems with groundwater and soil salinity. Several earlier studies that predicted future climate change in Thailand for different purposes [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] indicated an increasing trend in the average annual rainfall and temperature from 2016 to 2056.…”