Managed aquifer recharge via infiltration ditches in short rotation afforested areas

Abstract

Managed aquifer recharge design and operation must incorporate the expected long‐term performance from a water quantity perspective to sustainably mitigate hydrologic impacts of groundwater overexploitation. Gravity‐driven infiltration ditches in forested areas are one of many managed aquifer recharge schemes that could augment the available water resources. Research on the longevity of these structures is sparse, leading to concerns about their long‐term capability to sustain elevated infiltration capacity. In the present study, an infiltration system consisting of a regular grid of eight ditches divided into four sequential plots within a short rotation forested area [area of infiltration (AFI)] was monitored from its inception to determine its hydrologic performance over time and its possible export to similar areas of the Brenta megafan (Northern Italy). During the monitored period, the AFI was not significantly affected by clogging because the suspended solids carried by the Brenta River water diversion were extremely low. The main source of clogging was the fallen foliage during the autumn, easily managed via ordinary maintenance. The AFI displayed an almost constant performance to infiltrate the diverted water over the first 3 years of operation, with a total amount of infiltrated water of approximately 0.8 Mm3 ha−1 year−1. The best tracer to reconstruct the downward water movement through this highly permeable vadose zone was temperature, while the groundwater table fluctuation could not be confidently used to infer the effective infiltration, because of its large seasonal variability. The good results suggest promoting this technique in other areas of the Brenta megafan that suffer from groundwater resources depletion. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Does hillslope trenching enhance groundwater recharge and baseflow in the Peruvian Andes?

“…Furthermore, a large number of sensors would be required to achieve a statistically significant result if a difference was present. A similar problem was encountered by Mastrocicco et al (2016) when attempting to measure the resulting groundwater mound from a MAR scheme in Italy. The calculated expected mound was well within natural variations in the water table, and it was not possible to distinguish the impact of the enhanced recharge.…”

“…Several different schemes have been proposed and are referred to in general as artificial aquifer recharge or managed aquifer recharge (MAR). Although some systems divert excess river water to injection wells (Bouwer, 2002, and references therein; Dillon, 2005), others divert excess water to infiltration fields, channels, or basins (Heilweil, Benoit, & Healy, 2015;Mastrocicco, Colombani, Salemi, Boz, & Gumiero, 2016;Heviánková, Marschalko, Chromíková, Kyncl, & Korabík, 2016).…”

Nitrogen Budget of Short Rotation Forests Amended with Digestate in Highly Permeable Soils

“…The SRF experimental site, due to the high soil permeability, is part of an experimental FIA [16]. The whole system was set during the spring of 2009 in a field formerly cultivated with maize and wheat rotation.…”

“…The volumes of water infiltrated were estimated by applying the daily water balance method of Paniraghi and Panda [18]. It was assumed that run-off at this site is negligible [16] and that the errors in the assessment of actual daily evapotranspiration with the Penman-Monteith formula are small compared to the ones obtained using eddy correlation methods [19].…”

“…In the upper part of the Brenta River basin, a Forested Infiltration Area (FIA) [16], characterized by highly permeable soils (being in an upland alluvial fan), was cultivated with SRF and fertilized using digested slurry from the same farm.…”