Importance of Alternative Conceptual Model for Sustainable Groundwater Management of the Hat Yai Basin, Thailand

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

“…The change in depth and thickness of rock salt of Maha Sarakham (model B) has a higher impact on model predictions (average total sustainable yield decreases from model A by 21.83%) than change in GHBs of model C (average total sustainable yield decreases from model A by 6.19%). This is the same result as the impact of alternative conceptual model on sustainable groundwater yield in the Thapha area, Chi River Basin, Northeast Thailand [53] and the Hat Yai Basin, Southern Thailand [6], where it was reported that the contribution of the hydrogeologic conditions is higher than that of the boundary conditions. The depth of rock salt underlying the basin was the cause of increasing groundwater salinity distribution and the pumping rate had to meet the qualitative constraints of sustainable yield, especially in sensitive groundwater salinity areas such as zone 1 and 3.…”

“…The first and most important step in developing groundwater models is to establish a conceptual model or model structure of the hydrogeological system [3][4][5]. Usually, groundwater model studies are represented by only a single hydrogeological conceptual model [4][5][6]. Traditional groundwater modeling had not given enough attention to formulating a groundwater conceptual model [6,7].…”

“…Usually, groundwater model studies are represented by only a single hydrogeological conceptual model [4][5][6]. Traditional groundwater modeling had not given enough attention to formulating a groundwater conceptual model [6,7]. This leads to bias and incorrect projection results when considering only one conceptual model and neglecting possible others.…”

“…This leads to bias and incorrect projection results when considering only one conceptual model and neglecting possible others. In addition, the correctness of the groundwater conceptual model cannot be assured by an excellent model calibration [6,8]. The alternative conceptual model has received more attention in groundwater applications in the last decade [4,6,9].…”

“…In addition, the correctness of the groundwater conceptual model cannot be assured by an excellent model calibration [6,8]. The alternative conceptual model has received more attention in groundwater applications in the last decade [4,6,9]. Many studies point out that 5-30% of predictive uncertainty is derived from the conceptual model, so it is more significant than parameter uncertainty (e.g., [4,7,10]).…”