Quantifying groundwater flows to streams using differential flow gaugings and water chemistry

McCallum, James L.; Cook, Peter G.; Berhane, Dawit; Rumpf, Chris; McMahon, Gerard

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2011.11.040

Cited by 84 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…For example, infiltration of river water into the banks at high river discharges may result in near-river groundwater having lower Cl concentrations than the regional groundwater. This would result in the fluxes from Cl mass balance being too low (McCallum et al, 2012). Bank infiltration will vary as a function of river morphology, aquifer characteristics and changing flow conditions (Chen and Chen, 2003;Chen et al, 2006;Lambs, 2004;McCallum et al, 2010;Woessner, 2000) and is difficult to characterise accurately.…”

Section: Methods Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While quantification of water fluxes using temperature requires detailed subsurface temperature measurements over time, temperature mapping of rivers is a simple and effective method of identifying gaining and losing reaches (Becker et al, 2004). Similarly, if groundwater has a significantly different electrical conductivity (EC) to surface water, changes in river EC can be used to quantify the influx of groundwater Cey et al, 1998;McCallum et al, 2012). The advantage of along-river temperature/EC surveying is that it allows data to be obtained at a higher spatial resolution than flow gauging or discrete sampling for chemical analysis.…”

Section: N P Unland Et Al: Investigating the Spatio-temporal Variamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Differential flow gauging uses the difference in river discharge at two points along a reach in order to calculate net gains or losses along that stretch (Cey et al, 1998;Harte and Kiah, 2009;McCallum et al, 2012;Ruehl et al, 2006). Discharge is usually measured under baseflow conditions where runoff is negligible, allowing the net groundwater discharge or recharge to be calculated once evaporative losses are accounted for.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Investigating the spatio-temporal variability in groundwater and surface water interactions: a multi-technique approach

Unland

Cartwright

Andersen

et al. 2013

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The interaction between groundwater and surface water along the Tambo and Nicholson rivers, southeast Australia, was investigated using 222 Rn, Cl, differential flow gauging, head gradients, electrical conductivity (EC) and temperature profiles. Head gradients, temperature profiles, Cl concentrations and 222 Rn activities all indicate higher groundwater fluxes to the Tambo River in areas of increased topographic variation where the potential to form large groundwater-surface water gradients is greater. Groundwater discharge to the Tambo River calculated by Cl mass balance was significantly lower (1.48 × 10 4 to 1.41 × 10 3 m 3 day −1 ) than discharge estimated by 222 Rn mass balance (5.35 × 10 5 to 9.56 × 10 3 m 3 day −1 ) and differential flow gauging (5.41 × 10 5 to 6.30 × 10 3 m 3 day −1 ) due to bank return waters. While groundwater sampling from the bank of the Tambo River was intended to account for changes in groundwater chemistry associated with bank infiltration, variations in bank infiltration between sample sites remain unaccounted for, limiting the use of Cl as an effective tracer. Groundwater discharge to both the Tambo and Nicholson rivers was the highest under high-flow conditions in the days to weeks following significant rainfall, indicating that the rivers are well connected to a groundwater system that is responsive to rainfall. Groundwater constituted the lowest proportion of river discharge during times of increased rainfall that followed dry periods, while groundwater constituted the highest proportion of river discharge under baseflow conditions (21.4 % of the Tambo in April 2010 and 18.9 % of the Nicholson in September 2010).

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Section: Methods Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: N P Unland Et Al: Investigating the Spatio-temporal Variamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Investigating the spatio-temporal variability in groundwater and surface water interactions: a multi-technique approach

Unland

Cartwright

Andersen

et al. 2013

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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show abstract

“…Estimating total transmission losses and/or individual components in dryland river systems has previously been undertaken using three main approaches (Cataldo et al, 2004;Cataldo et al, 2010): (i) small-scale field experiments (Dahan et al, 2008;Dunkerley and Brown, 1999;Dunkerley, 2008;Maurer, 2002;Parsons et al, 1999); (ii) interpolation of sparse streamflow networks using simple regression and/or differential equations (Arnott et al, 2009;Costelloe et al, 2006;Knighton and Nanson, 1994;Knighton and Nanson, 2001;McCallum et al, 2012;Schmadel et al, 2010); and (iii) water balance modelling to allow estimation of total and component transmission losses (Morin et al, 2009). Key papers for these approaches are summarised in Table 1, and includes examples where hydrodynamic modelling has incorporated remotely sensed data in order to: (i) provide input data; (ii) calibrate and validate such models; and (iii) estimate various components of transmission losses (Karim et al, 2011;Milewski et al, 2009;Sharma and Murthy, 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where does all the water go? Partitioning water transmission losses in a data-sparse, multi-channel and low-gradient dryland river system using modelling and remote sensing

Jarihani

Larsen

Callow

et al. 2015

Journal of Hydrology

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Where does all the water go? Partitioning water transmission losses in a data-sparse, multi-channel and low-gradient dryland river system using modelling and remote sensing, Journal of Hydrology (2015), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol. 2015.08.030 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. 1Where does all the water go? Partitioning water transmission losses in a data-sparse, multi-channel and low-gradient dryland river system using modelling and remote sensing and April 2012 along a 180 km reach of the Diamantina River in the Lake Eyre Basin, Australia.Transmission losses were found to be high, on average 46% of total inflow within 180 km reach segment or 7 GL/km (range: 4 to 10 GL/km). However, in 180 km reach, transmission losses vary non-linearly with flood discharge, with smaller flows resulting in higher losses (up to 68%), which diminish in higher flows (down to 24%) and in general there is a minor increase in losses with distance downstream. Partitioning these total losses into the major components shows that actual evaporation was the most significant component (21.6% of total inflow), followed by infiltration (13.2%) and terminal water storage (11.2%). Lateral inflow can be up to 200% of upstream inflow (mean = 86%) and is therefore a critical parameter in the water balance and 3 transmission loss calculations. This study shows that it is possible to constrain the water balance using hydrodynamic models in dryland river systems using remote sensing and simple field measurements to address the otherwise scarce availability of data. The results of this study also enable a better understanding of the water resources available for ecosystems in these unique multi-channel and large floodplain rivers. The combined modelling / remote sensing approach of this study can be applied elsewhere in the world to better understand the water balances and water transmission losses, important drivers of ecohydrological processes in dryland environments.

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“…At the reach scale more integrated measures, such as differential flow gauging (McCallum et al, 2012;Briggs et al, 2011), have been applied to quantify net differences in stream discharge caused by groundwater recharge and discharge. The use of this method, however, is limited by the measurement uncertainty which prevents it from being applied for detecting small changes in groundwater discharge (Briggs et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting groundwater discharge dynamics from point-to-catchment scale in a lowland stream: combining hydraulic and tracer methods

Poulsen

Sebok

Duque

et al. 2015

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Detecting, quantifying and understanding groundwater discharge to streams are crucial for the assessment of water, nutrient and contaminant exchange at the groundwater-surface water interface. In lowland agricultural catchments with significant groundwater discharge this is of particular importance because of the risk of excess leaching of nutrients to streams. Here we aim to combine hydraulic and tracer methods from point-to-catchment scale to assess the temporal and spatial variability of groundwater discharge in a lowland, groundwater gaining stream in Denmark. At the point-scale, groundwater fluxes to the stream were quantified based on vertical streambed temperature profiles (VTPs). At the reach scale (0.15-2 km), the spatial distribution of zones of focused groundwater discharge was investigated by the use of distributed temperature sensing (DTS). Groundwater discharge to the stream was quantified using differential gauging with an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP). At the catchment scale (26-114 km 2 ), runoff sources during main rain events were investigated by hydrograph separations based on electrical conductivity (EC) and stable isotopes 2 H/ 1 H. Clear differences in runoff sources between catchments were detected, ranging from approximately 65 % event water for the most responsive sub-catchment to less than 10 % event water for the least responsive sub-catchment. This was supported by the groundwater head gradients, where the location of weaker gradients correlated with a stronger response to precipitation events. This shows a large variability in groundwater discharge to the stream, despite the similar lowland characteristics of sub-catchments indicating the usefulness of environmental tracers for obtaining information about integrated catchment functioning during precipitation events. There were also clear spatial patterns of focused groundwater discharge detected by the DTS and ADCP measurements at the reach scale indicating high spatial variability, where a significant part of groundwater discharge was concentrated in few zones indicating the possibility of concentrated nutrient or pollutant transport zones from nearby agricultural fields. VTP measurements confirmed high groundwater fluxes in discharge areas indicated by DTS and ADCP, and this coupling of ADCP, DTS and VTP proposes a novel field methodology to detect areas of concentrated groundwater discharge with higher resolution.

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Quantifying groundwater flows to streams using differential flow gaugings and water chemistry

Cited by 84 publications

References 34 publications

Investigating the spatio-temporal variability in groundwater and surface water interactions: a multi-technique approach

Investigating the spatio-temporal variability in groundwater and surface water interactions: a multi-technique approach

Where does all the water go? Partitioning water transmission losses in a data-sparse, multi-channel and low-gradient dryland river system using modelling and remote sensing

Detecting groundwater discharge dynamics from point-to-catchment scale in a lowland stream: combining hydraulic and tracer methods

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