Karst water resources in a changing world: Review of hydrological modeling approaches

Hartmann, Andreas; Goldscheider, Nico; Wagener, Thorsten; Lange, Jens; Weiler, Markus

doi:10.1002/2013rg000443

Cited by 691 publications

(481 citation statements)

References 188 publications

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“…In some countries and regions such as Austria, the Dinaric region (Europe) and Southwest China, karst water contributes 50% or more to regional freshwater supplies (Hartmann et al 2014;Wu et al 2009). Several large cities rely entirely or predominantly on karst aquifers such as San Antonio in Texas, USA (1.4 million inhabitants), Vienna in Austria (1.8 million), Rome in Italy (2.9 million) or Damascus in Syria (6-7 million; Al-Charideh 2012; Kresic and Stevanovic 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The World Karst Aquifer Mapping project: concept, mapping procedure and map of Europe

et al. 2017

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Karst aquifers contribute substantially to freshwater supplies in many regions of the world, but are vulnerable to contamination and difficult to manage because of their unique hydrogeological characteristics. Many karst systems are hydraulically connected over wide areas and require transboundary exploration, protection and management. In order to obtain a better global overview of karst aquifers, to create a basis for sustainable international water-resources management, and to increase the awareness in the public and among decision makers, the World Karst Aquifer Mapping (WOKAM) project was established. The goal is to create a world map and database of karst aquifers, as a further development of earlier maps. This paper presents the basic concepts and the detailed mapping procedure, using France as an example to illustrate the step-by-step workflow, which includes generalization, differentiation of continuous and discontinuous carbonate and evaporite rock areas, and the identification of non-exposed karst aquifers. The map also shows selected caves and karst springs, which are collected in an associated global database. The draft karst aquifer map of Europe shows that 21.6% of the European land surface is characterized by the presence of (continuous or discontinuous) carbonate rocks; about 13.8% of the land surface is carbonate rock outcrop.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The World Karst Aquifer Mapping project: concept, mapping procedure and map of Europe

et al. 2017

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“…As such, observation of temporal trends in recharge rates can be observed directly within conduits, thereby more effectively elucidating the actual hydrological processes involved (Buttle, 1989). Karstic aquifers are broadly relied upon by an estimated 25% of earth's population for drinking agricultural and industrial purposes and are thus an area of great concern (Ford and Williams, 2007;Hartmann et al, 2014).…”

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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“…Such regions typically exhibit the most extreme subsurface heterogeneity in terms of hydraulic conductivities and storage capacities due to the weathering of carbonate rock, a process also referred to as "karstification" (8,11). We focus on Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East, where ∼560 million people depend on drinking water from karst aquifers (12,13) and where information on karst recharge is most available.…”

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confidence: 99%

Enhanced groundwater recharge rates and altered recharge sensitivity to climate variability through subsurface heterogeneity

Hartmann

Gleeson

Wada

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

151

109

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Our environment is heterogeneous. In hydrological sciences, the heterogeneity of subsurface properties, such as hydraulic conductivities or porosities, exerts an important control on water balance. This notably includes groundwater recharge, which is an important variable for efficient and sustainable groundwater resources management. Current large-scale hydrological models do not adequately consider this subsurface heterogeneity. Here we show that regions with strong subsurface heterogeneity have enhanced present and future recharge rates due to a different sensitivity of recharge to climate variability compared with regions with homogeneous subsurface properties. Our study domain comprises the carbonate rock regions of Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East, which cover ∼25% of the total land area. We compare the simulations of two large-scale hydrological models, one of them accounting for subsurface heterogeneity. Carbonate rock regions strongly exhibit "karstification," which is known to produce particularly strong subsurface heterogeneity. Aquifers from these regions contribute up to half of the drinking water supply for some European countries. Our results suggest that water management for these regions cannot rely on most of the presently available projections of groundwater recharge because spatially variable storages and spatial concentration of recharge result in actual recharge rates that are up to four times larger for present conditions and changes up to five times larger for potential future conditions than previously estimated. These differences in recharge rates for strongly heterogeneous regions suggest a need for groundwater management strategies that are adapted to the fast transit of water from the surface to the aquifers.groundwater recharge | subsurface heterogeneity | water resources | climate variability | climate change

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Karst water resources in a changing world: Review of hydrological modeling approaches

Cited by 691 publications

References 188 publications

The World Karst Aquifer Mapping project: concept, mapping procedure and map of Europe

The World Karst Aquifer Mapping project: concept, mapping procedure and map of Europe

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

Enhanced groundwater recharge rates and altered recharge sensitivity to climate variability through subsurface heterogeneity

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