Groundwater Flow Modeling of a Hard Rock Aquifer: Case Study
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 19, Issue 5
Abstract
The present study area is primarily underlain by granites, basalts, and a little bit of laterites. Groundwater occurs under unconfined to semiconfined conditions, in weathered and fractured formations, respectively. A three-dimensional groundwater flow model for the Osmansagar and Himayathsagar catchments—a semiarid hard rock area in India with two conceptual layers—is developed under transient conditions using visual MODFLOW software for the period 2005 to 2009. The 15–20 m top layer is a weathered zone, followed by second 20–25 m-layer fractured zone based on hydrogeophysical studies and borehole lithologs. The groundwater recharge estimation is achieved with the help of geographical information system (GIS) and the water table fluctuation method that is well fitted into the flow model with an average recharge value of 21% of the average annual rainfall. The results derived from modeling indicate that the average input to the aquifer system is 321.96 million cubic meters (mcm), and the output is 322.14 mcm. If the same withdrawal is continued up until the year 2020, the water level is believed to decline more than 45 m over the entire study area. To avoid this critical stage, the present draft should be decreased by nearly 40%.
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Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 19 • Issue 5 • May 2014
Pages: 877 - 886
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 8, 2011
Accepted: Mar 23, 2012
Published online: Mar 27, 2012
Discussion open until: Aug 27, 2012
Published in print: May 1, 2014
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