Modelling in Hydrogeology PDF

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Modelling in Hydrogeology, Eds: L. Elango and R. Jayakumar, UNESCO-IHP,
Allied Publishers, 2001,pp.3-16
Ground Water Modelling: Issues and Requirements
S. Mohan
Abstract
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The progress of research in groundwater modelling from the past and basic
aspects of modelling techniques and requirements for modelling are
explained in this paper. The application of groundwater techniques in two
different regions are given. The first study explain the use of groundwater
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modelling studies in to evaluate the effectiveness of percolation ponds. The
second can study demonstrate the application of groundwater modelling to
study seawater intrusion in coastal aquifer.
Keywords : Groundwater modelling, Requirements, Percolation ponds,
Seawater intrusion.
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1. INTRODUCTION
Throughout the world, there has been a growing concern about the water resources,
especially water crisis, and a re examination of the relationship between different water
resources and the relationship between water and environment assume a great role. The
United Nations recently surveyed a group of leading thinkers from many disciplines on the
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most important issues facing humankind in the next century. In its report, the scarcity of
freshwater in localized areas ranked as the worlds second most priming concern (after
population growth) in area where people can least afford the necessities of like. To meet
the increasing demand of water, there is a need to tap the groundwater resources consigned
over the world. This process causes concern over the sustainable use of this resources and
the reservation of environment.
India is vast country with a geographical area of 328 million hectares (M.Ha.m.). It
receives an average annual rainfall of 1170 millimeters (mm), which is the highest in
the world among countries of comparable size. India receives most of its rainfall
from the southwest monsoon originating in the Indian Ocean and having two distinct
branches; the Arabian sea branch and the Bay of Bengal branch. The Arabian Sea
branch produces rainfall in Peninsular India and part of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The
rest of India receives rainfall from the Bay of Bengal branch. The windward sides
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Modelling in Hydrogeology
of the hills and mountain ranges receive high rainfall while the leeward side and the
interior of the vast plains receive less rainfall. For example, the Khasi and Jaintia
hill areas in the northeast of the country receive as much as 10,000mm of rainfall
where as western Rajasthan receives only 150 to 200 mm. About 75% of the rainfall
takes place in the four monsoon months of June to September. Another 10% to 11%
each occur in the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon months of March to May and
October to December respectively, the winter rainfall (January-February) being only
of the order of 4 to 5%. There is thus a large variation exists between different
seasons. There is also large variation in the rainfall from year to year, usually in
cycles of wet years followed by dry years
There have been varying estimates about the total precipitation in the country and its
sub-distribution into evaporation and transpiration, surface flow, sub-surface flow
and regeneration and contribution to ground water recharge. I am quoting here the
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comprehensive set of figures assessed by the National Agricultural Commission in
1976. According to them, the average annual precipitation over the whole county,
(including snow fall which constitutes only a small part, about 2 to 3%) is 400
million hectare meters (M.ha.m.) of which about 70 M.ha.m. evaporate immediately
from the top soil, 215 M.ha.m infiltrate into the ground out of which 165 M.ha.m. go
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back to the atmosphere as evaporation and transpiration and 50 M.ha.m go down to
recharge the ground water. It is also envisaged that 5 to 10 M.ha.m will go from
stream flows to found water during floods and further that about 50% of the
irrigation water will also go to ground water. At the same time, 45 M.ha.m of
ground water is estimated to reappear as surface flow (regeneration) in streams and
rivers during the low-flow season. The resultant surface flow including 20 M.ha.m
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received from adjoining countries estimated to be 185 M.ha.m on full harnessing

and mobilization of these water resources, say, by 2025 AD, (Techno-economically
feasible development), it is envisaged that 70 M.ha.m of surface water and 35
M.ha.m of groundwater can be mobilized for-consumptive use. The projected use
out of this 105 M.ha.m. water is 77 M.ha.m for irrigation and 28 M.ha.m for
domestic and industrial water supply and all other purposes.
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It is relevant to emphasis that the return flow from ground water (45 M.ha.m) is the
main contributor to the dry-weather flow in streams and rivers. It is also important to
draw attention to the postulation that in the time ultimate stage 25 M.ha.m of ground
water is to be contributed by surface irrigation. It is on this premise that 35 M.ha.m
of groundwater has been considered extractable annually for consumptive use. If in
the long run, all the canal system are progressively lined and more efficient methods
of irrigation like sprinkler and drip irrigation are adopted, the contribution from
irrigation to ground water may be only of the order of 20 to 25 M. ha.m. Any over-
extraction of ground water will correspondingly reduce the precious dry weather
flows in streams and rivers and lower the permanent ground water table, thereby
upsetting the ground water regime. The often-profounded idea that there exists an
infinite quantum of ground water, which can readily be extracted for consumptive
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use without any detriment to the surface water regime, does not have any scientific
backing.
Consequent to the seasonal concentration of rainfall, the river flows are also
concentrated (about 85%) in the period June to November, and that too during four
or five flood spells of 5to 10 days each. On the other hand, during the months of
April, May and part of June, consequent to the progressively decreasing ground-
water return flow, the river flows dwindle to a trickle.
In a country like India, where more than 70 percent of the total area is underlain by
hard rocks, formations like granites, gneisses and other consolidated rocks which for
in shallow aquifers of limited thickness. It is essential to tap this ground water in
whatever available quantity. Due to the poor availability of water and complex
hydrogeology of hard rock aquifers, exploration is a very difficult job in these areas.
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However some ground water is often available in areas underlain by hard rocks,
though the quantity available is very small as compared to unconsolidated aquifers.
2. GROUND WATER RESEARCH

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The progress of research in ground water area is briefly outlined below.
During sixties one could count the number of groundwater professionals and
whatever the number one came up with; there was one less available job. Those
days practically every one of them was involved in water supply problems. And the
tools of the trade were primitive by todays standards. Wells were usually
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percussion drill rigs and the only quantitative analysis was carried out involving
analyzing water-level changes induced by a pumping test to obtain aquifer
parameters.
All that changed in the mid seventies, thanks to the discovery of organic solvents in
ground water and the resulting concern about cancer risk and overnight a new
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industry was formed. Also the sudden increase in interest in ground water caused by
that discovery spawned a number of important improvements in the field methods.
The concepts of water-quality sampling for example, changed overnight. Instead of
worrying about ground water concentrations of parts per thousand of salt in coastal
aquifers, we were suddenly concerned about concentrations of parts of per million of
organic compounds that had never even heard of before.
There was a similar revolution in the area of analysis. Until chlorinated organics
compounds were found in ground water, there was practically no interest at all in
studying groundwater transport. People were casually interested in water supplied
being contaminated by salt water, but that was not the concern cancer-causing
compound that exists today in most developed countries.
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The vast majority of research activities and field applications we see today are
dedicated to ground water contamination problems. Chlorinated hydrocarbon
contamination, in particular, is of enormous interest, whether in the aqueous phase
or the non-aqueous phase. DNAPL (Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids)
contamination is probably the number one ground water contamination problem.
Just twenty-five years ago, no one had any idea that such compounds even existed in
the subsurface.
There has not only been an evaluation in the kinds of problems that we are faced
with, but there has also been a significant change in tools we use to address them.
Thanks to research community, we now have many new techniques and
technologies for tackling field problems.
The quality of data provided to the groundwater professional has improved
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enormously too. The sample was not properly sealed and much of the contaminant
of concern was permitted to escape before the samples even got to the laboratory.
And boring logs were not nearly as carefully prepared as they are today. Not to
mention that there was too little concern about the location of piezometers and well
screens. Another problem that was not recognized early was the importance of
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accurate water-level measurements.
Recent past has been witnessing the dowsing technology in locating ground water
availability. Dowsing is the art of using a divining rod to locate water. Dowsing is
also known as water witching. Although lacking scientific justification, water
witches diligently follow the dictation of their divining rods wherever people can be
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persuaded of their potential value. As they dowse the cone on top of ground they
can get water-availability and in some cases water quality measurements. A
complete investigation of a site can be completed in a matter of hours rather than
weeks. A recent research established that a good correlation exists between the
blood groups of the dowsing persons and the success of the dowsing technology.
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It is to be noted that the advances made in the analysis and utilization of data is even
more impressive than the technology itself. In earlier days the only way to forecast
the impact of a new well on neighboring wells was to be of a simple and usually
unrealistic geometry. Not only that, but also one had to assume the entire aquifer has
uniform permeability, net infiltration and storativity. In early days it was also
impossible to simulate unsaturated flow because the equations describing the system
were non-linear. Of course, the idea of representing chemical or biological reactions
was unheard of in those days.
It is evident that a sea change in the field of groundwater hydrology in the next few
years and the following are being envisaged. One is the convergence of two very
strong forces. The other is that the agencies charged with defining and enforcing
our environmental laws are re-examining the effectiveness of past practices and,
having done so are in some sense, changing course. On the other hand, industries
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strongly influenced by international competition, are reticent to invest scarce capital

in activities that do not enhance short-term profits. Environmental protection and
remediation programs do not generally improve short-term profits. The obvious net
effect of the convergence of these two forces is a retreat from the aggressive
program of groundwater contamination identification and remediation.
Groundwater contamination problems, while constituting an enormous national

problem, nevertheless exhibit the normal evolutionary sequence of youth, maturity,
and well, death. While there are still a significant number of problems that have not
been characterized, or even found for that matter, many have been characterized,
evaluated and in some sense remediated.
Certainly there are gargantuan environmental and water supply challenges in

developing countries lives. Just think of the impact that a solution to the soil
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salinization problem would have on society!. However, the countries that have the
greatest environmental challenges do not necessarily have, or not willing to commit
the resources necessary to address these problems. They may tend to depend on
local professional rather than seek international expertise. If this is the case, there is
a potential market internationally, but to be realized, it may be essential to involve
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local firms to gain access.
3. GROUND WATER MODELING
In ground water management, a through understanding of the physical, chemical and

biological processes in complex environment and their modeling are great
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challenges. Mathematical models provide a quantitative framework for analyzing

data from monitoring and assess quantitatively responses of the ground water
systems subjected to external stresses. Over the last four decades there has been a
continuous improvement in the development of numerical ground water models.
Earlier models concentrated on the analysis of flow behaviour in ground water
systems where as the recent attempts aim at addressing the water quality problems
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and to simulate the transport contaminants in ground water. Even through there has
been significant development in modeling tools and techniques, scientific challenges
exist as the credibility of field level application of models has to be ascertained due
to the existence of uncertainty in the conceptualization of the system like the
boundary conditions, aquifer heterogeneity, natural recharge and others. Anderson
(1995) provided a chronological time line of significant theoretical development
representing the processes in groundwater systems, on the basis of which
mathematical models are developed. All through 1990s there has been much
research devoted to analysis of uncertainty in modeling both groundwater flow and
transport of solutes using geostatisitcal concepts and stochastic methods (Dagan and
Neuman, 1997). This will be the major thrust of research and challenge in the
coming decades, especially when one has to ascertain the reliability of the modeling
on a regional scale.
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Groundwater modeling softwares are now easily available. Also graphical user
interface (GUI) processors for these models are available at reasonable cost. Many
of these pre- and post-processors work with the popular computer code like
MODFLOW, which has been extensively used for analyzing field problems. With
these processing tools, the water resources professionals now find it easy to carry
out the modeling work. Complex arrays of data can now be created quickly from
external databases. Geostatistical routines embedded in GUI software facilitate
automatic interpolation and extrapolation of scattered data. Input data and the
model results can now be visualized for better perception and understanding. This
in turn has lead to situations, mostly in developing countries, where overemphasis is
given on the requirement of model study for resource evaluation and prediction
wherein most of the cases, field data and information are not adequate for proper
conceptualization of the system. It has come to a stage where the model application
is carried out by the so-called modelers who do not need to have proper
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understanding of the basic operational function of the models. Unfortunately, this
trend in modeling will have a serious consequence when the beneficiaries will start
questioning the creditability of modeling as the fault lies not with the model itself
but with the conceptualization of the physical system for model application.
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4. REQUIREMENTS FOR REGIONAL GROUNDWATER MODEL
Regional groundwater models need to be developed meeting the important

requirements on many aspects. These requirements were based on the review on
groundwater modeling applications, as well as consideration of the future
applications of the groundwater model. The requirements for the regional
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groundwater model address the key elements of the conceptual model of the aquifer
system, anticipated future flow conditions, the types of contaminant transport, and
the spatial and temporal scales of potential applications.
The requirements for regional groundwater model were outlined by Mann and
Myers (1998) to develop technical and administrative requirements for selecting a
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computer code that will be used in the implementation of the comprehensive model.
A brief discussion of the rationale is provided with each requirement. The review of
future groundwater analyses that will be performed by any regional ground water
model could cover a wide range of problems. The range of analyses include
evaluations of current and near-term impacts of operations facilities and

proposed waste-disposal facilities
planning, design, and evaluation of remediation strategies, including
monitoring, natural attenuation, hydraulic control/containment, and contaminant
removal/cleanup
long-term planning involving risk assessment and management
assessment of cumulative environmental impacts.
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These technical considerations and limitations in the potential application of the

regional groundwater model include
a narrower, and perhaps more pragmatic list of potential groundwater-model

uses that involve less disparate temporal and spatial scales and range of
contaminants than may be considered in the potential range of groundwater
analyses
potential use of the groundwater model to support development of more
specialized local scale models needed for some of the analyses
linkages of the site-wide groundwater model to other analysis tools being used
in these ranges of assessments and analyses.
4.1 Model Requirements
groundwater model.
a.
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This section outlines the requirements and associated rationale for any regional
Major Hydro-geologic Units

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The regional groundwater model shall represent the major hydro-geologic units
identified. The model shall also have the capability to represent the major sub-units
identified including the low permeability units that will become more important as
the water table drops in the unconfined aquifer system. Incorporation of the areal
extent and thickness of the major hydro-geologic units identified in the conceptual
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model of aquifer are necessary to accurately simulate past, present, and future
behavior of the groundwater flow and contaminant transport. As the water table
drops, consideration of the areal extent and geometry of the fine-grained sub-units
will be particularly important to understand the transport conditions.
b. Hydraulic Properties
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Requirement. The regional groundwater model shall represent the spatial variability
in hydraulic properties of the major hydro-geologic units that has been inferred from
hydraulic tests performed in the aquifer system.
Rationale. Transmissivity (the product of hydraulic conductivity and aquifer

thickness) and storage information for the unconfined aquifer system obtained
primarily from aquifer pumping tests need to be conducted at wells. Key features of
this variability need to be considered to accurately represent past, present, and future
groundwater flow and contaminant transport.
c. Transport Processes
Requirement. The groundwater model shall be capable of simulating contaminant

fluxes for a variety of chemical constituents in two or three dimensions as a function
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of driving hydrologic processes and mass-transport phenomena, including advection,

hydrodynamic dispersion, adsorption, and radiological decay.
Rationale. The ability to simulate transport of contaminants in the aquifer system is

the main technical reason for the regional groundwater model. It is acknowledged by
many researchers that the transport of some contaminants in close proximity to
waste sources or at local scales are subject to more complex transport phenomena,
and other processes for which the linear sorption isotherm approach is inadequate
may be affecting contaminant mobility. These phenomena include
reactive transport
complexation
pH controls
volatilization
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occurrence of non-aqueous phase liquids
Technical understanding and techniques for simulating these processes are still a
matter of scientific inquiry. As understanding of the processes themselves and
acceptance for techniques to model these processes grow, it is anticipated that the
model may be enhanced to include these techniques.
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d. Hydrologic Boundaries
Requirement. The regional groundwater model shall be capable of evaluating the

near-term and long-term impacts of major lateral, upper, and lower hydrologic
boundaries of the aquifer system.
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Rationale. Consideration of all major hydrologic boundaries is critical to address

near-term and long-term predictions of groundwater flow and contaminant transport.
e. Recharge
Requirement. The regional groundwater model shall consider all sources of

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significant recharge to the aquifer system including

artificial recharge to the unconfined aquifer system from past and current
operations
natural recharge from direct infiltration of precipitation falling across
recharge from runoff that infiltrate the aquifer
Rationale. Artificial recharge to the aquifer system has and continues to have
significant impact on water table conditions. As the transient effects of past artificial
recharge to the aquifer dissipate, the effect of natural recharge on flow conditions in
the aquifer will become more important. In addition to natural recharge from onsite
infiltration, the aquifer receives recharge from infiltration of runoff and spring
discharges originating in elevated regions offsite.
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f. Anticipated Future Flow Conditions
Requirement. The regional groundwater model shall be able to evaluate transient

and steady state future flow conditions in the aquifer system.
Rationale. The future pumping requirements for irrigation, domestic and industrial
purposes need to be assessed and the utilization plans need to be evolved so that the
sustained use of ground water is possible without any damage to the quality of
ground water. Usually the prediction of conditions for next 50-100 years is adopted.
g. Existing Chemical Contamination and Potential Future Transport
Requirement. The regional groundwater model shall be able to simulate

contaminant transport of a variety of chemical constituents. The regional
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groundwater model shall also be able to evaluate potential future releases of
chemical contaminants to the groundwater that may occur from a variety of waste
sources.
Rationale. Monitoring of groundwater across site may reveal presence of a number

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of contaminant plumes emanating from various operational areas. The extent of
major chemical constituents at levels above the primary concentration limits in the
aquifer system needs to be analyzed.
h. Spatial and Temporal Scales of Analysis

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Requirement. The regional groundwater model shall be able to support a variety of

spatial and temporal scales of analysis to adequately meet project-specific needs.
Rationale. Review of anticipated future applications of the site-wide groundwater

model indicated that the model would need a variety of spatial and temporal scales
of analysis to adequately meet project-specific needs. The distribution of hydro-
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geologic data and the nature of the specific problem to be solved are both controlling
factors in determining the appropriate spatial and temporal scale for a groundwater
flow and transport model.
i. Configuration Control
Requirement. The regional groundwater model, including the databases supporting

the conceptual model and its numerical implementation, shall be maintained under
configuration control.
Rationale. Since the regional groundwater model will provide the framework for all
groundwater modeling analysis performed on the site and a common site-wide
groundwater model database will be maintained containing all the information
necessary, needs to be maintained. Such a database will contain
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the basic geologic and hydrologic information that provides the basis for the
conceptual model
the key interpretations of geologic and hydrologic data and information,
including descriptions of methods and approaches used to make interpretations.
The database and data interpretations will be updated, as new data, on both the local
and regional scale, become available. The modeling database should be stored in a
form independent of the computer code used or the assumptions made for a
particular modeling study. By storing high resolution, regularly gridded information,
it is possible to use the model information at different scales (e.g., in sub-models) or
with different groundwater computer codes. This allows for use of the numerical
representation and computer code that is most appropriate for simulating the
problem being considered. The database should include all information necessary to
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develop parameter distributions based on geologic data (e.g., geometry of the main
hydro-geologic units), hydraulic property estimates, boundary conditions, initial
conditions, locations and volumes of sources and sinks, and natural recharge
estimates.
The regional groundwater model must be a flexible and evolving platform for
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analyzing groundwater flow and contaminant transport. As more data are collected,
it is likely that the site-wide groundwater model must be a flexible and evolving
platform for analyzing groundwater conceptual model of the groundwater system
will change, and new predictive capabilities will be desired and available. The
adopted model framework must be one in which new concepts can be tested and
enhancements readily included. The data used in the site-wide groundwater model
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are stored in a geographic information system (GIS), which allows for easy data
retrieval, display and update. Collections of raw data (measured data) will be
described as databases, and interpretations will be described as information bases.
The configuration control system should make optimal use of existing site resources.
Much of the data in use can be linked to ARC-INFO, a GIS, which allows for easy
data retrieval, display and update. Because data continue to be gathered and because
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newly gathered data do not always fit the existing conceptual model, a continuous
effort is required to continually evaluate the data and refine the geologic and hydro-
geologic conceptual models.
Any modeling applications that make simplifications to the conceptual model and
modeling database for use in their specific analyses should include adequate
documentation to demonstrate the consistency of their modeling assessment with the
accepted conceptual model. Such documentation may include a list of assumptions
made, their justification, and comparisons with simulation results based on the most
complete and complex conceptual model.
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j. Model Uncertainty
Requirement. The regional groundwater model will provide for explicit

acknowledgement and estimation of uncertainty. A more specific requirement will
be promulgated after additional evaluation of alternatives and methodologies for
addressing uncertainty have been proposed and evaluated.
Rationale. Ultimately, the regional groundwater model must embrace uncertainty.

Implementation of an uncertainty framework with respect to the databases, model
and code will require a long commitment of resources and model development.
5. CASE STUDIES
Two recent studies carried out by IIT Madras, connected with ground water
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assessment and modeling are briefly discussed below.
a. Effectiveness of percolation ponds
Recharging ground water is of very great significance because it provides

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readymade storage reservoir free from evaporation and protected against pollution
and because replenishing ground water resources keeps neighboring saline waters
from intruding into the aquifers and helps prevent land subsidence in a depleted
aquifer. It can also be used to reclaim wastewater. Rainwater harvesting can also be
used for recharging ground water.
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The selection of the methods for artificial recharging depends upon the hydrological
characteristics of aquifers; sediment contents in recharge waters, fluctuations in
water levels and rates of recharge in relation to water levels. Since there is limited
requisite data available there is a need for systematic investigations, research and
development in this direction especially in the water deficit regions.
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A study was taken up by IIT Madras to study the effectiveness of percolation ponds
in sustaining recharge of ground water. Two ponds one at Karthikeyapuram (at 4
Km from Tirutani) and another one at Santhana Venu Gopalapuram (at 15 Km from
Tirutani) were selected for detailed field study. However performance of one pond,
Santhana Venu Gopalapuram (SVG Puram) pond, is discussed below:
This pond is in Pallipatu taluk of Chengalpattu district constructed during 1986 by

the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Engineering Department. This pond is constructed
across a nallah flowing from a mountain of an estimated catchments area of 100ha.
Red soil is found in and around the pond with depth varying from 50 cm to six
meters. In a reconnaissance survey conducted during the starting period of the
project, only 16 wells were selected; as further detailed study was carried out,
another 12 wells were added. Hence a total 28 wells were observed. The wells are
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located at distances varying from 172 m to 840 m. the depths of wells vary from 7m
to 16m.
The pond has a capacity of 0.01 Mm3 spreading over an area of 4521 m2, the
maximum pond depth is 2.3 m. There are three rain gauge stations located near by,
one at Ramakrishnarajupet, 3 km from the pond, the second one at Pallipatu nearly
20 km and the third one at Sholingur 10 km from the pond. All these are maintained
by the Revenue Department. The maximum rainfall occurs during the Northeast
monsoon at an average of 500 mm to annual average of 1000mm. The maximum
number of fillings that occurred during the study period is 3 per year. The study
shows that the potential infiltration rate is of 190mm/hour with basic infiltration rate
of 60mm/hr. Under this pond, the cropping pattern is of two crops mainly paddy
followed by groundnut. Also flower plants are nursed, mainly (Lilly). During the
filed study, it was found that due to availability of sufficient water some farmers are
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switching over to sugarcane also.
To assess the efficiency of the existing percolation pond systems two mathematical
models, namely lumped model and distributed models were developed. The zone of
influence is an ideal choice for defining the control volume. In the case of the
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percolation pond, this control volume is strictly a deformable one, in the sense that
the zone of influence is a variable in space and time. In this study five different
approaches were adopted to delineate the zone of influence, both spatially and
temporally. They are based on (I) water level variations (temporal), (ii) water level
contours (spatial), (iii) water level profile (spatial), (iv) conductivity fluctuation
(temporal) and (v) conductivity contours (spatial). A water balance study was also
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carried out with the pond and without the pond effect, a gross additional quantity of
water to the extent of three fold to four fold increase in the pump age is estimated as
realized due to the presence of the pond.
The two percolation ponds investigated indicate that they are contributing
substantially by augmentation of the sub-surface water availability. The zone of
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influence can be substantially different from a regular geometry such as a sector of a

circle. In Santhana Venu Gopalapuram (SVG Puram) the zone of influence is 800m
from the pond out of which 400m lengths is strongly influenced. The wells closer in
the range of 400 to 500m get substantial contribution.
b. Modelling of salt water Intrusion
In the urban and agricultural areas bordering the seas, the coastal aquifers prove to
be an important source of groundwater resource. It is seen that seawater is he most
common pollutant of freshwater in coastal aquifers. Seawater intrusion in freshwater
aquifers generally results from the activities of man. If groundwater withdrawal is
moderate, no problems should arise. But once the groundwater is excessively
withdrawn, the quality of the water may deteriorate, dictating expensive remedies
unless proper management is considered.
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One of the goals of coastal aquifer management is to maximize freshwater extraction

without causing the invasion of saltwater into the wells. A number of management
questions can be asked during such considerations. For existing wells, how should
the pumping rate be apportioned so as to achieve the maximum total extraction? For
new wells, where should they be located? How can recharge wells and canals be
effectively used to protect pumping wells? How can we maximize the recovery
percentage of recharged water? These and other questions may be answered using
the mathematical tool of optimization.
Coastal aquifers that have their end boundaries in contact with sea or other saltwater
bodies often get intruded by saltwater, as a result of over exploration, and due to
their various other activities of human beings. The main objective of the present
study is to evaluate the saltwater intrusion in the south Chennai Aquifer system,
Tamilnadu, India. The main reason for the intrusion in this aquifer is due to over
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exploration of groundwater to meet various demands. The area is characterized by
an unconfined aquifer.
The water table contour reveals the zero M.S.L line gradually shifting inland during
the successive years from 1996. There also exists a reverse hydraulic gradient in
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certain areas. The seawater intrusion is assessed by studying the water table
contours and the water level fluctuation plots. These plots indicate that there is a
gradual reduction on water table in all the wells studied during successive years.
The seawater intrusion in the area is also validated by the chemical analysis of the
groundwater.
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The exact location of the interface in the study area is determined with the help of an
existing numerical model, namely SHARP. It was observed that there is a heavy
extraction of groundwater in the study area by various agencies. It is also seen that
the aquifer gets replenished to some extent immediately after the monsoon. A
detailed analysis of the water balance in the study area was also carried out. The
subsurface outflows are calculated for various cross sections and the rate intrusion
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with pumping was assessed. The study clearly reveals that there should not be any
increase in pumping from the aquifer.
6. FINAL REMARKS
There is some good news!. Population growth is slowing. Alternative and less
expensive sources of energy may reduce the cost of desalination. Advances in
biotechnology will soon make it possible to grow food crops using less water.
Evolving systems of governance may allow stakeholders greater influence over the
choice of investments. The important role of women in water management is
recognized and widely accepted. Remote sensing satellites and global
communications will help locate water and track rainfall for optimum use.
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The same technology will encourage sharing of best practices and has the potential
for creasing solidarity around proposed solutions. Among water experts there is a
growing recognition that a business as usual approach to managing this most
precious resources is no longer tenable. Indeed, the so-called Dublin-Rio Principles
reflect a sea change in the way we seek to mange water. There are also widespread
calls for new water ethic. Not enough is known about the dynamics of water
demand and supply to make long-term decisions. How will economic, social,
demographic and scientific forces come together to affect water and what policies
and investments should be fashioned in response. In seeking answers to these
questions we must also grapple with another, fundamental, query. That is, what kind
of future do we want? As Glieck states in his recent book on water (Glieck, 1998)
Many different dreams and visions can be described. Without some positive vision,
without some thought about truly sustainable water use means, society risks
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continuing on a path that will take us further and further in the wrong direction. We
can choose a different path and try to define and attain a different future. But we
must make that choice soon.
It may also be noted that the development of groundwater models provided tools for
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integrating al the available data together and for evaluation of the response of the
physical system when subjected to changes in conditions and external stresses.
However, it has to be realized that the hydrologist, hydro geologist or
geohydrologist has to work with a very heterogeneous and anisotropic system at the
filed scale.
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REFERENCES
Anderson, M.P., (1995), "Groundwater modeling in the 21st Century, Groundwater

Models for Resources Analysis and management" Aly I.EL-Kadi, Ed., Lewis
Publishers, London, pp. 79-93.
Dagan, G. and S.P. Neuman, (1997). "Subsurface Flow and Transport":
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A Stochastic Approach Cambridge Univ. Press.

Dowdeswell, E. (1998). "where peaceful water flow" water International, 23 (1998),
13-16.
Glieck, P. (1998). Moving toward a sustainable vision for the Earths fresh water.
In Gleick, The worlds water: 1998:1999. Washington Dc: Island Press.
Todd, D.K. (1995). "Groundwater Hydrology," 2nd edition, John Wiley and Sons,
Singapore.
Mann, F. M. and D. A. Myers. (1998). "Computer Code Selection Criteria for Flow
and Transport Code(s) to be used in Undisturbed Vadose Zone Calculations for
TWRS Environmental Analyses". (HNF-1839,Rev. B). Lockheed-Martin Hanford
Company, Richland, Washington.
16
Allied Publishers, 2001, pp.17-24
Overview of Groundwater Models

A. Balasubramanian
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Abstract
Groundwater models are mathematical and digital tools of analysing and

predicting the behavior of aquifer systems on local and regional scale,
under varying geological environments. Groundwater modelling has also
become a widely used environmental tool, since the development of digital
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computers and appropriate numerical models during 1960-1990's. These
models solve the basic partial differential equations that govern the flow of
groundwater and solute transport through the saturated and unsaturated
porous medium. Models solve the equations analytically for simple
geometric problems and applies numerical simulation to solve the
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equations of more complex hydrogeological problems involving aquifer

heterogeneities, anisotropic aquifer properties and complicated boundary
conditions. Many references describe the development of the governing
equations and methods of solution in detail. Groundwater models are of
several categories developed for specific purposes. Flow and solute
transport problems vary in 2 or 3 dimensions. The solution strategies may
adopt techniques like finite difference, finite element and integrated finite
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difference approaches. Models can handle single or multiple fluid

properties. The development of a model requires the definition and
manipulation of many physical parameters (e.g., aquifer characteristics)
and time varying inflow and outflow data. The choice of a model
determines the nature and quantity of the output information required.
Groundwater modelling requires the following domain specific
information: physical units, model domain hydrologic conditions, aquifer
parameters , time varying inputs and boundary conditions. Detailed review
of modelling approaches has been made by several workers. This paper
reviews and highlights the applications of various groundwater models.
Keywords : Mathematical models, Groundwater, Analytical, Numerical

solutions.
17
1. INTRODUCTION
The quantitative occurrence, flow and qualitative availability of groundwater

resources in different aquifer systems( coastal, hard-rock, arid, semi-arid,etc) are
controlled by the local or regional physiographic, hydrological and subsurface
geological conditions and man-made influences over the aquifers. Aquifer
parameters and quantities of recharge and discharge play a significant role in
groundwater resources evaluation and development. Most of these parameters vary
with reference to space and time. The flow and occurrence of groundwater are
governed by several numerical principles and site-specific hydrogeology.
Mathematical models are based on the real hydrogeologic properties of the idealised
aquifer. Groundwater models are mathematical and digital tools of analysing and
predicting the behavior of aquifer systems on local and regional scale, under varying
geological environments. Groundwater modelling has also become a widely used
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environmental tool, since the development of digital computers and appropriate
numerical models during 1960-1990's.
Groundwater models are constructed using these parameters for solving many field
problems, predicting the aquifers response to the imposed stress or strain, and for
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evolving the appropriate water management strategies. The perfect analysis of an
aquifer environment and its processes depend on one of the following four aspects
and the method of modelling:
1. Analysis pertaining to groundwater occurrence and flow, sources of
recharge - discharge and their impacts( Single phase or multi-phase; steady
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or transient groundwater flow models)

2. Analysis of the dispersal, mobility and distribution of solutes(
contaminants) in the groundwater systems( Chemical mass or solute; steady
or transient transport models)
3. Analysis of the mechanisms of rock-water geochemical interactions
controlling the distribution of solute species( Aqueous geochemical
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models) and the

4. Analysis of salinity intrusions in the complex coastal ecosystems(saltwater
intrusion ; steady or transient; sharp or dispersed interface models).
Each one of these, require careful application of unique numerical principles,
typical databases and complicated solution strategies. Despite the limitations,
attempts have been made so far by several eminent workers in using the
mathematical models for various field and laboratory applications. This paper
presents an overview of the groundwater flow models and their applications.
1.1 State of the art of modelling:
Mathematical modelling involves four basic steps namely (i) formulation, (ii)
approximation and transformation (iii) computation and (iv) application.
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Formulation: Formulation refers to the process of deriving or selecting the basic

equation (s) governing the flow and solute transport of groundwater, with the
domain specification and initial boundary conditions.
Approximation: Approximation refers to the selection of a numerical method which

can be used to solve the system of algebraic equations. Finite Difference, Finite
element and Integrated Finite difference (IFD), methods are the widely used solution
strategies for modelling the groundwater systems.
Computation: Computation is the most important step in the process of modelling.

This part refers to the process of obtaining a solution to a large number of
differential equations. This is done using a digital computer and a method of coding
the steps, in a computer programming language.
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Application: The application part of groundwater modelling includes calibration or
history matching of the observed and simulated heads, sensitivity analysis and
prediction, sensitivity tests are to show how the model reacts to various extreme
values of transmissivity, storage coefficient and recharge/discharge volumes.
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1.2 Groundwater flow models:
Walton (1962) presented the analytical methods of aquifer evaluation which formed
the basis for all the later orientations towards the numerical approaches. Prickett
(1975) gave a comprehensive outlook on the modelling techniques for groundwater
evaluation by properly explaining the equations of flow, given an overview of the
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types of analog and numerical models used prior to 1975 .
It has been understood that the occurrence and flow of groundwater in a non-
homogeneous anisotropic aquifer system can be represented by the following
partial difference equations, applicable for two-or three- dimensions(x,y &z):
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Two-dimensional case:
d (Tx - dh) + d (Ty dh) = S dh + w(x,y,t)

dx dx dy dy dy
Three-dimensional case:
d (Tx - dh) + d (Ty dh) + d (Tz dh) = S dh + w(x,y,z, t)

dx dx dy dy dz dz dy
where
Tx , Ty and Tz = Transmissivity tensors in X , Y and Z co ordinates (L2/T)
S = Approximate storage Coefficient
h = Hydraulic head
t = time increments and
w = fraction of recharge or discharge (L/T) with reference to space and time
19
These equations can not be solved directly. They can be solved through finite
difference or finite element approaches. Rushton and Redshaw (1979) explains the
solution strategies of solving these equations in two dimensions.
2. DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR MODELLING
There are several aquifer parameters which are of much use in modelling studies.
Groundwater modelling requires the basic information pertaining to physical units,
model domain, aquifer parameters, time varying inputs, and boundary conditions.
The sets of hydrogeological data required for any type of modelling are:
a. Geomorphology- Topography - (Watershed/Basin/District/block )

Basin Boundary Drainage - River Course, Canals (Lined/Unlined) Channel Morphology
Surface Water Bodies - Reservoirs - Rainfed Tanks/ Ponds/Cess Pools / Lakes /
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Estuaries / Impoundments / Landuse/Land Cover/Soil/Vegetation/Developmental Features
b. Hydrometeorology -- Rainfall - Pattern - Point measurements - Long term

Records - (Polygon / Isohyets) -Specified intervals/ Evapotranspiration - Point
measurements - Areal distribution - Surface Runoff - Volumes - Specified intervals
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Soil thickness - Types - Moisture Point measurements - Infiltration rate of
Soils - Point measurements
c. Hydrogeology-- Geology and structures - boundaries - variations - Aquifer types

boundaries/geometry weathered / fractured / lateritic / volcanic / alluvial
/coastal/ Aquifer thickness - areal distribution - depth to the basement (bedrock)/
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Distribution of deep/shallow fractures/ Water table elevation - long term records -

closed network Aquifer parameters - point measurements - areal distribution - /
(transmissivity (sp.yield) Confining/leaky layers - physical frame work and
characteristics/ Source of seepage/recharge - flow rates (irrigated open areas -
Location of recharge basins/wells/ Sinks - location of wells - pumping rates/
shedules - spatial and time variant data
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d. Others-- Consumption Pattern - Changes In Space/Time / Environmental Factors

- Quality
3. APPLICATIONS
Groundwater flow models can provide valuable directions in solving specific

problems like:
Groundwater balance estimation- assessment of regional inflow and

outflow patterns of groundwater , surface waters within and from
neighboring reservoirs
Well withdrawals-prediction of effects of groundwater withdrawals over
the piezometric head levels and stream flow discharge; assessment of safe
20
yield; prediction and movement of saline water interface; prediction of

effects of scattered groundwater withdrawal for irrigation;
Changes in aquifer recharge- prediction of effects of urbanization;
prediction of changes resulting from irrigation return f low and canal
leakage; analysis of long-term climatologically related trends in
piezometric levels and separation of man induced changes.
Parameter estimation- determination of regional distribution of the
hydraulic parameters (inverse modelling).
Planning of field investigations- rationalization of data collection
requirements by identifying the measurements most needed
Prediction of seepage velocities for subsequent use in transports modelling.
Groundwater management- estimation of optimal yield of basins for the
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development of groundwater resources using the concepts of conjunctive
and consumptive usage.
4. GEOCHEMICAL MODELLING
Geochemical modelling attempts to interpret and predict the chemical reactions of

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minerals, gases and organic matter with aqueous solutions in real or hypothetical
water-rock systems have been attempted by many. It can also help to identify
geochemical processes that regulate the concentration of dissolved constituents and
may help to quantify the effects of temperature, speciation, sorption and solubility
on the concentrations of dissolved constituents. Geochemical models can be utilized
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in sensitivity analysis mode to assist in assigning priorities among additional

chemical characterizations of water from field to laboratory studies. The approach
includes the calculation of the degree of saturation of an aqueous media with regard
to both meta stable and equilibrium solids. The advent of digital computers allowed
the development of a lot of sophisticated geochemical models for describing and
predicting the chemical behaviour of complex natural waters. More than 50 such
models have been developed and are available in literature. Much of the impetus for
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the development of geochemical computer models comes from the need to protect
the chemical quality of groundwater, and from a search for safe methods of geologic
disposal of nuclear wastes.
5. SIMULATION OF SALTWATER ENCROACHMENT IN COASTAL

AQUIFERS
Coastal aquifers are an important resource for urban and agricultural development in
areas bordering seas and oceans. Coastal hydrogeological conditions can be simply
represented by an unconfined, island or confined aquifer. In coastal zones,
freshwater body will overlie the saltwater body because the unit weight of
freshwater (1 gm/ml) is less than that of saltwater (1.022 to 1.031 gm/ml). The
boundary surface between the two types of water is known as the saltwater-
freshwater interface or the interface. The hydrodynamic balance of the fluids
21
governs the shape and movement of the interface. If the coastal zone consists of two
or more distinct layers, each aquifer will have an independent interface. Successful
investigations have enabled the control of this hydrodynamic balance. The
transition from fresh to saltwater is not a sharp one due to the effects of mechanical
dispersion.
Cooper (1959) and Kohout (1964) have shown that in the zone of mixing, the
diluted seawater is less dense than the original seawater, causing it to rise and move
seaward along this interface. This involves a cyclic flow of saltwater from the sea
through the ocean floor, to the zone of mixing and back to the sea. This cyclic flow
occurs even under steady-state conditions. Due to pumping of fresh groundwater,
the natural equilibrium is disturbed and the saltwater moves inland until a new
equilibrium is established. Conversely, an increase in freshwater flow pushes the
interface seaward. The location, shape and extent of the diffused zone depend upon
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several factors including (1) the relative densities of fresh and saltwater, (2) the rate
of discharge of groundwater, and (3) the dispersion and hydraulic parameters of the
aquifer. An integrated study involving geophysical and hydrogeochemical
techniques can give a clear picture about the spatial disposition of the two zones. A
systematic hydrogeological study can show the movement of this interface in space
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and time.
6. MATHEMATICAL MODELS
Mathematical models are an attempt to represent certain processes by mathematical

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equations. In the case of contaminant transport, a number of diverse and

complicated processes like advection, diffusion and dispersion are involved.
Various numerical models have been used in the past to predict the location of the
saltwater interface for a given set of hydrologic conditions. These models,
depending upon the way they treat the interface, are broadly classified into 2 types,
namely sharp (abrupt) interface models and diffuse (disperse) interface models. The
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common solution strategies adopted in these models are finite-difference, finite-

element, and boundary integral methods, using either Ghyben-Herzberg principle or
Dupuit approximation.
The diffuse interface approach explicitly represents the transition zone, where there
is mixing of freshwater and saltwater due to the effects of hydrodynamic dispersion
(molecular diffusion and mechanical dispersion). The sharp interface approach
simplifies the analysis by assuming that freshwater and saltwater do not mix and are
represented by an abrupt interface. Both approaches have been used to develop
numerical models to study and predict the flow of groundwater in coastal aquifers.
These type of models consider two fluid or only the saltwater. Further the models
can also be based on dispersed interface approaches. Seawater intrusion models can
also be classified as non-density dependent and density dependent models.
22
7. DISCUSSION OF APPROACHES
Each of these approaches has advantages and limitations and can be successfully
employed only under appropriate conditions. The dispersed interface approach is
necessary in areas where the transition zone is wide. Density effects can be
neglected when chloride concentration gradients are low and the governing
equations can be solved areally on a basin-wide scale. However, when the flow is
density-dependent, the vertical dimension must be included. Volker and Rushton
(1982) compared steady-state solutions for both the dispersed interface and sharp
interface approaches and showed that as the coefficient of hydrodynamic dispersion
decreases, the two solutions approach each other. Volker and Young (1979)
compared the applications of boundary integral and finite-element methods for free
surface flows in porous media, including the saltwater intrusion in aquifers.
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The choice of the approach used to model a particular system will depend on the
nature of the system as well as the goals of the modelling effort. The sharp interface
approach can represent the overall flow characteristics of the system, but does not
give details concerning the nature of the transition zone. When studying an aquifer
system, it is important first to understand its overall behaviour before examining
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smaller scale effects. Therefore, the ideal characterization of such systems may
involve a two-step process integrating the sharp interface and dispersed interface
modelling approaches.
8. CONCLUSION
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Modelling is a digital tool used for predictive and management simulations of

aquifer environments. Models are unique in their applications. All models have
certain assumptions. This paper enumerates the simple and applicable models for
various ecosystems. The database requirement is also highlighted. Due to enormous
number of references (more than the pages of this paper), the reader is requested to
contact the author for the detailed bibliography.
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REFERENCES:
Prickett, T.A. (1975), "Modelling techniques for groundwater evaluation", In

Advances in hydroscience, Vol.10 ed., V.T. Chow, New York : Academic press.
Walton, W.C (1962), "Groundwater Resources Evaluation". Mcgraw-Hill, New
York.
Rushton.K.R and Redshaw.S.C (1979). Seepage and groundwater flow. John
Wiley and Sons Ltd. NY 330 pp.
Cooper, H. H. Jr., 1959. "A hypothesis concerning the dynamic balance of
freshwater and saltwater in a coastal aquifer:" Journal of Geophysics Research,
v. 64, no. 4, p. 461-467.
23
Volker, R.E. and K.R. Rushton, 1982. "An assessment of the importance of
someparameters for seawater intrusion in aquifers and a comparison of dispersive
and sharpinterface modelling approaches:" Journal of Hydrology, v. 56, p. 239 -
250.
Kohout, F.A., 1964, "The flow of freshwater and salt water in the Biscayneaquifer of
the Miami area," Florida:U.S. Geological Survey Water-SupplyPaper 1613C, p.
C12C32.
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24
Artificial Recharging of Ground Water Aquifers and

Groundwater Modelling in the Context of
Basin Water Management
R. Sakthivadivel
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Ground water as a source of supply for meeting the rapidly expanding urban,
industrial and agricultural water requirements has received a major boost in its
development and utilization in the recent past, creating some negative externalities
such as rapid ground water decline. This rapid depletion of ground water has
given rise to artificial recharging of ground water aquifers, which has off-site
implications in the basin context. This paper describes different types of recharges,
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provides a classification of several ground water recharge estimation techniques,

argues the need for ground water recharge estimation and modelling in the basin
context and discusses three types of simple models used for ground water
estimation and managing the ground water aquifers. The importance of simple and
cost-effective models for practicing professionals and the need for reliable database
for modelling exercise are highlighted.
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Keywords : Artificial recharging, Groundwater, groundwater models.
1. INTRODUCTION
One third of worlds land surface has been classified as arid or semi-arid.
Approximately half the countries of globe are directly affected in someway by
problems of aridity. Easily developed land and water resources have in large
measures already been developed and attention is thus increasingly towards more
arid region for human survival. However, soil and water resources of arid and semi-
arid regions are limited, often being in a delicate environmental balance. Surface
water supplies are normally critically unreliable, poorly distributed and subject to
high evaporation losses. For the rapidly expanding urban, industrial and agricultural
water requirements, ground water has assumed greater significance.
25
Ground water as a source of supply for meeting the above needs has received a
major boost in the recent past as ground water development schemes require low
investments, have a short gestation period, and the resource is directly under the
control of users. Moreover, ground water development has been phenomenal
especially after the advent of electrical and diesel abstraction machines. The two
most populous countries:China and India are facing a huge water crisis and are over
exploiting their ground water resources.
In China, according to historical records, during 1950s and 1960s, Fuyang river in
Hebei province was an important shipping channel. In contrast, from 1990 onwards,
the river had over 300 dry days annually. The outflow from the basin dramatically
decreased from the late 1970s to less than 100 Mm3 of annual flow with no outflow
in 1997. The basin has become a closed basin for all practical purposes
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Fig. 1: Variations of discharge measured at Aixinzhuang

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Hydrology Station from 1957 to 1998
In Fuyang, ground water accounts for 80 percent of supply. As a conscious

allocation decision, water managers of Fuyang have allowed cities and industries
first priority on reservoir water, and hence supported farmers in their efforts to tap
ground water. Ground water overdraft led to a dramatic drop of ground water level,
especially in the recent two decades. The ground water table dropped at a rate of
0.68m/ year for the county located at the upstream and at a rate exceeding 1m/year
for the middle and downstream counties.
26
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Fig. 2: Variations of groundwater depth from the surface, 1980 to 1998,
Jiuzhou Station, Renxian County, Hebei Province
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In India, there are about 10 million tube wells in the country, which were only a few
thousand in 1961-62. With the increasing number of wells, the consumption of electricity
by these abstraction devices also increased. In 1994-95, consumption of electricity in
agricultural sector was 30.54 percent of total electricity consumption amounting to 79300
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GWH, which was mostly consumed by 10.72 million electric pump sets. Similarly, billions
of liters of diesel oil per year are consumed by diesel pump sets installed for lifting water
through tube wells. In its development stride with focus on irrigated agriculture using
ground water, India has successfully staged a comeback from a country at the verge of
famine in 1950s to that of a food self sufficient one in the 90s with a proviso even to
export some food grains to other countries. These gains have mainly come from increasing
the irrigated area from 22.6 m.ha in 1951 to about 90 m.ha in 1995-96 with more than 60
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percent increase in irrigated area from unorganized groundwater development by private

sector. While ground water development has increased the productivity of land by as much
as 200 percent or more from that of surface water irrigation, it has also brought with it some
negative externalities such as rapid ground water decline, increase in pumping cost and
deterioration of ground water quality. The alarming rate of ground water decline (1 to 2 m
per year) in pockets of north western, western and southern regions of the country and its
impact on agricultural productivity and profitability has sounded an alarming bell for policy
makers and stakeholders to reappraise the ground water development and management.
While the Government has recognized the importance of ground water development for
increasing the agricultural production to meet the challenging demand for food for
burgeoning population in the next two to three decades, its focus on managing the ground
water resources in a sustainable way has not been commensurate with the gravity of
problems that India faces at this moment.
27
2. RAIN WATER HARVESTING AND RECHARGING IN INDIA
While this is the situation at government and policy making level, there is plethora
of activities going on at the local levels with respect to rainwater harvesting and
recharging the aquifers. In States such as Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh ,
after the recent droughts in 1999 and 2000, there are increased level of water
harvesting and recharging activities where the government is also trying to provide
assistance to carry out these activities. A quick survey of these activities indicates:
Water harvesting at village level or at micro-watershed level seems to be

sporadic activity not coordinated well at the watershed level;
People based on their perception and understanding have implemented these
activities without much of integrated planning and coordination;
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These unplanned development have lead to interference among structures,
resulted in costly harnessing structures and conflict among stakeholders;
No guidelines exist for systematic planning, investigation, selection of
structures, minimization of cost of construction, operation and maintenance,
monitoring and conflict resolution.
Water harvesting has been considered as a separate activity without much
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relation to watershed level resource development and management and without
much consideration to off-site impacts.
In the present scenario of haphazard development of recharge structures a number of

questions such as the following remain unanswered:
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How much of water harvested gets recharged and percentage of it is extracted

out? What is the productivity of extracted water?
When a farmer recharges through a well, how does a free rider prevented from
using that water?
What type of water harvesting and recharge structures is used at a village level?
Are these patterns same or are they differ? If differs why?
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What kind of organization at village level exists for implementation and

monitoring of these activities?
What kind of modelling efforts are attempted to develop strategies and policies
for recharge activities?
What are the key characteristics which prompt individual farmers or group of
farmers to undertake water harnessing activities? How do they decide about
location, type of structure, method of construction and operation and cost
sharing?
What kind of planning and technical considerations go into it before
construction and operation?
Who are the people really benefited by installing these structures? How are
poor, landless and women are affected/benefited by water harvesting activities?
28
3. GROUND WATER RECHARGE
Groundwater recharge may be defined in a general sense as the downward flow of

water reaching the water table, forming an addition to the ground water reservoir.
Recharge of ground water may occur naturally from precipitation, rivers, canals,
drains and lakes and as man-induced phenomenon via such activities as irrigation
and pumping regulations.
Three basic types of recharge are recognized, categorized here (Figure 3: Schematic
Diagram of the hydrological Processes involved in Runoff, natural, indirect and
artificial recharges and its conjunctive management) as direct, indirect, and man-
induced (artificial):
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Direct recharge is defined as water added to the ground water reservoir in
excess of soil moisture deficit and evapotranspiration, by direct vertical
percolation of precipitation through the unsaturated zone.
Indirect recharge results from percolation to the water table following runoff,
flood out and localization in ponding in low lying areas or through the beds of
water courses.
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Man induced recharge is the percolation of water conserved from rainfall or
transported through ponding, spreading such as irrigation ,and injecting through
tube wells etc.,This is also called artificial recharge.
A major difficulty in arid areas is that although basic recharge mechanisms are
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reasonably well known, deficiencies are evident in quantifying the various elements.
Although direct recharge is known to be of decreasing significance with increasing
aridity, the processes involved are conceptually the easiest to define and form the
basis of numerous recharge estimation techniques currently in common use.
Assuming a dominate vertical moisture flux ,a single porous medium and a water
table which is not close to the surface, water is postulated to move by Darcian flow
in the unsaturated zone to the ground water body. However, field experiments show
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that volumetric water content and flow mechanisms in the unsaturated zone vary in a
complex manner, the main problem being that the parameters, moisture content,
matrix potential, and hydraulic conductivity are sensitively interrelated. Further,
material in the unsaturated zone rarely displays homogeneous properties, often
consisting of layered sands, silt, and clays with widely varying saturated hydraulic
conductivities, and a strong potential for lateral rather than vertical flow above
lithological discontinuities. In short, quantification of ground water recharge is
fraught with problems of varying magnitude and hence substantial uncertainties.
Variations in ground water recharge with time and in space (both laterally and
vertically) are well documented and are consequences of such factors as differing
precipitation, soil characteristics, vegetation, land use and topography.
29
NATURAL RECHARGE INDIRECT RECHARGE ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE
Water transported for

Atmospheric factors Precipitation rech.
forcing evaporation
Ponding Surface water Evaporation
Evaporation and recharge storage and
transpiration Interception transpiration
Spreading Infiltration
recharge
PpomSo Soil water

Infiltration Overland
flow
Injection
recharge Percolation
Stream
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flow Water diverted
for recharge Groundwater
Soil water
Interflow
Transmission Sheet-runoff Localized
losses & ponding
flood out
Percolation
Balance Conjunc. Manag. GW
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stream flow Of GW with institution
other sources
Vertical oints & Lateral and
Ground infiltration crackflow vertical
Baseflow
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Water infiltration GW
Downstream monitori
impact ng
Indirect Vertical Indirect recharge

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recharge infiltration
25
Increasing Sustaini Maintaining Preventing

Indirect recharge productivity of ng GW water quality Hyd.
water regime drought
Schematic Diagram of the hydrological Processes involved in Runoff, natural, indirect and artificial recharges and its conjunctive management
Given the variability, the obviously interrelated question is what techniques should be used
to derive reliable recharge estimates. Table 1 gives classification of several ground water
recharge estimation techniques according to result resolution in time and space:
Time Scale
Estimation Technique Instata Event Mon Seasonal Annual Long
neous thly term
averages
A) Point recharge
value
-direct measurement
(Lysimeter) x x x x x
-soil moisture balance
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-Darcian models x x x x x x
(unsaturated)
-Tracers in x x x x x x
unsaturated zone
x x x x x x
B) Areally
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Integrated net
Recharge values
-Ground water
chloride balance x x
-Ground water Flow
Equation x x x x x
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-Ground water
Fluctuation x x x x
-Spring Discharge
-Hydrograph
Separation x x x x x
-Catchment Water
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balance x x x x x
-Conceptual
Catchment Models x x x x x x
4 NEED FOR GROUND WATER MODELS IN THE BASIN CONTEXT
Water scarcity in many countries has become endemic. Many river basins are
becoming closed or closing* In such basins, additional water conservation at
upstream point affects the downstream people who are already using that water. The off -
site effect of water conservation has both economic and environmental consequences in
*In open basins, more water could be developed and beneficially depleted upstream without diminishing existing uses: in other words, the
opportunity cost of additional depletion is zero. A closing basin has no more remaining available water flowing out of the basin during part of the
year, typically a dry season. In a completely closed basin, all water is committed to environmental and process uses.
31
addition to hydrologic impacts. Therefore, any water conservation such as artificial recharge
should be viewed in the basin context In this case regional model such as basin models play a
significant role in guiding the policy makers where to encourage ground water recharging and
where to prevent going for artificial recharging which will affect the downstream people.
Haphazard development of recharging that is going on in many states in India will bring in
large conflicts between upstream and downstream stakeholders. Clear water rights are to be
put in place, enforced and monitored Hydro-economic conjunctive management models will
play a crucial role in the years to come in better managing the river basins.
5. GROUND WATER MODELS
In this section, I will present the following three types of models currently developed and
used for estimating ground water recharge and managing the aquifer systems:
1. Ground water balance model,
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2. Ground water chloride balance model, and
3. Finite difference ground water simulation model.
A spatially distributed water balance model that can be used to estimate the time series and
spatial distribution of ground water recharge in semi-arid conditions, developed by the
Institute of Water Studies, Wallingford, U.K. is presented (Finch,1999).
Water balance models have the following advantages:
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They use readily available meteorological data as the primary source of data.
They are capable of providing arieal estimates.
They are capable of predicting the impact of change, e.g., of land cover.
The main potential disadvantage of these models is that they rely on mass balance and so
the recharge estimate is a result of subtracting all other losses of water from the rainfall with
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the result that errors tend to accumulate into the estimates of recharge.
Direct Recharge is calculated using a simple daily water balance equation
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Fig. 4: Schematic Diagram of the hydrological Processes involved in Runoff,

natural, indirect and artificial recharges and its conjunctive management
B+DS=P-Ea- I- Ro-Ri
Where P= rainfall (mm),
Ea= actual evapotranspiration (mm),
I= interception loss (mm),
32
Ro= surface runoff (mm),

Ri= interflow (mm),
B= bypass flow (mm),
DS= change in soil water content (mm).
Recharge is the sum of the bypass flow and positive values of the changes in soil
water content, once the soil water content exceeds the water content of the soil at
which drainage can occur ( field capacity).
The model consists of several sub models dealing with interception, overland flow,
interflow, evaporation from vegetation and soil, soil moisture and transfer through
the unsaturated zone The model uses a 2- dimensional rectangular grid of cells to
represent the spatial variability of the land surface and is best used for conditions
where vertical drainage is dominant over horizontal processes in the soils.
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RAINFALL
CANOPY
INCEPTION
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OVERLAND FLOW
RUNOFF
EVAPORATION
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INTERFLOW
SOIL STORE BYPASS

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SOIL-
SOIL MOISTURE VEGETATION
EVAPORATION
UNSATURATED ZONE
RECHARGE
Fig. 5: Schematic representation of the sub-models forming the water balance model
33
The minimum data required by the model are:

1. Time series of rainfall from rain gauges.
2. Time series of meteorological data from weather stations.
3. A map of aquifer outcrop areas.
4. A map of the soil types.
5. A map of the land cover classes.
6. A topogarphical map
Additional data that will improve the accuracy of the model predictions are:
-measurement of the soil hydraulic properties,
-measurements of the land cover physical properties,
-measurements of the aquifer unsaturated zone response function.
The model was tested at the site of HAPEX-SAHEL experiment (13-o14.63N: 2-o
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14.65E) in Niger.The area has not been cropped sine 1986 allowing the natural
savannah vegetation to regenerate. Soils at the site are very sandy, approximately 2
to 3 m deep and underlain by a hard laterite. The water table is at a depth of
approximately 32 m. Table 2 gives the annual water balance predicted by the model.
Table 2: Annual Water Balance Predicted by the Model

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Year Rainfall Potential Actual Recharge(mm)
(mm) Evaporation(mm) Evaporation(mm)
1992 706 1754 614 89

1993 545 1843 554 0
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1994 650 1770 583 61

Mean 633 1789 584 50
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Fig. 6: Observed and modelled soil water contents for Niger
34
5.1 Ground Water Chloride Balance Model
Physical approaches have traditionally been more widely used than tracer
techniques. In semi-arid regions, however, there is acceptance of the limitations of
the physical approaches and tracer techniques are becoming more widely used. Of
the three possible tracer methods( tritium, stable isotopes, and chloride) the use of
chloride proves especially attractive as a low cost tracer for recharge estimation.
For a catchment area the most basic approach for using cl is through the water
balance equation:
P=E+R+Q
Where P= precipitation amount,
E= evaporation,
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R= recharge to ground water
Q= runoff to stream.
If we assume cl is neither gained nor lost via weathering, and that anthropogenic
inputs are zero, we can include cl concentration in the above equation:
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P. cl pptn = E. cl evap + R.cl rec + Q.clroff
Where Cl pptn= chloride concentration in precipitation
Cl evap= chloride concentration in evaporation
Cl rec = chloride concentration in recharge to ground water
Cl roff = chloride concentration in run off
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Assuming no significant clroff removed via evapotranspiration and clroff is equal to

clpptn, the above equation can be reduced to: R= ( P-Q)*(Cl pptn/Clrec) ----(1)
for Romwe catchment in Zimbabwe (MacDonald,1999). This gives the total
deposition of chloride for each of the three seasons in which samples were taken.
The rainfall chloride concentrations in three years are: 0.78; 1.39; and 0.68 mg/l
respectively, giving an averaged chloride concentration in rainfall of 1mg/l over the
season. To calculate the mass of chloride entering the ground, we must know the
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effective rainfall (rainfall-surface runoff) and the spatially averaged ground water
concentration. Then using Equation (1),we can compute the mean ground water
recharge. The mean ground water recharge computed for the Romwe catchment in
Zimbabwe is shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Calculation of ground water Recharge in the Romwe Catchment

Aquifer Effective Mass chloride Ave.Ground Mean Ground
rainfall entering chloride water
(mm) ground (mg) concentration Recharge(mm)
(mg/l).
Melanocratic 548 548 19 29
Leucocratic 390 390 68 6
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Fig. 7 : Cumulative fractional chloride mass in rainfall versus cumulative
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rainfall from a raingauge in the Romwe catchment for dry seasons 1993/94,
1994/95 and 1995/96 (missing data for the period February to April 1994 has
been estimated using daily volume, chloride concentration rations for the
rainfall from the rest of the 1994/95 wet season)
5.2 Finite Difference Ground Water Simulation Model

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Ground water models are used to understand the behavior of ground water regimes
and predict response of aquifer to any external changes such as extraction, recharge
etc., The model can also be used to select the best management plan for a ground
water basin.
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Dr Sondhi et al from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, have applied water

balance analysis and finite difference ground water simulation models for falling and
raising ground water regions of the state of Punjab to assess the ground water
resources and plan the management strategies for its exploitation on sustainable
basis.
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Digital simulation model developed by Pricket and Lonquist (1971) was used for
ground water simulation and management. The impact of crop diversification on the
ground water behavior was studied by shifting 5,10,20 and 30 percent paddy area
with cotton, maize, and groundnut in the ratio of 3:1:1 respectively. It was found
after reducing the paddy area the area under falling water table condition has
diminished. The area under depth range of 10 to 15m diminished from 48% to 40 %
when the paddy area was reduced to 30%.
The authors have also developed an integrated simulation-optimization model by

embedding finite difference form of linear algebraic equations of groundwater flow
model (MODFLOW) as constraints in linear programming formulation for optimal
management of ground water resources. The objective was to maximize pumpage
over the whole tract and to study the impact of management alternatives on water
36
table depth. The studies show that it is possible to arrest the rising trend of water
table depth in south west Punjab by seasonal and inter-seasonal redistribution of
canal water releases and enhancing the ground water pumpage by74% during karif
and 135 percent during rabi from existing level.
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Advent of fast computing techniques together with availability of large scale storage
facilities in PCs, availability of less costly remote sensed data with acceptable
resolution and shorter turnaround time, introduction of new tools such as
Geographical Information System (GIS) and digital elevation model (DEM) and
public domain data available through Internet have all helped to develop and use
ground water models of complex and sophisticated nature having regional and
global character. These developments augur a good sign to understand the regional
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and basin level variability of ground water situations. Once the global picture and
trends are identified, then one can use a more refined methodology to track down the
variables to acceptable level of accuracy at a local scale such as an irrigation system
or sub-system level underlain with an aquifer.
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As models become sophisticated, the data requirement also increases. In many
situations, we do not have adequate data making us to go for simple models.
Selection of model to achieve an objective is an art by itself. Some time simple, and
cost effective models would provide the necessary answer, avoiding the need to go
for complicated models. Developing such simple and cost effective models require
great skill and understanding of the problem being attempted to solve through
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modelling.
Simple water balance models such as the ones referred in this paper are needed to
estimate the basin recharge before we take up complicated regional level models to
manage groundwater aquifers in the basin context. Such models would then bring
out the on-site/off site impact of artificial recharging.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Apart of the work reported herein is carried out under IWMI-TATA program under
project titled Groundwater Re-charge and Conjunctive Management in India.
REFERENCES:
Finch JW (1999) "Regional groundwater recharge assessment in semi-arid areas."

DFID Report 99/6, Institute of Hydrology, U.K.
MacDonald D, Edmunds WM, Moriarty P (1999) "The use of chloride balance
method in weathered basement aquifers: A case study from Southern Zimbabwe."
DFID 99/6, Institute of Hydrology, U.K.
37
Sondhi SK, Kaushal MP, Aggarwal Rajan (2001) "Management of groundwater

resources in Punjab." Proceedings of IWMI-ICAR workshop on groundwater
research in India, Karnal, Haryana, India, 6-7 November 2001.
Abernethy CL (2001) Inter sectoral management of river basin, International Water
Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka: Proceedings of an international workshop
on Integrated water management in water-stressed river basins in developing
countries: strategies for poverty alleviation and agricultural growth Loskop Dam,
South Africa, 16-21 October.
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38
Regionalization of Aquifer Parameters for Aquifer

Modelling Including Monitoring Network Design
Shakeel Ahmed
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Appropriate and adequate data are essential for the success of any scientific study. Scarcity of
data and their collection on isolated location particularly in the field of hydrology, makes it
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necessary to adopt special procedures such as geostatistical estimation technique for
bridging the gap between field measurements and numerical aquifer modelling. However,
these estimations are based on a crucial criterion of the structural analysis known as
variography and obtaining a true and representative variogram is extremely ambiguous from
limited field data. Cross-validation test to determine a representative and optimal variogram
as well as to validate the other assumptions, has been found very useful in case of
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hydrogeological parameters.
The application of Ordinary Kriging including variography is presented by taking a case

study on Fluoride concentration. In addition, multivariate geostatistical techniques viz.,
Cokriging, Kriging with an External Drift have found better applications and are described.
It is concluded that, depending upon the situation, geostatistical techniques could be applied
at each step of hydrogeological modelling studies i.e. from data collection network design,
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parameter estimation to the fabrication and calibration of aquifer models.

Key Words: Variography, Cross-validation, Cokriging, Kriging with an external
drift, Aquifer Modelling, Transmissivity, Electrical Transverse Resistance, optimal
network.
1. INTRODUCTION
Numerical simulation of flow and transport processes in an aquifer necessitates, dividing

and discretizing the natural heterogeneous system into a number of small parts called mesh
supposed to be uniform with almost no variation of the aquifer properties. To satisfy this
condition, it is necessary to discretize the system into much finer and hence more number
of grids. Although with the availability of fast and strong computers, computation with
large number of grids/mesh is not a problem but the data preparation that is to assign the
aquifer parameters to each grid/mesh becomes cumbersome. Also an appropriate
39
estimation procedure is required to provide an unbiased, minimum variance and with

unique value over the entire area of the mesh.
Geostatistical techniques in the form of "Theory of Regionalized Variables" were

developed to be applied to mining problems (Matheron, 1963). But soon after,
hydrogeologists have realized its applications to the groundwater hydrology and the first
work was carried out by Delhomme (1974). Thereafter, number of studies have now been
carried out on hydrogeological parameters. Subsequently works of Aboufirassi and
Marino (1983), Neuman (1984), Hoeksema and Kitanidis (1984), Ahmed (1987), Dong
(1990), Roth (1995) etc. have shown more applications of geostatistics in groundwater
hydrology. However, multivariate and non-stationary geostatistics have got comparatively
more applications in groundwater hydrology. Also some of them have to be suitably
modified as well as some special procedures developed for a meaningful application of
geostatistics in this field. Delhomme (1976) has developed the method of Kriging with
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Linear Regression, Kriging using erroneous data, Kriging in the presence of a fault etc.
Conditional simulation has also been applied in aquifer modelling (Delhomme, 1979).
Galli and Meunier (1987) and Ahmed (1987) have worked on Kriging with an External
Drift. Ahmed and Marsily (1987) have compared a number of multivariate geostatistical
methods in estimating transmissivity using data on transmissivity and specific capacity.
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Also Ahmed (1987) has developed a special antisymmetric and anisotropic cross-
covariance between residuals of hydraulic head and transmissivity based on the work of
Mizell (1980) and used coherent nature of various covariances to cokrige transmissivity
and hydraulic head in solving an Inverse Problem (Ahmed and Marsily, 1993). Bardossy et
al. (1986), Ahmed et al. (1988) and Kupfersberger and Bl o && schl (1995) have combined
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electrical and hydraulic parameters in a geostatistical analysis. Geohydrological data are

mostly scattered and often subjected to errors. At each step special procedures have
therefore, to be adopted (Delhomme, 1976; en, 1992 etc.).
Now geostatistics has found applications in almost all domain of Hydrogeology from
parameter estimation to predictive modelling for Groundwater Management e.g.,
designing an optimal groundwater monitoring network, estimating parameters at
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unmeasured locations, groundwater model fabrication (optimal discretization), unbiased

model calibration using estimation errors and in deciding the best models for prediction.
2. VARIOGRAPHY OF A HYDROGEOLOGICAL PARAMETER
The theoretical part of the geostatistical techniques have already been dealt with earlier
workers e.g., Matheron, (1971), Journel and Huijbregts (1978), Marsily (1986), Isaaks and
Srivastava (1989), Samper and Carrera (1990), Deutch and Journal (1992), Wackernagel
(1995) etc. Most of the hydrogeological parameters are defined and measured at points in a
2D space. Therefore, all the derivations and examples in the chapter are given in 2D space
and point estimation is used. The main steps involved in a geostatistical technique applied
to hydrogeological parameters are: Variography i.e., structure analysis, cross-validation,
estimation and backward transformation (if any). Variography in determining variability of
a parameter is an important step and quality of the estimation result depends on it. The
40
procedure involves calculation of experimental variogram, its modelling through

theoretical variogram and its validation by reproducing the field data.
2.1 Calculation of Experimental variogram from scattered data
Unlike mining or airborne geophysical survey, hydrogeological parameters are

measured on scattered locations due to the fact that most of the parameters are collected
from the wells that exist in the vicinity of a village and not on a grid pattern. Low cost
of the groundwater projects also restricts a systematic and extensive data collection. A
generalised formula to calculate experimental variogram from a set of scattered data can
be written as follows (Ahmed, 1995).
1 $ $ ) - z( xi , $ ) ]2
(d, ) = i=1
Nd
[z ( xi + d, (1)
2 Nd
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where
d - d d$ d + d , - $ + (2)
with
1 1
d = i=1 d$i , = i=1 $i (3)
Nd Nd
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Nd Nd
where d and are the initially chosen lag and direction of the variogram with d and
as tolerance on lag and direction respectively. d and are actual lag and direction for
the corresponding calculated variogram. Nd is the number of pairs for a particular lag and
direction. The additional eqn (3) avoids the rounding off error of pre-decided lags
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(multiples of the initial lag only are taken in conventional cases) and the direction. It is
very important to account for every term carefully while calculating variograms. If the
data are collected on a regular grid, and d is taken zero, eqn (2) and eqn (3) will be
simplified only for . Often, geohydrological parameters exhibit anisotropy and hence
variograms should be calculated at least in 2 to 4 directions to ensure existence or
absence of anisotropy. Of course, sufficient numbers of samples are required in that case.
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2.2 Modelling an experimental variogram

Calculation of experimental variogram is subjected to many approximations and its plot is
mostly irregular. A smooth curve is therefore, fitted to it. This fitting is called modelling
and the fitted curve is called a theoretical variogram. A theoretical variogram is defined by
a number of parameters e.g., sill, range, nugget effect and model type. These parameters of
a variogram could approximately be decided by visualising the experimental variogram as
well as by nature of parameter. For example, a variogram of transmissivity posses usually,
a nugget effect but that of the water-levels does not. Sometimes, an experimental variogram
is not satisfactorily fitted by any of the limited available theoretical variograms. Thus a
combination of several variograms is fitted and the resultant variogram is called a nested
structure. Following resultant variogram is only authorized as a nested structure.
R (d) = ik=1 ai i (d) (4)
41
where ai0 > 0 i and i (d) are individual variograms. Mostly the fitting is visual
but often an automatic fitting such as least squares etc. is also used. However, a
measure of difference between theoretical and experimental variograms is always
calculated to decide the best of several fits.
2.2.1 Cross-validation test
Theoretical variogram obtained by fitting an experimental variogram is usually

ambiguous. It is therefore, necessary to validate it against the measured value. The
cross-validation is performed by estimating the parameter at the points of measurement
and comparing them with the field values in a statistical sense (Ahmed and Gupta,
1989). In this exercise, a measured value is removed from the data set one by one and
the same is estimated at that point using the remaining values and the structural model.
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The process is repeated for the entire data set. Thus we will have, at all the
measurement points, measured value (z), estimated value (z*) and variance of the
estimation error (2). This leads to computing following statistics.
1 n
i=1 ( zi - z*i ) 0 (5)
n
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1 n

n i=1
( zi - z*i )2 min..............(6)
1 n ( zi - z*i )2
i=1 1 (7)
n 2i
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z z* i
2i..........(8)
i
Various parameters of the variogram model are gradually modified to obtain
satisfactory values of the eqns. 5 to 8. Therefore, during the cross-validation we test
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many important points such as:
i. Inferring a structural model and removing its ambiguity.

ii. Deciding optimum neighbourhood.
iii. Selecting suitable combination of additional information particularly in case of
multivariate estimation.
iv. Sorting out the unreliable data.
3. UNIVARIATE GEOSTATISTICAL ESTIMATION
Although due to scarcity of data or various other reasons Ordinary Kriging, a class of
single-variate geostatistical technique is not much practised, some work have been carried
out and it was thought useful to present one of them here. Moreover, in most of the
multivariate estimation also, ordinary kriging is used particularly in cross-validation test.
42
3.1 Estimation of Fluoride content in an aquifer
Fluoride content in groundwater beyond a permissible limit has been a serious problem in
aquifer in drought prone areas with granitic bed rocks. Also, this being a natural pollutant,
its control including source identification is much more complicated. Fluoride contents (F)
have been monitored in 146 wells in the district of Anantpur in A.P., India (Fig. 1).
Although this parameter varies with time; a slow varying one, we have tried to estimate a
regional picture of this parameter to delineate zones of high and low fluoride at one time.
Since the F data was showing log-normal distribution, the values were transformed by
taking logarithms of F. Experimental variogram of log-F was thus calculated and fitted
with a theoretical model which was cross-validated later. (Ahmed and Murali, 1992).
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Fig. 1: Location of measurement points for Fluoride data
The variograms were also calculated in two perpendicular directions and it was found
that they do not exhibit any anisotropy. A mean variogram was therefore, calculated
and approximately fitted with the following variogram.
(d) = 0 0.038+0.016 sph(7)
The whole area was divided into a uniform grid of 1 Km by 1 Km and log-F was
estimated at the centre of each grid using Ordinary Kriging with a changing
neighbourhood equal to 25. The estimated values and the corresponding estimation
variance are shown in Fig.s. 2 and 3 respectively. In Fig. 2 only three values of F viz.,
43
less than 1.5 ppm, between 1.5 and 2.0 ppm and greater than 2.0 ppm were considered.
Areas with less than 1.5 ppm are safe for drinking, areas with more than 2.0 ppm should
be abandoned but areas with F varying from 1.5 to 2.0 ppm could be used to treat water
for drinking. Moreover, the map of variance of the estimation error has also
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Fig. 2: Estimated value of Fluoride in Anantpur dist., A.P., India
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Fig. 3: Standard deviation of Estimation error in Fluoride estimation

been divided into three values; viz., high moderate and low. A better decision could be
taken by superimposing the two maps and arriving at the areas with F estimated to be
within the permissible limit and the error map with highly reliable value etc.
4. MULTIVARIATE GEOSTATISTICAL ESTIMATION
As the data in groundwater hydrology is usually scarce, we must make use of

supporting information and apply multivariate geostatistical techniques (Ahmed and
44
Marsily, 1987; 1988). Two common multivariate geostatistical techniques are described
here which are mainly applied to groundwater hydrology.
4.1 Cokriging
It is a common technique of geostatistical estimation with many variable information.

Theoretical part is very well dealt with Journel and Huijbregts (1978), Myers (1982,
1984), Marsily (1986) etc. One very important point about this technique is that it
requires sufficient number of measurement points at which both the variables under
consideration are available to calculate the cross-variogram. Dong et al., (1990) has
discussed advantages of cokriging of related variables.
4.2 Estimation of Transmissivity in an aquifer in North-West Tunisia
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In an area of 120 km2 of a semi-confined alluvial aquifer in Tunisia, many resistivity
sounding results (at 82 points) are available besides data on transmissivity (at 16
points) and specific capacity (at 17 points). A new variable viz., electrical transverse
resistance was calculated from resistivity and thickness obtained from the VES in
the aquifer. The electrical transverse resistances were then corrected for the water
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resistivity variation. All the three parameters show log-normal frequency
distribution and they have been transferred taking their logarithms (base 10). The
geographical locations of these data are shown in Fig. 4. The regression between the
variables shows a fairly good correlation (Ahmed et al., 1988). The variograms do
not show any nugget effect and are fitted with spherical models with equal ranges
but different sill values. The numbers of pairs during calculation of the variograms
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were not sufficient to perfectly fit theoretical models. Hence several trials for
cross-validation have been made by varying variogram and cross-variogram
parameters as well as the variogram type. Also the constrains of having positive
definite kriging matrix were checked while modifying the cross-variogram
parameters. Finally it was found that the spherical models of variogram and
cross-variogram have given the best results while using all the three variables in
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estimation of log-T through cokriging. The details are given in Table 1.
Fig. 4: Location of measurement points in Tunisian aquifer
45
Table 1: Results of cross-validation test
Estimated Variable(s) Method Value Value Value of

Variable used in of eqn. of eqn. eqn. 7
estimation 5 6
Log-T log-T Ordinary 0.0232 0.1431 1.008
Kriging
Log-SC log-SC ,, 0.2900 0.1655 1.256
LOG-TR log-TR ,, 0.0078 0.0253 1.337
Log-T log-T & log-SC Cokriging 0.0180 0.0710 1.184
Log-T log-T & log-TR ,, 0.0307 0.1180 0.997
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Log-T log-T, log-SC & ,, 0.0178 0.673 1.116
log-TR
Log-T log-T & log-SC Kriging 0.0131 0.0873 0.754
with
External
drift
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Log-T log-T & log-TR ,, 0.0023 0.1619 0.936
Log-T log-T, log-SC & ,, 0.0085 0.1459 0.951
log-TR
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The variogram parameters of variables Z (log of transmissivity / log-T), Y (log of

specific capacity / log-SC) and W (log of electrical transverse resistance / log-TR) are
given below.
ZZ= 0.0 + 0.55 sph (6 Km), YY= 0.0 + 0.60 sph (6 Km), WW= 0.0 +
0.14 sph (6 Km),
ZY
= 0.0 + 0.45 sph (6 Km), ZW= 0.0 + 0.16 sph (6 Km) & YW = 0.0 +
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0.20 sph (6 Km).
The cross-validation tests clearly show that the best results are obtained using cokriging
with all the three variables. It has been explained in the work of Ahmed and Marsily
(1987) that cokriging should be used when the variables have high correlation
coefficient and their residuals have spatial structure. This property of the residual to
have spatial structure is, however, found between transmissivity and electrical
transverse resistance but not between transmissivity and specific capacity. Thus an
estimation of log-T has been carried out on the central points of square grids of 1 km
side using method of cokriging with all the three variables. Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 show the
estimated log-T and the corresponding standard deviation. An inverse transform of the
estimated log-T values have given a regional distribution of T for siting a suitable well
drilling site as well as to used in numerical modelling.
46
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Fig. 5: Estimated values of log-T in Tunisian Aquifer (through Cokriging)
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Fig. 6: Standard deviation of the estimation error for log-T in Tunisian aquifer
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4.3 Kriging with an external drift
Drift in a general sense, is a deterministic (linear quadratic or even higher order

polynomial as well as other regular functions) function of spatial co-ordinates. These
types of drift functions are called internal drift or simply drift. However, according to
Matheron (1971) a drift could be a random function also and may be represented by
function of a different variable. This type of drift is called an external drift.
Sometimes, two variables are very closely related and hence one completely or partially
could represent the drift of the other. The expected value of a variable, knowing other
variables simultaneously can be written as the conditional expectation in the following
manner:
E[ z ( xi ) / y ( xi )] = a 0 + a1 y ( xi )i.............(9)
47
Similarly if data on many variables are available a, combination of these values can be
used to define the external drift of the main variable as:
where M is number of other variables. An estimator in this case is written as in case of
E [z ( xi ) / y j ( xi ), j = 1,.., M ] = a0 + Mj=1 a j y j ( xi ) i (10)

Ordinary kriging i.e. z* ( x0 ) = i z( xi ) 0. But the weights associated with the data
values will be different as the conditions of unbiasedness in this case give the following
equations:
i=1 i = 1
n
(11)
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i=1 i y j ( xi ) = y j ( x0 ) j =1,...M
n
(12)
The system of kriging equations can be written as:
i=1 i ij + 0 + k=1 k k ( x0 ) = j0 , where j = 1,...n (13)

an
n M
i=1 i = 1
n
(14)
y (x ) = y (x )
n
i =1 i i 0
j = 1,....... M .........(15)
j j
The expression for the variance of the estimation error can be written as:
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2 ( x0 ) = i=1 i i0 + 0 + k=1 k y k ( x0 )
n M
(16)
It can, however, be seen that the values of all the additional variables are required not
only at the estimation points but also at those locations where values of the main
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variable are known. In practice, some of these values may not be available and we may
have to use their estimated values, though it would affect the accuracy of estimation.
The estimation variance in this method is generally higher than that in Cokriging or any
other multivariate kriging methods (Ahmed and Marsily, 1987). This is due to the fact
that there are additional unbiased conditions (eqn 12) and the data to minimise the
variance are less.
Another important point to be borne in the mind here, is the calculation of the
conditional variogram. A conditional variogram of a variable having other variables as
external drift, is a function of all the individual variograms as well as their
cross-variograms (Ahmed, 1987). However, most of the authors e.g., Galli and
Meunier (1987), Ahmed and Marsily (1987), Deutch and Journel (1992) etc. have used
the variograms of the main variable only after verifying it through cross-validation.
48
5. DATA COLLECTION NETWORK DESIGN
Data collection from a finite number of observation/monitoring points randomly or

systematically distributed is necessary to infer the spatial variability of any
parameter under study. The number and distribution of such stations are constrained
by numerous factors of which cost and feasibility are quite common to consider.
Therefore, it is imperative that an optimal monitoring network be evolved using
minimum number of observations stations that can provide maximum information.
At the same time configuration of a network also depends on the objectives and the
end use of the project. One of the important and obvious end use of the data
collection is to infer or estimate the parameter at the intermediate and/or unmeasured
locations. Obviously even using the best available interpolation/estimation
techniques, there would certainly be an estimation error and the further objective
should be to improve upon this error in the form of minimization of variance of the
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estimation error. Based on this criterion a procedure of optimizing a temperature
measurement network using geostatistical technique is developed. There has been a
large amount of work using different statistical and geostatistical procedures in
monitoring network design. Langbein (1979) and Loaiciga et al (1992) have
presented overview for such applications. However, Agnihotri and Ahmed (1997)
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have made a short review and highlighted ambiguities in the methods with suitable
examples.
The area of interest is thus divided into considerably finer grids of uniform size and
using the geostatistical estimation procedures, the kriging estimation variance are
calculated with suitable kriging method depending upon the nature of the parameter.
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Since we are interested in the coordinates of the optimal location of the

measurement points and since the objective function i.e. the variance of the
estimation error without directly containing these coordinates, cannot be minimized
with respect to the coordinates, an indirect iterative procedure is therefore,
developed to arrive at an optimal or near optimal network. Considering the formula
for the estimation error as follows:
L.
(v) = i =1 i +
2 n
k
k =1,N (17)
iv vv

2
where N is the total number of estimation grids k
(v) is the variance of the
estimation error at the kth grid v, iv
and vv
are average variograms between ith
point and v as well as between v and v respectively, i the kriging weights. It is clear
that more the number of points, less would be the variance of the estimation error.
Beside the number, the position of the measurement points from the estimation
points/block also plays important role.
As mentioned earlier, the entire area was divided into a number of grids of equal
size. Using the block estimation of ordinary kriging, standard deviation of the
49
estimation error ( k
(v) ) was calculated. A list of the points where k (v) has
exceeded c, the pre-set values, was prepared. Also a few more norms as follows,
were calculated.
Average of k
(v ) = k (18)
Number of grids (M) where k

( v ) > c (19)
and
Sum of squared difference (SSD) between k
(v) and c for all k (v) > c
(20)
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Thus with the values of M, SSD and k
a network is declared dense, sparse or near
optimal for a given c and addition, deletion or shifting of measurement points are
made accordingly. After a few iteration of this procedure the network could be made
optimal for the given c. In this procedure, it is also necessary that the optimality is
checked on a further fine grid. Other constraints should also be considered and a
an
much elaborate table of suitable additional measurement points could be prepared
based on all other alternatives and the present method finally provides an optimal or
near optimal network for a desired accuracy for the regionalization of the parameter.
Optimization of water level monitoring network in a fractured granitic aquifer

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In a small watershed of 60 Km2 area (Maheshwaram watershed) near Hyderabad, India

(Fig. 7) groundwater is mainly found in a coupled system of weathered and fractured
granitic rocks. However, due to over exploitation and successive reduction in the rainfall
recharge, the water table has declined and the saturated flow is mainly confined to aquifer
consisting of highly fractured rocks only. Crystalline rocks of Archaean age, comprising
gray and pink granites cover a major portion of the study area; porphyritic granites intruded
by dolerite dykes and quartz reefs. The granites have undergone variable degree of
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weathering and fracturing. Large scale fracturing and jointing has resulted in formation of
huge boulders of granite, which are also scattered randomly in the area.
The water levels are being monitored through a network of about 55 bore wells out of
which 25 have been specially drilled to observe comparatively undisturbed water table
and the other 30 bore wells are selected based on the drainage pattern and intervals etc.
from the existing private wells used for irrigation (Fig. 7). The water level
measurements have been carried out on monthly basis for a period of almost one
hydrological cycle.
50
go
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Fig. 7: Location map of the study area for water level optimisation.
About 30 wells (indicated as IFW) out of the 600 irrigation wells existing in the area
have been selected for water level measurement based on the drainage pattern present,
variation in rock formation covering the study area. Later 25 wells (indicated as IFP)
taping the fractured aquifer have been drilled up to a depth of 45 m uniquely to monitor
the water levels. These wells have been drilled based on the recommendation from
geophysical investigations. Thus it was thought to reduce the number of wells so that;
all the wells are monitored in a shortest possible time say one single day,
discard some of the irrigation wells fitted with pumps as it was difficult to monitor
static levels in these wells and
reduce the cost of monitoring also
51
without loosing the monitoring benefits. The objectives for geostatistical

optimization of the monitoring network has been that the monitored water levels
should (i) represent the true variability of the parameter and (ii) provide its estimate
on unmeasured locations with a desired accuracy. Thus to obtain an optimal
monitoring network having 25 IFP wells and minimize the IFW wells such that the
kriging estimation of water levels provide standard deviation of the estimation error
not more than 8 m (against the average standard deviation of 12 m of the water level
data) in the entire area. Through a special procedure as described through eqns 18-
20 above the IFW wells were removed one by one and the impact with the above
constraints were studied. Finally a network with 25 IFP wells and 15 IFW wells
9000
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8000
7000
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6000
Northing in metres
5000
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4000
3000
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2000
IFW LOCATION
1000 IFP LOCATION
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Easting in metres
Fig. 8: Map of estimation error from 40 wells
52
9000
8000
7000
6000
Northing in metres
5000
4000
3000
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2000
1000 WELL LOCATION

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0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Easting in metres
Contour Interval = 0.5 m
Fig. 9: Map of estimation error from 55 wells

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have been evolved for monitoring the water levels every month. The contour map of
the standard deviation of the estimation errors (k) from a network of 55 wells as
well as from a network of 40 wells are shown in Figs. 8 and 9 respectively using a
suitable kriging method. It is very clear that using the optimized monitoring network
it is still possible to maintain the magnitudes of k.
The constrained optimization of the monitoring network with only 40 wells will
ensure that all the wells are measured in the shortest possible time every month.
Also that the revised network consists all the 25 wells without pumping and one has
to be careful for monitoring only 15 private wells fitted with pumps for irrigation.
This provides a hydrogeologist much ease for an accurate water level measurement.
The revised network will also provide almost same accuracy in estimation that
would have been obtained from the network of 55 measurement wells.
53
6. CONCLUSION
The field heterogeneity of groundwater basins is often inextricable and very difficult to
analyse with deterministic methods. Another advantage of using geostatistical methods
is that it provides the variance of the estimation error together with the estimated values.
Of course, there are many advantages of these methods particularly in Groundwater
modelling:
The closer the values of the aquifer parameters to reality, the faster will be the
model calibration. Better estimated values (with lower estimation variance) are
initially assigned to the nodes of aquifer model using geostatistical estimation.
An assumption is made in Aquifer Modelling that a single value of system
parameter represents the entire mesh (Of course, very small). Averaging over a
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block in two or three dimension can be obtained through block estimation.
An optimal mesh size and number of nodes in discretizing aquifer system, can be
obtained and best location of new control points can be predicted.
A confidence interval given by the standard deviation of the estimation error
provides a useful guide to T modification at each mesh and to check that the
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calculated heads fall inside the confidence interval of the observed heads.
A performance analysis of the calibrated model can be achieved to decide the best
calibrated model using variance of the estimation error which can be used for
prediction.
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A few modifications and improvement to the existing techniques permit to utilise

hydrogeological data successfully in prediction of aquifer parameters. One such
modification in kriging techniques is called "kriging with an external drift". This
technique has been found quite useful in arriving at the estimation of hydrogeologic
parameters. Cross-validation, though very cumbersome and not useful when data are
numerous as in case of mining, it is much more useful and almost necessary when there
are less data as in case of hydrogeological parameters.
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A large number of works have been reported particularly using geostatistical

methods in optimal data collection network design. However, very few have found
application in real field. It is therefore, useful to analyse and discuss the problems of
their application. A number of ambiguities have been found in the methods so far
applied; some of them are quite severe. Since most of the network design is based on
the reduction of kriging variance which does not depend on the measured value of
the parameter at a newly decided location, a common ambiguity is about the
maximum value allowed of the variance or the standard deviation of the estimation
error (say a threshold). In the absence of an objective function directly involving the
location of measurement points, it is difficult to minimize the variance of the
estimation error ( 2k) Either this value is arbitrarily chosen or optimization of a
data collection network may be terminated if the corresponding change in the 2k is
negligible.
54
It is finally recommeded that the method of estimating kriging variance on a

block/area may be used in data collection network design but with the care as
described above. Of course, the better way of analysing and designing a network is
to discretize the area into a number of blocks and design a network by reducing the
estimation variance on an average basis. This procedure could be repeated by
reducing the size of discretized blocks until there is no change in the average
statistics of the estimation variance.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Authors would like to thank the Director, NGRI for his kind permission to prepare the
paper. We thankfully acknowledge the discussion made with Dr. PSN Murthy of
Andhra Uiversity.
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estimates for specific capacity", J. Hydrol. Vol. 84, pp. 81-95.
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57
Approaches for Modelling of Hard Rock

Aquifer System
M. Thangarajan
go Abstract
The groundwater flow models so far used represents the porous media
having continuous interconnected pore space. The flow problem in the
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fractured rocks has always been and will continue to be of interest to
hydrologists. Evolving conceptual model of a fractured system requires either
a gross simplification or a detailed description of the aquifer properties
controlling the groundwater flow. At present, there is only a basic conceptual
understanding of flow in the vicinity of weathered and fractured hard rock
aquifers. Normally this conceptual understanding is not translated in to the
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quantitative interpretation procedures; often, simple continuum models are

applied to analyse pumping test data, and the results then used to produce
quantitative calculations on a regional scale. Even if the regional system can
be represented using the continuum equivalent approach, it is unlikely that
the results of applying continuum models at the local scale have any general
validity, and also aquifer parameters so derived, may be different to the
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aquifer parameters appropriate for describing regional flow in quantitative

terms. Hence, there is a need to develop appropriate methods for analysis of
pumping test data and appropriate simulation technique to improve the
success rate and yield of wells in fractured rock. The analysis should provide
cost-benefit analysis for new and / or in-fill wells. To do this, it is necessary
to investigate in detail the flow in the vicinity of a pumping borehole, and to
apply appropriate non-continuum models. Fractured systems are typically
using one or more of the following conceptual models: (i) equivalent porous
medium, (ii) dual porosity medium, (iii) discrete fracture network model, and
(iv) stochastic continuum model. This paper deals with the different
approaches used to simulate the fractured aquifer system.
Keywords: Dual porosity, discrete fracture network model, stochastic
continuum model, discrete-fracture networks.
59
1. INTRODUCTION
Hard rocks are all those crystalline hard and massive rocks, which have no intergranular
porosity. The most common types are the granites and basalts. The distribution of hard
rocks of India is shown in Fig. 1 (Radhakrishna, 1970). The crystalline limestones,
quartzite, sandstones, and many schistose rocks formed as a result of metamorphism are
also called hard rocks (Radhakrishna, 1970). However, due to tectonic disturbances,
secondary porosity in the form of fissures, fractures, and joints have higher permeability.
Number of fractures, if they connect to form networks, can be expected to form the
principal pathways for fluid flow and mass transport. The hydraulic conductivity of
individual fracture in granitic rock can vary over several orders of magnitude, and the
geometry of interconnection of the fracture is generally irregular. For these reasons, the
properties of the fractured rock mass with respect to groundwater flow are, on a local scale,
extremely heterogeneous. Hydrological testing methods that are commonly used to
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characterise less heterogeneous rock is of questionable value for characterising rock
masses. Traditional methods for interpretation of hydrological test results are based on
assumption of flow through an approximately homogeneous porous medium with simple
flow geometry (e.g. radial or spherical flow). In fractured rock, the test results are, in
general, controlled by fracture properties on a very localised scale, and the flow geometry
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can be very irregular.
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Fig. 1: Hard rock regions of India (after B.P.Radhakrishna)
It is, thus, imperative to develop more reliable techniques for estimation of aquifer
parameters in hard rock region and assessment of these resources for their hazard-
free optimal exploitation. The ultimate objective would be to evolve an appropriate
methodology for a rational management of this precious natural resource and
thereby find lasting solutions to the problems of water scarcity and water quality.
60
2. MODELLING APPROACH
Groundwater flow is expected to occur in crystalline rocks mainly through networks of

interconnected fractures and joints. Discrete-fracture networks (DFN) models provide a
means of explicitly representing flow path geometry in such cases. The geometry of
interconnection among fractures determines the locations and pathways. The statistical
geometry of fractures can be deduced directly from observation of fractures in borehole and
at outcrops on the surface. Thus, the flow paths in DFN models arise as a direct
consequence of observed fracture geometry, rather than as the result of conditioning on
cross-hole hydrological data. The applicability of this model is limited in terms of scale of
the area and volume to be simulated. The maximum volume (3D) that can be modelled
depends upon the intensity of fracturing and the resolution (in terms of minimum fracture
conductivity) that is desired. Due to these limitations, DFN models must be used in
conjunction with Stochastic Continuum (SC) and Channel Network (CN) models. SC
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model is used to model fluid flow in the larger scale by making use of probability
distribution of fracture properties (i.e., given a definite location, size, transmissivity etc). In
practice, it is extremely difficult to characterise all hydraulically significant fractures in a
block of rock, in which case, stochastic modelling allows uncertainty to be represented
explicitly. Monte Carlo simulations resulting in multiple model realisations achieve this.
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Dual porosity stream tube modelling is used to predict mass transport. CN models are used
as an alternative model for transport within the dominant flow pathways. The DFN model
is used to provide information required for the other two modelling approaches.
The comparison between DFN, SC and CN modelling approach is shown in Fig. 2.
The data analysis and the conceptual model of the system are explained in Fig. 3.
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The model validation and prediction is shown in Fig. 4.

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Fig.2: Comparison of DFN, SC,and Fig. 3: Conceptual

CN Models (after Golder Associates Inc) model of flow systems
61
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Fig. 4: Model Validation and prediction
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(after Golder Associates Inc)
2.1 Equivalent Porous Medium
Fractured system is represented as an equivalent porous medium (EPM) by

replacing the primary and secondary porosity and hydraulic conductivity distribution
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with a continuous porous medium having so called equivalent or effective hydraulic

properties. The parameters are selected so that the flow pattern in the EPM is similar
to the flow pattern in the fractured system. An EPM approach assumes that the
fractured material can be treated as a continuum and that a representative elementary
volume (REV) of material characterised by effective hydraulic parameters can be
defined. Simulation of flow in fractured system using this concept requires
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definition of effective values for hydraulic conductivity, specific storage, and

porosity, which are, in turn, determined from aquifer testing (Gingarten, 1982),
estimated from water balance or inverse models, and or calculated from field
description of fracture apertures, lengths and interconnections, and unfractured rock
volumes and permeabilities (Cacas et al., 1990 a). When EPM is considered, then
standard Finite Difference Method (FDM) or Finite Element Method (FEM) may be
applied to simulate groundwater flow in fractured system. This approach can be
applied, only if the system has high intensity of fractures, otherwise this concept is
not valid. Many research workers, however, have concluded that EPM approach
may adequately represent the behaviour of regional system, but poorly reproduces
local condition.
62
2.2 Dual Porosity Medium
If the rock mass containing the fracture network has significant primary permeability, then
a dual porosity approach may be used. Barrenblatt et al. (1960) have proposed this concept.
In this conceptual model, flow through the fractures is accompanied by exchange of water
to and from the surrounding porous rock matrix. Obviously, the fracture network as well as
the properties of the porous blocks must be described prior to modelling. Exchange
between the fracture network and the porous blocks is normally represented by mass
transfer function (Huyakorn et al., 1983). The double porosity approach is primarily
applicable to sedimentary formations such as sandstone, but may also be of interest in the
inverse interpretation of the hydraulic properties of hard rock formation.
2.3 Discrete Fracture Network
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A discrete fracture network model assumes that water moves only through the discrete
fracture network. This approach is typically applied to fractured media with low primary
permeability such as crystalline rocks. The flow through single fracture may be identified
as occurring between two parallel plates with a uniform separation equal to the fracture
aperture. The parallel plate fracture flow equation is derived from the Navier-Stokes
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general equation for fluid flow in three dimensions of space as;
u
+ u u = g PT + 2 u .......... .......... .......( 1)
t
Where,
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is fluid density
is viscosity of fluid
u is groundwater flow velocity
PT is total pressure
Flow through a single fracture may be idealised as occurring between two parallel plates.
For the parallel plate situation, the relationship can be simplified in to 1-dimensional
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equation. This is because the aperture is assumed infinite perpendicular to flow. This
condition is illustrated in Fig. 5.
Fig. 5: Parallel flow Approximation
63
From these simplifications, the relationship becomes:
2u G
= .......... .......... .......... .......... ..( 2 )
z 2

Where,
dP/dx = -G
u is the groundwater velocity in x direction
Integrating equation 2 with respect to z twice gives
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Gz 2
U = + Az + B.......... .......... .......... .......... .....( 3)
2
Where, A and B are arbitrary constants and they can be eliminated by applying
boundary conditions: when z=0, u=0 and z=d, u=0 Where, d is the aperture size.
Substituting these boundary equation in to equation (3)
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G
U = (dz z 2 )............................................(4)
2
Thus, the velocity profile across the fracture is parabolic, the maximum is located at
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z=d/2.
Given the symmetry of the system, it is then possible to integrate this relationship
with respect to z in order to obtain a discharge per unit length of the fracture.
Gd 3
Q = .......... .......... .......... .......... .........( 5 )
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12
Where, G is pressure gradient. When using head gradient, one must use the
following relationship:
d 3g
Q = i .......... .......... .......... .......... .( 6 )
12
Where, i is the hydraulic gradient, is density of fluid and is the viscosity of fluid.
By making use of Darcy law, one can write
Q = -Aki - (7)
64
Equations 6 & 7 show an analogy in terms of flow. Transmissivity is defined as

hydraulic conductivity multiplied by saturated thickness, so that equation 7 can be
rewritten as:
Q = -Ti - (8)
for discharge per unit length in x direction. Thus, transmissivity of fracture can be
written as
The above derivation has been taken from Alex Bond (1998).
d 3 g
T = .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ( 9 )
12
(i)
(ii)
(iii) go
2.4. Discrete-Fracture Network (DFN) Models are applied for --
Small scale modelling.

Explicit representation of flow path geometry.
Process of flow and mass transport assumed to take place
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primarily or entirely through network of discrete fractures.
2.5. Advantages of DFN Model
(i) Explicit representation of the geometry and physical properties of

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fracture and fracture zones.

(ii) Ability to incorporate fracture-geometry data in the model, and
thus give a basis for extrapolation from packer tests of uncertain
flow geometry.
(iii) Possibility of modelling fracture zones on various scales,
including undetected zones and other heterogeneities, based on
observations of structural patterns.
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2.6. Disadvantages of DFN Model
(i) The approach is relatively new, so the modelling tools are not as
sophisticated as continuum tools. They have generally been
developed for specific applications e.g., deep repository or
reservoir studies, treatment of water table, unconfined aquifers,
and surface water features is currently under active research. Need
for fracture geometrical data at sampling location distributed
throughout the region to be modelled, including data at depth.
When sampling locations are not well distributed, extrapolation is
required.
(ii) Need to simplify fracture patterns and / or restrict the range of
fracture transmissivity modelled to simulate large-scale region.
65
This methodology is applied in advanced countries for identification of sites to

dispose nuclear wastes. Models based on DFN approach are computationally
complicated. To date, applications are only to the oil industry, mining industry and
nuclear waste disposal sites.
2.7 Stochastic Continuum Approach
The stochastic continuum theory treats the parameter heterogeneity in the context of
a statistical (probabilistic) framework. It is usually assumed that an effective
hydraulic conductivity tensor K exists on some averaging scales, and that it forms a
continuous random tensor field i.e.,
Ks = Ks(x) -- (10)
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The assumed hydraulic conductivity field Ks(x) is described by the expected value,
the variance and the co-variance function, but possibly by trends. The following
steps are involved in SC approach:
(i) Estimate the population statistics i.e., expected value, variance and
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co-variance.
(ii) Divide the flow domain in to blocks.
(iii) Generate multiple realisation of the conductivity field
(iv) Solve the flow problem for each realisation.
(v) Carry out statistical analysis of the results from the simulations.
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Normally the conductivity is transformed so that the resulting value field will satisfy
the theory of Regionalised Variables i.e., stationarity and Gaussian behaviour. In
general, it is assumed that Ks is locally isotropic at each point in the log-conductivity
field is a statistically stationary one.
Z (x) = ln (K(x )) .. (11)

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The hypothesis of a multivariate normal distribution Z implies that the entire statistical
structure of the stationary Z(x) is completely defined with the aid of and ij = Cz(xi xj)
Where, denotes the mean and Cz the two point co-variance. Thus, we may write
Z (x) = ln(k(x)) (N (,,z (or Iz)) (12)
Where, N ( ) denotes normal (Gaussian) distribution.
2.8. Advantages of SC Model
(i) An extensive theory and statistical procedure for analysis.

(ii) Ability to model site scale regions.
66
(iii) The possibility of conditional simulation.

(iv) A tendency to produce more structure than a purely random field.
2.9. Disadvantages of SC Model
(i) Simplistic structure of the conductivity field produced by these

models.
(ii) Inability to model discrete, heterogeneous connection.
(iii) Uncertain relation of model parameters to the varying support
scales owing to the differing influence of radii when performing
pumping tests.
A major problem with numerical simulation using stochastic continuum-approach is

that of framing representative model blocks in which the heterogeneous equivalent
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conductivity is spatially varying parameters for which spatial conductivity is defined
in geostatistical terms. This problem is particularly relevant to hard rocks, where the
amount of test data is by far too small to the size of the regional flow domain to be
modelled. It is, therefore, proposed to use DFN model to characterise the discrete
fractures and use this as an input to stochastic continuum model to simulate regional
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flow
3. NUMERICAL SOLUTION METHODS
Though analytical methods provide error free solution, it is applied only to

simplified flow conditions with regard to the physical and geometrical aspects of the
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aquifer system. Therefore, one has to resort to numerical methods. Groundwater

modellers are using both finite difference (FD) approximation and finite element
(FE) techniques to solve groundwater flow equation. Computationally, FD is easier
than the FE method. Since the flow problem is heterogeneous in fractured rock, it is
preferred to use FE technique.
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4. PROCEDURE (STEP-WISE) FOR MODELLING DISCRETE

FRACTURE NETWORK
(i) Preliminary geological and geophysical investigations for

selection of suitable sites.
(ii) Geological assessment [scan surveys on outcrops, borehole
logging (fluid logs, formation logs, calliper, CCTV, ideally
acoustic televiewer), surface geophysics, coring and trenching].
(iii) Selection of an appropriate conceptual model for discrete-fracture
network geometry.
(iv) Testing (core material / trench material, pumping tests, packer
tests and tracer tests).
67
(v) Derivation of statistics for fracture properties from site

characterisation data to conceptualise a preliminary DFN model
for the rock mass.
(vi) Constant (pressure) head packer tests will be analysed using
fractional dimensional methods to estimate effective
transmissivities and flow dimension for the packer test intervals.
(vii) Discrete fracture data on orientation, size, shape, and location
along with hydrologic data will be used to evolve preliminary
conceptual model for the conductive fractures at the site.
(viii) The variability of fracture properties will be expressed by
probability distributions.
(ix) The preliminary conceptual model will be used to simulate 3-
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dimensional population of conductive fractures in a cube of rock.
(x) Transient packer tests will be simulated in these fracture
populations, and the simulated results will be used to validate the
preliminary conceptual model.
(xi) The calibrated model will, then, be used to estimate the
components of effective conductivity tensors for the rock by
an
simulating steady state groundwater flow through cubes in three
orthogonal directions.
(xii) Monte Carlo stochastic simulations will be performed for
alternative realisations of the conceptual model.
(xiii) Adaptation of software for discrete fracture network (DFN) flow
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model (FracMan or NapSac or Frac3dvs) based on observable,

geometric, and hydrologic characteristic of the fracture population,
that can be used to predict groundwater flow through fractures of
the crystalline rock. (Fig. 6)
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Fig. 6: Oblique view of fractures generated in a 5m cube at Helsby using

NAPSAC computer code (after Allex Bond)
68
5 DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR DISCRETE FRACTURE NETWORK

MODEL
Due to fundamental limitations of site characterisation technology, the data needed

to model the exact geometry and property is limited to a few boreholes and outcrops.
Although a few major conductive features can perhaps be identified within the rock
mass by geophysical methods such as borehole radar, skin depth effects and
interference limit the resolution of these techniques. Since the locations and
properties of most of the fractures in the rock cannot be measured by any available
means, an approach is needed that is based on some form of statistical
characterisation of the fractured population. The following data are required to
characterise the discrete fractures through the DFN model.
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Fracture Property Data Source
1. Orientation Lineament and Fracture Maps,

Core Logs
2. Conductive Fracture Intensity Core Logs and Packer Tests
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3. Location Lineament and Fracture Maps
4. Size Lineament and Fracture Maps
5. Shape Fracture Maps, Generic
Information
6. Transmissivity Steady and Transient Packer
Test Data
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7. Dimensionality Transient Packer Test Data

8. Storativity Transient Packer Test Data and
Generic Information
9. Transmissivity Variability Generic Information
5.1 Information Needed for SC Modelling

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(i) The minimal scale [the representative volume (REV)] if any, on which the
rock mass can be said to behave as an equivalent porous medium.
(ii) The variability of (average) rock mass effective hydraulic conductivity (K).
(iii) The variability of anisotropy, expressed in terms of the ratios of the
principal components of the (presumed) hydraulic conductivity tensor (Kx,
Ky and Kz) to the average hydraulic conductivity K.
(iv) The form of spatial correlation of rock mass conductivity that results from
fracture network effects.
(v) The relationship between apparent hydraulic conductivities measured by
borehole testing and the effective hydraulic conductivities of the rock mass
on the scale of blocks used in SC modelling.
69
5.2 Information Needed for CN Modelling
(i) The spatial intensity of channel (number per unit volume) as a function of
channel length and channel conductivity, based upon the observable
geometric characteristics of the fracture population.
(ii) The interconnectivity of flow channels (number of intersection with other
channels per unit length of channel) in three dimensions.
The spatial intensity of channels can be estimated directly from packer test data, but
DFN models may provide independent ways for deducing the same data.
All fracture properties can be viewed as stochastic variables, the variability of which
is characterised in terms of probability distributions. Because the quantity of data is
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limited, and because a finite degree of error is associated with any single data
measurement, the estimated forms and parameters of probability distributions for
fracture properties have an associated uncertainty.
5.3 Variability and Uncertainty

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The variability and uncertainty are inherent in modelling a heterogeneous system.
Variability in the model arises from the heterogeneity of the system. In the case of a
DFN Model, variability is expressed in terms of probability distribution for fracture
properties (orientation, transmissivity etc.), the forms and parameters of which can
be estimated from field data.
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Uncertainty in a model of the heterogeneous system exists whether the simulations

are based on a SC, CN or DFN approach. The uncertainty arises from problems
inherent to data collection, such as sample size, sampling bias, sampling accuracy
and analysis limitations.
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6. CONCLUSIONS
Assessment of the dynamic potential of groundwater resources through

mathematical modelling (discrete fractured network modelling) in a hard rock
region will be the first of its kind in this country.
The combined DFN and SC Model will be a potential tool to get answer for
(i) Borehole optimisation orientation, location pumping regime, artificial

recharge, etc.
(ii) Yield estimation from a single borehole and / or a sub-basin
(iii) Contaminant prediction
70
It is suggested to establish a National facility to carry out research work on

Characterisation of Fracture geometry and Modelling of Fracture aquifer system.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Director, NGRI is thanked for his keen interest in this topic and according
permission to present this paper. Prof. Rae Mackay, Dr. John Tellam, Alex Bond of
The School of Earth Sciences, University of Birmingham, U.K. and Dr. A. Mark
Jones of Golder Associates Inc. (U.K. Ltd.), Nottingham are thanked for their
personal interaction and providing technical information on the above subject when
the author visited U.K. during July, 1999.
REFERENCES:
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Alex Bond, 1998. "A preliminary investigation in to the effects of fracturing and
fluids in the Triassic sandstone of the North Chestire basin". Unpublished M.Sc.
Thesis of School of Earth Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK, p. 118.
Anderson M.P. and William W. Woessner, (1991). "Applied groundwater
modelling: Simulation of flow and advective transport". Academic Press, London,
an
New York, P.381.
Baecher, G.B., Lanncy, N.A. and Einstein, H.H., (1977). "Structural description of
rock properties and sampling". Proc. of 18th U.S. Symp. On Rock Mechanics,
American Instt. of Mining Engineers, 5C1-8.
Barker, J., (1988). "A generalised radial flow model for hydrologic tests in fractured
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rock". Water Resources Research, Vol.24, pp. 1796-1804.

Barrenblatt, G.I., Zheltov Iu, P., Kochina, I.N., (1960). "Basic concepts in the theory
of seepage of homogeneous liquids in fissured rocks", PPM, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 853-
864.
Bingham, C., (1964). "Distribution on the sphere and on the projective plane".
Ph.D. Dissertation, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.
L.
Cacas, M.C., Ledoux, E., De Marsily, G. and Tillie, B., (1990). "Modelling fracture
flow with stochastic discrete fracture network: calibration and validation-" (1) The
flow model. Water Resources Research, Vol. 26, pp. 479-489.
Dershowitz, W.S., (1979). "Probabilistic model for the deformability of jointed rock
masses". M.Sc. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
Dershowitz, W.S., Herbert, A. and Long, J., (1989). "Fracture flow code cross
verification plan". Stripa Project Technical Report SKB 89-02, Stockholm.
Dershowitz, W.S., Lee, G., Geier, J., Foxford, T., Laponte, P. and Thomas, A.,
(1995). Fracman: "Interactive Discrete Fracture Data Analysis, Geometric
Modelling, and Exploration Simulation", User Documentation. Golder Associates
Inc., Redmond, WA.
71
Deutch, C.V. and Journal, A.G. , 1992. "Geostatistical Software Library and Users
Guide", Oxford University Press, 340p
Geier, J.E. and Axelsson, C.L., (1991). "Discrete fracture modelling of Finnsjon
rock mass; Phase I: Feasibility Study". Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste
Management Co., Technical Report No. SKB 91-13, Stockholm.
Gingarten, A.C., (1982). "Flow test evaluation of fractured reservoirs", Geol. Soc.
of America, Special Paper 189, pp. 237-263.
Hugakorn, P.S., Lester B.H. and Faust, C.R., (1983). "Finite element techniques for
modelling groundwater flow in fractured aquifers". Water Resources Research, Vol.
19, No. 4, pp. 1019-1031.
Lee C. and Farmer, I., (1993). "Fluid flow in discontinuous rocks". Published by
Chapman and Hall, London & New York, P.169.
go
Long, J.C.S., Gilmour, P.S. and Witherspoon, P.A., (1985). "A model for steady
state flow in random 3-dimensional network of disc-shaped fractures". Water
Resources Research, Vol. 21, pp. 1105-1115.
Mark A. Jones, Alec B. Pringle, Iain M. Fulton and Shane ONeill, (1999).
"Discrete fracture network modelling applied to groundwater resource exploitation
in Southwest Ireland". Fractures, Fluid flow and Mineralization. Geological Society,
an
London, Special Publications 155, pp. 83-103.
Osnes, J.D., A. Winberg, and J. Anderson, (1988). "Analysis of Well Test data
Application of Probabilistic Models to infer Hydraulic Properties of Fractures",
Topical Report RSI 0338, RE/SPEC Inc., Rapid City, South Dakota.
Radhakrishna, B.P., (1970). "Problems confronting the occurrence of groundwater
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in Hard Rocks", Proceedings of seminar on Groundwater potential in Hard Rocks of

India, Bangalore, pp.27-44.
Terzaghi, R., (1965). "Sources of error in joint surveys". Geotechnique, Vol.15, pp.
287-304.
Tsang, Y.W., and C.F. Tsang, (1987). "Channel Model of flow through fracture
media", Water Resources Research, Vol. 23 (3), pp. 467-479.
L.
UNESCO, (1999) "Water Resources of hard rock aquifers in arid and semi-arid
zones", edited by J.W. Lloyd.
72
Aquifer Flow Modelling by Numerical Simulation in

Mahi Right Bank Canal Command Area, Gujarat, India.
A.K. Rastogi
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Abstract
The study area of Mahi Right Bank Canal Command (MRBC) is situated in
Kheda Dist. Gujarat State. The aquifer region covers an area of 2952 square
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kilometer and is bounded by rivers Mahi and Shedi on the northern, eastern
and southern boundaries, and Alang Drain on the western boundary. In the
present study groundwater flow behaviour in the water table aquifer was
simulated over a period of two specific years (June 84 to May 85 and June 91
to May 92) based upon the available information. During this time span
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recharge to the aquifer from various sources involving rainfall, canal
seepage, irrigation return flow and discharge due to evapotranspiration,
pumping withdrawals and outflow from the region were considered. Using
the technique of recharge distribution coefficient finite element solutions in
terms of aquifer heads were obtained for the entire flow domain. A close
agreement was noted between the observed groundwater head contours and
the simulated contours for the period of May 1985 and May 1992
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respectively. The average rise of water table observed for the two years
1984-85 and 1991-92 was 1.732m and 2.241m respectively which compared
favourably with the simulated rise of water table of 1.815m and 2.163m
respectively for the corresponding years.
Keywords: Aquifer, Modelling, Finite element, Recharge distribution,
Water table
1. INTRODUCTION
With a phenomenal increase in the use of groundwater in recent years, the need has
arisen for a better understanding of the aquifer head behaviour in response to
recharge and pumping withdrawals from the system. This is essential for a
sustainable development of the groundwater reservoirs. The available analytical
solutions derived on the basis of certain assumptions are restrictive in use, in as
73
much as the real systems are quite complex in the geometry and the stresses imposed
on the system vary widely in space and time. Consequently groundwater flow
modelling plays an important role, particularly, in simulating the head behaviour in
large aquifer systems, and is an important tool for groundwater systems planning
and management. This has ensured harmless and timely supply of water to meet the
ever increasing irrigation, industrial and municipal demand of water in many parts
of the world which rely on groundwater based supply schemes. In an aquifer host of
parameters cause dynamic stresses in the system which influence the groundwater
head which is an important state variable in the flow domain. Recharge from the
rainfall, return flow from the cultivated areas irrigated by canal water and tube wells,
seepage losses from tanks and canals, river discharge and recharge, inflows and
outflows from the flow domains and evapo transpiration loss continuously interact
with the aquifer and cause changes in the ground water tables. Normally it is very
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difficult to exactly quantify the net recharge into an aquifer because except for
pumping and evapo transpiration losses, the other contributions to the aquifer as
mentioned above can not be estimated with exactness. Presently the value for these
parameters is worked out based upon the recommendations of the Ground Water
Recharge Estimation Committee (1984) and Indian Agricultural Research Institute
(1983). These values are given by national experts after considerable research
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experiments in various types of aquifer conditions.
Presently a groundwater flow model involving finite element method (FEM) is

developed for a field problem. Mahi Right Bank Canal (MRBC) command area
situated in Kheda and Anand districts, Gujarat state, India is chosen for the present
study.
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2. THE STUDY AREA
The present study region of MRBC command area (Fig. 1) covers an area of 2997
sq. km and is bounded by Shedi river in the north, Mahi river in the east and south
and Alang drain in west direction. The MRBC command area lies between north
latitudes 220 26- 22055 and east longitudes 720 49- 730 23 and covers seven taluks
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namely Thasra, Anand, Cambay, Nadiad, Petlad, Borsad and Matar. The climate of
the area is arid to semi arid with an average rainfall of 823 mm. About 96% of
rainfall occurs in the monsoon season (June-Sept) and there is substantial variation
in the monthly and annual rainfall.
Detailed field investigations of the region were carried out by the Gujarat Water
Resources Development Corporation (GWRDC), Gujarat state. Lithological cross
sections of selected regions of the area have indicated the presence of a main water
table aquifer consisting mostly of a mixture of gravel and sand which exhibits a
large variation in the conductance properties. The transmissivity values range from
196 to 6830 m2/d with the highest values occurring in the eastern part of the aquifer.
These values in general also tend to increase from north to south. The applicable
value of specific yield within the aquifer region is 0.15.
74
INDIA
MRBC COMMAND AREA
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LOCATION
MAP OF
STUDY AREA
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Fig. 1: Location of study area
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Analysis of water table maps of the past few years suggested that the recharge to the
aquifer from rainfall, canal seepage, and irrigation return flows exceeds the
groundwater withdrawals from the region resulting in a steady rise of water table.
For simulation purposes net annual recharge values over the area were considered.
However, spatial distribution of the net recharge over the region is influenced by
different surface runoff rates, changing evaporation and evapo transpiration rates
due to varying soil texture, vegetation cover and urban development. The values of
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recharge from various sources are worked out presently using the norms given by
Ground Water Recharge Estimation Committee (1984) and the Indian Agricultural
Research Institute (1983). These are presented in Table 1 for the year June 84-
May85 and 91-92 respectively. The concept of recharge distribution coefficient
(Sondhi et el 1989) is used presently to apply the appropriate recharge to various
nodal sub-domains. This has been considered a better way of distributing the
recharge adequately in the large aquifer systems.
The important steps involved in the computation of recharge distribution coefficients

(Rd) are:
Obtain the groundwater head contours of the flow domain for two successive
years N and N+1 from the field observations.
75
Compute the difference of nodal heads between N and N+1 year, which gives
the annual water table rise at a node due to the net nodal recharge.
Multiply the above difference with the nodal area of influence and the specific
yield, which gives the applicable annual nodal recharge (AANR) at the node.
Compute the average annual nodal recharge (ANR) at the node by dividing the
net recharge in the flow domain by the total flow domain area and multiplied by
the nodal area.
Ratio of applicable annual nodal recharge to the average annual nodal recharge
at the node gives the recharge distribution coefficient (Rd) value for the nodal
AANR
area of the flow domain Rd = .
ANR
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It is also assumed that in the present model the average annual inflow is almost
insignificant (zero) compared to average annual outflow across the boundaries,
which is computed by subtracting pumping withdrawals and aquifer storage from
the net annual recharge. The no inflow assumption is justified in view of a
an
continuously rising trend of the water level in the MRBC region over the past
several years which suggests the only possibility of aquifer storage and outflows.
3. FINITE ELEMENT MODEL

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The general governing equation for the groundwater flow in the MRBC command
area can be given as
h h h
K x (h ) + K y (h ) + R = S y (1)
x x y y t
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where
h (x, y, t) is the hydraulic head (m),
Sy is the specific yield,
Kx and Ky are the hydraulic conductivity values (m/d) in the principal axes direction,
(x,y) is the elevation of aquifer bottom (m),
and R (x,y,t) is the net nodal recharge (m/d).
The initial and boundary conditions for the problem are given as,
h (x,y,0) = H (x,y) for all x,y (2)

h (x,y,t) = HR (x,y,t) for all x,y 1 (3)
76
where, H is the initial groundwater head (m) in the aquifer domain and HR is the
known head (m) along the Alang drain and the river boundaries 1.
The solution of the above governing equation (1) is obtained by Galerkin's finite
element approach for which detailed formulation is presented. The study area is
divided into 171 nodes with 294 triangular elements (Fig. 2).
SHEDI RIVER
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ER
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AIN
MAH
DR
LA NG
O Observation wells
A
No. of Nodes: 171,

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No. of elements: 294
Fig. 2: Finite element grid
Aquifer properties and applicable net recharge are assigned to each element of the
domain. The resulting system of linear equations can be finally written in the matrix
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form as,
1
[G ] + [P ] h L
t
{
t + t
=
1
t
}
[P ] h tL + { } { FL } (4)
where [G] is the conductance matrix containing hydraulic conductivity terms, [P] is
the storage matrix with specific yield terms, t is the size of timestep, vector {FL} is
the net flux at node L, {ht+t} is the unknown head vector and {ht} is the known head
vector at time t. The solution is then carried out iteratively and during each timestep
size of one day the right hand side known vector and the conductance matrix is
updated with the latest head values to take care of the transient nature of the
problem.
77
Using June 1991 initial water levels the FEM model was run for one year and the
head distribution at the end of a year using applicable recharge values was
computed. The observed head contours of May 1992 are in good agreement with the
computed head contours. The groundwater head values varies from 55 m in the
Northeast to 5 m in the South. Further, analysis of the results show that for a large
area within the flow domain the difference in simulated and observed heads is not
large. It is observed that in over 97% MRBC command area the difference in model
and observed head values does not exceed 2 m and in about 70.% area this reduces
further within 1 m (Table 2).
Table 2. Percent area covered by various ranges of difference

in the simulated and the observed head distribution
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Difference in the simulated and observed head (m)
Year < 0.5 0.5-1.0 1.0-1.5 1.5-2.0 2.0-2.5 2.5-3.0
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
May 92 35.04% 37.64% 12.8% 11.97% 1.7% 0.85%
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May 85 30.77% 43.59% 17.95% 6.84% 0.85% 0.00%
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The head contours (Fig. 3) show the comparison between observed and computed
head values within the MRBC flow domain. Further, defining the average water
table rise
171
nodal area x rise of water table at that node
= Total area of the flow domain
,
1
it was found that the computed average water table rise in the region exhibits a close
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agreement with the average observed water table rise (Table 3) for both the
simulation years.
Table 3. Average water table rise in the MRBC flow domain

Water table rise in m
May 1985 May 1992
Numerically Computed
1.815
2.163
From field observation
1.732
2.241
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Computed Head
- - - -Observed Head
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Fig. 3: Regional groundwater head
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4. CONCLUSION
A finite element model simulating water table aquifer in the Mahi Right Bank Canal
Command area was developed using the concept of recharge distribution coefficient.
Available data constrained the model for simulation periods of 1984-85 and 1991-92
respectively. Agreement between the simulated and observed head distribution in
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the area indicated the validity of the model. The average rise of water table observed
for the two years 1984-85 and 1991-92 was 1.732m and 2.241m respectively which
compared favourably with the simulated rise of water table of 1.815m and 2.163m
respectively for the corresponding years. The dominant groundwater flow direction
in the region remained almost the same (southwest) throughout the study period
despite variation in the dynamic stresses on the aquifer system. Velocity magnitudes
and fluxes were highest in the eastern part of the aquifer indicating it to be the most
favourable region for further groundwater development. However, a continuous rise
of water table recommends increased utilization of ground water to avoid situations
of water logging in the area.
79
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Help of Groundwater Resources and Development Corporation Gandhinagar,

Gujarat and MIC Nadiad is thankfully acknowledged for securing the required field
data.
REFERENCES:
"Ground Water Recharge Estimation Committee Report" (1984) Ministry of

Irrigation, Ground Water Estimation Methodology, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
Indian Agriculture Research Bulletin 42 (1983) Water Technology Centre, New
Delhi. Indian Agriculture Research Institute, "Resource analysis and plan for
efficient water management". A case study of Mahi Right Bank Canal Command
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Area, Gujarat.
Sondhi S K, Rao N H and Sarma P B S (1989) "Assessment of ground water
potential for conjuctive water use in a large irrigation project in India". Journal of
Hydrology 107:283-295
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El
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80
Mathematical Modelling of Chennai Area

Aquifer System
R.Ravi , P.N.Ballukraya and M.Thangarajan
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Abstract
Infiltration of surface water is the main mode of recharge to the shallow groundwater system
of the Chennai city area and thus plays a major role in the sustained development of
groundwater resources in shallow aquifers. Recharge to the deeper (lower) aquifer is mainly
through leakage from the overlying unconfined aquifer. A two layer aquifer system was
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conceptualised by consolidating all the available geohydrological data in the area of study.
Lateral boundary demarcation was done based on the information gained from boreholes
drilled in the area. The model was constructed and calibrated in two stages viz. steady state
flow and transient state flow conditions. During model calibration, field values of hydraulic
conductivity and storage coefficient were appropriately modified to achieve a better match
between computed and observed groundwater levels. The computed well hydrographs were
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found to be matching reasonably well with the field hydrographs. The modelling study helped
in characterizing the two-layer aquifer system.
Keywords: Modelling, Multiple Aquifer System.
1. INTRODUCTION
The objective of the present modelling exercise is to realize the optimum levels of
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utilization of groundwater as well as to characterize the aquifer system of the Chennai city
area (East Cooum Basin), approximately 500 sq.km (Fig.1), through mathematical
modelling. The computer software used for this purpose is the USGS-MODFLOW. Water
levels for the upper (top) unconfined aquifer were monitored from January 1992 by
establishing 101 monitoring wells in equally spaced grid pattern. Post- and pre-recharge
levels recorded during the years 1992, 1993 & 1994 in addition to monthly water levels
recorded in 26 wells during the period April 1994 to June 1995 have been used as historic
data to calibrate the mathematical model developed for the study area. In the case of lower
aquifer, only a few field observations were available and with these as the data base, a
two-layer aquifer system
81
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El
L.
was conceptualized and an attempt made to understand the complex hydrodynamics of

the flow regime using the above said software
2. HYDROGEOLOGICAL SETTING
There are two principal aquifers in the study area, both of which are generally fresh
water bearing, except a small part of the lower aquifer in the east near the sea coast
(sea water intrusion)(Ballukraya and Ravi, 1998) as well as a few isolated pockets
of highly brackish groundwater in the west. Both the upper (top) and the lower
(bottom) aquifers are mainly made up of medium sand/clayey sand of alluvial origin
deposited during Pleistocene/Recent period (Ballukraya and Ravi, 1995). The
thickness of sand/clayey sand horizon of the upper aquifer ranges from 2 to 30
82
metres. The saturated thickness is variable and dependant upon recharge from
rainfall infiltration. The nature of response during controlled aquifer testing
indicates that this unit is an unconfined or water-table aquifer. Hydraulic
conductivity in the upper aquifer ranges from 6 to 150 m/day. These are based on
the values obtained from a limited number of pumping tests carried out in some
parts of the study area. The storativity (specific yield) calculated from the laboratory
tests for this unit ranges from 0.18 to 0.25 (unconfined). Considering the fact that
the aquifer samples collected from drill cuttings are not truly representative of in
situ conditions, most of the clay and silt in it having been washed away during
sample collection, the specific yield is likely to be over-estimated. Recharge to the
unconfined aquifer is predominantly from the infiltration of rain water. The
discharge from the aquifer is through pumping from the dugwells/shallow borewells
for domestic and industrial needs in the east and for irrigation in the west. The land
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use pattern of the area as observed in the field is classified as urban, semiurban,
agricultural and underdeveloped (Fig.2). The Total groundwater abstraction from
blocks of one square km area in each of these land cover types has been calculated
to be approximately 1080 m3/day; 270 m3/day; 2000 m3/day and 50 m3/day
respectively.
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Fig. 2: Land use pattern and discharge in metre per day steady state condition
The lower aquifer is also made up of predominantly medium grained sand/clayey

sand with a thickness of 1 to 43m. The hydraulic conductivity and storativity of this
aquifer as determined from the pumping tests are in the range of 5 to 150 m/d and
0.05 to 0.0002 respectively. The time-drawdown curves of these tests indicate a
semi-confined flow condition. Very little field data is available as to the piezometric
head of the second aquifer since the borewells tested tapped both the upper as well
as lower aquifers, hence independent heads for the lower aquifer is not available.
However it has been assumed that it is five to six metres lower than that of the upper
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aquifer based on a few field measurements. The hydraulic conductivity and

storativity assumed for this model is 6 to 100 m/d and 0.0002 to 0.0005
respectively. Below the second aquifer compact clay/shales of Gondwana age in the
west and clays/crystallines in the east and south form the basement. The upper and
lower aquifers are separated by a clay/sandy clay aquitard with a thickness of 1 to 27
metres and forming a semi-confining/leaky layer. The hydraulic conductivity and
storativity assumed for this layer is 0.1 to 5m/day and 0.001 respectively. The locations
in which aquifer parameters are available are given in figure 1.
3. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF GROUNDWATER MODELLING
Groundwater modelling is concerned with the behaviour of subsurface systems. The

models are simplified representations of these subsurface systems (aquifers). Modelling,
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therefore, may be considered as an exercise in system analysis whereby theories
concerning the behavior of groundwater systems are organised into models and used for
their predictive capabilities.
A groundwater system is composed of interacting parts. While recognising the different

components of the system and their functions, the ultimate concern of modelling is with the
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operation of the groundwater system as a whole in relation to its surrounding environment.
Models integrate fragmented knowledge of the system's components and develop a
comprehensive conception of the entire system. Some degree of simplicity or assumptions
are required in modelling to represent or simulate groundwater systems. Approximations
are factored into the analysis via the assumptions incorporated into the model after
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considering (1) the purpose of model, (2) the available computer code and (3) the database
to be used in developing and testing the model. Although a model by design may be less
complex than the real system it represents, over-simplifying a system is not always
justified. Complete and comprehensive data is normally lacking for any specific
groundwater system and the gap between data needs and availability increases with the
complexity of the groundwater regime (Thangarajan et al., 1991). The effective application
of models to field problems requires the ability to fill the data gaps with estimated,
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interpolated or extrapolated values. Considerable scientific judgement of a subjective or

intuitive nature is often necessary for any degree of success in modelling. Attempts on
modelling without a measure of experienced judgement could prove to be
counter-productive.
4. MODELLING OF GROUNDWATER SYSTEMS
The groundwater modelling procedure involves an appropriate discretization of the

aquifer in space and time. The partial differential equation describing groundwater flow
in three dimensions in a porous media of constant density can be described as (Rushton
and Redshaw, 1979)
/x (Kxx h/x) + /y(Kyy h/y) +/z(Kzz h/z)
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= W +Ss h/t (1)

where
Kxx, Kyy & Kzz are the hydraulic conductivity along x,y and z co-ordinates which are
assumed to be parallel to the major axes of hydraulic conductivity (LT -1)
h is the potentiometer head (L)
W volumetric flux per unit volume and represents source and/or sinks of water (T -1)
Ss is the specific storage of porous material (L-1)
t is the time (T)
Equation (1) describes groundwater flow under non-equilibrium condition in a

heterogeneous and anisotropic medium, provided the principal axes of hydraulic
conductivity are aligned with the x-y cartesian co-ordinate axis. The ground water flow
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equation together with specification of flow and/or initial head conditions at the
boundaries constitute a mathematical representation of the aquifer system. The
groundwater flow equation (1) can be solved either using analytical or numerical
techniques. Though analytical solutions are exact, they can be only applied to idealistic
conditions and not for complex field problems. Therefore various numerical methods
have been employed to obtain approximate solutions.
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Finite Difference Method is one such approach wherein the continuous system
described by equation 1 is replaced by a finite set of discrete points in space and time,
and the partial derivatives are replaced by terms calculated from differences in head
values at these points. The process leads to systems of simultaneous linear algebraic
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difference equations and their solution yield values of head at specific points and time.
These values constitute an approximation of the time-varying head distribution that
would be given by an analytical solution of the partial differential flow equation.
A computer software MODFLOW developed by the United States Geological Survey

(USGS, 1988) was used for the present study. A pre and post processor viz. visual
MODFLOW v. 2.00 developed by Guigner and Franz of Waterloo Hydrologic Software
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Inc., Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (1996) was used for the graphical inputting of the data
and for analysis and presentation of the output data. MODFLOW can be used to
simulate groundwater flow in two or three dimensions. Groundwater flow within the
aquifer is simulated using a block centered finite difference approach. Multilayers can
be simulated as confined, unconfined or combination of both. The flows associated with
external stresses, such as wells, aerial recharge, evapo-transpiration, lakes with surface
water, drains and rivers can be simulated through this computer code. The finite
difference equation can be solved using either strongly implicit procedure (SIP) or WHS
solver, developed by the Waterloo Hydrogeologic Group. The WHS solver uses a
Bi-conjugate gradient stabilised (Bi-CGSTAB) acceleration routine implemented with
some incomplete decomposition for pre-conditioning of the groundwater flow partial
differential flow equations. This solver, as all iterative solvers, approaches the solution
of a large set of partial differential equations iteratively through an approximate
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solution. Successive Over Relaxation (SOR) method is also available for solving the
finite difference equations. WHS solver was used for the present study.
5. MODEL DESIGN
Chennai city aquifer system was conceptualised as a two-layer aquifer system separated
by an aquitard layer. The study area was divided into 508 square grids of 1000m by
1000m with grid interval of 1000m in each layer. The grid map of the study is shown in
figure 1. The grid interval was chosen based on the availability of data and information
required for the model. The following boundary conditions and initial conditions were
used.
1. The surface elevation, bottom of the upper aquifer, bottom of the aquitard, bottom
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of the lower aquifer, in metres, with reference to mean sea level ranges between 2
and 40; -12 and 26; -21 and 15 and -33 and 5 respectively. Similarly the thickness
of upper aquifer, aquitard and lower aquifer varies from 2 to 30m; 1 to 27m and 1
to 39m respectively.
2. The western boundary of the upper (unconfined) and lower (semi/leaky confined)
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aquifers were taken as subsurface inflow boundary. The quantum of inflow was
estimated at 9000 m3/day received in both top and bottom aquifer respectively
(steady state). The quantum of inflow was calculated based on the transmissivity
values and hydraulic gradient. Layer two (clay/sandy clay) is taken as aquitard. The
north and south boundaries were treated as no flow boundaries as the flow is
predominantly in eastern direction in both the aquifers.
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3. The subsurface outflow towards the sea along the sea coast in the east was
simulated as time-varying fixed outflow of 29,218 m3/day in both top and bottom
aquifers (steady state). The time-varying head was fixed based on water level data
from wells along the coast which ranges from -0.5 to -3m (I layer); -1.5 to -6m (II
layer) and -2 to -6.5m (III layer).
4. For the upper aquifer, aerial recharge was assumed to be 15% of the annual rainfall
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on an average and the discharge (aerial; Fig. 2) assigned in the model ranges from
0 to 0.006 m/day and 0.00005 to 0.0015 m/day per unit area respectively. The
discharge for the lower aquifer, assigned in wells is 2000 m3/day in the agricultural
area (west) and 1500 m3/day in other areas.
5. The transverse flow between the aquifers were calculated in the model by making
use of differential heads between the top and the bottom aquifer and the
intervening aquitard permeability and thickness.
6. The aquifer parameters K and S were assigned zone-wise for each layer. The
storativity assigned for the aquitard is 0.001.
7. In general one tenth of the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer/aquitard is
assigned as vertical hydraulic conductivity in this model. However, in some places
it is assigned with different values.
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8. The porosity of upper and lower aquifer is taken as 0.2 and for the aquitard it is
taken as 0.3. Specific storage is taken as one tenth of storativity for all three layers
(i.e. upper & lower aquifers and aquitard).
9. The initial water levels for the model were taken as that of January 1992.
10. The abstraction from the wells/borewells were calculated based on field estimates.
11. Yearly input and output quantities were used in the present model.
6. MODEL CALIBRATION
The main method of testing the accuracy of a groundwater flow model is to simulate
historical water level conditions and compare the computed values with the values
measured in the field. This process is known as calibration. The model was calibrated in
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two stages viz., for a steady state condition and a transient condition.
6.1 Steady State Calibration
The aquifer condition of January 1992 was assumed to be the initial condition for the
calibration of steady state model. The model calibration was started with the assumption
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that the aquifer was in a steady state condition (actually it is not so). The difference
between the computed hydraulic heads and the field data were progressively minimised for
each observation point. A number of trial runs were made by varying the hydraulic
conductivity values of the upper and lower aquifers so that the root mean square (RMS)
error was kept below 1.73m and mean error was kept below 0.7m. The calculated heads
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for the upper aquifer are shown in figure 3 along with observed water levels.
This figure indicates that there is a fairly good agreement between the calculated and
observed water levels in most of the wells. The aerial abstraction from upper aquifer
assigned under steady state conditions are 1. urban area - 0.0006 m/day 2. semi urban area
- 0.00025 m/day, 3. agriculture area - 0.00078 m/day and 4. underdeveloped area -
0.00005 m/day (Fig.2). The rainfall recharge assigned under steady state condition for area
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I, II, III, IV & V are 0.0007 m/day; 0.00045 m/day; 0.0007 m/day; 0.00022 m/day and
0.00066 m/day respectively. The calibrated zonal storativity (specific yield for first aquifer)
values for the upper and lower aquifers ranges from 0.025 to 0.1 and 0.0002 to 0.0005
respectively. The storativity value for aquitard is 0.001.
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Fig. 3. Computed potentiometric surfaces (Jan. 92)
for upper aquifer (Steady state)
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6.2 Calibration of Transient Flow
The hydraulic conductivity values, boundary conditions and waterlevels arrived through
the steady state model calibration were then used as the initial condition in the
calibration of transient flow model. The above were used along with the storage
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coefficient distribution and variable recharge distribution in space and time. The
transient (dynamic) calibration was carried out for the time period January 1992 to
December 1995. A number of trial runs were made by varying the storage coefficient
and aquitard permeability values in a most appropriate way so that a reasonably good
match is obtained between computed and observed well hydrographs. The computed
heads in the upper and lower aquifers for transient condition, for various time periods,
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show a good agreement with the field values.
The computed well hydrographs for these wells of upper aquifer show a fairly good
agreement with the field values (Fig. 4). The mismatch observed in some of the
observation points are generally attributed to the differences in the initial head
conditions arrived through steady state calibration. The root mean square (RMS) error is
2.22 and mean error is 0.041 for the transient period (1461 days). The high RMS error may
be due to the assumption of water level for the second aquifer as there is no accurate data
for Piezometric levels in the second aquifer. The rainfall recharge of the areas I, III, IV &
V is assigned as 10% for 0-366 days (1992); 20% for 366 to 1096 days (1993 & 1994);
10% for 1096 to 1461 days (1995) and for area II, 75% of that of area I is assigned.
Similarly abstraction for upper aquifer is also assigned suitably for various time steps.
88
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7. THE UNCERTAINITIES IN THE MODEL
Due to either sparse data or no data available in specific instances, some assumptions
and estimates were made during the conceptualisation of the Chennai aquifer system.
Any error associated with these assumptions gets reflected during the model calibration.
The following uncertainities are inherent in the model and have to be verified through
additional field investigations.
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1. The thickness of the upper aquifer in some parts of the city area (small portion in
the south east) is less hence the wells are tapping the second layer (aquitard).
Actual demarcation of boundaries of layers i.e. upper aquifer, aquitard and lower
aquifer is difficult as the lithology of the area is complex or varying at very short
distances.
2. The calibrated hydraulic conductivities assigned for the upper and lower aquifer
are based on sparse data. There is no field data available for the aquitard.
3. The recharge as percentage of rainfall is assigned with only five representative
values based on data from three rainfall station.
4. Only three values of specific yield are assigned for the upper aquifer (as three
zones only).
5. Only two values of storativity are assigned to the lower aquifer (as two zones
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only).
6. There is no accurate water level (piezometric head) data available for the second
aquifer for calibration. Also no field estimation of hydraulic conductivities is
available for the aquitard.
7. The groundwater budget obtained from the model is only 60 to 75 % of the
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values estimated from the field calculations. As per this modelling, the yearly
recharge over the entire area is 124 MCM (1992); 157 MCM (1993); 172 MCM
(1994) and 117 MCM (1995) and the same from the calculations of field data is
166 MCM (1992); 262 MCM (1993); 259 MCM (1994) and 165 MCM (1995).
8. Field data for vertical permeability and porosity of the three layers (two aquifers
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and aquitard) are not available.

9. There is no field data for the inflow in the west and outflow to the sea.
10. Under transient condition, same amount of abstraction is assigned in lower
aquifer (for 0 to 1461 days).
11. The recharge and discharge calculated for the upper aquifer, based on the field
data could be suitably assigned for each node (unlike what has been done now).
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12. As the aquifers are with complex hydrodynamic and hydrologic characteristics,
the zonal assignment of input parameters of the model could be further refined
i.e., each zone should be further divided into smaller zones and appropriate
values should be assigned to make the model best fitting.
8. CONCLUSIONS
The modelling study helped to improve the understanding of the complex

hydrodynamics of the Chennai city aquifer system. The modelling exercise indicates
that there exits a two aquifer system and also that there are vertical leakages from the
first aquifer to the second aquifer. The land use pattern prepared based on field study
and the abstraction calculated in the field play a major role in constructing the model.
River Cooum and Adyar are essentially effluent streams, and this, along with the
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impermeable layer of sediments they have formed on their beds, probably is the reason
why they have not contaminated the groundwater system to significant levels, inspite of
their carrying urban waste for most of the time. The velocity vectors of the first aquifer
brought out by this model show that the flow gradient is essentially eastward though
some local variations do exist. The study also shows that with a normal rainfall/more
number of rainy days (which allows a larger percentage of precipitation to infiltrate)
there may not be undue depletion in groundwater levels and that the water levels
recover to their original elevation after the recharge period. It is observed from the
modelling exercise that when the field data is sparse and/or approximate, a mathematical
model helps in understanding the true field conditions. However when the required field
data is available,the model ascertains the accuracy of the field data.
It needs to be pointed out that the model requires further refining. It could not be done at
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the present stage for various reasons, most important of which being lack of
computer-time. This is reflected in the slightly high RMS errors reported. There is not
much doubt that with further work, a very accurate predictive model could be built
based on the present work.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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The first author gratefully acknowledges the Chief Engineer, State Ground and Surface
Water Resources Data Centre, Water Resources Organisation, Public Works
Department, Chennai for according permission for carrying out this research. The first
author also gratefully acknowledges the Director, National Geophysical Research
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Institute, Hyderabad for permitting to work in the computer laboratory for carrying out
this mathematical modelling exercise.
REFERENCES
Ballukraya, P.N. and Ravi, R. (1995), "Hydrogeology of Madras city aquifers",

Jl. Geol. Soc. of India, Vol. 45, pp. 87- 96.
L.
Ballukraya, P.N. and Ravi, R. (1998), "Natural fresh-water ridge as barrier against sea
water intrusion in Chennai city", Jl. Geol. Soc. of India, Vol. 52, pp. 279 to 286.
Guiger, N. and Franz, T, (1996), "Visual modflow Waterloo Hydrogeological
Software", Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Rushton, K.R. and Redshaw, (1979), "Seepage and Groundwater flow", Mc Graw Hill
Publishing Company, London.
Thangarajan, M., Singh, V.S. and Gupta, C.P. (1991), "Modelling leaky aquifer
systems: A case study", Water Resources Journal, Vol. 170, pp. 90-99.
91
Assessing Groundwater Management Strategies for The

Lower Murray Region, Australia
J.F. Punthakey and S. Joseph
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Abstract
With increasing demand on our natural resources the need for effective
management of our resources is becoming imperative. In semi-arid regions of
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Australia where water resources are limited and in many cases over-allocated,
the need for effective management of groundwater resources is an important
issue. The Lower Murray aquifer system has been designated as a potential
high risk aquifer system both in terms of entitlements and groundwater quality.
A groundwater model was developed for the Lower Murray region so that it
could be used to assist resource managers and the community to better manage
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the groundwater resources of the region. The model comprises three layers
each representing an aquifer corresponding with the Shepparton, Calivil and
Renmark system. This paper presents the results of model development and
calibration and presents preliminary water balances for each layer. The
Murray Region groundwater model will be used as a management tool for the
long term prediction of regional groundwater movement, under varying
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climatic conditions and changing groundwater usage. The model will be used
to estimate groundwater recharge, water level simulations for various
scenarios of groundwater pumping and climatic conditions, and to assess the
sustainable yield for the aquifer system. The model will also be an important
tool for assessing the upper limit for entitlements for the aquifer.
Keywords: Groundwater, Modelling, Resource Management, Recharge.
1. INTRODUCTION
The Murray Region in southern New South Wales, Australia comprises the surface
streams and groundwater system downstream of Corowa to the confluence with the
Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers and covers the whole of the Groundwater
Management Area, GWMA016. The Murray Region also encompasses major
93
irrigation districts including Wakool, Berriquin, Denimein and Cadell. Recharge to

the aquifer systems occurs principally from irrigation and rainfall recharge and in the
eastern parts as leakage from the bed of the Murray River. There are also major
contributions from the Wakool River, Edward Rivers and Billabong Creek, and there
is also significant leakage from major supply channels such as Mulwala Canal. A
limiting factor on the amount of water that can be extracted is the presence of saline
water within the Shepparton Formation overlying the low salinity aquifers. About 70
percent of the Shepparton has salinities in excess of 3000 EC. In addition, salinity of
the groundwater increases progressively in a westerly direction. Since 1971
approximately 90 monitoring bores have been established which penetrate aquifers at
various depths and measurements of pressure levels are undertaken quarterly. There
are also 3500 shallow piezometers which are at depths less than 20 m which are used
to monitor water levels within and outside irrigation districts.
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Groundwater is an important resource for rural and regional communities and for
sustaining rural economies. It is also a vital resource for sustaining vital ecosystems.
As surface water supplies are fully committed, demand for additional irrigation water
has placed greater pressure on limited groundwater resources. At present there are 210
pumping bores used for irrigation, and numerous shallow spear points which pump the
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shallow groundwater in order to control rising water levels. Past estimates of water
available for extraction were around 400,000 ML and recent qualitative studies have
reduced that figure to 140,000 ML (Ross, 1999). Kulatunga (1999) reported that the
total groundwater entitlements for the Lower Murray region up to March 1999 was
329840 ML. At present total entitlements for the Murray region stand at 273,000 ML.
Both groundwater users and the government agree that groundwater is a valuable
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natural resource and should be used in a sustainable way. This means that present use
as well as any further development must be limited to the sustainable yield for the
aquifer system. The development of the Murray Region groundwater model was
undertaken to provide estimates of sustainable yield which could then be used to bring
present entitlements to a level within sustainable yields and to improve management of
the groundwater resource. The objectives of this study were to simulate groundwater
behaviour under varying climatic conditions and changing groundwater usage; to
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estimate net recharge, sustainable yield and water level simulations for various
pumping and climate scenarios; to predict response to groundwater pumping; and to
assist groundwater users and Resource Managers to prepare groundwater
management policies. This paper describes the development and calibration of the
model and presents the results of pumping scenarios.
2. THE LOWER MURRAY GROUNDWATER MODEL
The Lower Murray regional groundwater model covers an area of approximately

17,000 km2 equivalent to 5.7 percent of the Murray geological basin. The model
domain is bounded by Billabong Creek and the Murray River shown in Figure 1.
Both form good boundary conditions for the shallow groundwater system. Although
the aquifers are large in areal extent as they form part of the Murray Basin, both
94
boundaries follow streamlines. The boundary along Billabong creek forms a

common boundary with the Lower Murrumbidgee groundwater model (Punthakey et
al 1996). In the deeper aquifers flow occurs across these boundaries with the flow
from Victoria crossing the southern boundary of GMA016 in a north westerly
direction. Similarly there is flow across the northern boundary flowing into the
Murrumbidgee region. The groundwater model used was MODFLOW and a grid of
2500 x 2500 m was imposed on the model area.
Billabong
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Edwards
i
Wakool
an i
Murray
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Fig. 1: Model grid for the Lower Murray groundwater model.
The model comprises 3 layers and each layer represents a major regional aquifer system,
the Shepparton, Calivil and Renmark. The Shepparton Formation aquifer is most
widespread, and because it essentially forms the land surface it has a major influence on
recharge conditions. It is not a high yielding aquifer however, with relatively low values of
hydraulic conductivity and storage. The Calivil aquifer is exposed at the land surface in
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some areas, notably near the eastern margin of the Basin. It therefore also plays an
important feature in recharge to the regional aquifer system. It commonly has higher values
of hydraulic conductivity than the Shepparton aquifer, and in the basin-margin areas where
the influence of the alluvial fan deposits is present the values are very high. In these areas it
can be the major water yielding part of the aquifer system. The Renmark aquifer is the
deepest of the aquifers, and is nowhere exposed at the land surface. Apart from the alluvial
fan areas, it is the most important of the aquifers, with greater thickness and generally high
values of hydraulic conductivity because of the high proportion of sand and gravel it
contains. Aquifer properties were determined from hydrogeologic database which included
information on drillers logs, depth of bore, location, and limited water quality information.
Water level and piezometric surfaces were generated for each of the layers using
monitoring data. The modelling time frame extended over fifteen years from March 1985
to February 2000 and monthly stress periods with a total of 180 stress periods.
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Monthly Usage Pattern (1975-89)

1000
800
Usage ML/mo
600
400
200
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jul aug sep oct nov dec jan feb mar apr may jun
Fig. 2: Reported monthly usage pattern from 1975 to 1989 (ML/mo)
The transient packages used in the model were recharge, evaporation, river and well.
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Recharge and evaporation were estimated from monthly rainfall records for seven
rainfall stations within the Murray region and estimates of surface irrigation. Soil
descriptions were used to identify zones of high, medium and low recharge and
appropriate factors were applied. Initial estimates were fine tuned during calibration.
For evaporation estimates landuse, critical depth and topography were used to
identify areas where evaporation would occur if the water table in those cells rose
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above specified critical depths. The river package was used to quantify the
interaction between the river and aquifer system. The flow to or from the aquifer is
controlled by the difference in head between the river and the aquifer within a cell
and the conductance of the river bed. Each river was divided into reaches such that
each reach is completely contained within a single cell, and stream-aquifer seepage
is simulated for each reach within that model cell. The model of stream-aquifer
interaction used here assumes the interaction is independent of the location of the
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stream reach within the cell, and the stream level is uniform over the reach and
constant over the stress period. The use of a single conductance term to describe
what is essentially a 3-dimensional flow process is a simplification which requires
adjustment during model calibration. Processors were developed to specify river
stage, bed conductance and river elevations for each river cell.
There were reasonable records of groundwater usage from 1975 to 1989 however
these were generally underestimated due to lack of metered data. Between 1989 and
1999 usage data was minimal due in part to lack of monitoring and loss of data due
to database transition. In order make reasonable estimates of usage a methodology
was devised which was based on the ratio of reported usage to entitlements for each
bore and the historical distribution of monthly usage from 1975 to 1989 shown in
Figure 2. Groundwater usage peaks between November and January during the
irrigation season and is lowest in winter during June and July. In addition during the
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estimation period growth factors were used which approximated the increase in
entitlements which grew from 52,700 ML in 1986 to 296,000 ML in 1999.0 During
the modelling period (1985 to 2000) groundwater pumping from all three layers
increased from 19,700 ML to 98,700 ML and from the deep aquifers (Calivil and
Renmark) increased from 7400 ML to 77,800 ML indicating increased use of
groundwater for irrigation. The major growth in usage from the deeper aquifers
occurred during the past five years from 1995 to 2000.
3. CALIBRATION OF THE LOWER MURRAY GROUNDWATER MODEL
The Lower Murray groundwater flow model was calibrated using observed
potentiometric data from 1985 to 2000. Comparison of contours of observed heads
and modelled heads for the Shepparton, Calivil and Renmark aquifers at the end of
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the simulation period in March 2000 showed the modelled heads matched the
observed head contours closely. The RMS error for each layer was 0.99, 1.12, and
0.98 m for the Shepparton, Calivil and Renmark layers respectively.
The model was also calibrated for the transient response at selected bore sites where
piezometric heads were monitored. For the shallow aquifer the trends in several
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bores showed that water levels were continuing to rise as shown in Figure 3. Bore
36391 in Figure 3 shows water levels continuing to rise over a fifteen year period
from 1985 to 2000, whereas bore 36744 shows a steep rise until 1993 after which
the water levels seems to have stabilised between 101.5 and 102 m AHD. During
bore calibration emphasis was placed to ensure that trends were closely matched
particularly post 1995 when pumping stresses had increased significantly for both
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Calivil and Renmark layers as shown in Figure 4. The Calivil bore 36585 in Figure
4 shows piezometric levels are steady until 1994 after which there are steep declines
reflecting the increased pumping stress post 1995. The Renmark bore 36744 in
Figure 4 shows a similar trend to the Calivil bore, piezometric levels are steady until
1994 after which there are steep declines reflecting the increased pumping stress
post 1995.
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Fig. 3: Calibration of Shepparton bores 36391 and 36587

(observed light line, and modelled dark line)
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Fig. 4: Calibration of Calivil bore 36585 and Renmark bores 36742 and 36744
(observed light line, and modelled dark line)
Improvement in model calibration and performance can be achieved in the future,
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since the Department of Land & Water Conservation has instituted a program for
metering all deep bores. Improvement in groundwater usage data quality and after
the data is collected for a period of at least three years, the model can be re-adjusted
to better reflect the improved data quality and also to improve estimations of
sustainable yields and long term response to pumping.
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3.2 Water Balance for the Calibrated Model
The water balance for the model averaged over 15 years from 1985 to 2000 is shown
in Table 1 below. The water balance indicates that significant changes have
occurred in the 1998-2000 period compared to the average over the past 15 years.
Notable amongst these is that evaporation has increased reflecting higher water
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tables in some areas of the model. There has also been considerable decrease in
recharge from the river to the aquifer as head gradients between the river and aquifer
decrease in response to higher water tables. The increase in discharge to the river
system is also important as it will increase in saline inflows to the river system.
Table 1. Water balance for the Lower Murray model
for 1985-2000 and 1998-2000 (Gl/yr)
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Inputs/Outputs +/- 1985-2000 1998-2000

Recharge + 213 243
River to aquifer + 76 51
Boundary flows in + 33 34
Evaporation - 18 35
Aquifer to river - 48 57
Boundary flows out - 14 13
Wells - 53 106
Net Storage change 189 117
The major increase in pumping stresses from an average of 53 GL/yr to 106 GL/yr
has implications on leakage from the shallow to the deeper system and on
piezometric heads in the deeper layers where most of the increased pumping has
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occurred. This can be better illustrated by examining water balances for the shallow
Shepparton aquifer and the deeper Calivil/Renmark aquifers as shown in Table 2
and 3. The increase in pumping from the deeper aquifers from an average of 22
GL/yr to 73 GL/yr in 1998-2000 has resulted in a negative net storage of 36 Gl/yr.
This has also resulted in sharp declines in piezometric levels in parts of the aquifer
where pumping stresses are concentrated. Based on the 1998-2000 water balance
and by considering all inputs to the deeper aquifers we arrived at a figure of 58 GL
as an initial estimate of sustainable yield. The rational for taking all inputs was that
out flow boundaries are far removed from where pumping is taking place. Also
deep groundwater pumping plays an important role in inducing net leakage
downwards and also in reducing upward leakage to the shallow Shepparton aquifer
which is experiencing rising water levels due to irrigation recharge.
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Table 2. Water balance for the Shepparton aquifer
for 1985-2000 and 1998-2000 (Gl/yr)
Inputs/Outputs +/- 1985-2000 1998-2000
Recharge + 203 232
River to aquifer + 76 51
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Boundary flows in
Calivil/Renmark to Shepparton
+
+
8
12
8
10
Evaporation - 18 35
Aquifer to river - 48 57
Shepparton to Calivil/Renmark - 17 21
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Wells - 31 33
Net Storage change 184 153
Table 3. Water balance for the Calivil/Renmark aquifers

for 1985-2000 and 1998 2000 (Gl/yr)
Inputs/Outputs +/- 1985- 1998-

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2000 2000
Recharge + 10 11
Boundary flows in + 25 26
Shepparton to Calivil/Renmark + 17 21
Calivil/Renmark to Shepparton - 12 10
Wells - 22 73
Net Storage change 5 -36
99
4. MODEL APPLICATION AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
4.1 Management Strategies
Until the early nineties the focus was on continuing development of groundwater
resources. The impact that extraction of groundwater might have on its continuing
availability and dependent ecosystems was largely ignored. In addition, the rights of
groundwater users such as access rights and property rights were poorly defined.
Similarly users obligations were not clearly defined which led to the following
consequences:
Licensed entitlements for many aquifers were in excess of sustainable levels;
Extraction of groundwater was approaching or exceeding natural recharge;
Degradation of ecosystems that depend on groundwater;
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Perceived inequities within, and between, users; and
Uncertainty about the impacts of groundwater use on other values environmental,
social or economic.
Groundwater resource management in Australia is undergoing extensive reform

under the umbrella of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). In this
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context the NSW Groundwater Quantity Management Policy and the Regional
groundwater strategies has been prepared. The strategies will guide the actions of
regional resource managers in their management of activities that can impact on
groundwater. Additionally, the strategy clarifies the context in which individuals,
businesses and others can use this valuable resource. It also seeks to protect the
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resource for present and future generations. The strategies are designed to meet the
following objectives:
To achieve efficient, equitable and sustainable use of the States groundwater
resources;
To prevent, halt, or reverse degradation of the States groundwater and
dependent ecosystems;
To provide opportunities for development which maximise cultural, social and
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economic benefits to the community, region, state and nation, within the context
of environmental sustainability; and
To involve the community in the management of groundwater resources.
The single most important long term change will be the active involvement of the
community in the management of natural resources as the communities that depend
on these resources take responsibility for sustainable levels of extraction. Access to
groundwater will be managed within sustainable yield, so that groundwater is
available for future generations, and dependent ecological processes remain viable.
Sustainable yield has been defined as the long-term average annual recharge to the
aquifer, less a portion that is set aside for environmental purposes. The policy is
intended to allow groundwater use without compromising the integrity of the aquifer
or the surface ecosystems that it supports. Estimates of sustainable yields based on
the results of groundwater models will provide information on managing
100
groundwater resources on a long term sustainable basis. In addition groundwater

models will also provide information on the impact of short term extraction in
excess of sustainable yields particularly in those periods when surface water
resources are fully committed.
4.2 Pumping Scenarios
Two long term pumping scenarios were tested in order to examine impacts on the
deep aquifers. The first scenario involved pumping of 73 GL per year which is the
1998-2000 pumping rate, and the second scenario was undertaken by reducing
pumping at 60 GL per year to better reflect total inputs to the aquifer. The model
was then run for a ten year period from 2000 to 2010 using climatic inputs from
1990 to 2000. A comparison of these scenarios are included in figure 5 which
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shows the change in net storage over time.
Calivil/Renmark net storage for 73 & 60 GL pumping till

2010
pumping 73 GL/yr
100000
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Net Storage (ML)
pumping 60 GL/yr
0
-100000
-200000
-300000
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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Time (months)
Fig. 5: Comparison of the 73 GL and 60 GL pumping scenarios

(73 GL dark line, and 60 GL light line)
The 60 GL scenario shows that the decrease in net storage over time reduces within
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10 years and the curve begins to flatten out. An analysis of the water balance shows
that total inputs are exceeding pumping by 12 GL/yr during the last two years. A
similar trend is noted for the 73 Gl scenario, however the flattening of the curve is
not as pronounced. Total inputs for the 73 Gl scenario are less than the pumping
rate by 5 Gl/year during the last two years of simulation, which indicates that
should the model be run for a longer period of time say 30 years the total inputs
should exceed pumping from the aquifer. As resource managers we need to decide
how best to use this information to manage the aquifer system. The key concerns
are at what level do we want to manage piezometric heads for the deeper aquifers
and what time frames should we allow for the piezometric surface to stabilize.
101
5. CONCLUSIONS
A groundwater model was developed for the Lower Murray region so that it could
be used to assist resource managers and the community to better manage the
groundwater resources of the region. The model comprises three layers each
representing an aquifer corresponding with the Shepparton, Calivil and Renmark
system. Layer water balances showed that the major increased groundwater
pumping during the calibration period has increased net leakage downward from the
shallow to the deeper system. The increase in pumping from the deeper aquifers
from an average of 22 GL/yr to 73 GL/yr in 1998-2000 has resulted in a negative net
storage of 36 Gl/yr. This has also resulted in sharp declines in piezometric levels in
parts of the aquifer where pumping stresses are concentrated. Estimates of
sustainable yields based on the results of groundwater models will provide
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information on managing groundwater resources on a long term sustainable basis.
In addition groundwater models will also provide information on the impact of short
term extraction in excess of sustainable yields particularly in those periods when
surface water resources are fully committed. Based on the 2000-2010 scenarios an
initial sustainable yield estimate of 60 GL is proposed with 75 Gl as the 125 percent
limit of sustainable yield to meet short term groundwater supply requirements. In the
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Lower Murray region deep groundwater pumping plays an important role in
inducing net leakage downwards and also in reducing upward leakage to the shallow
Shepparton aquifer which is experiencing rising water levels due to irrigation
recharge, as such it has a positive environmental benefit.
REFERENCES:
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Kulatunga N. (1999). "Groundwater resource status, Lower Murray alluvium GMA
016". Groundwater status report No. 4. Land & Water Conservation, Murray
Region, 16 p.
Punthakey JF, Prathapar, SA, Somaratne, NM, Merrick NP, Lawson S, and Williams
RM (1996). "Assessing impacts of basin management and environmental change in
L.
the Eastern Murray Basin". Journal of Environmental Software - Special Issue:

MODSIM 95, Vol. 11. Nos 1-3, pp.135-142.
Ross J. (1999). "Sustainable yield estimates for high risk aquifers in NSW". Land &
Water Conservation. Draft Report 16p.
102
Allied Publishers 2001,pp.103-114
Groundwater Modelling of Kallar

Watershed, Tamilnadu, India
M. Ramalingam
Abstract
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The traditional management of land and water resources in a watershed
should be reviewed periodically to keep pace with the modern methods of
resource management. In view of this an attempt has been made to develop a
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groundwater model for better utilisation of natural resources in a watershed.
In this study the Kallar Watershed has been chosen which lies in Tuticorin
district, on the Southern part of Tamil Nadu. The above watershed has been
divided into grids of 1km X 1km in size and a distributed parameter
(mathematical model) for the surface and subsurface systems have been
developed. The various inflow components and outflow components and net
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recharge or discharge to the aquifer has been assessed. They were given as
input to the each grid of the groundwater model. The water requirements for
the various activities such as agricultural, human, animal population and
industrial requirements have been assessed. Similarly the total water
available in each micro watershed was assessed through the groundwater
model. The analysis of data indicates that out of 81 microwatersheds 6
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watersheds were assessed as surplus watersheds and the rest were deficit.
From the above analysis it is possible to plan for suitable landuse according
to the availability of water to get the maximum benefit.
Keywords : Mathematical modelling, Kallar watershed
1. INTRODUCTION
There is enormous pressure on the limited natural resources due to ever growing
population thereby reducing the per capita availability of water resources. The
traditional management of land and water Resources in a watershed should be
reviewed periodically to keep pace with the modern methods of resource
management. Hence there is an urgent need to adopt a holistic approach so as to
ensure maximum development of land and water Resources. In view of this an
113
attempt has been made to develop a groundwater model for better utilisation of
natural resources in Kallar watershed located in Tuticorin district in the Southern
part of Tamil Nadu. Thus the objective of this study to develop a model for this
watershed to assesses the status of watershed by estimating the available surface and
groundwater resource by developing various sub models such as rainfall- runoff
models and distributed parameter model for the groundwater system. The model
formulation and the results obtained from this study are discussed in this paper.
2. FORMULATION OF THE MODEL
A distributed parameter model for the surface and the subsurface (groundwater)
systems has been developed. The various inflows such as (a) rainfall recharge, (b)
river bed recharge, (c) return flow from irrigation and (d) subsurface inflow have
been considered. Similarly the various outflows from the aquifer are (a) extraction
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for irrigation from wells, (b) extraction of water to meet the requirements of human
and animal population, (c) loss due to evapotranspiration of natural vegetation and
(d) subsurface outflow. A distributed mathematical model for the groundwater
system has been developed. The computations of various entities are briefly
discussed below for both surface model and the subsurface model. The various
an
entities involves in the model are briefly discussed below.
2.1 Rainfall Recharge
Direct recharge by rainfall is one of the inputs to this aquifer and the magnitude of
the recharge depends on the intensity of rainfall over the aquifer and type of soil
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through which the rainwater infiltrates. The rainfall recharge is computed by

subtracting the runoff and evapotranspiration from the measured precipitation.
2.1.1 Surface Runoff
The surface runoff from the watershed is computed using the USDA (United State
L.
Department Agriculture) SCS (Soil Conservation Service) curve number technique.

The SCS curve number (CN) assumes the following rainfall runoff relation
(P-Ia)2
Q= 1
(P-Ia+S)
where Q is the volume of runoff, P is the volume of precipitation, Ia is the initial
abstraction which depends upon the type of landuse and the depression storage
available in the watershed, S is the maximum potential retention which is computed
using the following relation
25400
S= 254 2
CN
104
where CN is the curve number and content 254 in the above equations for S in mm
and P and Q are also expressed in mm. The CN is computed based on the landuse
practice adopted, Hydrological soil groups and AMC (Antecedent Moisture
Condition). In this study the runoff was computed using the above equation. The
landuse map required for this study is prepared using IRS 1C LISS-III Satellite
data.
2.1.2 Evapotranspiration
The potential evapotranspiration (ETo) was computed using the following modified
penman equation
ETo = AHn + Ea 3
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(A+)
in which A is the slope of saturation vapor pressure curve at mean temperature in
mm of mercury per C, Hn is the net radiation in mm of evaporable water per day,
is the psychrometric constant (ie) 0.49 mm of mercury per C and Ea is estimated as
shown below
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Ea = 0.35 1+ f(u) (ew ea) 4
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where is the mean wind velocity in Km / day, f(u) is the weighting factor for day
and night wind velocity at different humidity levels (ie.,) 19.875 ew is the saturation
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vapour pressure at mean temperature in mm of mercury and ea is the actual vapour

pressure in air in mm of mercury. The actual evapotranspiration was estimated by
multiplying the crop co-efficient. The type of crops are identified from the landuse
map prepared using the satellite data. The rainfall recharge for each grid was
estimated by subtracting the runoff and evapotranspiration from the precipitation.
L.
2.2 River Bed Recharge
The recharge contribution by the river flowing in the watershed can be assessed
using the following equation
QR = Kvwh 5
In which QR is the quantum of river bed recharge, Kv is the vertical permeability, W

is the width of the river and h is the depth of water available in the river. Since,
sufficient data are not available it is approximated as 20% of the rainfall recharge.
105
2.3 Irrigation Return Flow
The area which are under cultivation are liable to be recharged by a considerable
quantity of irrigated water by return flow. This flow is estimated as 25% of the
water extracted from the aquifer for agricultural activities from the field experiment.
2.4 Sub-surface Inflow
Across the western boundary of the aquifer, some quantity of subsurface inflow has
occurred due to hydraulic gradient. The total subsurface flow across this boundary
is distributed along the boundary nodes. Subsurface flow has been estimated using
the following equation.
Q=TIB 6
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when Q is the quantity of inflow, T is the Transimissivity, I is the hydraulic gradient
and B is the width of the aquifer. The width of flow is taken as unit grid width for
each node.
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2.5 Agricultural extraction
The major extraction taking place in the watershed is for various agricultural
activities. From the analysis of pre-monsoon and post monsoon satellite data, the
cropped areas have been delineated. By using the cropping pattern statistics, the
types of crops grown in the watershed have been assessed. By applying crop water
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requirements for those crops, the quantum of water required in excess of rainfall
from the aquifer for cultivation is arrived at using the following equation
q1 = Ai [ETo x Kc (P-Pi)] 7
where q 1 is the abstraction of groundwater for irrigation during the month in

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cubicmetre, Ai is the irrigated area in Sq.Km., ETo is the potential evapotranspiration

in metre during the month, P is the rainfall during the month and Pi is the infiltrated
rainfall during the month in metres and Kc is the crop co-efficient.
2.6 Extraction for human and animal population
The volume of water extracted for human and animal population was assigned to
each node based on daily per capita consumption. The available village wise
population was distributed to the nodes, which are falling in that village. All the
study area consists of only rural settlements, the human daily per capita
consumption is taken as 45 litters / day and per capita consumption for animal is
considered at 25 litters per day as per IS 1172-1974.
106
The loss due to evapotranspiration of Natural vegetation was discussed in para 3.1.2
and the subsurface outflow was computed by adopting the same procedure of
estimation of subsurface inflow as discussed in the para 3.4.
2.7 Computation of changes in storage
After computing all the inflows and outflows from the system the net recharge or
discharge to the aquifer was computed using the following relationship.
I~Q = + Q 8
when I equal to total inflow and Q equal to the total outflow from the system and
Q equal to net recharge or discharge or changes in storage to the system. Here all
the information were prepared spatially and stored in each layer. Using the
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ARC/INFO GIS Software, all the layers are overlayed and finally the net recharge to
discharge to each node has been computed. The above quantity was computed for
each node and given as input to the groundwater model.
3. DEVELOPMENT OF GROUNDWATER MODEL

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Any artifact that can duplicate the working of a system is termed as a model. The
behaviour of the physical system can be expressed in terms of algebraic or
differential or integral equation in the mathematical formulation. The partial
differential equation (Bittinger et al) governing the non steady state three
dimensional flow of groundwater in a non homogenous and isotopic aquifer is
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h
T + T h +

T h
= S h
+
Qw
9
x t y y z z T t T
where T is the transmissivity in sq.km/day, h is the head in m, t is the time in day, S

is the aquifer storage co-efficient, x, y are the rectangular co-efficients and Qw Net
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recharge or discharge to the aquifer. Since there is no general solution for the above
equation, however numerical solution has been obtained using the finite difference
approach. The differentials x and y are approximated by the finite lengths x and
y respectively and they are small compared to the total area of the aquifer, the
discrete model is a reasonable representation of the continuous system. The above
model was applied to the study area.
4. APPLICATION OF THE MODEL
The study area lies between Kovilpatti in the north and Ottapidaram in the South of
Tuticorin District, Tamil Nadu. There is a small river called Kallar traversing the
basin and the Kallar watershed is bounded by 85500 to 91000 North latitude
and 774500 and 781500 east longitude. The area of Kallar Watershed is 650
Sq. Km. and the location is shown in Fig.1. The aquifer area is divided into 1Km X
107
1Km grids in both along x and y directions. There are 50 columns and 20 rows in the
grid. The aquifer is treated as non-homogenous and an isotropic. The finite
difference lattice adopted for the study area is shown in the Fig.2.
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L.
Fig. 2
108
4.1 Delineation of boundary conditions
It is well known that the specification of proper boundary conditions is an

imperative and important step in the application of numerical models. They clearly
distinguish between the two types of boundary conditions the drechetlary conditions
the function specified and noiman condition with the gradient of the function
specified. For the groundwater flow problems, this corresponds to the specification
of the groundwater levels and flow rates. The boundary conditions are incorporated
explicitly in the algebraic equation developed in the numerical model and the
solution of the same follows as the next step. In the aquifer under study the northern
boundary is treated as no flow boundary based on the lithological characteristic of
the subsurface formation. The western boundary is considered as flow boundary
along with the flow rates as specified. The eastern boundary is the sea through
which some meager subsurface underflow occurs. In the absence of satisfactory
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data on the head or flow condition along the Southern boundary it is treated as flow
boundary with unknown head and unknown flows along the boundary.
4.2 Estimation of Aquifer parameters

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Pump tests have been conducted in four wells spread over the entire area of aquifer
by the State surface and Groundwater Data Centre, Water Resources Organization,
(WRO), Govt. of Tamil Nadu. The data are analysed using the double porosity
techniques since most part of the aquifers are heterogeneous formation with two
different permeable media Barenblatt et al
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(1960) assessed that any infinitely small volume of rock consists of a large number
of porous blocks as well as large number of randomly distributed sized and oriented
fissures. Using his hypothesis an attempt has been made in this study and the aquifer
parameters were estimated.
Based on the pump test data the draw down function (W) and the dimension less
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time factor () are derived together with the aid of the established logarithmic plot
using the well function W=4 T1S1/ Q and the dimension less time factor = 4T
t/S1 r2 in which T1 is the transmissivity, S1 is the draw down, Q is the discharge and
S1is the storage co-efficient, r is the distance between the pumping well and
observation well.
The total aquifer area has been divided into four zones based on the field pump test
results. The zones have been divided taking into account the columns as divide.
The first zone is from column 1 to 15, the second zone is from column 15 to 22, the
third zone is from 22 to 40 and the last zone is from 40 to 50 columns. The
computed volume of Transmisivity were finally modified by running the PEST
module of MODFLOW version 4.2 and the modified parameter values have
been used in the model development and final values used in the model is given
below in the Table 1.
109
Table 1 Final value of Transmissivity used in the model

Zone Nodes Covering the zone Values of Transmissivity M2/sec.
I 01 15 5 X 10-3
II 15 22 2 X 10-4
III 22 40 2 X 10-3
IV 40 50 1 X 10-1
4.3 Data input into the model
The various components of inflows such as (i) rainfall recharge, (ii) river bed
recharge, (iii) return flow from irrigation, (iv) sub surface inflow and the various
outflow quantities such as (i) agricultural extraction, (ii) extraction for population
(iii) Evapotranspiration loss due to natural vegetation and (iv) sub surface outflow
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and also the total inflow and total outflow has been computed for each node and
given as input to the groundwater model.
4.4 Calibration of the groundwater model
The computed and observed value of the groundwater levels for the year 1983 to 1988 has
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been analysed for the well No.93016 which is situated nearer to the node 6, 47 which has
been analysed in detail. A hydrograph has been plotted showing the observed and
computed groundwater level for the above well and presented in Fig.3. Similarly the data
for the year 1989 to 1992 has been analysed for proving for the same well. The computed
groundwater level and the observed groundwater level during the proving phase was also
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plotted and shown in Fig.4. To illustrate the longitudeal variation in the aquifer between
the higher and lower potential a longitutional section of the aquifer levels plotted along the
4th and 10th row of the finite difference lattice. Similarly transverse levels of the aquifer
was also plotted. The groundwater contour for the observed and computed groundwater
levels for the entire aquifer for Dec 1992 is shown in Fig.5. All the hydrographs and
groundwater contour indicated the close agreement between the observed and computed
groundwater levels.
L.
4.5 Computation of available water
The above watershed has been divided into 81 micro watersheds of having area ranging
from 5 to 10 Sq.km. The total quantity of water available in each microwatershed has been
assessed by computing the surface runoff and groundwater. The surface water that can be
harnessed in each microwatershed by constructing water harvesting structures has been
assessed using USDA SCS curve number techniques as discussed in para 3.1.1. As regards
to groundwater after calibrating and proving the groundwater model, it is used for assessing
the quantity of groundwater available. The model is run for every fortnight and the water
level at each grid points are estimated. The microwatershed boundary is super imposed
over the finite difference lattice and the spatial distribution of grid points for each
microwatershed is assessed. The computed groundwater level in the grid point has been
taken and the average groundwater level for the microwatershed is assessed. Knowing the
110
average groundwater level, porosity and area of the aquifer, the total quantity of
groundwater available have been estimated.
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L.
111
4.6 Assessing the status of watershed
The total quantity of water required for each microwatershed for the various
activities such as (i) Agricultural requirements, (ii) domestic requirements, (iii)
cattle requirements and (iv) industrial requirements has been assessed. The available
water in each microwatershed also has been assessed and the status of watershed
weather it is surplus or deficit has been assessed.
5. RESULTS
The following results were obtained form the study. The precipitation is the primary
input in the model. The analysis of rainfall-runoff data for ten years (1983 92)
indicates that the minimum value of runoff is 18.6mm and the maximum value is
139.56mm. The analysis of data indicates that 83% of the inflow to the aquifer is
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due to rainfall recharge, 16% is due to irrigation return flow and the balance is
contributed by river bed recharge and subsurface inflow. As regards to outflow, the
analysis of data indicates that 75% of the extraction from the aquifer is for
agricultural activities 26% as loss due to evapotranspiration of natural vegetation
and very little extraction for human & animal population. There is a continuous
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variation in groundwater storage over the period of 1983 to 1992. The annual
inflow, outflows and change in storage are presented in Table 2.
The surface water and groundwater available in the entire watershed has been
assessed. The min, max and the average quantity of water that can be extracted over
the period of ten years (1983 1992) are 2.00, 25.00 and 11.35 Mm3. The average
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total quantity of water (both surface and subsurface available in the entire watershed
was assessed as 147.65 Mm3. With regards to the status of the watershed, analysis
of data indicates that 6 Nos. of watershed are assessed as surplus watershed and
the balance 75 microwatershed are considered as deficit watershed.
6. CONCLUSIONS
L.
The analysis of data indicates that an average build up of 28 Mm3 per year is taking
place. The groundwater contour drawn form both computed and observed water
level shows a variation of about 20cm. The analysis of data indicates that the
average annual groundwater that can be extracted is 136.30 Mm3 and the surface
water harvested is 11.35 Mm3 and the total quantity of water hernessable is 147.65
Mm3, where as the required water is much more than this. From the above study it is
assessed that 6 Nos. of microwatershed are found to surplus watershed. The analysis
of data indicates that in the case of surplus watershed additional area can be brought
under irrigation where as in the case of deficit watershed, the existing area under
irrigation to be reduced to make the watershed self sufficient.
112
Table-2 : Annual inflows and outflows for the aquifer, Mm3

In flow
Total Cumulativ
Outflow
Inflow e charge in
Period Total Charge
Rainfall Riverbed Return Sub Agricultural Population Evapo Sub- storage
Outflow in
recharge recharge low from surface extractor and transpir surface
storage
irrigation inflow animal ation Outflow
extraction
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1983-84 560.00 1.06 44.60 0.062 237.00 1.77 108.00 0.00 605.72 346.77 +258.95 258.95
1984-85 303.00 1.20 100.40 0.061 403.00 1.77 108.40 0.00 404.41 513.47 -109.06 149.89
1985-86 289.00 0.96 95.00 0.062 380.00 1.77 108.40 0.00 385.02 481.77 -104.75 45.14
1986-87 219.00 0.78 87.50 0.066 350.00 1.77 108.60 0.00 307.35 460.37 -153.02 1107.88
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1987-88 527.00 1.94 24.58 0.066 96.32 1.77 108.00 0.00 553.59 206.09 +347.20 239.32
1988-89 236.00 0.76 115.00 0.066 460.00 1.77 108.50 0.00 351.82 570.27 -1218.45 20.87
1989-90 483.00 1.50 19.63 0.066 78.52 1.77 108.50 0.00 504.20 188.79 +315.4 336.28
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1990-91 323.00 1.60 95.15 0.060 380.62 1.77 108.60 0.00 419.81 490.99 -71.18 265.51
1991-92 354.00 1.29 105.14 0.065 420.54 1.77 108.40 0.00 460.50 530.35 -69.85 195.25
1992-93 353.00 1.97 53.28 0.063 213.00 1.77 108.40 0.00 408.31 323.17 +85.14 280.39
Total 364.70 1.31 74.03 0.063 301.90 1.77 108.30 0.00 440.07 412.00 Average
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113
Numerical Simulation of Groundwater Flow

Regime in a Part of The Lower Palar River
Basin, Southern India
M. Senthil Kumar and L. Elango
go Abstract
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Numerical simulation of groundwater flow is an effective management tool to assess the
components of the hydrological processes, understand the hydrodynamics of a basin and
provide a mechanistic description of the flow of water in an aquifer. Such a simulation study
was carried out in a part of lower Palar River basin, Tamil Nadu, India. The finite difference
computer code MODFLOW with Groundwater Modelling System (GMS) as pre and post
processor, was used to simulate the groundwater flow in this study. The groundwater flow
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was simulated in transient state condition. Computed results of groundwater head mimic
observed field data. The model can be used as an effective management tool to understand
the behaviour of the aquifer system.
Keywords: Groundwater, flow modelling, Palar River basin.
1. INTRODUCTION
L.
Groundwater is a major source of fresh water. Increasing population growth and

concentration in combination with socio-economic progress results in increasing
demand for groundwater. This necessitates proper and effective management of
available groundwater resources. Groundwater modelling is a powerful management
tool which can serve multiple purposes such as providing a framework for
organising hydrologic data, quantifying the properties and behaviour of the systems
and allowing quantitative prediction of the responses of those systems to externally
applied stresses. No other numerical groundwater management tool is as effective
as a 3-dimensional groundwater model. Groundwater modelling has been effectively
used for management of aquifer systems (Ophori and Toth (1989); Corbet and
Bethke (1992); Gomboso et.al (1996); and Gnanasundar and Elango (2000)). Such a
study has been attempted here in the lower (eastern) part of the Palar River basin,
Tamil Nadu, India. Gupta et.al (1994) have carried out a preliminary work in the
upper (western) part of the Palar River basin to study the migration of the
115
contaminants let into the Palar River from the leather tanneries. However, the
eastern part of the area is characterised by enormous amount of groundwater
abstraction for the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), industrial, agricultural
and domestic purposes. Hence, the present study assumes significance, as
groundwater modelling in this part of the basin is necessary for effective
management of the system. Thus this study was carried out with the objective of
constructing a numerical model and studying the hydrodynamics of the lower Palar
River basin. Computer software Groundwater Modelling System (GMS) was used
simulate the groundwater flow for this study. This paper describes the preliminary
results obtained from an ongoing study.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA
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The part of the lower Palar River basin, Tamil Nadu, India, considered for this
study, is located 75 km south of the Chennai city (formerly Madras) and it covers an
area of 392 Km2 (Fig.1). This area is bisected into two halves by the Palar River.
This is a seasonal river flowing during the months of November, December and
January. Western side of this area is bounded by the Bay of Bengal. This area enjoys
sub-tropical monsoon climate with January and February as the dry periods, March
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to May as summer period, followed by the monsoon period. The southwest monsoon
(June to September), the northeast monsoon (October to December) and the
transition period supply 40%, 51% and 9% respectively of the total rainfall (1266
mm/year) in the study area.
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2.1 Geology
The study area exhibits varied physiographic features and the elevation ranges from
40 m in the west to sea level in the east. Numerous tanks are present in the depressed
parts of the undulating topography of the study area. Geologically, the study area
has two district formations as crystalline rocks of Archean age and alluvium of the
recent age. These alluvial deposits occur along the present and palaeo Palar River
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courses. This alluvial is comprised of sand, clay, gravel and sandy clay. The
thickness of the alluvium along the sides of the Palar River ranges from 10 to 30 m.
Crystalline rocks comprising of charnockites and gneiss form the basement and
some exposures are found in the southern part of this area.
2.2 Hydrogeology
The alluvium and weathered crystalline Charnockites function as an aquifer system.

Groundwater occurs in unconfined condition in both the alluvial and the underlying
weathered rocks.
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Figure 1: Part of Lower Palar River Basin, Southern India
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Alluvium occurring as upper layer is characterised by sand, gravel and sandy clay
and its thickness ranges from 1m at northern and southern boundaries to 30m along
the river. The hydraulic conductivity value of this alluvium ranges from 20 50
(m/day). The transmissivity values range from 200 to 400 m2/day and specific yield
value ranges from 0.037 to 0.18(PWD 2000). The lower layer is characterised by
weathered crystalline rocks. The thickness of the weathered layer varies from 0 to 7
m. The hydraulic conductivity of this layer ranges from 0.5 to 8 m/day,
transmissivity varies from 10 to 80 m2/day (PWD 2000). The pore spaces developed
in the weathered rocks along with the overlying alluvium functions as the potential
water bearing formations.
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3. GROUNDWATER MODELLING
The groundwater flow in the aquifer of the study area was simulated using a finite
difference approximation of the three dimensional partial differential equation,
(Rushton and Redshaw. (1979))
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h h h h
___ Kxx ___ + ___ Kyy ___ + ___ Kzz ___ - W = Ss ___
x x y y z z t
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Where,
Kxx, Kyy, Kzz = components of the hydraulic conductivity tensor

h = potentiometric head
W = source or sink term,
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Ss = specific storage
t = time
This equation describes the groundwater flow under non-equilibrium and

anisotrophic medium, provided the principal axes of hydraulic conductivity are
aligned with x-y Cartesian Coordinates axes. MODFLOW, a well established, three-
dimensional finite difference groundwater flow model was used to simulate
groundwater flow of this study. The pre and post processor developed by the United
States Department of Defence Groundwater Modelling System (GMS), was used to
give input data and process the model output. Block-centered finite difference
approach was used to solve groundwater flow equation in this model.
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4. MODEL FORMULATION
A detailed study of geology, borehole lithology and water level fluctuations in wells
has helped to arrive at the conceptual model of the system. As the groundwater
levels in the wells penetrating upto the alluvium and the hard rock formation bear
the same groundwater head this region was conceptualized as an unconfined aquifer.
This unconfined aquifer is divided into two sublayers due to variations in lithology
and hydraulic characteristics. Upper layer being the alluvial (sand, sandy clay, clay)
and the lower layer being the weathered rocks. The model grid covering 392 km2 of
the study area was discretised into 2400 cells with 40 rows and 30 columns, and
vertically by 2 layers (Fig. 2). The length of model cells is 900 m along the east-west
direction and 500 m along the north- south direction of the study area.
4.1 Boundary Conditions
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The alluvium thickness along the northern, southern and western part is less than
one metre. The flow into the system from these boundaries will be minimal and
hence it is considered as no flow boundary (Figure.2). The eastern part of the study
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area was considered as constant head boundary as it is bounded by the Bay of
Bengal. Numerous storage tanks are present in the study area. However, only the
flux from Madurantakam tank was considered because it is the only perennial tank.
This storage tank is represented by specified variable flux boundary. The Palar
River, which flows through the study area, and its contribution, were considered. A
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flux boundary due to recharge from rainfall and irrigation return was considered at
the top of the surface.
4.2 Aquifer geometry
The aquifer geometry includes defining the aquifer top, bottom, hydraulic
conductivity and specific yield for all the cells. They were mainly derived from the
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results of pumping tests and borehole logs reported in the PWD (2000). These
values were extrapolated for the entire area considering the lithological variations
and field study of well sections. The upper alluvial layer reaches the maximum
thickness of 30m along the Palar River and a minimum thickness of 1m along the
northern boundary of the study area. The thickness of the weathered charnorkite
varies from 0 to 7m. In the southern parts of the study area the thickness of the upper
alluvial layer vary 0-2m while the lower
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Fig 2: Model grid pattern and Boundary conditions
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weathered layer extends upto 5 to 7 m from the surface. Hydraulic conductivity

values used range from 4 to 50 m/day and the specific yield values range from 0.02
to 0.32 depending on the lithology of both the layers. The aquifer top and bottom
considered for this study is given in Figure 3.
Top elevation
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Bottom elevation
Fig. 3: Aquifer top and bottom
4.3 Groundwater abstraction
Groundwater is abstracted for irrigation, Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS),

industries and for domestic purposes. Abstraction for irrigation was estimated based
on the landuse pattern (Fig.4). Approximately 210 km2 of the study area is being
used for irrigational activity out of which 133 km2 area depends on groundwater.
The abstraction rate for this region is calculated by considering water requirement
for different kinds of crops. A pumping well located at Panakattuchery (Fig .1) is
pumping at the rate of about 3.5 million gallons per day (MGD) for the MAPS
(PWD 2000). Abstraction for supply to industries is carried out at Ayapakkam at the
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rate of about 0.75 MGD (CGWB 1998). Another important pumping station located
at Valipuram supplies 0.5MGD water to Chennai city outskirts (PWD 2000).
Abstraction for domestic purposes in this area is arrived from population and it is
about 0.3 MGD.
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Fig. 4: Landuse pattern in the study area.
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4.4 Recharge
The recharge in this area varies considerably due to the differences in the landuse
pattern, soil type, topography and relief. Rainfall is the principal source of
groundwater recharge. A comparison between the monthly rainfall value and
consequent variation in groundwater level over a span of 30 years revealed that the
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groundwater is replenished whenever the monthly rainfall exceeds 60 mm. The

recharge amounts derived are given in Table 1. The contribution from Palar River is
considered by a constant riverhead of 3 m during the months of flow. The recharge
from Madurantakam tank was arrived at the model from the difference between the
tank water head and the groundwater head.
Table 1 Recharge value incorporated in the model.

Rainfall in Recharge in
mm/month %
60-100 25
100-200 30
200-300 35
300 and above 40
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The calibration strategy was to initially vary the best known parameters as little as
possible, and vary the poorly known or unknown values the most to achieve the best
overall agreement between simulate and observed. The calibration of deterministic
groundwater models is often accomplished through a trial and error adjustment of
the models input data (aquifer properties, sources and sinks, and boundary and
initial conditions) to modify the models output. Steady state model calibration was
carried out to minimise the difference between the computed and field water level
condition. Hydraulic conductivity values is varied from 20 to 48 m/day for the upper
sublayer and 0.5 to 17 m/day for the lower sublayer in order to get a good match of
the computed and observed heads (Fig.5). Table 2 shows the initial and calibrated
hydraulic conductivity values of the simulated head. The figure indicates that there
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is a very good match between the calculated and observed water head in most of the
wells of the study area. RMS (Root Mean Square) error was minimised to 0.76 m
and the mean error was minimised to 0.12 m through numerous trial runs. Under
transient state condition the model was simulated for a period of 5 years (1994 to
1998) with stress period of 30 days each. The trial and error process by which
calibration of transient model was achieved required several trials until an
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appropriate set of parameters was obtained which provided a good match between
the computed and observed heads over space and time. The hydraulic conductivity
values incorporated in the transient model were then modified slightly from those
calibrated by the steady state model. Based on the close agreement between
measured and computed heads at 29 observation wells throughout the aquifer, the
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transient models was considered to be calibrated satisfactorily. The sensitivity of the

model to an input parameter can be tested by varying only the parameter of interest
over a range of values and monitoring the response of the model by determining the
root mean square error of the esimulated heads compared to the measured heads.
The models sensitivity to changes in transmissivity, pumpage, hydraulic
conductivity, and recharge were tested by increasing and decreasing values by a
uniform factor.
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Table 2. Initial and calibrated hydraulic conductivity

and specific yield of the simulated head.
Geology of Hydraulic conductivity Specific yield

the area (m/day)
Initial * Calibrated Initial* Calibrated
Sand 50 46 0.29 0.32
Sandy clay 37 32 0.18 0.22
Weathered 8 5 0.02 0.03
Charnockite
* PWD (2000)
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Fig. 5: Computed and observed head in steady state calibration
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6. RESULTS OF THE SIMULATION
The calibrated model simulates the regional groundwater head, which is compared
with the observed data from 29 wells. The predicted regional head distribution in
general follows closely, the observed regional groundwater head (Fig. 6). Thus a
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reasonable match between the computed and observed heads values were obtained in
most of the wells. The result of the numerical simulations indicates that there a
gradual decline in the groundwater level in the some of the wells. A comparison
between the observed and computed head values for the observation well no. 6 and
19 is shown as an example in Figure 7. Mismatch (maximum of 1m) was observed
in some observation wells.
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Computed head
Fig. 6: Computed regional groundwater head (October 1996)
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Observed head
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Fig. 6: observed regional groundwater head (October 1996)
well no:6
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6 computed
groundwater head in m
5 observed
4
( w.r.m.s.l)
3
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2
1
0
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
ye ars
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w ell no:19
computed
observed
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groundwater head
in m( w.r.m.s.l)
14
13
12
11
10
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
ye ars
Fig. 7: Computed and observed water head in wells no. 6 & 19.
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7. CONCLUSION
Simulation of groundwater head was carried in a part of the lower Palar River basin,
using a finite-difference flow model for better understanding of the aquifer system.
The model formulated reasonably predicts groundwater heads similar to the
observed trends. Hence, the model can be used as an effective management tool to
understand the behaviour of aquifer systems under various stress conditions.
However, in order to do this further refinement of this model is necessary with
respect to lateral and vertical variations in lithology, which is currently being
undertaken.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New
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Delhi for Providing the financial assistance to carryout this work. The help rendered by
Prof. C. Mohana Doss, Director, Centre for Geoscience and Engineering, Anna University
in providing necessary facilities is acknowledged. Water level data provided by the Public
Works Department, Tamilnadu is acknowledged.
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REFERENCES:
Corbet, D and Bethke, W. E (1992), "Disequilibrium fluid pressures and groundwater flow
in western Canada sedimentary basin". J Geophys Res. 97(B5): 7203-7217.
Gnanasundar, D and Elango, L. (2000), "Groundwater flow modelling of a coastal
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aquifer near Chennai city", India. Journal of Indian Water Resources Society Vol.20
no.4 pp162-171
Gomboso, J. Ghassemi, F. and Jakeman, A.J (1996). "Modelling groundwater flow
in the Northern Stirling land conservation district western Australia". Ecological
Modelling vol.80 pp 169-175.
Gupta, C.P. Thangarajan, M and Gurunadha Rao, V.V.S (1994). "Preliminary study of
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groundwater pollution the upper Palar basin and feasibility of mass transport modelling
to predict pollution and migration", NGRI. Tech Rep no. 94- GW-168. pp. 45.
Ophori.D.U and Toth.J (1989). "Characterisations of groundwater flow by field
mapping and numerical simulation, Ross Creek Basin, Alberta, Canada,
Groundwater vol. 27 no.2. pp 183-196.
PWD (2000). "Groundwater Perspectives A profile of Kancheepuram district",
Tamil Nadu. Public Works Department. June pp 1-220.
Rushton.K.R and Redshaw.S.C (1979). "Seepage and groundwater flow". John
Wiley and Sons Ltd. NY 330 pp.
Thangarajan.M, Masie.M, Rana.T, Vincent Uhil, Bakaya.T.B and Gabaako, G.G
(2000). "Simulation of arid multi-layered aquifer system to evolve optimal
management schemes. A case study in Shashe River valley, Okavango Delta,
Botswana". Journal Geological Society of India Vol .55 June 2000 pp.623-648.
126
Preliminary Numerical Model of The Regional Guaran

Aquifer System, South America and Information
Management Proposal
Luis Vives, Eduardo Usunoff,
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Heraldo Campos and Carlos Fernndez-Juregui
Abstract
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This paper presents a groundwater modelling effort for the Guaran Aquifer, in
which the numerical model is used at the early stages as a methodological tool
aimed at testing the various hypotheses regarding the aquifer features and
behaviour. The results approximately matched existing data, although highlighting
the effect of scarce information and the low reliability on many available data.
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Based on such shortcomings, a decision support system is proposed to

eventually benefit all organisms, agencies and individuals concerned with the
sustainable management of the regional water resources. The system,
efficient, powerful, and open, is made up of a database that can be remotely
inspected via Internet. It has downloading/uploading capabilities, advanced
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mechanisms of data searching, filtering, and visualization, and includes

dialogue/communication services for those visiting the site.
Keywords: regional aquifers, groundwater flow modelling, Guaran Aquifer,
information system management
1. INTRODUCTION
The Guaran Aquifer (16 to 32 S latitude, 47 to 56 W longitude) covers

approximately 1.194.000 km2 within the Paran Basin in SE Brazil (839.000 km2),
and the eastern portion of the Chaco-Paran Basin (355.000 km2) in Argentina,
Paraguay, and Uruguay (Figure 1).
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80 60 40
10 10
10 Mato Grosso 10
Gois
Minas Gerais
Mato Grosso
do Sul
Sao Paulo
Paran
MI Sta. Catarina
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CO
Rio Grande
do Sul
ER
30 30
International border
National border
Guaran Aquifer System
500 km
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100 80 60 40
Fig. 1: The Guaran aquifer system (shaded) in South America (Kittl, 2000).
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More than 15.000.000 people live in this area where the aquifer is increasingly
exploited and constitutes the main source of freshwater for urban supply as well as
industrial and agricultural uses.
Initially, the modelling objective was posed so as to numerically simulate the aquifer
dynamics in order to develop a tool for the sustainable management of its water
resources. It soon became evident that the information available was scarce and
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sometimes unreliable as compared to the extension and complex nature of the

hydrogeological system. Therefore, a decision was made to use groundwater flow
modelling as a way of integrating all available information and testing several
hypotheses concerning the aquifer hydraulic behavior. That is the reason why this
presentation calls it a preliminary numerical model, although it will be referred
hereto as the Guaran Aquifer model out of simplicity.
The modelling exercise followed the conventional stages: conceptual model

definition to qualitatively describe the main features, numerical structure building
up, assessment of the elements of the system to be reproduced, and calibration to
select the most appropriate conceptual model.
Based on the modelling results, in particular their uncertainties, a decision support

system is proposed in order to store and handle all information related to the Guaran
128
Aquifer. Such a database, that can be inspected and fed via Internet, is conceived as
a tool for helping researchers and decision-makers involved in the sustainable
management of the Guaran Aquifer. It houses numerical and non-numerical
information (climatic variables, hydrological/hydrogeological data, hydrochemical/isotope
records, images, texts, etc.), visualization tools (graphs, zooms), provided with
downloading/uploading features via Intermet.
The progressive enrichment of the database, aside from possessing an intrinsic

strategic regional value, may promote a new attitude towards the management of
transnational regional water resources. At least two major challenges are in order:
(a) to overcome the value given to the information and the unwillingness to release
it, and (b) to achieve the adequate level of commitment by all potential users
(governments, agencies, research groups, stakeholders).
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This paper starts by presenting a summary of the geology and hydrogeology setting
of the Guaran Aquifer, followed by the proposed conceptual behavioural model.
The numerical model is then described, as well as the calibration strategy. Results
are discussed, which gives rise to proposing an innovative information management
system.
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It should be mentioned that this initiative matches the scope of the ISARM Program
(Internationally Shared Aquifer Resources Management) established by IHP-
UNESCO, FAO, IAH, and UN-ECE, in that it promotes multidisciplinary studies
and detailed knowledge of the scientific, socio-economical, legal, environmental,
and institutional aspects related to groundwater resources internationally owned and
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shared. In that sense, the data base/Internet proposed for the Guaran Aquifer System
can easily be implemented for any hydrological basin not only touching upon
groundwater issues but also incorporating the existing water surface network, being
transnational or not.
1.1 Geographical setting, geology and hydrogeology

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With a known extent close to 1.200.000 km2, the Guaran Aquifer System (GAS) is
one of the worlds largest freshwater subterranean reservoirs. It is located in South
America, covering part of the national territories of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and
Uruguay (Figure 1).
The geological and hydrogeological characteristics of such a large groundwater

reservoir can be found in Almeida (1983), Arajo et al. (1995 and 1999), Kittl
(2000), Lavina (1991), Rebouas (1976), and Vives et al. (2000), among others, and
only a brief summary is offered below.
The study area is within the South American Platform, a basin of tectonic origin that
may reach a sedimentary thickness of about 5.000 m along the western Sao Paulo
State (Brazil). A massive tectonic activity at the end of the Jurassic, mainly along
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the NNE and the NW directions, produced numerous faults and folds. At the same
time, alkaline-type magmatic events gave rise to dikes and sills of relevant
magnitude (Almeida, 1983).
The aquifer is in Permian-Cretacic sandstones, covered on at least 90% of its known

surface extent by Jurassic-Cretacic basalts of varying degrees of fracturing/fissuring.
Such sandstones range in thickness from few meters to more than 800 meters (in Ro
Grande Do Sul, Brazil), and can be found in the surface (outcrops) to a depth of
more than 2.200 m in the center of the basin. It is basically a confined aquifer, and
its main source of recharge is infiltrating rainfall in those places where the basaltic
cover is not present. The groundwater flow is from the North-East to the South-
West, with waters that incorporate solutes along the flow direction. The aquifer is
made up of red , fine to medium quartz sandstones, with grains well selected which
incorporate progressive proportions of clay with depth (Lavina, 1991). Overlying the
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aquifer (Figure 2),
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Fig. 2: Guaran aquifer cross-sectional views (Araujo et al. ,1999).
the basalts of the Serra Geral Formation show variable degrees of fracturing, which
locally makes the system to behave as aquitard or aquiclude. These basalts are
confined to the north by the Bauru Formation. Finally, the Piramboia Formation
constitutes the base of the whole aquifer system.
In those areas where the system behaves as a water-table aquifer (direct recharge),
waters have the following characteristics: temperature between 22 and 27 C, pH
between 5,4 and 9,2, total dissolved solids less or around 50 mg/l (calcium-
bicarbonate type, followed by calcium-magnesium bicarbonate waters). Where the
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aquifer is confined, water temperature varies between 22 and 58,7 C, pH between

6,3 and 9,8, and the total dissolved solids between 50 and 500 mg/l (calcium
bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate types, followed by sodium sulfate-chloride
waters).
Due to the ample range in latitude and the various relief types, the regional climate
is varied. According to 1931-1960 records, the mean annual rainfall is between
1.000 and 2.400 mm, the mean annual temperature is around 20 C, the mean annual
evaporation is from 650 to 1.100 mm, and the evapotranspiration ranges from 882 to
1.071 mm/year (Rebouas, 1976).
2. CONCEPTUAL MODEL
The area modelled covers 902.636 km2 in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, and belongs
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to the Paran hydrological basin. Due to the low density of data and the scarce
knowledge on their hydrogeological features, the south-western portion of the system
was not taken into account. Thus, the model has the following boundaries: outcrops of
the Guaran sediments (S, E, and W), discharge area in the region close to Torres City
(SE), the first Cenozoic outcrops (SW), and the region where the aquifer forms a wedge
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between the Serra Gearl aquifer and the Passa Dois aquitard (N).
The conceptual model was defined by extrapolating to a regional scale the

preliminary hydraulic behavior proposed by Campos (1998) for the Sao Paulo State.
It is conceived as a confined unit (mainly sandstones) with a hydraulic conductivity
ranging between 0,2 to 4,6 m/d, that decreases with depth because of the increasing
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proportion of clays in the sediments. The Bauru and Serra Geral Formations
constitute the aquifer top, while its base is limited by the Passa Dois, Tubarao and
Pre-Cambric Formations.
There are structural alignments (aulacogens) that affect the groundwater flow: in
some areas they behave as preferential flow paths (similar to fractures), whereas in
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others the effect is that of permeability anisotropy (less dense fractures and uneven
spatial distribution).
The main entrance of water to the aquifer is recharge by direct infiltration in

Brazilian territory, spatially distributed along the outcrops in the States of Sao Paulo,
Goias, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paran, and Santa Catarina.
Natural discharge areas are the plain regions and wetlands between the Uruguay and
Paran Rivers, the southern and eastern sectors of Porto Alegre, and along the
Paran, Pelotas, and Tiet Rivers (related to structural alignments). Another
discharge area is the heavy pumping in the center-western region of Sao Paulo State,
with evident signs of overexploitation around the Ribeirao Preto City.
131
3. THE MODEL: NUMERICAL AND STRUCTURAL SCHEMES
The flow model addresses only the Guaran Aquifer, without regarding the confining
Formations (Serra Geral and Bauru). The regime is steady state, and the grid is 2-D
finite elements. The coordinates are UTM and the units are homogeneous all
through (meters and days).
The code used is TRANSIN II (Medina et al., 1996), which is able to simulate water
flow and solute transport. A premier advantage of this code is that it allows the
automatic calibration of all flow and transport parameters, from measured values of
groundwater levels and solute concentrations. The automatic calibration, based in
solving what is known as the inverse problem, is achieved through statistical
methods that maximize the likelyhood of the estimation errors (Carrera and
Neuman, 1986). Data pre-processing and post-processing used the INTRANSIN-III
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code (Vives, 1994).
The finite-elements grid was automatically generated. The discretization is larger

(i.e., finer) in those areas where the hydraulic gradient is higher and/or where the
data density allows so (e.g., north-eastern portion of the model, see Figure 3). The
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basic grid has been modified along the structural alignments by superimposing 1-D
elements to connect the nodes (edges of the triangular elements), so that the
preferential flow paths can be explicitly modelled.
The study area was divide up into 14 zones of different transmissivity and 6 zones of
varying permeability (Figure 3). The transmissivity discretization allows the
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simulation of the structural alignments (preferential flow paths), whereas the

permeability zoning can simulate the effect of secondary (weak) fracturing. The
anisotropy tensor is oriented NNE-SSW and its components, according to the area
treated, were between 1 and 24 m/d. For the preferential flow regions, the width was
taken into account and its permeability estimated between 10 to 50 m/d.
Permeability and transmissivity values are modified at each element by means of a
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coefficient that considers the spatial variation of the aquifer thickness and the
changes in water viscosity due to varying temperatures at depth (Schneebeli, 1966).
The areal recharge, accounted for in the elements, considered 7 zones (Figure 3),
and is defined as an amount of water entering or exiting the zone. Recharge, as
given by the model, is the difference between the water entering from rainfall or
recharge from the overlying aquifers and that extracted by well pumping. The
infiltration from precipitations in the Guaran Aquifer outcrops was estimated in
10% of the rainfall (Rebouas, 1976), given that the mean annual precipitation in the
region varies between 1.300 and 1.800 mm.
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-1900000
-1800000
BRASIL
BOLIVIA
-2200000
-2100000 T5
T8 T7
k2 k1
-2400000
T14
PARAGUAY -2500000
T6
T16 T9
k17
-2700000
T10
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-2800000
T15
-3000000
T20
k19
ARGENTINA
T12
T18
-3300000
T11
-3100000
k3
-3600000 metros
k4
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URUGUAY T13
0 200000 400000 600000
metros
0 100000 200000 300000

-1000000 -800000 -600000 -400000 -200000 0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 -3400000
0 200000 400000 600000 800000
-1900000 -1900000
R6
H5 - alfa 1
R5 CD
FG
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CM1
-2200000
-2200000 IP2
MG PU
FR2
CG5 CM2
CG7 BAR
PB SB
SJ2 BS1
CG17
Q5 R7 NI GR CT ML AT1
GT1 SA
R3 PE LI2 MT2 LZSV1
IA AQ3
R4 R2 PP
TU DE1
AL
Q4 DU MA BU4
PR1PD3
BB2
IR5
-2500000 LP
-2500000
BT4
CR CHOO AV1
CP1
MRPT LO
2-AP-1-PR
Q1 MS
2-CM-1-PR FX3
R1
L.
1-RCA-1-PR
PS
-2800000
PPL
-2800000
IM2
H4 Q2 CZ
2-MC-1-SC
SMD 1-TP-2-SC TG
EN CI SCS
AB
2-PI-1-SC
Q6 EX
-3100000
Q3 -3100000 2-LV-1-RS
SG
H1 AE
H3 SAP
metros
H2 0 100000 200000 300000
metros
-3400000 0 100000 200000 300000

0 200000 400000 600000 800000
-3400000
0 200000 400000 600000 800000
Fig. 3: (from top to bottom, and from left to right) Finite-elements grid,
permeability zones, recharge zones with boundary conditions,
observation points.
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More than two decades ago an overexploitation area in the Ribeirao Preto (Sao
Paulo, Brasil) has been identified, with discharges in the order of de 45 x 106
m3/ao (Gilboa et al., 1976). Chemical and isotope studies on the Guaran and
Bauru Aquifers (Kimmelmann et al., 1996) have shown that the water pumped out
does not belong to a single aquifer, most probably due to the heavy pumping rate.
Some sparse data indicate that shallow waters migrate downwards and get mixed
with thermal waters. As for the rest of Sao Paulo State (Campos y Cern-Garcia,
1998) groundwater is extracted from about 1.000 wells reaching the aquifer where
the basalt cover is thinner. Most discharges are in the range of 3 and 28 l/s, although
there are wells with depths close to 1.000 m and discharge rates between 80 and
170 l/s.
The boundary conditions are shown in Figure 3, which basically considered the
groundwater contour map by Arajo et al. (1999):
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Fixed groundwater level at the west (Paraguay and outcrops of Cenozoic
sediments in Argentina), south (Guaran outcrops), and south-east (Torres
City zone).
Fixed discharge to the east (outcrops of the Guaran Aquifer in the Mato
an
Grosso do Sul, Paran, and Santa Catarina States, where the recharge by
rainfall is simulated.
Mixed conditions to the north, where the aquifer dissapears as a wedge.
The measured levels in 74 observation points (Figure 3) were used at the

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calibration stage. Those points were selected so as to have a homogeneous spatial

coverage and to be compatible with the information provided by Arajo et. al
(1999). Some of the measurements are not reliable: measuring dates do not match,
the filtering section of wells is larger than the aquifer thickness (meaning that the
overlying basalt has no casing), partially penetrating wells (probably avoiding the
clay-rich sediments), uncertainties on the static water level readings, etc.
Therefore, weighting coefficients were used to value selectively the information
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for the wells.
4. CALIBRATION STRATEGY AND RESULTS
The calibration step consists of estimating the model parameters in such a way that
the computed levels match the actual measurements. Aside from that, the calculated
parameters are to be coherent with their previous estimation and the conceptual
model.
The first objective of the calibration phase was posed as to reproduce as closely as
possible the existing groundwater contour levels. That allowed the modification of
the conceptual model in order to minimize the effect of some initial uncertainties
134
(e.g., the need to include the structural alignments, and the consideration of
anisotropic permeability zones).
The results were acceptable and in accordance with the objectives pursued. Figure 4
shows that the computed groundwater level contours reproduce qualitatively the
measured data.
14
MT -1900000
GO
Limit of DF
Cuiab
Paran Basin
Goinia 407
413
600
500
18 460
BOLVIA
MG
-2200000
530
502 648
BRAZIL 449
371470
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427 435 492 550
0 442
MS 50 798
70 0
367
0
60
400 0 893
Campo 80 493 452
521
430
Grande 493 593
708
523 579
400 428
368 422 529
400 436 694
700 420
22 344 456 823
746
553
467 445
437
-2500000 529
SP 564
So Paulo 559
529 542 617
539 440
PARAGUAY Pon
404 450
ta 697
Gr
Arch ossa
996
436
Asuncin PR Curitiba 487
536
26
SC 879
-2800000
an
1000
230
900
800
100 r
e 95
Riv Florianpolis
ay
700
er
gu 995
Riv
Uru
600
0
50 0
50
n
0
0
30
40
20
ra
Pa
824
ARGENTINA 391 744 990
Corrientes
Province 364 56
Porto Alegre 104
50 291 573
30
Rio 472
G RS
Entre Arc ran
100 h de -3100000
Rios
LEGEND 735
Province
Contour interval: 100 m 183
200 Line of equal potentiometric head,

in meters
Direction of groundwater flow
345
Oil well
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URUGUAY Water well
7
Outcrop of the Mercosul aquifer
system metros
34
Montevideo 0 100 200 300 km 0 100000 200000 300000
Buenos
Aires 54 50 46
-3400000
35
60
58 0 200000 400000 600000 800000
Fig. 4: Left: Hand-drawn groundwater-level contours from measurements

(Araujo et al.,1999); right: computed.
It can also be observed that the groundwater flow is influenced by the local entity of
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the structural alignments, as well as the recharges (specially in the Sao Paulo State
zone). The south-eastern portion of the model is not well adjusted, because of the
scarce data available in that region and the higher level of subjectivity in drawing
the contours.
Except for the recharge, the calculated parameters are coherent with the conceptual
model proposed and the previous estimations. The permeability values initially
estimated do not differ much from those finally computed, in the sense that they are
in the same order of magnitude and keep the same anisotropy relationship. The
transmissivity values for the structural alignments have a greater degree of
uncertainty because, in their previous estimation, the width of the elements had to be
calculated but not counting on information about their permeability. The recharge in
the outcroppings areas of the Guaran Aquifer (R2, R5, and R6) are smaller that
previously assumed, which may be the result of an overestimation of the infiltration
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and/or an underestimation of the water being pumped. Diminishing recharge rates in

the R4 zone is to be expected because the exploitation affects the overlying
formations, thereby making the Guaran Aquifer to supply water from its storage.
The overexploitation at Ribeirao Preto (R7 zone) seems to be larger that what had
been previously thought and merits special treatment in future models.
It is important to highlight that the success of any modelling effort is strictly related
to the quality, density and reliability of the available data. As applied to the Guaran
Aquifer, then, the main limitations have been: uneven distribution and low reliability
on data from observation points, incomplete knowledge of the groundwater pumping
volumes, scarce information about the aquifer hydraulic properties, lack of detailed
studies on recharge from rainfall, disregard of the chemical information as related to
groundwater flow, and the exclusion of the overlying aquifers (Bauru and Serra
Geral).
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According to what has been presented up to this point, any attempt to assess the
water resources potential of this giant aquifer may not have a good onset as long as
the shortcomings pointed out in the paragraph above remain. In essence, the problem
has been posed as to how effectively collect, store, and disseminate the information
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relevant to the Guaran Aquifer System (GAS) knowledge in order to face
realistically its management. The IHP-UNESCO thought of some kind of decision-
support system, driven by a large, well-structured database, and accessible in a
remote way (via Internet), and decided to sponsor a pilot project with that objective
in mind. The partial results emerging from the initial one-year trial period will be
presented below.
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5. COMPREHENSIVE DATABASE, REMOTELY ACCESSED
It has been designed to be used as a decision support system, with capabilities of

storing all data related to the GAS, accessible via Internet in a restricted or total way
by all users in the system (Figure 5).
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Base de Datos
USUARIO USUARIO
Fig. 5: Information management conceptual structure.
136
The internal check distinguishes two types of users: member and public. Members, once
cleared up by the system, may enter new data and become owners of such information.
Data owners assign the level of data availability, which may be private, protected, or
open. In that way, the research groups will decide which information they want to share
with other groups, keeping some data unavailable for their own purposes (processing,
filtering), and let some other data be freely released. This scheme allows data loading in
real time and does not depend on the location of the eventual new data provider.
The database stores and organizes the information, and the web page allows its use
by any person with Internet connection. In order to make easier and more efficient
the database exploitation, a set of visualization and consultation tools were
developed and embedded in the web page.
5.1 Database structure
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The database contains different levels of information, from general to particular
issues, including climatic, geologic, hydrologic, hydrogeology, water quality, etc.
aspects. Its main features are:
Stores all information related to the GAS, i.e., numerical data, pictures,
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satellite images, documents, contact names and addresses, links, etc.
Incorporates engines for data consultation: images or documents finder,
numerical data viewer and processing, data filtering.
Clears the users status (member, public) and allows (user/password) the
distinction of the data availability level.
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Counts on a mechanism for massive data uploading from text format files
(for normalizing the database internal structure).
5.2 Web site development
The main characteristics of the Web site are as follows:

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Easy and fluid navigation, oriented to non-experienced users.

Member and public users levels handling.
Interface between users and data, allowing information search, downloading
and filtering, as well as data presentation in various manners (raw data, 2D
and 3D graphs).
Multilingual switchable presentation (initially in Spanish, Portuguese, and
English).
A critical factor is the communication speed, which is basically determined
by the delay time. The line delay is unavoidable because it depends on the
Internet-connection providers and the bandwidth selected for the site server.
The response time delay can be optimized using specific site architectural
features, such as Enterprise Java Beans, and a DBMS (database management
system) of well-proven characteristics.
137
5.3 Consultation and visualization session
Some basic data were predefined and data processors were made operative in order
to test the site behavior, although it should be said that many of them will have to be
modified and new possibilities will have to be considered. As an example,
hydrochemical data were loaded and their processing will be shown below in the
format of an eventual consultation session:
Selection of sites where the user wants to find out the information available (Figure 6).
Upload of new information (database enrichment): numerical data (through
windows or preset tables), images, texts, videos, etc.
Scatter X-Y graphs, provided with a simple toolbar.
Two-dimensional graphs with zooming capabilities: maps, distribution of
monitoring points, distribution of selected parameters, maps superposition
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(layering), with a simple toolbar. Isovalue maps drawing is an option not
implemented at this development phase.
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Figure 6. Graphical selection of the domain from

which the information will be retrieved.
138
Images or pictures: visualization by means of a toolbar (zoom, cut and paste,

etc. (Figure 7).
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Figure 7. Screens of Images. With a click the user has the option of
downloading the file to his computer.
Chemical analyses diagrams: column type or Collins , triangular or Piper,

Schoeller-Berkaloff.
Basic statistics on grouped data: mean, standard deviation, regression
indices, correlation, etc.
Information retrieval: filters for selecting data, e.g., based on time span,
location, etc.
Bibliography: viewer, search within a text, authors, etc.
139
Users/institutions: list of individuals and involved organisms with contact

information (address, email, etc).
News: dedicated place for managers and users to transmit news, send
comments/questions, etc.
5.4 Choice of technological framework
The selection of the development technology is a crucial step in the life of any
project of this type. Many aspects depend on the decision, such as the application
design, the working plan, the application portability, its future
maintenance/updating, and the possibility of shortening the development phase.
For the GAS project, there was an initial, long stage in which decisions were made
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on the basis of what was going to be used and what tools/technology were available.
After laying out the objectives and the different alternatives, the following
technology was adopted: Oracle database; combination of FLASH, HTML and
JavaScript for screens design, to facilitate the users navigation; the JSP technology
is of particular usefulness for keeping the dynamics required by the application; and
Servlets.
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6. CONCLUSIONS
The preliminary numerical groundwater flow model proposed matches quite

approximately the information available and reproduces qualitatively an existing
data-field drawn contour map. The methodology employed claims for the integration
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of all available information keeping in mind that the final objective is to unravel the
conceptual hydrogeological model. However, the model showed that some
limitations will have to be taken into account whenever the time comes to build up a
more robust model aiming at reducing uncertainties.
In that sense, it seems reasonable to think of the GAS as a system to be modelled as

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a multi-layer or 3-D aquifer (that is, Bauru, Serra Geral, Guaran Aquifers, and
Passa Dois Aquitard), based on the existing hydrogeological cartography and
including the structural alignments that affect the groundwater flow. More
observation points are clearly needed as well as updated data on water use (pumping
rates), direct infiltration rates, and aquifer hydraulic parameters from pumping tests.
A decision-support system is presented in order to integrate all available

hydrological information, for the benefit of agencies or organisms involved in the
sustainable management of such a valuable regional water resource. This tool,
efficient, powerful, and open for consultation, consists of a comprehensive database
that can be inspected remotely via Internet. Data can be downloaded and, given
proper authorization, the information can also be uploaded for sharing purposes. It
counts with advanced mechanisms for information searching and filtering, as well as
visual applications for raw data and maps, and communication capabilities.
140
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank the following institutions: Programa Hidrolgico

Internacional (UNESCO, Montevideo), Universidad do Vale do Rio dos Sinos
(UNISINOS, Brazil), Universidad Politcnica de Catalua (UPC, Spain), Instituto
de Hidrologa de Llanuras (Argentina), Instituto de Sistemas de Tandil (Argentina),
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfico e Tecnolgico (CNPq, Brazil),
Departamento de guas e Energia Eltrica (DAEE , Brazil), and Servei Cartogrfic
de Catalunya (Spain).
REFERENCES:
Almeida, F. F .M. (1983). "Relaoes tectnicas das rochas alcalinas Mesozicas da

regiao meridional da Plataforma" Sul-Americana. Rev. Brasileira Geocincias,
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SBG, Vol.13, No.3, pp. 139-158.
Arajo, L. M.; Frana, A.B.; Potter, P.E. (1995). "Giant Mercosul aquifer of Brazil,
Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay: hydrogeologic maps of Botucatu, Pirambia,
Rosrio do Sul, Buena Vista", Misiones and Tucuaremb Formations. Biblioteca de
Cincia e Tecnoligia, Centro Politnico, Curitiba, UFPR/PETROBRS.
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Arajo, L. M.; Frana, A.B.; Potter, P. (1999). "Hydrogeology of the Mercosul
aquifer system in the Paran and Chaco-Paran basins, South America, and comparison
with the Navajo-Nugget aquifer system", USA. Hydrogeology Journal, Vol. 7, pp. 317-336
Carrera, J. and Neuman, S. (1986). "Estimation of aquifer parameters under
transient and steady state conditions, I, Maximum likelihood method incorporating
El
prior information". Water Resouces Research, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 199-210.
Campos, H.C.N.S. y Cern-Garcia, J.C. (1998). "Algunos aspectos de la hidroqumica
del sistema aqfero Botucatu" (Cuenca del Paran, Estado de Sao Paulo, Brasil).
Revista Geogaceta. Sociedad Geolgica de Espaa, Vol. 23, pp. 23-25.
Campos, H.C.N.S. (1999). "Mapa Hidrogeolgico do Aqfero Guaran, escala
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1:2.500.000 (indito)". Editado por ISOMAPA Consultoria e Projetos Ltda. (Sao

Paulo, Brasil).
Campos, H. (2000). "Mapa hidrogeolgico del Acufero Guaran. Proceedings of
the 1st Joint World Congress on Groundwater", Fortaleza, Brasil, 15 p. (in CD
format).
Gilboa, Y.; Mero, F.; Mariano, I.B. (1976). "The Botucatu aquifer of South America,
Model of an untapped continental aquifer". Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 29, pp. 165-179.
Kimmelmann, A.; Foster, M.; Coelho, R. (1996). Environmental isotope and
hydrogeochemical investigation of "Baur and Botucat aquifers, Paran Basin,
Brazil. Isotope Investigations in Latin America". IAEA, TECDOC 835, pp. 57-74.
Kittl, S., 2000. "Contributions to the knowledge on the stratigraphy and
hydrochemical of the giant Guaran Aquifer System", South America. Eberhard-
Karls-Universitt zu Tbingen, Alemania. Master Thesis.
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Lavina, E. L., (1991). "Geologia sedimentar e paleogeografia do Neopermiano e o

Eotrissico (Intervalo Kazaniano Scythiano) da Bacia do Paran". Porto Alegre,
Curso de Ps-Graduao em Geocincias, UFRGS, Tese de Doutorado.
Medina, A.; Galarza, G.; Carrera, J. (1996). TRANSIN II. "Fortran code for solving
the coupled flow and transport inverse problem in saturated conditions". El
Berrocal Project. Characterization and validation of natural radionuclide migration
processes under real conditions on the fissured granitic environment. European
Commission Contrac n FI2W/CT91/0080. Topical Report 16. ENRESA.
Rebouas, A. C., (1976), "Recursos hdricos da Bacia do Paran". So Paulo, Tese
de Livre Docncia, IGc/USP, 143p.
Schneebeli, G. (1966). "Hidraulique souterraine". Editors Eyrolles, Pars. 362 pp.
Vives, L. (1994). Manual del cdigo INTRANSIN III Versin 2.0. "Barcelona,
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Escuela Tcnica Superior de Caminos", Canales y Puertos de Barcelona,
Universidad Politcnica de Catalua. Informe interno.
Vives, L., Campos, H., Candela, L., and Guarracino, L. (2000). "Premodelo de flujo
del Acufero Guaran". Proceedings of the 1st Joint World Congress on
Groundwater, Fortaleza, Brasil, 19 p. (in CD format).
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142
Sea Water Intrusion Vulnerability Mapping of

Aquifers Using Galdit Method
A.G. Chachadi and J.P. Lobo Ferreira
go Abstract
The continued human interference into the coastal hydrologic system has led to the
pollution of the coastal groundwater aquifers by salt water. The groundwater
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pollution incidents due to salt-water intrusions have increased many folds in the
last couple of decades. Generally one comes to know about the groundwater
pollution due to saltwater mixing only after the incident has occurred. But
experience show that the remediation of the groundwater system, which has
undergone salt-water intrusion, is rather difficult and uneconomical in most of the
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cases. Therefore it is required to develop a methodology to assess and map the

probable potential areas of seawater intrusion by standard scientific method. A new
method of aquifer vulnerability mapping has been proposed to map and identify
potential seawater intrusion areas along the coasts. The method has been derived
based mainly on the intrinsic aquifer properties and hence provide time
independent measure of aquifer vulnerability of an area to seawater intrusion
problems. The proposed method has been validated using case studies in coastal
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Goa and East Godavari district.

Keywords : galdit, aquifer, Goa, vulnerability, pollution.
1. INTRODUCTION
Every year, 600 billion cubic metres of groundwater are pumped throughout the
world. In 1990, two countries extracted more than 40% of this - India with 150
billion cubic metres and USA with 100 billion cubic metres. Groundwater extraction
accounts for 32% of the total Indian water production, distributed for agriculture and
livestock (89%), drinking (9%), and industry (2%). The share of groundwater in net
irrigated areas has risen from one third in 1965/66 to over half at present
(Vaidyanathan 1996; Marothia 1997). This is mainly due to improvements in the
drilling technology, water lifting from deeper aquifers, and highly subsidised energy
supply and loans for minor irrigation works. Besides, the non-availability of
143
adequate supply of canal water during periods of high demand, long gestation
periods of major irrigation projects have compelled the farmers to take up
groundwater development.
Indian coastal aquifers constitute the second richest groundwater reservoirs after the
Indo-Gangetic alluvial plain, which is one of the world's largest fresh groundwater
reservoirs. While aquifers along India's West Coast are predominantly of fractured
porosity, one finds top alluvial aquifers followed by deeper fractured aquifers on the
East Coast. The topography of the East Coast is flat with vast spreads of more than
50 km inland whereas the western coastal stretch is narrow, bounded by high rising
mountains (Western Ghats). The East Coast gets about 10 months of rainfall both
from the North - East and South -West monsoons, receiving on an average about
1500mm of rain annually. A major portion of the East Coast also experiences
periodic cyclonic precipitation each year. The West Coast, on the other hand,
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receives more than 3000mm of annual rain from only Southwest monsoons from
June to September. No cyclonic precipitation is generally witnessed except at
Gujarat coast occasionally.
Stretching over a length of more than 7000km, the Indian coastline offers an
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excellent opportunity for agriculture, particularly on the East Coast, which has vast
stretches of fertile alluvial soils. The main urban centers and industrial
establishments are also crowded along the Indian coast. Coasts are stressed due to
industrial activity in Gujarat, Maharashtra, parts of Karnataka, and West Bengal.
The coastal stretches of Goa, parts of Karnataka, Orissa, and Kerala are stressed due
to tourism activities. Coastal groundwater tracts are under stress due to agricultural/
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aquaculture activities and urbanization in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and
parts of Orissa.
The overuse of groundwater along parts of the coastal belts of India for various
purposes has affected groundwater quality and quantity. It has led to rapid decline in
groundwater levels leading to saltwater incursions and water quality deterioration
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particularly in parts of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and West
Bengal. The nine maritime states include Gujarat, Maharastra, Goa, Karnataka,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal besides Union
Territories of Diu, Daman, Lakshadweep, Pondicherry and Andaman and Nicobar
Islands. There are more than 156 districts in these States and Union Territories.
2. PROBLEM DEFINITION
The concentration of mega cities, industries, harbors, farm cultivation, aquaculture

and tourist activities, clubbed with high population density has transformed resource
full coastal belts into the resource scarce areas. Both the quality and the quantity of
all the natural resources are decreasing day by day along the coasts. The stress on
fresh water resources has indeed a matter of great concern. Though all the rivers end
up with the sea in the coastal areas the major portion of the utilizable water
144
resources come from groundwater reservoirs. The continued and unconcerned use of
the groundwater in the coastal belts has led to alarming situations in many parts of
our country.
The continued human interference into the coastal hydrologic system has led to the
pollution of the coastal groundwater aquifers by salt water. The groundwater
pollution incidents due to salt-water intrusions have increased many folds in the last
couple of decades. Generally one comes to know about the groundwater pollution
due to saltwater mixing only after the incident has occurred. But experience show
that the remediation of the groundwater system, which has undergone salt-water
intrusion, is rather difficult and uneconomical in most of the cases. Therefore it is
required to develop a methodology to assess and map the probable potential areas of
seawater intrusion by standard scientific method.
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In the present paper a new approach based on four intrinsic hydrogeological
parameters, one spatial parameter and one boundary parameter has been proposed to
map the potential coastal areas of seawater intrusion. The basic assumption made
here is that the seawater mixing into the fresh groundwater is essentially a pollution
problem.
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3. CONCEPT FOR THE DEFINITION OF GROUNDWATER
VULNERABILITY TO POLLUTION
Before considering the evaluation of groundwater vulnerability to pollution, it is

necessary to define the term vulnerability. The term vulnerability has been defined
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and used before in the area of water resources, but within the context of system
performance evaluation, e.g. the definition given by Hashimoto et al. [1982].
These authors present an analysis of system performance, which focuses on system

failure. They define three concepts that provide useful measures of system
performance: (1) how likely the system is to fail is measured by its reliability, (2)
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how quickly the system returns to a satisfactory state once a failure has occurred is
expressed by its resiliency, and (3) how severe the likely consequences of failure
may be is measured by its vulnerability. This concept of vulnerability defined in the
context of system performance may also be used in the context of groundwater
pollution due to seawater mixing by replacing "system failure" by "intensity of
groundwater pumpage" due to which the seawater mixing takes place. The severity
of the consequences is measured in terms of water quality deterioration, regardless
of its value as a resource (for example, regardless of whether or not the aquifer is
being used for public supply or is given any use at all).
It is believed that the most useful definition of vulnerability is one that refers to the
intrinsic characteristics of the aquifer, which are relatively static and mostly
beyond human control. It is proposed therefore that the groundwater vulnerability to
seawater pollution be redefined, in agreement with the conclusions and
145
recommendations of the international conference on "Vulnerability of Soil and

Groundwater to Pollutants", held in 1987 in The Netherlands, [Duijvenbooden et al,
1987 and Anderson, et al. 1987], as
the sensitivity of groundwater quality to an imposed groundwater pumpage in

the coastal belt, which is determined by the intrinsic characteristics of the
aquifer.
Thus defined, vulnerability is distinct from pollution risk. Pollution risk due to
seawater mixing depends not only on vulnerability but also on the existence of
significant groundwater pumpage in the proximity of the coast. It is possible to have
high aquifer vulnerability but no risk of seawater intrusion, if there is no significant
groundwater pumpage in the proximity of the coast; and to have high pollution risk
in spite of low vulnerability, if the groundwater pumpage is exceptional. It is
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important to make clear the distinction between vulnerability and risk. This is
because risk of seawater intrusion is determined not only by the intrinsic
characteristics of the aquifer, which are relatively static and hardly changeable, but
also on the existence of intensive activities of groundwater pumpage along the coast,
which are dynamic factors which can in principle be changed and controlled.
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Considerations on whether a groundwater pollution episode due to seawater mixing
will result in a serious threat to groundwater quality and thus to its (already
developed, or designated) water supply are not included in the proposed definition
of vulnerability. The seriousness of the impact on water use will depend not only on
aquifer vulnerability to seawater intrusion but also on the magnitude of the seawater
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intrusion episode, and the value of the groundwater resource.
4. METHODOLOGY
Hydrogeological conditions and human activities close to the coast mainly affect
groundwater pollution due to seawater mixing. There has been no methodology for
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evaluating the spatial distribution of the seawater intrusion potential, which

essentially take into account hydrogeological factors, and allows the seawater
intrusion of coastal hydrogeological setting to be systematically evaluated in any
selected coastal area where the hydrogeological information is available. Therefore,
it is necessary to adopt a mapping system that is simple enough to apply using the
data generally available, and yet is capable of making best use of those data in a
technically valid and useful way.
Some of the systems for aquifer pollution vulnerability evaluation and ranking
include a vulnerability index, which is computed from hydrogeological,
morphological and other aquifer characteristics in some well-defined way. The
adoption of an index has the advantage of, in principle, eliminating or minimising
subjectivity in the ranking process. Given the multitude of authors and potential
users of vulnerability maps in EEC countries, Lobo-Ferreira and Cabral, 1991
146
suggested that a vulnerability index be used in the vulnerability ranking performed

for European Community maps. Such a standardised index has been adopted in the
U.S., Canada and South Africa, and is currently used in those countries. The
DRASTIC index, developed by Aller et al. 1987 for the U.S. EPA is one such
method. This index has the characteristics of simplicity and usefulness.
5. SUGGESTED SYSTEM OF VULNERABILITY EVALUATION AND

RANKING
Inherent in each hydrogeologic setting is the physical characteristics that affect the
seawater intrusion potential. The most important mappable factors that control the
seawater intrusion are found to be;
1. Groundwater Occurrence (aquifer type; unconfined, confined and leaky confined).
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2. Aquifer Hydraulic Conductivity.
3. Depth to Groundwater Level above Sea.
4. Distance from the Shore (distance inland perpendicular from shoreline).
5. Impact of existing status of seawater intrusion in the area.
6. Thickness of the aquifer which is being mapped.
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The acronym GALDIT is formed from the highlighted and underlined letters of the
parameters for ease of reference. These factors, in combination, are determined to
include the basic requirements needed to assess the general seawater intrusion
potential of each hydrogeologic setting. GALDIT factors represent measurable
parameters for which data are generally available from a variety of sources without
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detailed reconnaissance.
A numerical ranking system to assess seawater intrusion potential in hydrogeologic

settings has been devised using GALDIT factors. The system contains three
significant parts: weights, ranges and ratings. Each GALDIT factor has been
evaluated with respect to the other to determine the relative importance of each
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factor. Each GALDIT factor has been assigned a relative weight ranging from 1 to
4. The most significant factors have weight of 4; the least significant, a weight of
1as shown below:
Factors GALDIT weights
(i) 1. Groundwater Occurrence (Aquifer Type) 1

(ii) 2. Aquifer Hydraulic Conductivity 3
(iii) 3. Depth to Groundwater Level above Sea 4
(iv) 4. Distance from the Shore 2
(v) 5. Impact of existing status of Seawater Intrusion 1
(vi) 6. Thickness of Aquifer being Mapped 2
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The minimum value of the GALDIT index is therefore 13 and the maximum value
is 130. A rating value between 1 and 10 to each parameter are attributed, depending
on local conditions. High values correspond to high vulnerability. The attributed
values are generally obtained from tables, which give the correspondence between
local hydrogeologic characteristics and the parameter value. Next, the local index of
vulnerability is computed through multiplication of the value attributed to each
parameter (rating) by its relative weight (GALDIT weight), and adding up all six
products. The impact of each of the above six parameters on seawater intrusion
episode is described in the following paragraphs:
(i) Groundwater Occurrence (Aquifer Type) (G): In nature groundwater

generally occurs in the geological layers and these layers may be confined, unconfined or
leaky confined in nature. This basic nature of groundwater occurrence has an influence on
the extent of seawater intrusion. For example an unconfined aquifer under natural
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conditions would be more affected by seawater intrusion compared to confined aquifer as
the confined aquifer is under more than atmospheric pressure. Similarly a confined aquifer
may be more prone to seawater intrusion compared to leaky confined aquifer as the leaky
confined aquifer maintains minimum hydraulic pressure by way of leakage from adjoining
aquifers. Therefore in assigning the relative weights to G one should carefully study the
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disposition and type of the aquifers in the study area. The ratings generally are; unconfined
(9), confined (10) and leaky confined (8). The confined aquifer is more vulnerable due to
larger cone of depression and instantaneous release of water to wells during pumping. In
case of multiple aquifer system in an area the highest rating may be adopted. For example
if an area has all the three aquifers then the rating of 10 of an unconfined aquifer may be
chosen.
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(ii) Aquifer Hydraulic Conductivity (A): The parameter aquifer hydraulic

conductivity is used to measure the rate of flow of water in the aquifer. By definition
the aquifer hydraulic conductivity is the ability of the aquifer to transmit water. The
hydraulic conductivity is the result of the interconnected pores (effective porosity) in
the sediments and fractures in the consolidated rocks. The magnitude of seawater
L.
front movement is influenced by the hydraulic conductivity. Higher the conductivity

higher the inland movements of the seawater front. The high conductivity also
results in wider cone of depression during pumping. In this case the user should take
into account the hydraulic barriers like clay layers, and impervious dykes parallel to
the coast, which may act as walls to seawater intrusion. The typical rating adopted
from Aller et. al 1987 are as under;
Rating Hydraulic conductivity range (m/day)

1 0 - 4.1
2 4.1 - 12.2
4 12.2 - 28.5
6 28.5 - 40.7
8 40.7 - 81.5
10 > 81.5
148
(iii) Depth to Groundwater Level above Sea (L): The level of groundwater with
respect to mean sea level is a very important factor in the evaluation of the seawater
intrusion in an area primarily because it determines the hydraulic pressure
availability to push the seawater front back. As seen from the Ghyben-Herzberg
relation, for every meter of fresh water stored above mean sea level, 40 meters of
freshwater are stored below it down to the interface. In assigning the ratings to L
one should look into the temporal long-term variation of the groundwater levels in
the area. Generally the values pertaining to minimum groundwater levels above sea
(Premonsoon) may be considered, as this would provide the highest possible
vulnerability. The ratings adopted from Aller et. Al 1987 is as under;
Ratings Groundwater level above Sea (m)

10 < 1.5
9 1.5 - 4.6
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7 4.6 - 9.1
5 9.1 - 15.2
3 15.2 - 22.9
2 22.9 - 30.5
1 > 30.5
an
(iv) Distance from the Shore (D): The impact of seawater intrusion generally
decreases as one moves inland at right angles to the shore. The following table gives
the general guidelines for rating assuming the aquifer is under undisturbed
conditions;
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Rating Distance from Shore Inland (m)

10 <100
9 101 - 200
8 201 - 300
7 301 - 400
6 401 - 500
L.
5 501 - 600
4 601 - 700
3 701 - 800
2 801 - 1000
>1000
(v) Impact of Existing Status of Seawater Intrusion (I): The area under mapping
invariably is under stress and this stress has already modified the natural hydraulic
balance between seawater and fresh groundwater. This fact should be considered
while mapping the aquifer vulnerability to seawater intrusion. The following rating
are given to take care of such field situations:
149
Ratings Impact Status

10 Area already intruded by seawater in all
seasons. Where epm value of the ratio of
Cl / (HCO3+CO3) is > 2
5 Area where seasonal seawater intrusion
prevails. Where epm value of the ratio of
Cl /(HCO3+CO3) is between 1.5 - 2
0 Area where no seawater intrusion was
witnessed in the past. Where epm value
of the ratio of Cl /(HCO3+CO3) is < 1.5
The information for the above rating can be gathered from historical reports, inquiry
from the local people, and chemical analysis data.
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(vi) Thickness of the Aquifer being Mapped (T): Aquifer thickness or saturated
thickness of an unconfined aquifer plays an important role in determining the extent
and magnitude of seawater intrusion in the coastal areas. It is well established that
larger the aquifer thickness smaller the extent of seawater intrusion and vice versa.
Keeping this as a guideline the following ratings are given for T:
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Ratings Aquifer thickness (m)
10 <1
9 1.1 - 2.0
8 2.1 - 3.0
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7 3.1 - 4.0
6 4.1 - 5.0
5 5.1 - 6.0
4 6.1 - 7.0
3 7.1 - 8.0
2 8.1 - 10.0
1 > 10.0
L.
7. MAPPING OF FINAL GALDIT INDEX
According to the GALDIT method, each of the six parameters has a pre-determined
fixed relative weight that reflects its relative importance to vulnerability. When the
GALDIT method is adopted, the aquifer vulnerability index to seawater intrusion is
obtained by the following expression:
GALDIT = 1*G + 3*A + 4*L + 2*D + 1*I + 2*T .. (1)
Thus, the user can use hydrogeologic settings as a mappable unit, define the area of interest
by modifying to reflect specific conditions within an area, choose corresponding ratings
and calculate a seawater intrusion GALDIT index. This system allows the user to
determine a numerical value for any hydrogeological setting by using an additive model.
150
Once the GALDIT index has been computed, it is possible to identify areas, which are
more likely to be susceptible to seawater intrusion relative to one another. The higher the
index, the greater the seawater intrusion potential. The GALDIT index provides only a
relative tool and is not designed to provide absolute answers. It is expected that as the
model is an open ended one the application and validation of GALDIT method to case
studies would help improve the rating values that are adopted in this paper.
8. APPLICATION OF THE GALDIT MAPPING CASE STUDIES
The above method has been validated using case studies in the coastal areas of Goa and
East Godavari. The GALDIT scores at each of the 57-groundwater monitoring wells
were computed for the Goa study area in Bardez taluk (Table 1). These GALDIT
values along with the x and y co-ordinates were used in the SURFER package to draw
the vulnerability score contour map. The map derived for this study area is given in Fig.
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1. The geoelectrical profiles carried out in the study area to determine the seawater
intrusions are shown in Fig.2. From this figure and the GALDIT vulnerability map it is
seen that the high scores of vulnerability coincides with the saltwater intruded areas,
which are indicated by the low electrical resistivity values on the profiles.
an
R.Chapor 3 GALDIT INDEX MAP
1 4
Fort 2 6
33 Chapora 5 7 Assagao9 59
32 34 35 8
Vagator
25 31 36 39
Parra
El
38
30 29 37
Watershed
40 B d
Anjuna
12 14 44
20 27 11 46
13
Arpora 43
10 42
Baga 49 41 45
B h Baga
47 19
48
L.
20 28
15 23 21
15 16 18 22
Saligao
26 25
24
50
Calangut
52
10
53 54
Candolim
55
58
5
Taj Hotel 56 57
Fort River Mandovi
5 10 15
Fig. 1: AQUIFER VULNERABILITY MAP TO SEAWATER INTRUSION
151
1200
1000
Sinquirim Beach
(a = 15m)
800
Apparent resistivity (Ohm-m
Calangute Beach
600
Candolim Beach
400
200
0
0 100
go 200
Anjuna Beach
300
Baga Beach
Distance inland from the shore (m)

400 500 600
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Fig. 2: Geoelectrical profiles along north Goa coast (a = 10m)
9. CONCLUSIONS
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A new method of aquifer vulnerability mapping has been suggested. This method will
provide a vulnerability map of coastal groundwater zone due to seawater intrusion.
These maps can be used as a tool for management of the coastal groundwater resources.
Similar applications can be done on the island aquifers so that optimal management
practices can be evolved for groundwater use. The maps can be prepared using GIS or
if the area is small, point values of the vulnerability indices can be obtained from
L.
equation (1) and then contoured using SURFER to get a vulnerability score map. The
point values of index can be used in ascertaining the wellhead protection areas in the
coastal belts to prevent seawater pumping. For the cases where the aquifer bottom is
above the sea level all GALDIT parameters should be assigned zero values when using
the SURFER for preparing the vulnerability maps. This can be taken care in GIS
platform by defining the areas having such geological situations as a separate layer.
REFERENCES:
Andersen, L.J. and Gosk, E. (1987), Applicability of vulnerability maps, in W. van

Duijvanbooden and H.G. van Waegeningh (eds.), "Vulnerability of Soil and
Groundwater to Pollution", Proceedings and Information No. 38 of the International
Conference held in the Netherlands, in 1987, TNO Committee on Hydrological
Research, Delft, The Netherlands.
152
Aller, L., Bennett, T., Lehr, J.H. and Petty, R. J. (1987), DRASTIC: "a standardized
system for evaluating groundwater pollution potential using hydrogeologic
settings", U.S. EPA Report 600/2-85/018.
Duijvenbooden, W. van and Waegeningh, H.G. van (1987), "Vulnerability of Soil
and Groundwater to Pollutants", Proceedings and Information No. 38 of the
International Conference held in the Netherlands, in 1987, TNO Committee on
Hydrological Research, Delft, The Netherlands.
Foster, S.S.D. (1987), Fundamental concepts in aquifer vulnerability, pollution risk
and protection strategy, in W. van Duijvanbooden and H.G. van Waegeningh (eds.),
"Vulnerability of Soil and Groundwater to Pollution", Proceedings and Information
No. 38 of the International Conference held in the Netherlands, in 1987, TNO
Committee on Hydrological Research, Delft, The Netherlands.
go
Hashimoto, T., Stedinger, J. R. and Loucks, D. P. (1982), Reliability, Resiliency,
and Vulnerability Criteria for Water Resource System Performance Evaluation,
"Water Resources Research", 18(1), p14-20.
Lobo-Ferreira, J.P. and Cabral, M. (1991) Proposal for an Operational Definition of
Vulnerability for the European Community's Atlas of Groundwater Resources, in
"Meeting of the European Institute for Water, Groundwater Work Group Brussels",
an
Feb. 1991.
Marothia, D.K. 1997. Agricultural technology and environmental quality: an
institutional perspective. "Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics" 52(3): 473-
487.
TERI, 1999. Measuring, monitoring, and managing sustainability: the coastal
El
dimension. "First year progress report of the INCO-DC" Project contract No. IC18-
CT98-0296.
Vaidyanathan, A. 1996. Depletion of ground water: some issues. "Indian Journal of
Agricultural Economics" 51(1-2): 184-192.
L.
153
Table 1: Details of the Galdit Score Computation for Goa Case Study Area
Well Parameter G Parameter A Parameter L Parameter D Parameter I Parameter T Total of

no Aquifer Type Rating K (m/d) Rating GWL Rating Dist. Rating Initial Rating Aq. Th Rating GALDIT
(m) (m) Condition (m) score
1 unconfined 9 28.8 6 0.75 10 10 10 intruded 10 10 2 105
2 unconfined 9 28.8 6 0.7 10 250 8 not intruded 0 10 2 89
5 unconfined 9 4.3 2 14.4 5 2500 1 not intruded 0 12.5 1 46
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an
14 unconfined 9 4.3 2 -1.55 10 2750 1 not intruded 0 15 1 58
15 unconfined 9 31.6 6 3 9 500 6 not intruded 0 12.5 1 77
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L.
24 unconfined 9 4.3 2 15 5 3000 1 not intruded 0 19 1 38

32 unconfined 9 28.8 6 -0.86 10 350 7 not intruded 0 10 2 86
154

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49 unconfined 9 31.6 6 10 5 1050 1 not intruded 0 12.5 1 46
an
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Legend:
GWL Ground Water Level in metres above mean sea level

Aq. Th. Aquifer thickness in metres
L.
Dist. Distance at right angles from the coast towards inland in metres
K hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer in metres per day
155
Density Dependent Groundwater Flow Modeling: An

Evaluation of Common Benchmark Problems
M.J. Simpson and T.P. Clement
go Abstract
In the simulation of density dependent groundwater flow, an important part

of the numerical code development is the validation of the solution against
an
other accepted solutions to standard problems. Making an assessment of the
quality of the commonly used validation problems is useful so that the
benchmarking process can be focused upon the more thorough test cases.
The Henry problem for salt-water intrusion and the Elder salt convection
problem are two standard benchmark scenarios analyzed here. These
problems are solved in a coupled and uncoupled mode to test their
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applicability for validation of density coupled codes. The difference in the

coupled and uncoupled solutions indicates that the Henry saltwater intrusion
problem is a poor example for model evaluation because the dynamics of the
flow are largely determined by the boundary forcing. Alternatively the Elder
convection problem is more suited to model validation because the flow
patterns are completely determined by the internal balance of the pressure
L.
and gravity forces.

Keywords: groundwater-modelling, density dependent flow model verification
1. INTRODUCTION
Verification of a density dependent groundwater modeling code is necessary to

check the validity of the formulation before it can be applied to real problems. Since
the availability of standard solutions for the verification of density dependent
formulations is limited, it is important to verify the code with a flow scenario which
ensures that the formulation is able to correctly simulate the balance of the pressure
and gravity forces which determines density dependent flow.
157
2. MODELLING DENSITY DEPENDENT FLOW
2.1 Governing Equations for Density Dependent Groundwater Flow
The equations governing the movement of a fluid through a porous medium subject
to density gradients are obtained using mass conservation principles (Boufadel,
1999a). In the present case, only two-dimensional (vertical) formulation is
considered. The governing equations are cast as a set of two coupled non-linear
partial differential equations in terms of the pressure of the fluid (written in terms of
the fresh water pressure head) as well as the concentration of a dissolved solute. For
the present model, the form of the equations used is,

= K

+ K
2 K

( ) (1.0)
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t x x z z z
C C C C C (2.0)
= Dx + Dz Vx Vz
t x x z z x z
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Where is the porosity of the porous medium, is the ratio of the fluid density to a
reference freshwater density, K [LT-1] is the hydraulic conductivity of the porous
medium, [L] is the pressure head, C [ML-3] is the concentration of the dissolved
solute, Di [L2T-1] is the dispersion coefficient in the ith Cartesian direction and Vi
[LT-1] is the velocity of the fluid in the ith Cartesian direction.
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These equations are coupled through the beta term, which represents the relative
difference of the density of the fluid to a reference fresh water fluid,
(
= 0 = 0 1 + C * ) (3.0)
L.
Where [ML-3] is the density of the fluid, o [ML-3] is the density of freshwater, is
a measure of the difference between the maximum density and freshwater density,
and C* is the non-dimensionalised concentration of the dissolved solute
2.2 Numerical Solution Strategy
The solution of the coupled equations is sought using the Galerkin finite element
technique where the domain is discretised into simple linear triangular elements.
The coupling iterations are repeatedly performed within each time step until the
maximum change in pressure and concentration converges to within some tolerance
criterion. The solution also encompasses the calculation of the transient velocity
field, which was achieved using the approach espoused by Yeh (1981) ensuring that
the velocity is continuous along element boundaries. The discrete equations are
solved using a banded LU decomposition algorithm. Time weighting of the
158
advection dispersion equation is allowed in the formulation, however for the present
work a simple fully implicit weighting was used. The concept of mass lumping was
invoked in the temporal discretization of both the flow and transport equations.
Further details of the numerical solution are discussed in Simpson and Clement
(2001).
3. COUPLED FLOW AND TRANSPORT
3.1 Henry's Saltwater Intrusion Problem
In general, variable density models are always verified by solving the well-known
Henry's saltwater intrusion problem (Henry, 1964). Henry's problem is unique
because an analytical solution exists for the problem, however even after almost 40
years no numerical model has been able to completely replicate the proposed
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analytical solution. The historical analysis of Henry's problem is quite well studied,
and a comprehensive discussion of the developments, mistakes, and conceptions
about the problem may be found in Croucher and OSullivan (1995). The problem
consists of a confined aquifer, which has fresh water discharging horizontally into
an open sea boundary. The boundary conditions for the flow and transport equation
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are shown in Figure 1.0.
C
100 = 0.0
x
q z C
= 0.0 = 0.0
z z = (1 + C )(H z )
80
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Elevation (cm)
60
q x = 6.6 10 5
C = 0 .0
40 = (1 + C )(H z )
C
= 1.0
20 q z C0
= 0.0 C
z = 0.0
L.
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Length (cm)
Fig. 1: Domain and boundary conditions imposed for the Henry saltwater
intrusion problem.
The aquifer was regularly discretised into 231 nodes and 400 right-angled triangles.
The aquifer properties are shown in Table 1.0
159
Table 1.0: Aquifer properties associated with Henry's saltwater intrusion problem.
SYMBOL QUANTITY VALUE UNIT

Dx, Dz Coefficient of molecular 1.88610-5 m2s-1
diffusion
G Vector of acceleration due 9.80 ms-2
to gravity
K Hydraulic Conductivity 1.010-2 ms-1
Q Fresh recharge rate 6.610-5 ms-1
max Maximum density ratio 1.02499 -
Porosity 0.35 -
o Reference Density 1000.0 kgm-3
Brine Density 1024.99 kgm-3
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max
The time step for the simulation was gradually increased by a factor of 1.1 from 12
seconds to 600 seconds and a constant diffusion coefficient was used for the
transport equation. The coupling between the flow and transport equation was
considered complete when the maximum change in pressure head was 0.005m
an
within each time step. For the most part of the simulation, this was achieved within
2 iterations of the coupling loop. When the problem was resolved using a simple
updating scheme without the coupling loop, the results were identical to those
obtained using the coupling approach. The model was run for 280 minutes, after
which the density field was stationary and the position of the 0.5 isochlor was
obtained. The position of the 0.5 isochlor is shown in Figure 2.0. The comparison of
El
the profile with that generated by Frind (1982) shows that the present model is
capable of describing the dynamics of the problem.
100
L.
80
)
m 60 0.25
c(
n
oi 0.5
t 40
a
v
el
E 0.75
20
Frind (1982)
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Length (cm)
Fig. 2: Position of the steady isochlors for the Henry saltwater intrusion problem.
160
3.2 Elder's Salt Convection Problem
The original problem studied by Elder (1967) concerned a closed rectangular box
modeled in cross section. The flow was initiated by a temperature gradient across
the box and thermally induced density gradients caused a complex pattern of
fingering of the denser water mixing in through the box. This problem was studied
both physically in the laboratory with the use of a Hele-Shaw cell as well as being
numerically reproduced. A modified problem with parameters suited to porous
media flow was also developed by Elder (1967) and is a commonly used test of the
ability to simulate larger scale bulk fluid flow driven purely from density
differences. The boundary conditions on the domain are shown in Figure 3.0. Table
2.0 defines the aquifer properties for the Elder problem,
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C C = 1 .0 C
= 0 .0 = 0 .0
z z
150
q z
= 0 .0
q x z q x
100 = 0 .0 = 0 .0
x x
C C
50 = 0 .0 = 0 .0
x q z C x
= 0 .0 = 0 .0
z z
0
an
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Fig. 3: Domain and boundary conditions for the modified

Elder salt convection problem
Table 2.0: Aquifer and transport properties used for the Elder fingering
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simulation.
SYMBOL QUANTITY VALUE UNIT

Dm Coefficient of molecular diffusion 3.56510-6 m2s-1
G Vector of acceleration due to gravity 9.80 ms-2
K Intrinsic permeability 4.84510-13 m2
L.
max Maximum density ratio 1.2 -

Porosity 0.2 -
Dynamic viscosity 110-3 kgm-1s-1
o Reference Density 1000 kgm-3
max Brine Density 1200 kgm-3
The key difference between this problem and the Henry saltwater intrusion analysis
is the magnitude of the density ratio. For the Elder problem the maximum value of
is 1.2, which has a significant impact upon the coupling. The discretization of the
problem consists of a regular grid comprising 3000 nodes (100 horizontally, 30
vertically) and 6000 right-angled triangular elements. The temporal discretization
used time steps of one month; the iterative coupling was conducted until the
maximum pressure change observed in the entire domain between iterations is
161
0.005m. Typically, this convergence criterion required either 3 or 4 iterations for the
most part of the simulation.
The distribution of the 0.2 and 0.6 isochlor after 1, 2, 4 and 10 years generated by
the present model are shown in Figure 4.0. These plots show the generation of a
complicated flow pattern with time. The flow field develops into a series of transient
vortices, which spread the solute through both advection and diffusion. As was
expected, the distribution of lobes of dense fluid is symmetric about the centerline of
the box. Figure 5.0 shows a portion of the velocity field obtained after 10 hours of
simulation, the velocity field clearly shows the swirling pattern of the fluid caused
by the position of the solute. Similar to the Henry problem, there are several
published numerical results for the Elder salt convection problem, and the solutions
are dramatically different depending upon the numerical discretization and level of
modeling sophistication chosen (Kolditz et al. 1998). The present model captures the
go
essential features of the fluid flow and the predicted profiles are similar to those
reported in the literature (Boufadel et al. 1999b, Kolditz et al. 1998, Oldenburg and
Pruess 1995, Voss and Souza 1987)
an
150 150
) )
m
( 100 m
( 100
n n
oi oi
t 50 t 50
a a
v v
el el
E E
0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
El
Length (m) Length (m)
L.
150 150
) )
m( 100 m( 100
n n
oi oi
t 50 t 50
a a
v v
el el
E E
0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Fig.4: Evolution of the fingering pattern shown by the 20% and 60%
concentration profiles for the modified Elder problem after 1, 2, 4 and 10 years.
162
150
100
)
m(
n
oi
t
a
v
el 50
E
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Length (m)
go
Fig. 5: Half of the concentration field superimposed upon the flow field for the
modified Elder problem after 10 hours.
The solution to Elder's problem may be hindered by the presence of some

asymmetry in the results. This was explained by Boufadel et al. (1999b) who
an
encountered the same problem. The asymmetry is caused by the use of triangular
elements. When the diagonal of the elements is aligned in the same direction causes
an asymmetrical grid which when coupled with the way the buoyancy force is
represented causes the results to be skewed. The reason why Voss and Souza (1987)
did not report this in their previous investigations because they used rectangular
elements to discretize the domain, and of course this is a symmetrical discretization
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and so the problem was not present. To achieve a good symmetrical result with the
triangular mesh, a fine level of discretisation is required to dampen the asymmetry.
4. UNCOUPLED FLOW AND TRANSPORT
In order to assess the quality of both the Henry and the Elder problems for the
L.
evaluation of the consistency of a density dependent algorithm, the numerical

experiments were repeated, but in this case the coupling of the flow and transport
equations was ignored. In effect, the same problem was resolved, but the value of
in both the flow and transport equation was fixed at 1.0. The results from the
analysis of the solutions obtained from the uncoupling of the flow and transport
equations enable the sensitivity to coupling to be analyzed.
4.1 Henry's Saltwater Intrusion Problem
To investigate the solution of Henry's problem without the coupling, the value of
was fixed at a value of 1.0 for the solution of the fluid flow, fluid velocity and solute
transport formulations. Everything else in the analysis was left the same; the
simulation was performed for the same amount of time, after which the
concentration field was steady. The position of the 0.5 isochlor after this simulation
163
was measured and compared against that of the coupled solution in Figure 6.0. The
comparison shows that the position of the intruded saline water was similar to that
observed for the coupled solution.
100
80
Elevation (cm)
60
0 .5
40
U n c o u p le d S o lu tio n
20 C o u p le d S olu tio n
F rin d (1 9 8 2 )
0
0 20 40 60 80 10 0 120 1 40 160 1 80 200
Le n g th (c m )
go
Fig. 6: Comparison of the coupled and uncoupled Henry solution.
Figures 7.0 and 8.0 show the velocity fields for the Henry problem under the
coupled and uncoupled conditions respectively. A comparison of the velocity fields
predicted with the coupled and uncoupled modes reveals some interesting results.
an
The coupled velocity field shows that the horizontal velocities associated with the
heavier saline water intrudes into the aquifer much further than for the uncoupled
situation. However, the two patterns are largely the same, with a constant inflow
along the freshwater side and a vertically distributed inflow along the base of the
seaward side. The inflow converges in the middle of the aquifer and rises and exits
El
above the seawater boundary. This similarity means that the actual component of
flow, which is due to the interaction of the variably dense fluid and its mixing with
the lighter fluid is not completely responsible for this flow pattern.
L.
100
80
Elevation (cm)
60
40
20
0
0 50 100 150 200
Length (cm)
Fig. 7: Velocity field for the Henry problem under coupled conditions.
164
100
80
Elevation (cm)
60
40
20
0
0 50 100 150 200
Length (cm)
go
Fig. 8: Velocity field for the Henry problem under uncoupled conditions.
In fact the flow pattern is mostly determined by the imposed boundary conditions.
The implications of this observation are that if a variable density code is used to
simulate the Henry problem and there is some internal inconsistency in the coupling
an
of the equations then the predicted distribution of the salt concentrations may still
appear similar to the true solution. This problem may also be compounded by the
establishment of a paradigm amongst the density dependent modelers in the way that
the results are presented. Typically in the solution of the Henry problem, the analyst
presents the distribution of the isochlors, (for example Galeati et al. 1992, Kolditz et
El
al. 1998, Boufadel et al. 1999a). Obviously it is a necessary condition that for the
internal consistency of the model to be validated that the isochlors be comparable to
those from previous work, but it is not sufficient to claim that the problem has been
solved correctly simply because the isochlor positions are comparable. The analysis
of the internal velocity field for the problem as well as the position of the isochlor
gives a higher degree of confidence as this provides a check against the intuitive
physical processes occurring within the aquifer. This is particularly relevant to the
L.
Henry problem, as even after 40 years of analysis, there are several solutions
available, which are similar but are not completely uniform. Therefore it is probable
that an erroneous solution could appear to be similar to other solutions available in
the literature. Therefore the velocity field should also be used as a qualitative check
that the correctness of the internal mixing environment within the aquifer before the
solution is deemed satisfactory.
4.2 Modified Elder Salt Convection Problem
The analysis of the uncoupled salt convection problem is quite straightforward.

Since the boundary conditions for the flow equation describe a closed aquifer, then
the only mechanism to initiate the flow is through the diffusion of the salt into the
porous medium. The results for the modified Elder problem are shown in Figure
9.0. The profiles show a simple diffusion pattern, which is expected since the fluid
165
is stationary. However, since the presence of the solute is assumed not to have any
impact upon the flow, the fluid remains stationary for the entire simulation period
and there is absolutely no convection within the aquifer. This profile in comparison
to that obtained under full coupling show that the correct solution is completely
dependent upon a correct numerical representation of the increased body force due
to the heavier fluid in the aquifer.
5. DISCUSSION
The results from this analysis show some clear points of distinction between the
Henry saltwater intrusion problem and the modified Elder convection problem. The
comparison of the coupled and uncoupled results for the Henry problem generates
quantitatively similar profiles in both the flow field and the solute field.
go
This means that the patterns observed are largely due to the boundary forcing and
not because of the density coupling.
an
150 150
) )
m( 100 m( 100
n n
oi oi
t 50 t 50
a a
v v
el el
E E
0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
El
Ele 150 150

vati
on )
100 m( 100
(m) n
oi
t 50
50 a
L.
v
el
E
0
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Fig. 9: Evolution of the uncoupled solute distribution shown by the 20% and 60%
concentration profiles for the modified Elder problem after 1, 2, 4 and 10 years.
The comparison of the coupled and uncoupled Elder problem results show a totally
different flow scenario which indicates that the correct solution is completely
dependent upon the correct numerical coupling of the equations. This means that in
the verification of a density dependent code, that the Elder problem should be the
focus of the verification study rather than the Henry problem.
166
Besides the relative importance of the boundary forcing, another difference between
the Henry and Elder problems is in the magnitude of the density difference. Since
the Elder problem has a larger ratio of the fresh to the saline density difference, then
the coupling between the equations for this problem is stronger than for the Henry
problem. This weak dependence means that a simple updating scheme for the
coupling of the flow and transport equations is sufficient for the Henry problem.
This simple updating scheme is only applicable because of the small value of
=0.00249). Conversely, the Elder convection problem is frequently termed a
brine flow situation as the maximum fluid density is equivalent to that of a salt brine
(Boufadel, 1999b). This means that the value of is much larger =0.2) and hence
a simple updating scheme would be infeasible. Therefore, a successful simulation of
the Elder convection problem also necessitates the use of a coupling loop as well as
some convergence criteria to exit the coupling when the solutions have converged
within each time step. For this reason it is clear that the Elder problem is better
go
suited for the verification of coupled flow and transport models than the Henry
problem as the latter does not necessarily depend upon a consistent coupling
scheme.
6. CONCLUSIONS
an
The worthiness of both the Henry saltwater intrusion problem and the Elder
convection problem were studied to assess their suitability to be used as a test case
for the verification of variable density groundwater flow models. The analysis of
the Henry problem showed that the present model was able to reproduce typical
profiles for the distribution of the saline water observed by previous investigations.
El
The quality of the solution was observed by resolving the problem in an uncoupled
mode where the transport equation was associated with a passive tracer. The
uncoupled results indicate that a similar pattern of fluid velocity and solute
distribution are observed. This means that if used alone for the verification of a
variable density groundwater modeling code, it is feasible that the results may
appear to be capturing the physical processes without necessarily simulating the
L.
correct internal dynamics.
The Elder salt convection problem was also solved using the proposed algorithm to
simulate the dense fingering and complex velocity fields associated with this
problem. The convection problem was also resolved using a completely uncoupled
solution. This resulted in a simple diffusion profile with no convection within the
aquifer. This has the advantage of illustrating the importance of the coupling
between the equations in terms of correctly predicting the dynamics of coupled
groundwater flows. Since this dependence is not observed in the solution of Henry's
problem, it is clear that the Henry saltwater intrusion problem should never be used
alone as it has in the past to verify density dependent groundwater flow codes.
167
REFERENCES
Boufadel, M.C., Suidan, M.T. and Venosa, A.D. (1999a) A Numerical model for
density-and-viscosity- dependent flows in two-dimensional variably saturated
porous media. "Journal of Contaminant Hydrology". 37, 1-20.
Boufadel, M.C., Suidan, M.T. and Venosa, A.D. (1999b) Numerical Modeling of
water flow below dry salt lakes: effect of capillarity and viscosity. "Journal of
Hydrology". 221, 55-74.
Croucher, A.E. and O'Sullivan, M.J. (1995) The Henry problem for saltwater
intrusion, "Water Resources Research" 31(7) 1809-1814
Elder, J.W., (1967) Transient convection in a porous medium. "Journal of Fluid
Mechanics". 27, 609-623
go
Frind, E.O. (1982) Simulation of long-term transient density-dependent transport in
groundwater. "Advances in Water Resources", 5, 73-88
Galeati. G., Gambolati, G. and Neumann, SP. (1992) Coupled and Partially Coupled
Eularian-Lagrangian Model of Freshwater-Seawater mixing. "Water Resources
Research". 28(1), 149-165
an
Henry, H.R. (1964) Effects of dispersion on salt encroachment in coastal aquifers,
Sea water in coastal aquifers. "U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper".,1613-
C, 70-84
Herbert, A.W., Jackson, C.P. and Lever, D.A. (1988) Coupled Groundwater Flow
and Solute Transport with Fluid Density Strongly Dependent upon Concentration.
El
"Water Resources Research" 24(10), 1781-1795

Kolditz, O., Ratke, R., Diersch H-J G. and Zielke, W. (1998) Coupled groundwater
flow and transport: 1. Verification of variable density flow and transport models.
"Advances in Water Resources", 21(1), 27-46
Oldenburg, C.M. and Pruess, K. (1995) Dispersive transport dynamics in a strongly
coupled groundwater-brine flow system. "Water Resources Research". 31(2), 289-
L.
302
Simpson, M.J. and Clement, T.P. (2001) "Worthiness of the Henry and Elder
problems for density dependent groundwater model evaluation". (in preparation)
Voss , C.I. and Souza, W.R. (1987) Variable density flow and solute transport
simulation of regional aquifers containing a narrow freshwater saltwater transition
zone. "Water Resources Research". 23, 1851-1866
Yeh, G-T. (1981) On the computation of Darcian Velocity and Mass Balance in the
Finite Element Modeling of Groundwater Flow. "Water Resources Research",
17(5): 1529-1534
168
Modelling Advection-Dispersion Process for Dual

Radiotracer Dating of Groundwater with an Example of
Application to a 14C and 36Cl Data Set from
Central Australia
S.K. Gupta
go Abstract
This paper investigates the applicability of the three commonly used models of
an
groundwater flow to a recent radiocarbon and chlorine-36 groundwater tracer data
set from Central Australia (Cresswell et al., 1999 a, b). The models being considered
are (i) the Piston-Flow Model (PFM), (ii) the Well-Mixed Reservoir (WMR) Model,
and the Dispersion-Advection (DA) Model. Any of the three flow models is able to
explain the available 14C and 36Cl/Cl- data by invoking some addition of `dead'
chloride during passage through the aquifer. The highest groundwater model ages are
El
given by the DA model with D/u2 =106 a. Though, not unlikely, there is no real
justification for assuming such large value of D/u2. However, if lower values of D/u2
(~103 a), as are adequately able to explain the data points are accepted, the
groundwater model ages are highest for the WMR (~110ka) from the Amadeus Basin.
The chloride/ sulphate data coupled with fracture type of secondary porosity for
Ngalia, Arunta and Amedues formations suggest relatively local recharge of
groundwater with little dispersion between different flow streamlines. It also appears
L.
that the present data set does not permit calculating groundwater ages using PFM on
36
Cl/Cl- measurements, ignoring 14C measurements and the drawing of palaeoclimatic
interpretations from the so calculated of very old ages
Keywords: Groundwater dating, radiotracers, flow models, radiocarbon,
chlorine-36, dispersion-advection
1. INTRODUCTION
Radioisotopes of appropriate half-life are used for groundwater age determination

and in assessing the dynamics of flow within the aquifers. Typical groundwater
velocities in many large aquifers in arid and semi-arid zones range from <1 m.a-1 to
>100 m.a-1. Radiotracers in the 103-106 a half-life range can be expected to show
significant concentration change during groundwater flow over flow distances of 10
to 1,000 km and are thus most useful. However, except for isotopes of oxygen and
169
hydrogen, all other tracers of groundwater movement can only be present in one or
the other dissolved forms, their concentrations may be affected by interactions with
the aquifer matrix. Presently, several models are available that attempt to quantify
the effect of non-radiogenic processes on tracer concentration variation during
groundwater flow. Interpretation of radiotracer measurement data in terms of
parameters of groundwater flow from a given region is; therefore, strongly
dependent on the choice of flow model.
It is, therefore, important to understand the underlying assumptions and the

limitations of the various available flow models. This is expected to help in better
understanding of the dynamics of groundwater flow from the available data set. In
addition, it should also help design better experiments while embarking on a
programme of new investigations.
go
In this paper, three commonly used models of groundwater flow have been
investigated in respect of their applicability to a recent radiocarbon and chlorine-36
groundwater tracer data set from central Australia (Cressel et al., 1999 a, b). The
models being considered are (i) the Piston-Flow Model (PFM); (ii) the Well-Mixed
Reservoir (WMR) Model; and (iii) the Dispersion-Advection (DA) Model. An
an
earlier work (Gupta et al., 1981) on dual radiotracer dating formed the basis of this
investigation.
2. BACKGROUND
Radiocarbon (14C) is cosmogenic in origin and has a half-life of 573040 years. This
El
isotope gets incorporated in groundwater by dissolution of soil CO2 at the plant root
level in unsaturated zone. The carbonic species formed are subject to interaction
with the matrix carbonate and this gives rise to number of problems in correct age
estimation (Wigley et al, 1978; Fontes, 1983, 1992; Geyh, 1992). Radiocarbon
measurements in groundwater are generally reported in terms of Percent of Modern
Carbon (PMC) which indicates 14C/C ratio in the dissolved carbon with reference to
L.
modern wood standard.

36
Cl has a half-life of 3.01x105 years and gets incorporated in groundwater along
with the anion chloride. Unlike radiocarbon, there can be significant in-situ
lithogenic production of 36Cl due to interaction of U and Th decay neutrons on 35Cl.
The abundance of 36Cl is usually reported as atomic ratio of 36Cl to total chloride in
the sample. This ratio is always quite small in natural waters, typical value ranging
from 10-15 to 10-11. Over geologic time, equilibrium is established between
subsurface in-situ production of 36Cl and its decay. The equilibrium 36Cl/Cl value
will depend on the rate of production of 36Cl, which is a function of U and Th
concentration in the aquifer. The attractiveness of chlorine in hydrologic studies is
that it is highly soluble, exists in nature as a conservative non-sorbing anion and
does not participate in redox reactions. However, in using 36Cl/Cl ratio an
assessment must be made of subsurface addition of stable Cl isotopes to the water by
170
either chemical reactions with rock, ion filtration or mixing with higher chloride
waters; such additions can substantially change 36Cl/Cl ratio. In common with 14C,
age interpretation using 36Cl/Cl also require knowledge of initial (at t = 0) 36Cl/Cl
ratio. In-situ production of 36Cl must also be taken into account through adequate
assessment of U and Th concentrations in the aquifer. Because at t = 0, 36Cl/Cl
values are in the 20-500x10-15 range, in-situ production (~50x10-15) can have
significant effect on the observed 36Cl/Cl ratios. At the other end, the presence of
either thermonuclear 14C and 36Cl in groundwater clearly indicates a young age for
water or, in case of groundwater mixing, at least some significant portion of that
water.
3. GROUNDWATER FLOW MODELS
3.1 Piston Flow Model
go
The most commonly used groundwater flow model for interpretation of radiotracer
data assumes that as groundwater moves away from the recharge area, there are no
flow lines of different velocities and that hydrodynamic dispersion as well as
molecular diffusion of the tracers are negligible. Thus, the tracer moves from the
an
recharge area very much like a parcel pushed by a piston with the mean velocity of
groundwater. This implies, that tracer which appears at a sampling point at any time
t entered the system at a time t -T, and from that moment its concentration has
decreased by radioactive decay during the time span T. Therefore,
C out (t ) = Cin (t T ) exp( T ) (1)

El
Equation 1 describes a dynamic system and is mathematically equivalent to

Equation 2 describing the concentration of a radioisotope in a static water parcel
separated since the recharge time whereby
C (t ) = C (0) exp( t ) (2a)
L.
Where, t here is the radiometric age of water and corresponds to T of the dynamic
system. If 'x' is the distance from the recharge boundary, T = x/u can be used to
estimate the flow rate (u) of groundwater in the aquifer.
C (t ) = C (0) exp( x / u ) (2b)
If two tracers '1' and '2' (e.g. 14C and 36Cl) are being measured one can write
C1 (t ) = C1 (0) exp(1t ) (3)
C 2 (t ) = C 2 (0) exp( 2 t ) (4)
171
Or
ln 1
C (t ) = 1 ln C 2 (t )
C1 (0) 2 C 2 (0)
(5)

This, on 'log-log' Dual Tracer plot gives a straight line with a slope 1/2 (Fig.1).
Thus, if the piston flow model is applicable, the samples must plot on the PFM line
in the Dual Tracer 'log-log' plotting field. It is interesting to note that the distance of
a point on the PFM line from the recharge point C/C(0)=1 corresponds to T= x/u.
3.2 Well-Mixed Reservoir Model
Unlike in the PFM, if it is assumed that the recharge flux, with tracer concentration
C(0) completely mixes with the entire volume of the reservoir before outflow
go
(concentration C(t)), we get another extreme case model known as Well-Mixed
Reservoir (WMR) model. In application of this model to an aquifer system, it is
assumed that the mixing reservoir comprises the entire volume between the recharge
area and the sampling point.
Under these conditions
an
C (0)
C (t ) = (6)
(1 + )
Where, is again the radioactive decay constant and , the ratio of reservoir volume
El
to the recharge volume flux, represents the estimated mixing time (or the mean
residence time) between the recharge area and the sampling location. It is seen that
1 C (0)
= 1 (7)
C (t )
estimated from tracer data actually represents a dynamic parameter-the mixing time.
L.
As before, if there are two tracers we get
ln C1 (t ) = ln (1 + 1 ) ln C 2 (t ) (8)
C1 (0) ln (1 + 2 ) C 2 (0)
On Dual Tracer 'log-log' plot, Equation 8 gives a curved line with slope changing
with changing value of '' as shown in Fig.1.
172
14
Tracer-1, C, C/C0
0.001 0.01 0.1 1
O1
A
PFM
B
D/u2=106; p=0
D/u2=104; p=0
G
t =x/u=105
go
D/u2=106;p=10-6
t =x/u=106
Tracer-2, 36Cl/Cl-, C/C0

C
an
DA (D/u2=
D/u2=104; p=10-6
t =x/u=107
8
El
)
WMR
L.
Piston Flow Model (PFM)
Disp. Adv. Model (DA)
Well Mixed Res. Model (WMR)
0.1
D E F
Fig. 1
173
3.3 Dispersion-Advection Model
The phenomenon of mixing accompanying the movement of a chemical species

through porous media can also be handled by a diffusion-advection equation in
which diffusion coefficient is replaced by a dispersion coefficient (Scheidegger,
1961).
The one-dimensional continuity equation for a tracer in an isotropic dispersive
groundwater flow system, following Guymon (1972) may be written as
C
=
(
D C x uC )+W W2 (9)
1
t x
go
Where, 'D' is the diffusion coefficient of the tracer, and as in case of PFM, 'x' the
distance from the recharge boundary, 'u' the bulk flow velocity. W1 and W2, are the
rates of introduction and removal of the tracer.
With further assumption of u and D not being functions of x and in case of steady
an
state (i.e. C t = 0 ), the equation reduces to
2C C
D u +W 1 W 2 = 0 (10)
x 2 x
El
In case of radioactive tracers, the term W2 will include in addition to radioactive

decay, loss of tracer due to non-radioactive processes. Dealing only with the case of
tracer loss by radioactive decay alone and for W1=0, Equation 10 can be re-written
as
2C C
D u C = 0 (11)
L.
x 2 x
This equation for the case D=0 and the boundary condition C = C0 at x = 0 gives the
solution for an ideal piston flow
C = C 0 exp( x / u ) (12)
In case of finite dispersion the solution of (11) for the boundary conditions C = C0 at
x = 0 and C = 0 at x = is given by (Gupta et al., 1981).
xu 12
4 D
C C0 = exp 1 1 + (13)
2 D u 2

174
The tracer concentration decreases exponentially with distance; somewhat similar to

the case of the piston flow model. Therefore, a simplistic application of the piston
flow model would give an apparent velocity
u
12
u a = 1 1 + 4 D 2
(14)
2 u
In case of two radiotracers, we have from Equation 13
ln (C C 0 ) 1 =
(
1 1 + 41 D u 2 )1 2 ln(C C0 ) (15)
1 (1 + 4 2 D u 2 )
12 2
Which is a straight line on Dual Tracer 'log-log' plot. The slope is function of D/u2
go
(Fig.1). The distance from the recharge boundary (characterised by C/C0=1 for both
tracers to any point in the plotting field is a measure of the dimensionless parameter
xu/D (cf. Equation 13). Thus knowing x (i.e. distance of the sampling well from the
recharge boundary in the field), both u and D can be estimated.
It is also seen from Equation 15 that as D , the slope term (1/2) indicating
an
that different straight lines for different value of D/u2 will lie in the plotting field
between the slope of 1/2 (PFM) and (1/2) the limiting case of D (Fig. 1).
An interesting modification of the above DA model is the general case of semi-

confined aquifer wherein some amount of young recharge is added due to leakage
El
influx from the overlying unconfined aquifer and there is also some leakage outflux
to the underlying aquifers. Following Gupta et al (1981) the continuity equation can
be re-written as
2C (uC )
D + pC 0 C qC = 0 (16)
x 2 x
L.
The term p represents the rate of leakage influx of relatively young water (activity
~C0) and q represents the rate of leakage outflux (activity = C) from the aquifer.
In Equation 16, u, in general, is a function of x as governed by u/x = p-q.

However, if both p and q are constant, u/x = constant or zero. We further assume
that the activity of the tracer in the input flux is constant throughout the extent of
aquifer and is the same as that at the input boundary. In real aquifer systems it may
vary somewhat with `x.
Equation 16 was solved by Gupta et al (1981) for the case of C/x = 0 at the
discharge boundary located at a distance L from the recharge boundary. Their
solution for the particular case of p = q and L is
175
C C0 = exp(mx ) + ( p ( p + ) )(1 exp(mx )) (17)
Where m =
u

2D
{ 1 2
1 1 + 4( + p ) D u 2

}
It is easy to see for a non-zero p, the tracer concentration given by (17) will
approach an asymptotic value = (p/p+) independent of eddy diffusivity (D). In fact
for p=1 the asymptotic value is the same as that given by the Equation 6
representing the Well-Mixed Reservoir model. So we visualise DA model as a more
general case of which special cases are: Piston Flow (for D = 0) and Well-Mixed
Reservoir (p = 1).
All the three models discussed above can incorporate a term for a finite loss of tracer
go
from a confined aquifer owing to non-radioactive process. This can be done by
considering another rate constant E, similar to , the radioactive decay rate constant
and replacing by (+E) in the various solutions. In this way by studying the
observed deviations from any particular model curve in the 'log-log' Dual Tracer-
plotting field, it is possible to estimate the magnitude of parameter E for the selected
flow model for one of the tracers. However, it is still required to assume that the
an
other tracer did not undergo loss due to non-radioactive processes.
4. DISCUSSION: DUAL TRACER LOG-LOG PLOT
In the light of the above discussion, it is now possible to subdivide the Dual
El
Radiotracer ''log-log'' plotting field into various sub-regions to get an idea about the
parameters of the applicable flow model from a set of measurements. Table-1
summarises the applicability of different flow models as can be discerned from Dual
Radiotracer ''log-log'' Plot (Fig.1). The data points corresponding to Piston Flow and
Well-Mixed Reservoir Models are expected to fall along lines marked PFM (straight
line OB) and WMR (curve OGE) respectively. The various cases of the Diffusion
Advection (DA) model, for different values of D/u2 and no leakage influx of
L.
relatively young water (i.e. p = 0), plot as straight lines in the region lying between
the PFM and the limiting case for DA model as D/u2 . In Fig.1, two such curves
for D/u2 104a and 106a are shown. In all cases, the model groundwater age (t = x/u)
increases as the data point moves away from the origin, O, along any particular
curve. In Fig. 1, lines joining the points with three values of model groundwater ages
(105, 106 and 107 a) are shown across the straight lines for different values of D/u2 for
p = 0. However, in case of leakage influx of relatively young water (i.e. p > 0), the
curve for any given value of D/u2 begins to deviate from the corresponding straight
line and asymptotically meet the WMR curve asymptotically. It is seen that the
Region-OABO (Above the Piston Flow Line) is forbidden and no data point should
lie in this region, except in case of dissolution of radioactively dead Tracer-1 (in the
present case 14C). Similarly, no data points can lie in the Region-OGE, i.e.
176
Table-1. Applicability of different flow models for points plotting in different regions of
Dual radiotracer 'log-log' plot (Fig.1). Note that Tracer-1 plotted on the Abscissa has
lower half-life compared to Tracer-2 plotted on the Ordinate.
Piston Flow Model Well-Mixed Reservoir Model Dispersion-Advection Model
Region of Plot p=0; P=0; p0; p0; p=0; P=0; p0; p0; p=0; P=0; p0; p0;
E=0 E0 E=0 E0 E=0 E0 E=0 E0 E=0 E0 E=0 E0
Region-OABO:
Between Abscissa r r r r r r r r r r r r
(Tracer 1 axis), PFM
and small part of the
curve of WMR close to
origin
Region-OBCGO:
go
Between PFM, DA r a a a r r r r a a a a
(D/u2) and part of
the curve of WMR
between G and O
Region-GCDEG:
Between DA (D/u2) r a a a r r r r r a a a
an
and WMR between E
and G
Region-OGO:
Between DA (D/u2) r a r a r a r a a a a a
and WMR between G
and O
El
Region-OGEFO:
Between Ordinate r a r a r a r a r a r a
(Tracer 2 axis), DA
(D/u2) and WMR
between G and E
L.
'p' is the fractional volume rate of leakage influx from the unconfined to confined
aquifer, with tracer concentration C0 for both tracers.
'E' is the rate constant for loss of Tracer-2 due to non-radioactive processes. For
Tracer-1, it is assumed 0.
r Means 'Not possible'.

a Means 'Possible'.
'PFM means Piston Flow Model line. 'WMR' means 'Well-Mixed Reservoir' Model
line. DA (D/u2)' means 'Dispersion Advection' Model line for D/u2 approaching
infinity.
177
below WMR and DA limiting case for (D/u2 ), except in case of dissolution of
radioactively dead Tracer-2 (in the present case 36Cl), i.e. for E 0.
As an example of the applicability of the Dual Tracer ''log-log'' plot, we have plotted
in Fig.2, data points taken from two recent papers (Cresswell et al, 1999a,b) from
Central Australia. The relevant isotopic and other data are reproduced in Table-2. It
is interesting to note that there are no data points above the PFM line OB indicating
that dissolution of dead carbon may be negligible. But several points, belonging to
all the three series of groundwater samples, lie below the section OGE, indicating
that in the investigated regions a significant dissolution of dead chloride may be
taking place as groundwater progressively moves within the aquifer.
go
The addition of dead chloride can be estimated using a model for chloride
dissolution in the aquifer. Several models of chloride increase with time, viz. Linear,
exponential, logarithmic etc are possible. We will probably have no reasonable
justification for choosing any particular model. Therefore, we choose one that is
mathematically simple to handle and also does not appear unreasonable. One such
model could be that chloride addition is a first order process wherein the rate of
an
chloride increase at any given instant is proportional to its concentration (Cl-) in
groundwater, i.e.
d Cl
= E .Cl or (Cl )t = (Cl )0 e E t (18)
dt
El
It is implicitly assumes that the product 'E.t' is well below infinity.
Using this model for chloride addition, we can rewrite the equations for the
three flow models, viz. PFM, WMR and DA models.
L.
For PFM,
14
Ct = 14
C 0 e 14 t
36
Cl t = 36
Cl 0 e 36 t (19)
And Cl t = Cl 0 e E t
178
14
C, C/C0
0.01 0.1 1
A 1
B PFM
WMR
go
Piston Flow Model
36
an
Adv.-Disp. Limiting Model
Cl/Cl-, C/C0
E
Well Mixed Res. Model
Amadeus
Cainozoic
El
Ngalia
14
0.10 C, C/C0 1.00
0
-20
L.
-40
Depth (m)
-60
-80
D = 23.37Ln(C/C0) - 25
-100
D = 37.21Ln(C/C0) - 15
-120
-140
0.1
D F
Fig. 2:
179
Table-2. Groundwater isotopic tracer data from aquifers in Central Australia.

Source: Cresswell et al (1999a,b)
- 36
Stn No. Well Depth Cl Cl - (C/C0)+ 14
C - (C/C0)+ 18O D d=8x18O-D
(m) (mg/l) () () ()
Ngalia Basin
14980* 31 22 1.050.08 1.100.13 -7.08 -53.5 -3.1
15472* 28 73 0.830.06 0.800.09 -8.35 -59.3 -7.5
15463* 28 54 0.860.07 0.350.04 -7.47 -54.1 -5.7
14055 23 595 0.820.06 0.820.10 -6.39 -51.0 -0.1
12910 72 270 0.850.07 0.300.04 -6.32 -49.0 -1.6
go
6165 34 953 1.020.07 0.590.07 -6.97 -50.0 -5.8
15477 45 336 0.850.07 0.260.03 -5.54 -45.0 0.7
12578 31 333 0.910.07 0.410.05 -6.52 -49.4 -2.8
10945 12 303 1.040.08 0.120.01 -8.42 -57.7 -9.7
an
Cainozoic Basin
13795 70 1560 0.510.04 0.930.11 -6.95 -51.6 -1.6
15740 55 110 1.040.08 0.420.05 -8.49 -58.0 -9.9
16694 75 786 0.290.03 0.100.01 -8.52 -59.5 -8.7
El
5754 48 129 0.980.07 0.950.11 -8.85 -60.3 -10.5

Amadeus Basin
13669 - 312 0.790.06 0.460.05 - - -
13653 - 15 0.950.07 0.190.02 - - -
13652 - 212 0.790.07 0.210.02 - - -
L.
11843 - 199 0.540.05 0.090.01 - - -

12681 - 215 0.830.07 0.080.01 - - -
14566 - 195 0.920.07 0.070.01 - - -
11396* 18 138 1.050.07 0.960.11 -9.52 -66.6 -9.56
*These samples were assigned by Cresswell et al (1999a) to Cainozoic Basin. We

have reassigned them considering groundwater flow directions as shown in Fig. 2 of
Cresswell et al (1999a).
+
C0, the average concentrations of radiotracers in the recharge areas of all the three
basins have been assumed as 8510 percent modern carbon (pMC) for 14C and
20010 (x10-15) for 36Cl/Cl- ratio.
180
14Ct
14 (
36
Cl Cl t )
( )
Therefore, ln
=
ln 36 (20)
14C + E Cl Cl 0
0 36
So that we get different straight lines for different values of E in the Dual Tracer
'log-log' plot as shown in Fig.3.
14
C , C /C 0
0 .01 0.1 1
1
E=0
= 10 -6
= 5X10 -6
= 10 -5
go
an
tpf=5ka
tpf=10ka
= 2X10 -5
El
36
Cl/Cl-, C/C0
L. tpf=30ka
N ga lia
tpf=20ka
C aino zo ic
A m ad eus
= 5X10 -5
P is to n F lo w
= 1 0 -4 M o de l
0.1
Fig. 3
181
Similarly for WMR,
14 C0
Ct =
1 + 14 tWMR
36
36 Cl 0
Clt = (21)
1 + 36 tWMR
Cl 0
And Cl =
1 E tWMR
go
Therefore,
( )

ln 1

14C t (1+ t
14 WMR ) 36Cl Cl t
ln = (22)
14C
0 ln(1 EtWMR)

ln
36Cl Cl
(1 + 36 tWMR) 0 ( )
an
In this case the Dual Tracer 'log-log' plots for different values of E are no more
straight lines as seen from Fig.4.
In case of DA model, the governing equations are:
El
14
Ct = 14 xu
C 0 exp (
1 1 + 4 14 D u
2 1 2
)
2D
36
Ct = 36 xu
C0 exp (
1 1 + 4 36 D u
2 1 2
) (23)
L.
2D
Clt
xu
= Cl 0 exp 1 1 4 E D u(2 1 2
)
2D
Therefore,
14 C t
ln

= { (
1 1 + 4 14 D u 2
12
)}
ln
36
(
Cl Cl t ) (24)
14 C
0

{ (
1 1 4E D u
2 1 2
)} { (
1 1 + 4 36 D u 2
1 2
)}

36
(
Cl Cl 0 )
182
14
C, C/C0
0.01 0.1 1
1
go twmr=5ka
twmr=20ka
E=0
an
=10-6
36
Cl/Cl-, C/C0
=5X10-6 =10-5
El
=2X10-5
=10-4
twmr=50ka
L.
Ngalia
Cainozoic
twmr=100ka
Amadeus
Well-Mixed
Reservoir Model
0.1
Fig. 4
183
Which, as in case of Equation 15, is a straight line on Dual Tracer 'log-log' plot. The
slope, in addition to D/u2 is a function of E (Fig.5). Once again, the distance from
the recharge boundary (characterised by C/C0=1 for both tracers to any point in the
plotting field is a measure of the dimensionless parameter xu/D (cf. Equation 23).
14
C , C /C 0
0.01 0.1 1
1
D /u 2 =1 0 3 ; E =0
D /u 2 =1 0 4 ; E =0
go
D /u 2 =1 0 6 ; E =0
an
D /u 2 =1 0 6 ; E =2 .5 x 10 -7
El
36
D /u 2 =1 0 4 ; E =2.5x 1 0 -5
Cl/Cl-, C/C0
L.
N galia
D /u 2 =10 3 ; E =2.5 x1 0 -4
C ainozoic
A m adeus
D A - M odel
0.1
Fig. 5
184
Radiocarbon model ages of groundwater for data points taken from (Cresswell et al, 1999
a, b) are given in Table-3. It is seen that all flow models, except DA with D/u2 =106 a, give
model groundwater ages that are significantly lower than obtainable by accounting 36Cl/Cl-
changes due to radioactive decay of 36Cl only. Even for DA with D/u2 =106 a, the highest
model groundwater age is ~250ka (Amadeus Basin; Sample No. 14566). But, in this case,
several data points give negative estimates of È'. This indicates that, in the Dual Tracer
`log-log' Plot, the position of these samples is above the 36Cl/Cl- value for the model curve
for D/u2 =106 a. Assuming a higher value of D/u2 would no doubt increase the model
groundwater age estimates but, it is also seen from Fig. 2, that measurement errors do not
enable one to distinguish between the curves for D/u2 =105 a and D/u2 = . Even for D/u2 =
, it is still necessary to explain the plotting position of some data points by invoking
dissolution of `dead' chloride. In such a situation, it may not be logical to reject the same for
other data points.
go
The estimated Cl- concentrations at time t = 0 obtained using Equations (19) - (23)
are given in (Table-3). These are plotted in Fig. 6 with data of 18O (Cresswell et al,
1999a) on the ordinate. It is seen that the data points in the two enclosed areas (A &
B) on Fig. 6, do not show much significant change from their measured Cl-
concentrations for any of the flow models. Though most data points for Amadeus
an
Basin are not included in Fig. 6 (because 18O values for these are not available),
Table-3 shows that these behave similarly except for DA with D/u2 =106a. The
geographical location of the sampling points in the two enclosed areas A & B in Fig.
6 can be seen in Fig. 2 of Cresswell et al (1999a). It is observed that the respective
samples derive from two different groundwater flow regimes originating in the north
(Ngalia Basin) and south (Arunta Block-Amadeus Basin) and draining towards the
El
ìn-between' depressed region containing playas/ saline lakes. It is only the samples
from this ìn-between' region in the vicinity of the playas/ saline lakes that exhibit
large differences in the measured Cl- and its estimated value at t = 0. Hydrologically,
this is not unexpected, because the playas do contain lot of dead Cl- as exhibited by
the 36Cl/Cl- data of samples from the Playa Lake Ngalia (Cresswell et al, 1999a).
0 20 0 40 0 600 8 00 10 00 1 200 14 00 16 00 18 00 20 00
L.
-5 -5 N g alia-P F M
15477 C ain o zic-
C en tral A u stralia PFM
Am ad eu s-
PFM
-6 12910 -6 N g alia-W M R
14055
C ain o zic-
WMR
12578 Am ad eu s-
O (per mil)
6166 13795
14980 WMR
-7 -7 N g alia-D A-
D /u 2= e3
15463 A C ain o zic-DA-
D /u 2= e3
Am ad eu s-D A-
18
D /u 2= e3
delta
-8 -8 N g alia-D A-
15472 13795 D /u 2= e6
C ain o zic-DA-
D /u 2= e6
15740 16694 Am ad eu s-D A-
D /u 2= e6
-9 5754 -9 N g alia
B C ain o zic
11396 Am ad eu s
-1 0 -1 0
0 20 0 40 0 600 8 00 10 00 1 200 14 00 16 00 18 00 20 00
C h lo rid e (m g/l)
Fig.6
185
Table-3. Model ground water ages and estimates of chloride concentration at the time of recharge for different flow models.
Model Age (a) based on 14C data Model Estimated E (a-1) Model Estimated Cl-0 (mg/l)
Stn Cl-t DA Model DA Model DA Model
No. (mg/l) 2 2 2 2
PFM WMR D/u = D/u = PFM WMR D/u = D/u = PFM WMR D/u2 = D/u2 =
103 a 106 a 103 a 106 a 103 a 106 a
Ngalia Basin
14980* 22 -770* -740* -850* -8,865* 6.1E-05 6.6E-05 5.2E-05 -1.5E-05@ 23 23 23 21
970 890 1,080 11,200 1.2E-04 1.3E-04 6.4E-05 5.4E-05 2 2 2 2
15472* 73 1,800 2,010 1,990 20,674 1.0E-04 8.5E-05 8.5E-05 -5.9E-05@ 60 61 61 85@
970 1210 1,080 11,200 7.3E-05 6.2E-05 4.2E-05 7.8E-05 12 12 9 8
15463* 54 8,670 15,310 9,610 99,729 1.5E-05 7.2E-06 1.3E-05 2.4E-07 47 48 47 52
970 2780 1,080 11,210 9.1E-06 4.8E-06 1.7E-06 2.9E-08 4 4 1 0
L.
14055 595 1,690 1,870 1,870 19,430 1.2E-04 9.4E-05 9.3E-05 -7.4E-05@ 490 490 490 697@
980 1,190 1,080 11,200 8.2E-05 7.0E-05 4.8E-05 1.0E-04 106 103 78 78
12910 270 9,860 18,970 10,930 113,443 1.4E-05 6.0E-06 1.2E-05 2.2E-07 235 240 235 260
970 3,210 1,080 11,220 8.9E-06 4.3E-06 1.4E-06 4.7E-08 24 22 5 1
El
6165 953 4,320 5,680 4,790 49,730 -5.7E-06@ -5.0E-06@ -5.4E-06@ -3.3E-06@ 977@ 980@ 978@ 1022@
970 1,640 1,080 11,200 1.7E-05 1.3E-05 7.1E-07 2.6E-07 71 73 7 16
15477 336 11,250 23,970 12,480 129,472 1.2E-05 4.3E-06 1.1E-05 1.3E-07 293 301 294 329
980 3,800 1,080 11,230 7.0E-06 3.1E-06 1.1E-06 7.5E-08 27 25 5 1
an
12578 333 7,310 11,750 8,110 84,154 1.1E-05 6.0E-06 9.9E-06 8.1E-08 306 310 307 331
970 2,360 1,080 11,200 1.0E-05 6.1E-06 1.6E-06 1.3E-07 25 24 5 1
@ @ @ @ @ @ @
10945 303 17,367 59,300 19,260 199,892 -4.3E-06 -3.0E-06 -4.1E-06 -2.9E-06 326 356 328 391@
990 8,050 1,090 11,350 4.2E-06 1.4E-06 1.0E-07 3.5E-08 22 27 2 6
go
Cainozoic Basin
13795 1,560 640 662 710 7,327 1.1E-03 7.5E-04 3.3E-05 -8.4E-03 789 789 1522 3042@
970 1,050 1,080 11,200 1.6E-03 1.2E-03 1.4E-03 2.6E-02 2305 1734 1590 5761
186
15740 110 7,200 11,470 7,980 82,808 -7.8E-06@ -5.9E-06@ -7.3E-06@ -4.0E-06@ 116@ 117@ 117@ 125@
970 2,330 1,080 11,200 1.0E-05 6.8E-06 6.7E-07 2.7E-07 8 9 1 2
16694 786 18,840 72,500 20,900 216,874 6.4E-05 9.2E-06 5.4E-05 -1.7E-05@ 234 261 235 1750@
990 9,680 1,100 11,400 6.4E-06 1.4E-06 2.8E-06 2.6E-06 107 106 22 74
5754 129 450 460 500 5,176 4.3E-05 4.1E-05 3.7E-05 -5.1E-06@ 127 127 127 130@
970 1,030 1,080 11,200 1.9E-04 1.8E-04 8.1E-05 3.9E-05 12 12 8 13
Amadeus Basin
13669 312 6,420 9,700 7,120 73,885 3.4E-05 2.0E-05 3.0E-05 -2.3E-06@ 250 252 251 338@
980 2120 1,080 11,200 1.4E-05 8.2E-06 4.7E-06 1.5E-06 29 28 12 5
13653 15 13,860 35,930 15,370 159,500 1.4E-06 -8.0E-07@ 1.0E-06 -1.4E-06@ 15 15@ 15 17@
980 5,230 1,080 11,310 5.2E-06 2.1E-06 2.4E-07 5.8E-08 1 1 0 0
L.
13652 212 13,020 31,660 14,440 149,835 1.6E-05 4.8E-06 1.4E-05 2.5E-07 173 180 173 197
980 4,750 1,090 11,200 6.7E-06 2.5E-06 1.2E-06 5.8E-09 19 17 4 1
11843 199 19,750 81,820 21,900 227,264 2.9E-05 4.5E-06 2.6E-05 -1.1E-06@ 111 127 112 231@
1,000 10,850 1,100 11,460 5.2E-06 1.1E-06 1.4E-06 3.2E-07 21 20 5 2
12681 215 21,000 96,610 23,290 241,729 6.6E-06 -1.5E-07@ 5.7E-06 -4.3E-07@ 187 218@ 188 233@
El
1,000 12730 1,110 11,550 4.0E-06 9.0E-07 3.8E-07 6.1E-08 18 19 2 1
14566 195 21,910 108,840 24,300 252,228 1.8E-06 -1.3E-06@ 1.4E-06 -1.3E-06@ 188 223@ 189 235@
990 13,920 1,090 11,310 3.4E-06 7.9E-07 1.6E-07 3.9E-08 14 17 1 2
an
11396 138 310 310 340 3,535 -1.6E-04@ -1.6E-04@ -1.7E-04@ -2.4E-04@ 145@ 145@ 145@ 145@
*
970 1,010 1,080 11,200 5.5E-04 5.7E-04 5.9E-04 1.3E-03 32 33 32 75
go
* -ve model age means that the measured 14C activity is > the assumed 14C activity of ground water in recharge area i.e. >8510 pMC.
@
-ve estimate of E indicates that the sample plots above the curve for the particular model in the Dual Tracer Log-Log Plot. This indicates that
the measured 36Cl/Cl- ratio, when corrected for the estimated model age based on 14C data, would give 36Cl/Cl- in recharge area > the assumed
initial value of 20010 (x10-15). As a result the computed value of Cl-0 is > Cl-t, the measured value of Chloride.
187
The 18O values for the samples originating in northern Ngalia basin (Fig. 6, Area
A) and the southern Arunta-Amedues basin (Fig. 6, Area B) average -71.5 and -
91 respectively. It is also noticed that even after correction for chloride
dissolution, groundwater samples continue to fall in their original respective groups
on the basis of chloride concentrations, namely those with Cl- 150mg/l and those
with Cl- 225 mg/l (Fig. 6). It is also observed that the samples belonging to the two
chloride groups are geographically distributed in both northern Nglia basin and the
southern Arunta-Amedues basins, and within each basin their distribution shows no
pattern. This, sort of random distribution of Cl- values, taken together with two
hydro-geologically coherent grouping based on 18O data, suggest that different
groundwater in both hydro-geological regimes originated with different Cl-
concentrations in their recharge areas and that different streamlines did not undergo
much dispersion and mixing during subsurface flow. This may be an indication of
go
more local origin of various groundwater masses as would be expected for the
fractured sandstone aquifer of Ngalia and Amadeus basins and the metamorphic
rocks of Arunta complex.
5. CONCLUSIONS
an
It appears that the 14C and 36Cl/Cl- data reported by Cresswell et al (1999 a, b) on
groundwater samples from central Australia can be explained by any of the three
flow models by invoking some addition of `dead' chloride during passage through
the aquifer. The DA model with D/u2= 106 a gives the highest groundwater model
ages. Though not unlikely, there is no real justification for assuming such large
El
value of D/u2. However, if lower value of D/u2 (~103a), as is adequately able to

explain the data points is accepted, groundwater model ages are highest for the
WMR (~110ka) for sample No.14566 from the Amadeus Basin. The corresponding
PFM age is only ~22ka. The groundwater model age for this sample for DA with
D/u2 =103a is ~250ka. The present data set does not permit choosing any particular
value of D/u2, but D/u2 =106a would appear to be the highest permissible value
because of four reasons. (i) The measurement errors do not permit distinguishing
L.
between D/u2 =105a and D/u2 = . (ii) Many samples give negative values of E-
parameter that describes rate of chloride addition during subsurface flow for D/u2
=106a. (iii) The 18O values for the samples originating from the two hydro-
geologically coherent regions in northern Ngalia basin (Fig. 6, Area A) and the
southern Arunta-Amedues basin (Fig. 6, Area B) average -71.5 and -91
respectively. (iv) The random distribution of chloride/ Sulphate between these
hydro-geologically coherent regions, coupled with fracture type of secondary
porosity for Ngalia, Arunta and Amedues formations suggest more local recharge of
groundwater with little dispersion between different flow streamlines. It is also
shown that the flow models do not permit calculating groundwater ages using PFM
on 36Cl/Cl- measurements, ignoring 14C measurements and the drawing of
palaeoclimatic interpretations from the so calculated of very old ages.
188
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dr. Nipun Kapur was associated with this work in the initial stages. Mr. R.D.
Deshpande has also participated in some discussions on interpretations and
conclusions of this work. I sincerely thank both these colleagues. Gujarat Water
Resources Development Corporation Limited (GWRDC) provided part financial
assistance for this work.
REFERENCES
Cresswell, R., Wischusen , J., Jacobson, G. and Fifield, K. (1999a): "Assessment of

Recharge to Groundwater Systems in the Arid Southwestern part of Northern
Territory, Australia, Using Chlorine-36". Hydrogeology Journal, Vol.7, pp393-404.
go
Cresswell, R.G., Jacobson, G., Wischusen, J. and Fifield, K.L. (1999b): "Ancient
Groundwaters in the Amadeus Basin, Central Australia: Evidence from the
Radioisotope 36Cl". Journal of Hydrology, Vol.233, pp.212-220.
Fontes, J.Ch. (1983): "Dating of Groundwater". In: Guidebook on Nuclear
Techniques in Hydrology. IAEA, Vienna, pp.285-387.
an
Fontes, J.Ch. (1992): "Chemical and Isotopic Constraints on 14C Dating of
Groundwater". In: R.E. Taylor, A. Long and R.S. Kra (Ed.) Radiocarbon After Four
Decades. Springer-Verlag, New York. Pp.242-261.
Geyh, M.A. (1992): "The 14C Scale of Groundwater, Correction and Linearity". In:
Isotope Techniques in Water Resource Development 1991, IAEA, Vienna, pp.167-
El
177.
Gupta, S.K.< Lal, D., Sharma, P. (1981): "An Approach to Determining Pathways
and Residence Time of Groundwaters: Dual Radiotracer Dating". Jour. Geophys.
Res., Vol.86(C6), pp.5292-5300.
Guymon, G.L. (1972): "Notes on the Finite Element Solution of Diffusion Advection
L.
Equation". Water Resour. Res., Vol.8, pp.1357-1360.

Lehmann, E.E. and Loosli, H.HY. (1991): Chapter 6. "Isotopes Formed by
Underground Production". In: F.J.Pearson et al. (Eds.), Applied Isotope
Hydrogeology, A Case Study in Northern Switzerland. Studies in Environmental
Science 43. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 439p.
Phillips, F.M., Bentley, H.W., Davis, S.N., Elmore, D., Swanik, G. (1986):
Chlorine-36 "Dating of Very Old Groundwater" 2. Milk River Aquifer, Alberta
Canada. Water Resour. Res., Vol. 22, pp.2003-2016.
Scheidegger, A.E. (1961): "General Theory of Dispersion in Porous Media".
J. Geophys. Res. Vol.66, pp.3273-3278.
Wigley, T.M.L., Plummer, L.N., Pearson, Jr., F.J. (1978). "Mass Transfer and
Carbon Isotope Evolution in Natural Water Systems". Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta,
Vol.42, pp.1117-1139.
189
Fig. 1: Dual Tracer log-log plot depicting expected variation in the concentration
of radiocarbon and chlorine-36 in a groundwater system for various models of flow
and mixing conditions. The units are: C/C0, dimensionless; x = m; u = m.a-1; D =
m2a-1; p = a-1. Note that curves for different values of D/u2 with no leakage influx of
relatively young water (i.e. p = 0), plot as straight lines in the region lying between
the PFM and the limiting case for DA model for D/u2 . The model groundwater
age (t = x/u) increases as the data point moves away from the origin, O, along any
particular curve. As an aid to quick estimation DA model groundwater age, lines
joining the points with three values of t = x/u (105, 106 and 107 a) across the straight
lines for different values of D/u2 are also shown.
Fig. 2: The 14C and 36Cl/Cl- data of (Cresswell et al., 1999a, b) from central
Australia plotted on the Dual Tracer log-log plot. The inset shows depth variation
go
of 14C for Ngalia and Cainozoic basin samples. C0 for 14C was assumed = 8510
pMC and for 36Cl/Cl- = 20010 (x10-15). Please note that no samples plot above the
PFM line (Region-OABO) but several samples do plot outside the theoretical
plotting area for any of the three flow models (Region-OGEFO) indicating
dissolution of `dead' chloride during flow through the aquifer (also refer to Table-1).
Fig. 3: Piston flow model for different values of the parameter E representing the
an
rate constant (a-1) of chloride addition during passage of groundwater through the
aquifer. Lines joining equal PFM ages across lines for different values of E are
parallel to the ordinate axis. Also plotted are the 14C and 36Cl/Cl- data points of
(Cresswell et al., 19899a, b) from central Australia. This plot can be used to estimate
the model groundwater age (tpf) and the value of E for any given data point under the
El
assumption that piston flow model is applicable.
Fig. 4: The same as in Fig. 3, but for the well-mixed reservoir (WMR) model.
Fig. 5: The same as in Fig. 3, but for the dispersion- advection (DA) model with
different values of D/u2 and E parameters.
L.
Fig. 6: Variation of oxygen isotopic composition of groundwater samples with their

chloride concentration. Data from (Cresswell et al., 1999a). Also plotted on this
diagram are the estimated initial (Cl-0) values of chloride concentration for
respective samples at the time of recharge based on different flow models and
addition of chloride by interaction with aquifer material. Two enclosed areas A & B
contain samples that do not show much significant change from their measured Cl-
concentrations for any of the flow models. These also derive from two different
groundwater flow regimes originating in the north (Ngalia Basin) and south (Arunta
Block-Amadeus Basin). See Fig.2 of (Cresswell et al., 1999a) for geographical
locations.
190
Physical Mechanisms Affecting Distribution of

Nutrients In Soils
F. Stagnitti and L. Elango
go Abstract
Monitoring and modelling nutrient dynamics in cultivated soils is often

complicated by the non-random spatial and temporal variation in the
an
physical, chemical and biological properties. It is common practice to
measure soil properties in the laboratory using homogeneously mixed, air-
dried soils collected from just below the rooting zone of agricultural soils.
However, leaching experiments using repacked, sterile, homogenised soil
cores bear little resemblance to the physical reality since channels and paths
El
that normally transmit water and nutrients are destroyed. Recent

experiments illustrate how important soil structure is to understanding the
nature of nutrient transport. This paper discusses how soil structure plays an
important role in moisture and solute transport below the soil surface. The
paper also presents mathematical models for describing physical transport
and evaluates the performance of two solute transport models developed for
L.
the purpose of describing small-scale nutrient dynamics. In conclusion, we

contend that a better knowledge of the factors causing preferential transport
of nutrients in cultivated field soils is required for sustainable agricultural
management.
Keywords : Modelling of nutrients, unsaturated zone, nutrients transport,
solute transport, field soils
1. INTRODUCTION
The movement of chemicals below the rooting zone in agricultural soils to the groundwater
or discharged to surface waters can pose a serious degradation of these resources. In many
countries, this form of pollution results in serious environmental and economic problems.
The chemicals of interest include nutrients, pesticides, salts and waste materials such as
heavy metals. In the case of nutrients, leaching losses also represent a decline in soil
191
fertility, and in the case of nitrate leaching, reduction of productivity due to soil
acidification, stream and lake eutrophication and domestic drinking water pollution.
Recent experiments have shown that current models and methods do not adequately
describe the leaching of nutrients through soil, often underestimating the rate of
transport through the vadose zone and overestimating the concentration of resident
solutes in the root zone (de Rooij and Stagnitti, 2000; Evans, et al. 1995; Evans, et
al. 1996; Stagnitti 1998; Stagnitti, et al. 1998; Stagnitti, et al., 1999, Stagnitti, et al.,
2001; Allinson, et al. 1999ab; Graymore, et al. 1999; Kelsall, et al. 1999; Ueoka, et
al. 1999; Allinson, et al. 2000ab). This inaccuracy results from ignoring soil
structure and non-equilibrium between soil constituents, water and nutrients.
2. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
go
The use of undisturbed soil columns offer the best means of studying nutrient
transport under field conditions because they preserve the natural structure of the
soil (Stagnitti, et al. 1998). Large undisturbed soil cores (42.5 x 42.5 cm wide x 40
cm deep) were extracted from several sites in Australia. Multisegment percolation
systems (MSPS) were constructed to sample moisture and chemicals leaching from
these soil cores. The MSPS consists of a metal-alloy base-plate that is shaped into
an
25 equal sized collection wells (funnels) or mini-catchments. The dimension of each
well is 6 x 6 cm. Each well consists of a spring, a thin stainless steel plate and a
length of fibreglass wick. The purpose of the wick is to act as a hanging column,
providing a moderate capillary force in order to sample moisture and solutes during
unsaturated flow conditions. The MSPS was designed so that each well collects
El
moisture and solutes in the neighbourhood of the wick. Once mounted on the
MSPS, the soil cores were irrigated with distilled water for several months prior to
the application of nutrient solutions. Further experimental details were presented in
(Stagnitti, et al. 1998; 1999).
L.
3. MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF SOLUTE BREAKTHROUGH

CURVES
The most challenging problem confronting mathematical modelling of solute transport in

soils is how to characterise and quantify the geometric, hydraulic, and chemical properties
of the porous media. To reduce the complexity involved in modelling the transport process,
many models are based on assumptions of homogeneous soil structure and instantaneous
sorption - sometimes referred to as the LEA (linear equilibrium adsorption) assumption.
The general equation governing contaminant transport under saturated, steady flow
conditions, and with chemical reaction, has the form of the classical advection-dispersion-
reaction equation:
192
C 2C C
R = D 2 V C (1)
t z z
where R is the retardation factor (which is equal to 1 + k/where is the soil bulk density,
k is the distribution coefficient of absorption, and is the water content); is the reaction
rate coefficient, D is the dispersion coefficient and V is the pore water velocity.
The ADRE has a simple form because it describes an ideal process, that is
equilibrium transport. However, the LEA assumption is seldom valid in field soils.
Non-ideal transport (non-equilibrium transport), as observed in many experiments,
is more the norm than the exception. The causes of non-equilibrium transport in
soils are soil heterogeneity and non-equilibrium chemical sorption. Non-equilibrium
go
transport is due to physical phenomena reflecting the heterogeneous properties of
soils. Here, we examine the non-equilibrium transport caused by possible
preferential flow through an undisturbed soil column. Considering the bicontinuum
conceptualisation, a two-region solute transport model (TRM) can be developed to
describe non-equilibrium solute transport in aggregated soils (van Genuchten and
Wierenga 1976; van Genuchten and Alves 1982; Li, Barry et al. 1994). The
an
governing equations are,
C m 1 C im 2Cm C m
R + =D Vm (2a)
t t z 2
z
El
1 C im
= (C m C im ) (2b)
t
where subscripts m and im denote regions in which mobile and immobile solute
L.
transport may occur; is the ratio of the mobile region to the entire pore volume,
ie., = m/(m+im), is water content; Vm is the flow velocity in the mobile region
and the velocity in the immobile region is zero by definition (so the averaged flow
velocity is Vm ); is the rate coefficient (in the non-dimensional form, = L/Vm,
L is the column length). The bicontinuum concept physically represents the soil
structure in aggregated soils. The region within the aggregates is the immobile
region where water and nutrients are stagnant except for lateral diffusion. The
region between the aggregates is the mobile region where water and nutrients move
due to advection and dispersion. The lateral diffusion has been simplified by using
the first-order equation (2b). Although this model was originally developed for
solute transport in aggregated soils, it is often used to model other non-equilibrium
transport processes.
193
Temporal moment analysis is a useful statistical technique for quantifying solute

transport properties independently from an underlying mathematical model such as
the ADR or TRM. The moment generating function for a continuous function, f(t) is

Mp = 0
t p f (t) dt (3)
where the subscript p = 0, 1, 2, 3 represents the zeroth, first, second, third
moments, etc. The first moment is the expectation or mean, the second is the
variance and the third and fourth represent the skew and kurtosis of f(t) respectively.
In solute transport studies, the solute breakthrough curve (BTC) in dimensionless
form is represented by
f(t) = C(z,t) / Co (4)
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where Co is the initial solution concentration at time t = 0. The zeroth order moment,
Mo [T], represents the dimensionless mass.

M0 = 0
C(z, t) / C0 dT (5)
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The mass balance ratio, r is given by
r = Mo / Mo<in> (6)
where Mo<in> [T] is the mass of the input pulse. The mass balance ratio, expressed as
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a percentage, gives the percentage recovery of the solute at depth L; the difference
(1 - r) % is the percentage lost to adsorption, degradation, precipitation,
volatilisation and other processes.The normalised moment, p<n>, is defined by :
p<n> = Mp / Mo (7)
L.
The first normalised moment is the mean concentration breakthrough time, [T] :
= 1<n> = M1 / Mo (8)
Central moments, p, are defined as :
1

<n > p
p = (T 1 ) C(z, t) / Co dT ; p = 0, 1, 2 (9)
M0 0
The second central moment 2 [T2], quantifies the variance of the BTC, a measure
of the typical spread of the BTC in relation to the mean breakthrough time. The
standard deviation, [T], is given by the square root of the second central moment.
194
= 2 (10)
The dispersivity, [L], is given as,
= (L / 2) (2 / 2) (11)
The dispersivity, , can be related to the Advective-Dispersion equation (ADE) by

the following :
= D/V (12)
1

T go
where D [L2T] is the dispersion coefficient and
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V= q(t) dt (13)
T c 0
where q(t) [L T-1] is the Darcy flux and c [L3 L-3] the calculated volumetric water
content. The third central moment characterises the asymmetry of the BTC and can
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be used to calculate a non-dimensional skewness parameter, S, defined by
S = 3 / 23/2
(14)
A positive value for S reflects a distribution with an asymmetrical tail extending to

the right of the peak concentration. A negative value indicates a distribution with a
long tail to the left of the peak concentration. Therefore, asymmetric BTCs with
L.
early peak concentrations and increased tailing to the right, ie. S > 0, qualitatively
reflect the existence of preferential flow. To calculate the temporal moments and
associated parameters in the equations above, previous studies have used cubic-
spline interpolation to first smooth the experimental BTCs before subjecting it to
numerical integration with either the trapezoidal or Simpsons formulae. However,
we prefer to fit easily integrable analytical functions (e.g. polynomials) to the
experimental BTCs using an automated nonlinear least squares data fitting package,
thus avoiding the usual problems associated with numerical integration techniques.
The procedure first determines a suitable analytical approximation to the
experimental BTC, then integrates this function analytically with the aid of a
ymbolic software package such as Mathematica. Herein we report the use of the
TMA to investigate solute transport parameters in the nutrient study and compare
and contrast these results with the ADR and TRM.
195
4. CONSTRUCTION OF A HETEROGENEITY INDEX
A heterogeneity index is invaluable in comparing and contrasting the behaviour of

soil-water and solute distributions in single soil column experiments or across
several experiments. The index of heterogeneity may also be used as a decision
support tool to assess the potential risk of groundwater contamination by surface-
applied chemicals. For example, low values for the heterogeneity index imply
uniformity in flow of soil-water and/or solutes and consequently the potential risk of
groundwater contamination by preferential flow is small. On the other hand, a high
value for the heterogeneity index may indicate significant preferential flow with the
consequent danger of groundwater contamination. The heterogeneity index
suggested by (Stagnitti, et al. 1999) requires only a knowledge of the soil-water
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percolation or solute elution curve as derived from in-situ field samplers or
laboratory tests on undisturbed soil cores. Thus it is easy to calculate. The
development of the heterogeneity index is restated here. We seek a continuous
probability distribution that has a random variable bounded by extreme values that
are both finite and positive. The distribution must be generally skewed to account
for the observed nature of the BTC and the amount of skew determined by
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parameters of the distribution. The beta and triangular distribution fit these criteria.
The triangular distribution has all the desirable properties but is discontinuous.
Other continuous distributions such as gamma, exponential, Wiebull and Pearson
fail to meet one of more of the criteria. The standard beta function is defined as,
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(+ ) 1
p(x; , ) = x (1x) 1 ; for 0, 0, 0 x 1 (15)
() ()
where is the gamma function (or Eulers integral of the second kind) and and
L.
are free parameters. Eq. (15) is often used in Statistics to model the variation in the
proportions of a quantity occurring in different samples. It also has the properties of
finite positive intercepts, bounded in the interval [0,1], in the x-axis and adjustable
skewness. These are the desired properties we seek. We now use properties of the
beta distribution to develop a heterogeneity index for water percolation and solute
elution in multi-sample percolation experiments. Note that if and are both equal
to one, then Eq. (15) reduces to the uniform density function, p(x, 1, 1) = 1. The
expectation (or mean) and variance of Eq. (15) are respectively defined by

2x =
x = and 2 (16)
( + ) + ( + + 1)
The cumulative density of Eq. (15) is defined by
196
x
c(x; , ) = p(t; , ) dt, for 0 x 1 (17)
0
where t is a variable of integration.
The standard deviation to mean ratio is often used as a measure to compare

dispersion between populations with different means. In a similar manner, we define
a (scaled) heterogeneity index (HI) as
3 x 3
HI(, ) = = (18)
x ( + + 1)
where 3 is a factor that results from scaling HI to one when both and equal
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one. Thus a uniform distribution will result in HI = 1 and a non-uniform distribution
is indicated when HI > 1. For our purposes, Eq. (18) is valid for HI(,) 1. The
magnitude of HI greater than one indicates the magnitude of non-uniformity in the
distribution. The heterogeneity index (Eq. 18) may be used to quantify apparent
spatial or temporal heterogeneity in water and solute distribution patterns in
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percolation experiments. This is illustrated in the next section.
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Actual and fitted solute breakthrough curves (BTCs) for each nutrient are presented
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in Figures 1 to 3. The actual data are represented in each figure by diamonds and
fitted analytical functions used to calculate the temporal moments are represented by
solid lines. Considerable asymmetry is exhibited for chloride and nitrate-nitrogen
leachate, with early peaks, long tails to the right and positive skew. The BTC for
phosphate-phosphorus exhibits a more symmetrical appearance. Table 1 presents a
summary of actual and fitted solute transport parameters for each model as well as
observed experimental values. The breakthrough curves for both chloride and
L.
nitrate-nitrogen appear very similar, with time to peak concentrations occurring just
3 to 4 days after application. Phosphate-phosphorus on the other hand peaked at 11
days after application. The leached mass to applied mass ratios for Cl, NO3-N and
PO4-P were 129%, 68% and <1% respectively, indicating possible cation exchange
in the case of chloride, nitrification and mineralisation in the case of nitrate and
strong adsorption of phosphate. Stagnitti, et al., (1998) reported that most of the
phosphate was bound to the first 2 cm of the surface soil. The rate of
evapotranspiration was determined from a water budget over 18 days. The average
rate was approximately 25%. Using this value, the initial solute concentrations in
the applied irrigation were determined to be C0_Cl = 6186.10 mg/L, C0_NO3 = 273.65
mg/L and C0_PO4 = 4724.10 mg/L. The duration time (or input pulse) for irrigation of
the solutes was T = 0.484 days.
197
Optimal three-parameter analytical functions were fit to the experimental data using
an automatic least squares fitting procedure. These functions are shown in Figures 1
to 3 by the solid lines.
0.08
Relative Concentration (C/Co)
0.07 Actual
Fitted
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
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0.02
0.01
0.00
0 5 10 15 20
Time (days)
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Fig. 1: The breakthrough curves for chloride. Experimental data are diamonds
and the fitted function used to calculate temporal moments is the solid line.
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0.045
Relative Concentration (C/Co)
0.040 Actual
0.035 Fitted
0.030
L.
0.025
0.020
0.015
0.010
0.005
0.000
0 5 10 15 20
Time (days)
Fig. 2: The breakthrough curves for nitrogen-nitrate. Experimental data are

diamonds and the fitted function used to calculate
temporal moments is the solid line.
198
Relative Concentration (C/C o) 3.5E-04
3.0E-04
Actual
Fitted
2.5E-04
2.0E-04
1.5E-04
1.0E-04
5.0E-05
0.0E+00
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0 5 10 15 20
Time (days)
Fig. 3: The breakthrough curves for phosphorus-phosphate. Experimental data

are diamonds and the fitted function used to calculate
temporal moments is the solid line.
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The fitted functions coefficients of determination were r2 = 0.92, 0.96 and 0.86 for
Cl, NO3-N and PO4-P respectively. As the purpose of the fitting was to obtain easily
integrable analytical functions, the exact form of the function is irrelevant. The best
fitting 3-parameter functions as determined by the highest r2 that also have the
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correct characteristics, e.g. smooth first derivatives, finite ranges and asymptotes
that tend to zero as time tends to both zero and infinity, were selected for each
nutrient. The advantages of fitting analytical functions to the experimental data are
that they are easy to fit, tend to smooth out experimental noise and avoid the usual
problems associated numerical integration of data. Temporal moment analysis
(equations 3 to 14) was applied to each function to obtain the solute transport
parameters presented in Table 1. The predicted mass ratios, r = 117%, 76% and
L.
0.6% were very close to the observed ratios. Also the predicted time to peak
concentrations and peak concentrations were also very close to the experimental
values. The mean travel time , represents an average breakthrough time. For
symmetrical distributions the mean travel time is equal to the time to peak
concentration. Thus differences between these two parameters reflect the degree of
asymmetry and possible preferential flow. For this reason, it is therefore important
to report both these statistics in solute transport studies. The mean travel time
represents a bulk breakthrough whilst the time to peak concentration represents
possible preferential flow in front of the bulk breakthrough. For both Cl and NO3-
N, the time to peak concentration was some 4 days prior to the mean travel time,
whilst for PO4-P, the mean travel time was almost identical to the peak
concentration time. These results are also confirmed by the values of the skew
coefficient. The values for both Cl and NO3-N are considerably greater than zero,
199
indicating significant positive skew and asymmetry, whilst the skew value for PO4-P
was close to zero, indicating symmetry. The predicted values for the dispersivity, ,
for Cl and NO3-N were between 11 and 12 cm, about of the length of the soil
column, and for PO4-P, 4.3 cm. These values appear to be quite consistent with
expectation.
Table 1. Summary of solute transport parameter values for each model.
Chloride Nitrate Phosphate

Common Parameters (From
Experiment)
Column Length, L (cm) 40 40 40
Initial Concentration, Co (mg/L) 6186 274 4724
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Time of Input Pulse, T (days) 0.484 0.484 0.484
Time to Peak Concentration (d) 4 3 11
Peak Relative Concentration (C/Co) 0.073 0.041 0.00032
Applied Mass (mg) 6987 404 6085
Leached Mass (mg) 9039 273 52
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Mass Ratio, r (%) 129.4% 67.6% 0.9%
Temporal Moments Analysis (TMA)

Mass Ratio, r (%) 117.0% 76.0% 0.6%
Mean Time, (d) 8.7 8.2 12.5
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Standard Deviation (d) 6.6 6.6 5.8
Dispersivity, (cm) 11.3 12.8 4.3
Skew 0.88 0.58 0.003
L.
Advection-Dispersion-Reaction Model
(ADR)
Mass Ratio, r (%) 102.0% 71.4% 0.6%
Mean Time, (d) 9.7 8.7 13.5
Standard Deviation (d) 7.4 6.7 5.1
Skew 0.65 0.54 0.003
Dispersivity, (cm) 11.7 11.7 11.7
Retardation Factor, R 1 1.06 8.12
Reaction Rate, (d-1) 0 0.035 1.78
Pore Water Velocity, V (m/d) 0.051 0.051 0.051
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Dispersion Coefficient, D (m2/d) 0.006 0.006 0.006
Two-Region Model (TRM)

Mass Ratio, r (%) 118.0% 118.0%
Mean Time, (d) 9.6 8.6
Time to Peak Concentration (d) 3 4
Peak Relative Concentration (C/Co) 0.071 0.059
Standard Deviation (d) 7.7 8.6
Skew 0.79 0.57
Dispersivity, (cm) 3.7 3.7
Retardation Factor, R 1 1.27
Mass Transfer Rate, 1.72 1.72
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Mobile Water Fraction, 0.47 0.47
Pore Water Velocity, V=Vm, (m/d) 0.027 0.027
Dispersion Coefficient, D (m2/d) 0.001 0.001
Table 1 also presents predicted solute transport values from fitting the ADR and
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TRM models to the experimental data. For each simulation, it was assumed that the
initial, resident concentrations of solutes in the soil prior to application of the
nutrient solution were negligible, ie. Ci = 0 mg/L. First, the ADR and TRM were
fitted to the Cl data assuming that Cl behaves as a conservative element, that is = 0
(no reaction) and R = 1 (no adsorption). The optimal values for the fitted parameters
in the ADR were V = 0.051 m/d and D = 0.006 m2/d. Note that the model failed to
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match the data at the peak. The predicted peak relative concentration was 0.051 in
comparison to the observed value of 0.073. Also the ADR significantly
underestimated the mass ratio due to the under-prediction of the peak concentration.
The lack of agreement is due to the failure of the ADR to model the non-equilibrium
effects caused by the obvious heterogeneity in percolation rates reported by
Stagnitti, et al., (1999). The fitted velocity and dispersion coefficients, however, are
L.
within the experimental constraints. The TRM was fitted to the Cl data and the
optimal values for the model parameters were Vm = 0.057 m/d, D = 0.001 m2/d, =
0.47 and = 1.72. The predicted time to peak and peak concentrations are in
excellent agreement with the experimental values, suggesting that non-equilibrium
transport of Cl has occurred. The results also confirm the veracity that little to no
retardation of chloride in the core occurred (ie. R = 1). The fitted parameter values
are also within experimental constraints and they have physical meaning. In
particular, the averaged flow velocity, calculated according to Vm is in accordance
with the experimental data. The fitted value for is close to 0.5, which indicates
that nearly 50% of the pore volume is actively responsible for Cl transport. This too
is supported by experimental observations reported by Stagnitti, et al., (1998).
201
The BTC for NO3-N was fitted to both the ADR and TRM and the results are shown
in Table 1. In this case, knowledge gained from fitting the BTCs for Cl is used to fit
the BTC for NO3-N. The values for V and D determined from fitting the ADR to the
Cl data set are used for the NO3-N data set, as these in principle should not be
different. However, adsorption and reaction of NO3 is possible and therefore
permitted ie. R and should be free parameters and their values determined by
optimisation. The optimal values for R and were found to be 1.06 and 0.035 d-1
respectively, indicating a small adsorption and significant reaction rate. These
parameter values make sense physically and result from mineralisation and
denitrification in the soil. The fit is surprisingly good even though the ADR ignores
soil heterogeneity, e.g. accurate predictions for the mass ratio and travel times when
compared with the experimental observations. For similar reasons to before, the
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values for the parameters Vm, D, and in the TRM were fixed to be the same
values as those determined for the Cl BTC. In this case, however, the only free
parameter is R since we have no analytical solution for the TRM with reaction. The
optimal value for R was found to be 1.27, indicating considerably more adsorption
than the ADR. The TRM clearly over-predicted the concentration peak and mass
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ratio. This is not a surprising result since the TRM in its present form does not
contain a reaction term. The better performance of ADR in this case most likely
results from the extra freedom of having two free parameters rather than one.
Indeed, if the TRM included reaction, then the performance for nitrate prediction
using this model will undoubtedly improve. The predicted value for the dispersivity
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seems to be very large, particularly when compared with the value obtained using
the temporal moments method. The phosphate experimental data showed strong
adsorption and reaction (see Table 1). For this reason we did not fit the TRM to this
data set as the results would be meaningless if reaction is not considered. Table 1
presents the results for the predicted solute transport parameters using the ADR with
V and D fixed to the same values as determined for the Cl BTC and R and fitted
L.
by optimisation. The optimal values for R and were 8.117 and = 1.781 d-1
respectively, indicating as expected, very strong adsorption and quick reaction. The
ADR predicted the solute transport parameters reasonably well. Again the good
performance of the ADR here does not necessarily imply that non-equilibrium
transport is negligible; rather it may be due to the extra freedom in the fitting
process. Also the reaction rate appears to be too fast to be physically realistic.
Again, the predicted value for the dispersivity seems to be too large when compared
with the TMA.
The model for the heterogeneity index (equations 15 to 18) may be applied to any
experiment in which multiple samples of the solute and water flux are determined
202
within a defined spatial or temporal segment. The model is independent of the

Fract ion o f Leached Solut e
A
B
goFraction of Area
Fig. 4: Fitted (solid lines) and actual (dashed lines) solute elution curves for
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phosphate (A), chloride (B), nitrate (C), for a soil monolith collected from
Grassmere, Victoria, Australia and chloride (D) for a soil collected in a coastal
dune of South-West Holland.
A
Fract ion o f Leached Wat er
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B
C D
E
L.
Fraction of Area
Fig. 5: Fitted (solid lines) and actual (dashed lines) soil-water elution curves
for soil monoliths collected from five different sites in Australia : Tower Hill
(A), Rutherglen-2 (B), Grassmere (C), Redland Bay (D), and Rutherglen-1 (E).
203
actual experimental technique used to determine the soil-water or solute elution.

Figures 4 and 5, present patterns of soil-water percolation and solute elution for a
series of experiments conducted in Australia and the Netherlands.
The experimental details are reported in Stagnitti, et al., (2000) and de Rooij and
Stagnitti, (2000). The heterogeneity indices and statistical results are presented in
Table 2.
Table 2. Heterogeneity indices calculated for a series

of experiments conducted in Australia and Holland.
Experiment Fig. x 2x HI
Uniform 1 1 1/2 1/12 1
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Solutes
Grassmere-P 4A 0.2411 2.034 0.1060 0.02892 2.78
Grassmere-Cl 4B 0.9199 1.935 0.3222 0.05665 1.28
Grassmere-N 4C 0.8755 1.524 0.3647 0.06817 1.24
SW Holland-Cl 4D 0.7499 1.353 0.3567 0.07396 1.32
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Moisture
Tower Hill 5A 0.4527 1.699 0.2105 0.05275 1.89
Rutherglen-2 5B 0.8477 3.993 0.1865 0.03725 1.56
Grassmere 5C 0.7775 1.582 0.3295 0.06576 1.35
Redland Bay 5D 0.8651 1.842 0.3196 0.05867 1.31
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Rutherglen-1 5E 0.8885 1.835 0.3262 0.05900 1.29
Figure 4 presents the results of solute leaching experiments conducted in Grassmere,

Australia (Stagnitti, et al., 1998) and in the south-west of Holland (deRooij and
Stagnitti, 2000). The observed fraction of total solutes (dots) eluted by the soil is
plotted with the fraction of total sampling area of the base of the collection
L.
apparatus. These curves were constructed by calculating the fraction of the total
mass collected by each individual lysimeter in a multi-sample percolation system,
ranking these values in descending order and plotting them with the cumulative
cross-sectional sampling area. If the soil core was eluting solute mass at a uniform
rate, then there would be no spatial variation in the amount of solute collected by
each lysimeter, i.e. each collection lysimeter would contribute an equal mass of
solute to the total. In other words, if the soil leached solutes equally everywhere,
then the fraction of the total mass plotted with the cumulative cross-sectional area of
the base would fall on a 1 to 1 line. Departures from a 1 to 1 line indicate
heterogeneity or potentially preferential flow. On each figure, the fitted cumulative
beta distribution c(x), given by Eq. (17), is also plotted. The fitted statistical
distribution is represented by a continuous (solid) line. For each solute, the
cumulative beta distribution fits the experimental data very well. The optimal values
for the fitted shape parameters, and are presented in Table 2 along with the
204
calculated descriptive statistics for the mean, variance and heterogeneity index, HI.
The optimisation of the free parameters was achieved very efficiently and simply
using the BetaDistribution, CDF and NonLinearRegress functions in Mathematica.
The calculated heterogeneity indices for phosphate, nitrate and chloride were 2.78,
1.24 and 1.28 respectively for the Australian site and 1.32 for chloride in the site in
Holland. All HIs were larger than one, indicating heterogeneity in solute leaching
patterns. Phosphate exhibited the highest heterogeneity with just 20% of the soil
core leaching 80% of total leached phosphate, indicating that phosphate was very
strongly adsorbed to the soil.
Figure 5 illustrates the spatial variation in soil-water percolation patterns for all
Australian experiments. Like Fig. 4, the solid line represents the fitted cumulative
beta distribution. In all cases the beta distribution fit the experimental data very
well. The values for the free parameters and descriptive statistics are also presented
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in Table 2. The Tower Hill site exhibited the strongest heterogeneity in soil-water
percolation with HI = 1.89. For this soil, about 60% of the drained soil-water was
collected from about 20% of the base area. The Rutherglen-2 experiment also
exhibited considerable heterogeneity, HI = 1.56. All other sites showed considerable
heterogeneity ranging from HI = 1.28 to 1.35. In the field prior to extraction, the
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Rutherglen soil cores were separated by about 1 m. The HIs for the two Rutherglen
cores differed considerably (HI = 1.29 and 1.56). This result suggests that
considerable heterogeneity was not only evident within the cores but also between
them, an important confirmation of the difficulty of scaling small-scale transport
phenomena to forecast field-scale effects.
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6. CONCLUSIONS
Soil structure plays a very important role in influencing nutrient dynamics in
agricultural soils. An experimental framework for measuring the extent of soil
physical and chemical heterogeneity was developed. The experimental results
indicated strong preferential flow characteristics in both moisture and nutrient fluxes
over a small spatial scale. Consequently, accurate prediction of nutrient loading in
L.
field soils is very difficult. Very few mathematical models adequately represent
spatial and temporal heterogeneity in soil physical and chemical properties. The
performance of two commonly used models in solute transport studies, the ADE and
TRM were contrasted and compared to simple statistical results obtained from
temporal moments analysis of the breakthrough curves from nutrient leaching
experiments. The ADE model performed reasonably well even though the
experimental data suggested considerable heterogeneity in percolation rates and
concentration. However, the comparative good fits for BTCs may be spurious,
resulting from the freedom of having two free parameters. At present, there are no
published analytical solutions for the TRM with a reaction term. Consequently, the
TRM in its present form can only be expected to perform well for solutes that have
negligible reaction times. A simple, efficient and effective method of quantifying
the level of heterogeneity in soil-water percolation and solute elution patterns
205
generated from multiple sample percolation experiments was also presented. The
method relies on calculating a heterogeneity index based on estimating two free
parameters of the beta-distribution. Using this index, the elution patterns for a
number of solute leaching experiments was compared and contrasted. The index
may be a valuable tool in estimating the potential risk of groundwater contamination
by the preferential transport of chemicals through the vadose zone.
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Environmental Modelling & Assessment, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 229-236.
Stagnitti, F., Li, L., Barry, D. A., Allinson, G., Parlange, J.-Y.,Steenhuis, T., and
Elango, L. (2001), "Modelling solute transport in structured soils: Performance
evaluation of the ADR and TRM models". Mathematical and Computer Modelling,
an
Vol. 34, No. 3-4, pp. 433-440.
Ueoka, M. and Allinson, G. (1999), "Environmental fate of pesticides used in
Australian viticulture II. Behaviour of vinclozolin and dithianon in an acidic soil of
the Rutherglen region of Victoria, Australia". Toxological & Environmental
Chemistry, Vol. 70, pp. 363-374.
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van Genuchten, M. T. and Alves, W. J. (1982), "Analytical solutions to the one-

dimensional convection-dispersion solute transport equation". USDA Tech. Bull.
1661.
van Genuchten, M. T. and Wierenga, P. J. (1976), "Mass transfer studies in sorbing
porous media I. Analytical solutions". Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol
40, No.4, pp. 473-480.
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207
Modelling the Movement of Chloride and Nitrogen

in the Unsaturated Zone
N. Rajmohan and L. Elango
Abstract
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Study of the movement of water and solute within the soil profile is important for
various reasons. Accumulation of prominent contaminants from agricultural
chemicals in the unsaturated zone over the years is the major cause for concern in
many parts of the world. As a result, the unsaturated zone has been a subject of study
during the past decade. Such a study was carried out with the objective of
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understanding the movement of chloride and nitrogen below an irrigated land near
Chennai, India. Variation of chloride and nitrogen in the unsaturated zone below this
land were studied by systematic collection and analysis of soil core samples
periodically during a cropping season. The field observation has lead to
conceptualisation of the system, and then the movement of these ions in the
unsaturated zone was simulated using a solute transport model. The model
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predictions were reasonably close to the observed trends. The model was used to
study the impact of possible changes in the fertiliser usage in this area.
Keywords : Unsaturated zone, chloride, nitrogen, solute transport model,
field study.
1. INTRODUCTION
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Application of agricultural chemicals, dumping industrial and domestic wastes at the

land surface or within the unsaturated zone may have considerable impact on the
quality of groundwater. Among these, agricultural chemicals are the most significant
anthropogenic source of groundwater contamination. Understanding the fate of
dissolved chemicals within the unsaturated zone can greatly aid in prediction of the
chemistry of water that reaches the aquifers. Such an understanding would also
allow for evaluation of different preventive or remedial actions to protect the
valuable groundwater resources. Computer models of water and solute movement in
the unsaturated zone are useful tools for gaining insight into the processes that occur
within the unsaturated zone. Tim and Mostaghimi (1989) developed a mathematical
model to predict the fate of pesticides and their metabolites in the unsaturated zone
of the soil, for a better understanding and estimation of different mechanisms
affecting their transport. Boateng and Cawlfield (1999) developed a two-
209
dimensional probabilistic transport model by coupling a reliability algorithm to a

two-dimensional unsaturated flow and transport model to determine the significance
of the uncertainty of each variable to the probability outcome. Present study was
carried out with the objective of understanding the movement of chloride and
nitrogen below an intensively irrigated land, 70 km west of Chennai, India.
The most widely used fertilisers in this area contain chloride, nitrogen, phosphorus
and potassium. As chloride and nitrate are the major pollutants that reach the
groundwater due to their high mobility, these two ions were considered for
modelling. The HYDRUS model (version 2.0) developed by the International
Groundwater Modelling Centre (Simunek et al 1999) was used in this study. This
model is capable of simulating water flow and solute transport in variably saturated
media.
2. FIELD STUDY
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In an irrigated land identified for this study (Fig.1), soil core samples of 1m length,
where collected at different days during cultivation of paddy. From each of the soil
core samples, sub samples were collected at an interval of 10 cm, and analysed for
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the concentration of chloride and nitrogen. All these sub soil samples were subjected
to grain size analysis to determine the silt, clay and sand percentage. The amount of
application of fertiliser applied and the time of application were noted. Water level
in this irrigated land was also recorded every day. The soil core collected assisted in
conceptualising the system and the results of chemical analyses were used to give
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initial values and validate the solute transport model.
3. MODEL DESCRIPTION
HYDRUS model numerically solves the Richards equation for variably saturated
water flow and conversion - dispersion type equation for solute transport. The
Galerkins finite element method (Neuman 1975) with linear basis functions is used
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to obtain a solution for the water flow equation. In this method, the solution is
obtained by iterative process using Gaussian elimination. Similarly the same
Galerkin finite element method is also used to solve the solute transport equation. To
obtain numerical solution of the solute transport process, first, an iterative procedure
is used to obtain the solution of the Richards equation. These methods of solution
are relatively standard and have been explained in detail by Simunek et al (1999). In
this study, modelling of solute transport for the study site (Fig.1) was carried out for
the unsaturated zone of 5 m thickness, as water table occurs at this depth. Solute
transport was considered to be one dimensional vertical flow in a column of unit
width and a length of 5 m. As irrigation return is the major source of flow in the
unsaturated zone, one dimensional vertical flow was assumed.
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Fig. 1 Field site description map

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4. MODEL INPUT PARAMETERS
4.1 Finite Element Mesh
The finite element mesh is constructed for the 5m column (Fig. 2) by dividing the
flow region into triangular elements whose shapes are defined by the co-ordinate
nodes that form the element corners. Transverse lines (Neuman 1974) formed by
element boundaries will transect the mesh along the general direction of its shortest
dimension. These transverse lines will be continuous and non-intersecting, but need
not be straight. Small finite element mesh size were given at and near the soil
surface, that is, upto 10 cm, as highly variable meteorological factors can cause fast
211
changes in the pressure head. Similarly, closer mesh intervals were given for the
lower 10 cm of the column. In general, the size of the mesh along the X direction
was 0.04m and along Y direction it varied from 0.01 to 0.02m. Thus, the column of
5m length was divided in to 250 nodes with 248 meshes.
0m 4.2 Soil layers and properties
The number of soil materials and

number of layers were decided based
on field data. The soil core collected
from the top one metre of the
unsaturated zone and its grain size
analysis indicate that there are seven
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different zones. As soil coring was
not carried out beyond one metre, the
same soil type was considered from 1
to 5 m of the column. Thus, seven
layers (namely A G) were considered
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in the 5m column, based on the
0.8 m variation in soil characteristics.
4.24 m Analyses of the soil core for the
contents of sand, silt and clay (Fig. 3)
were used to input the soil hydraulic
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properties for modelling The

unsaturated soil hydraulic properties
were determined by the percentage of
sand, silt and clay in different layers
by Genuchtan (1980) equation in
HYDRUS model using neural
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network predictions technique

developed by US Salinity laboratory
(Simunek 1999). The calculated soil
5m hydraulic properties based on the
percentage of sand, silt and clay are
given in Table 1.
Fig. 2 Finite element discretisation
of the column for model simulation.
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Fig. 3 Grain size analysis sand, silt, clay percentages
Table 1 Soil hydraulic properties

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Layers Depth r s n Ks l
(cm) m/day
A 0 10 0.035 0.385 2.8 1.81 1.20 0.5
B 10 20 0.036 0.391 2.1 1.73 1.10 0.5
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C 20 30 0.032 0.385 1.6 1.62 1.03 0.5

D 30 60 0.031 0.389 2.7 1.73 1.31 0.5
E 60 80 0.030 0.395 2.3 1.82 1.02 0.5
F 80 90 0.038 0.385 2.6 1.73 1.11 0.5
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G 90 - 500 0.030 0.391 2.4 1.62 0.91 0.5
r = Residual water content, s = Saturated water content, = Inverse of air entry

value (or bubbling pressure), n = Pore size distribution index, Ks = Saturated
hydraulic conductivity, l = Pore connective parameter
4.3 Solute properties
The dispersivity and diffusion co-efficient are important parameters in solute

transport process. The dispersivity of solutes in a particular soil will vary with
respect to the property of the soil. The dispersivity of chloride and nitrogen used in
the model is given in Table 2. The diffusion co-efficient for chloride in water is
213
assumed as 0.20 m2/day and N-NO3 is 0.016 m2/day. These values were derived from the
soil characteristics of this area and from the literature. In the case of nitrate, plant uptake
and denitrification were considered with a degradation factor of 0.01 per day.
Table 2 Longitudinal dispersivity
Layers Longitudinal dispersivity (m)
A 0.009
B 0.008
C 0.007
D 0.010
E 0.008
F 0.007
G 0.006
4.4 Boundary condition
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Atmospheric boundary condition was assumed at the top of the column. The
atmospheric boundary condition varies depending up on the amount of rainfall,
irrigation and evaporation. The actual variation in rainfall and water depth in the
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irrigation land was measured regularly in the field, which was used in the model.
The evaporation is assumed as 60% of irrigation water. In addition to these, two
limiting values of surface pressure head are also provided. The maximum allowed
pressure head at the soil surface is zero and minimum allowed surface pressure head
(defined from equilibrium condition between soil water and atmospheric vapour) is
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assumed as 100m. Variable head was considered at the lower boundary.
4.5 Initial Condition
The initial condition to run the model was derived primarily from the field study.
The initial conditions necessary for this model include pressure head and
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concentration. The initial concentration values used for model simulation are given
in Table 3. These values were arrived form the analysis of soil core collected 3 days
before transplantation during the field study.
Table 3 Initial condition for model simulation

Layers Cl (mg/kg) N-NO3 (mg/kg)
A 75 1.47
B 65 0.97
C 55 0.85
D 70 1.2
E 61 0.99
F 62 1.1
G 60 1.0
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The model was initially run with the above mentioned input parameters for
modelling the movement of chloride in the column. The concentration computed by
the model was compared with field data. Then, the model was run by varying certain
input parameters such as evaporation, bulk density, co-efficient of diffusion and
dispersivity. All these parameters were varied within the reasonable limit of 10 %
and the sensitivity of these parameters on the model results was studied. The model
is sensitive to the variation in evaporation. When the evaporation rate was increased
by 10%, the concentration of chloride in the soil zone increases by about 17%. The
model, however, is not very sensitive to the other parameters. Thus, by varying these
input parameters within the reasonable limit, concentration of chloride ion was
simulated and compared with observed field data. The model calibration was thus
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carried out and the values actually used in the model arrived after calibration by
sensitivity analysis is given in Table 4.
Table 4 Soil hydraulic parameters derived after calibration
Layers r s n Ks l
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(m/day)
A 0.030 0.391 2.4 2.10 1.20 0.5
B 0.030 0.397 1.9 1.60 0.90 0.5
C 0.029 0.399 1.3 1.46 0.78 0.5
D 0.027 0.393 2.5 1.59 0.92 0.5
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E 0.025 0.396 2.0 1.47 0.76 0.5

F 0.031 0.395 2.3 1.50 0.85 0.5
G 0.029 0.399 2.1 1.43 0.73 0.5
The results of the model were more or less comparable with the observed data after
calibration. The comparison was made up to a depth of one metre of the column as
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the observed field data is available only for this depth. After the simulation of
chloride ion, the model was run to simulate the concentration of nitrate. It is
assumed that 6% of the applied fertiliser nitrogen becomes Nitrate-Nitrogen. Most
of the literature report that 4 to 10 % of applied nitrogen fertiliser becomes Nitrate-
Nitrogen (Petrovic 1990). The model results obtained are comparable with observed
nitrate concentration. Initially, all these model runs were made for one irrigation
cycle. The model was run with time step of one day with time increment of a
minute.
6. MODEL RESULTS
After calibration and testing, the model was used to simulate the concentration of
chloride and nitrate in the soil zone. The model results were initially obtained for the
study period of 100 days after transplantation, that is, from 16th May 1999 to 23rd
215
August 1999. The simulation was carried out for a period of one year (three crops)
(May 1999 to April 2000) to predict movement of the applied fertiliser towards
groundwater.
6.1 Chloride
The simulation was carried out initially for one crop season and the computed
results were compared with the observed field data (Fig.4).
300
Observed
0 - 10 cm
Cl (m g/kg)
200
S imulated
100
150
Cl (m g/kg)
10 - 20 cm
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100
50
110
20 - 30 cm
Cl (m g/kg)
90
70
50
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110
30 - 40 cm
Cl (m g/kg)
90
70
50
150
Cl (m g/kg)
40 - 50 cm
100
50
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100
Cl (m g/kg)
60 - 70 cm
75
50
100
70 - 80 cm
Cl (m g/kg)
75
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50
100
Cl (m g/kg)
90 - 100 cm
80
60
40
70
Cl (m g/Kg)
65
300 cm
60
55
68
Cl (m g/Kg)
500 cm
64
60
56
16 22 28 38 48 96
D ays afte r T ransplantation
Fig. 4 Comparison of observed and simulated chloride

concentration in the unsaturated zone
216
It clearly shows that there is a good agreement between the results of the model and
the observed field data. The chloride ion from the irrigated field reaches the
groundwater zone after about 45 days. Movement of mass of chloride in the
unsaturated zone is given in Fig. 5.
0.0015 Total 4.00

Inflow (v/d)
3.00
M a ss (g)
Inflow
0.0005 Mass 2.00
1.00
-0.0005 0.00
0.0004 0.10
Inflow (v/d)
0 - 10 cm
M a ss (g)
0.0002
0.05
0.0000
-0.0002 0.00
0.0003 0.15
10 - 20 cm
Inflow (v/d)
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0.0002
M a ss (g)
0.10
0.0001
0.05
0.0000
-0.0001 0.00
0.0003 0.15
20 - 30 cm
Inflow (v/d)
0.0002
M a ss (g)
0.10
0.0001
0.05
0.0000
-0.0001 0.00
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0.0004 0.20
Inflow (v/d)
30 - 60 cm 0.15
M a ss (g)
0.0002
0.10
0.0000
0.05
-0.0002 0.00
0.0003 0.30
60 - 80 cm
Inflow (v/d)
0.0002
M a ss (g)
0.20
0.0001
0.10
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0.0000
-0.0001 0.00
0.0001 0.10
Inflow (v/d)
80 - 90 cm
M a ss (g)
0.0001
0.05
0.0000
-0.0001 0.00
0.0004 4.00
90 - 500 cm
Inflow (v/d)
0.0003 3.00
M a ss (g)
0.0002 2.00
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0.0001 1.00
0.0000 0.00
0
16
22
28
33
38
45
51
57
63
69
75
81
87
93
99
Da ys
Fig. 5 Movement of mass of chloride and

inflow solution in the unsaturated zone
Movement of mass through the unsaturated zone is controlled by the recharging

water from the irrigated land. Hence, most of the fluctuation in chloride mass takes
place (i.e. from 0.00173 g/m3 to 0.274 g/m3 in the upper zone) during irrigation
period, that is up 55 days. After about 55 days (i.e. after harvest) the mass of
chloride reaches the level measured before the commencement of irrigation. The
fluctuation in the mass of chloride with respect to time in the lower layers is not very
significant as inferred from the linear nature of the curve for mass in Fig.5.
217
6.2 Nitrogen
Similar to that of chloride, initially the model was simulated for one crop period and
compared with field data for nitrogen (Fig.6). The computed nitrogen trend in the
unsaturated zone is in good agreement with field data. The nitrogen concentration in
the unsaturated zone varies significantly during irrigation period due to intense
agricultural activities. The temporal variation in mass of nitrogen is higher in the
upper layers than in the lower layers (Fig.7). The mass of nitrogen varies from
0.00034 g/m3 to 0.0154 g/m3 in the 80 - 90 cm layer. Further, after the completion
of irrigation activity (i.e. after 55 days) the mass of nitrogen remains almost
constant. This is inferred from the linear nature of the curve for mass in Figure 7.
The model created with the field data, was used to predict the movement of chloride
and nitrogen in the unsaturated zone as described in the next section.
7. MODEL PREDICTION
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After having been satisfied with the results of the model obtained for one crop
period, the model was then used to predict the concentration of chloride and nitrogen
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in the unsaturated zone under different irrigation practices. The model was run for a
one year and a five year period with the usual and increased application of fertiliser.
These model runs were made by assuming the same input concentration mentioned
in the earlier section. The daily average rainfall and evaporation data calculated from
past six years were used. The model run was made for the period starting from May
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1999.
7.1 Three crops (one year)
The results of the model run for a three crop period show that the concentration
varies significantly during the first and third cropping periods (Figs.8, 9). The
second crop period, however shows lower levels of variation in concentration, which
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is attributed to monsoon. In groundwater zone, chloride varies from 60 to 65 mg/l

during this one year simulation. In the case of nitrate, the fluctuation was for 3.5 to
3.6 mg/l in the groundwater zone. The overall fluctuation during the three crop
period, is mainly due to variation in rainfall, fertiliser application and evaporation.
The model predictions indicate that eventhough there is a variation in the
concentration of these ions, in general there is no upward or downward trend. In
general, the concentration of chloride and nitrate in the 40 to 50cm, vary from 55 to
218
6 0 - 10 cm Observed
N (m g/Kg)
4
S imulated
0
6
N (m g/Kg)
2 10 - 20 cm
0
8
20 - 30 cm
N (m g/Kg)
6
4
2
0
8
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N (m g/Kg)
6
4
2
50 - 60 cm
0
15
60 - 70 cm
N (m g/Kg)
10
5
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0
15
70 - 80 cm
N (m g/Kg)
10
0
10
80 - 90 cm
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N (m g/Kg)
8
90 - 100 cm
N (m g/Kg)
6
4
2
0
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1.4
300 cm
N (m g/Kg)
1.2
1.0
0.8
1.00
N (m g/Kg)
1.00 500 cm
1.00
1.00
16 22 28 38 48 96
Days afte r T ransplantation
Fig. 6 Comparison of observed and

simulated nitrogen (N-NO3) in the unsaturated zone
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Fig.7 Variation in simulated mass of nitrogen (N-NO3)

and inflow in the unsaturated zone
220
Observation Nodes: Concentration
100
Groundwater
90
80
70
60 1m
0.5 m
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50
0 73 146 219 292 365
Days
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Fig.8
Obse Simulated
at o chloride
odes at different
Co cedepths
t at ofor one year period
Groundwater
5
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3
1m
2 0.5 m
L.
1
0 73 146 219 292 365
Days
Fig. 9 Simulated nitrogen (N-NO3) at different depths for one year period
95 mg/kg and from 1.2 to 5.4 mg/kg respectively. Similarly, in groundwater,

chloride varies from 60 to 66 mg/l and nitrate varies from 3.4 to 3.5 mg/l.
221
7.2 Five year period
Assuming that the fertiliser application and other input parameters are similar, the
model was run for five years from May 1999, considering three paddy cropping
seasons. The results indicate that the concentration of chloride and nitrogen
fluctuates significantly (Figs.10, 11).
O b s e r v a tio n N o d e s : C o n c e n tr a tio n
95
85 Groundwater
75
65
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1m
55 0.5m
45
0 15
36 7 320 1 039 5 1 446 0 1 852 5
Year
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Fig. 10 Simulation of chloride for five year period
O bse at o odes Co ce t at o
Groundwater
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5
1m
3
0.5
2 m
L.
1
0 31
65 20
73 1 039 5 1 446 0 1 852 5
Y ear
Fig. 11 Simulation of nitrogen (N-NO3) for five year period
In general, the concentration of ions fluctuates in a cyclic trend during the

simulation period. This trend is mainly because of rainfall during monsoon and
summer period. The concentration of chloride varies significantly from 45 to 95
mg/kg in 40 - 50 cm layer. But in the concentration of nitrate, it varies between 1.7
to 5.3 mg/kg. In groundwater zone, the concentration of chloride fluctuates between
60 to 68 mg/kg and nitrate from 3.5 to 3.6 mg/l.. Despite this cyclic trend, there is no
significant overall upward or downward trend in the concentration of ions in the
222
unsaturated zone. It is further observed that these ions in the groundwater zone do
not increase during the simulation period.
7.3 Application of excess fertiliser
The model was also used to predict the effect of excess fertiliser application on
unsaturated zone and groundwater. During this simulation, application of fertiliser
was increased two fold and other model parameters were kept the same as in earlier
predictions. The results of the five year run with increased fertiliser application
indicate an increase in the concentration of chloride and nitrate in the unsaturated
zone and groundwater (Figs.12, 13).
Obse at o odes Co ce t at o
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110
100
1m
90
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80
70
60
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Groundwater
50
00 1
365 2
730 3
1095 4
1460 5
1825
Year
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Fig. 12 Simulated chloride concentration during excess

fertiliser application (2 fold) for five year period
A two fold increase in fertiliser usage results in an increase of 20 mg/kg of chloride

and 3 mg/kg of nitrogen in top one metre of the unsaturated zone. Similarly, the
concentration of chloride and nitrogen in the groundwater increase by 17 mg/l and
2.3 mg/l respectively. Further, even this increase in the concentration of ions seems
to stabilise at the end of 5 years.
223
Observation Nodes: Concentration
10
8 1m
4
Groundwater
2
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0 1 2 3 4 5
0 365 730 1095 1460 1825
Year
Fig. 13 Simulated nitrogen (N-NO3) concentration during

excess fertiliser (2 fold) application for five year period
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8. CONCLUSION
Studies were carried out to find out the movement of chloride and nitrogen in the
unsaturated zone through a field study and by simulation using solute transport
model. Simulation was carried out initially for one crop season and shows that there
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is a good agreement between the results of the model and the observed field trend.
The model predicts that the chloride ion from the irrigated field reaches the
groundwater zone after about 45 days. The chloride and nitrogen concentration in
the unsaturated zone varies significantly during irrigation period due to intense
agricultural activities. The model simulation for a three crop period indicates that the
overall fluctuation during the three crop period, is mainly due to variation in rainfall,
fertiliser application and evaporation. The concentration of ions fluctuates in a cyclic
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trend during the simulation for five year period. There is no significant overall
upward or downward trend in the concentration of ions in the unsaturated zone and
in the groundwater zone. The results of the five year run with increased fertiliser
application indicate an increase in the concentration of chloride and nitrate in the
unsaturated zone and groundwater. Further, even this increase in the concentration
of ions seems to stabilise at the end of 5 years. The model predicts that there is no
threat to the groundwater quality due to the present level of use of agrochemicals.
Thus, the modelling exercise carried out may be used to compute the probable
concentration of chloride and nitrate in unsaturated zone and groundwater over a
time period of a few years in the study area.
224
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge with thanks the financial assistance provided by the
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Department of Science and
Technology. The authors also wish to thank Dr.Frank Stagnitti, School of Ecology
and Environment, Deakin University, Australia for providing the required facilities.
REFERENCES:
Boateng S. and Cawlfield J.D. (1999), "Two dimensional sensitivity analysis of

contaminant transport in the unsaturated Zone", Groundwater, Vol.37, No.2,
pp.185-193.
Genuchten V.M.Th (1980), "A closed form equation for predicting the hydraulic
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conductivity of unsaturated soils", Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., pp.892-898.
Neuman S.P. (1975), "Galerkin approach to saturated unsaturated flow in porous
media", John Wiley Sons, London, Vol.1, pp.205-217.
Neuman S.P., Feddes R.A. and Bresler E. (1974), "Finite element simulation of flow
in saturated unsaturated soils considering water uptake by plants", Third Annual
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Report, Project No.A10-SWC-77, Hydraulic Engineering Lab, Technion, Haifa,
Israel.
Petrovic A.M. (1990), "The fate of nitrogenous fertilisers applied to turfgrass",
J. Environ. Qual. Vol.19, pp.1 14.
Simunek J., Sejna M. and Genuchtan V.Th. (1999), Hydrus-2D/Meshgen-2D:
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"Simulating water flow and solute transport in two-dimensional variably saturated

media", U.S. Salinity Laboratory, Agriculture research service, Riverside,
California.
Tim V.S. and Mostaghimi S. (1989), "Modelling transport of a degradable chemical
and its metabolites in the unsaturated zone", Ground water, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp.672-
681.
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225
Modelling of NAPL Migration in the Porous Media
M. S. Mohan Kumar and Mini Mathew
Abstract
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Modelling of NAPL migration in the saturated and the unsaturated porous medium is
discussed. A two dimensional cell centered finite difference model to predict NAPL
movement in a saturated porous media is developed and the model is verified using
the analytical and the experimental results. The modelling of multiphase flow is
carried out using different solution methodologies such as fully implicit simultaneous
method and a two step fully implicit sequential method.
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Keywords : Nonaqueous Phase Liquids; Saturated Medium; Unsaturated
Medium, Numerical Modelling
1. INTRODUCTION
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Nonaqueous Phase Liquids (NAPLs) are hydrocarbons. They do not dissolve in

water and form a separate phase in the subsurface. NAPLs are either comprised of a
single or multiple component fluids. This study is carried out for single component
NAPL migration in the subsurface. Groundwater contamination by NAPLs such as
chlorinated solvents, TCE, PCB, and other liquids are widespread throughout the
industrialized area. Most of these chemicals are extremely toxic and insoluble in
water. To implement appropriate remedial schemes in the contaminated area, it is
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necessary to evaluate the extent of the contaminated area. This information can be
obtained by extensive field investigation, which generally is very expensive and
time consuming. Field investigation can be reduced or made more cost effective, if
the migration pattern of the NAPLs can be evaluated by using numerical models
accurately.
The movement of nonaqeous phase liquids (NAPLs) that are immiscible with water
through the porous media is an important part of contaminant hydrology and in
petroleum engineering. NAPL migration in the subsurface is controlled by; (1)
Volume of NAPL released, (2) area of infiltration, (3) duration of NAPL release, (4)
properties of the NAPL, (5) properties of the porous media and (6) subsurface flow
conditions (Feenstra and Chezy; 1998). Fig.1 shows the typical movement of
NAPLs in the porous media.
227
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Fig. 1: General migration pattern of NAPLs in the subsurface
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When NAPL is released into the subsurface, NAPL will migrate downward through
the unsaturated zone by gravity. In addition to vertical migration, some extent of
lateral spreading is also caused due to the effect of capillary forces (Schwille; 1988)
and also due to medium properties. As the NAPL progress its downward migration
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through the unsaturated zone, it leaves behind residual saturation due to surface
tension and the vertical migration is governed by the properties of the NAPL and the
media. NAPL movement in the pore space will occur when enough pressure is
available to overcome the displacement pressure. The amount of pressure required
depends on the capillary forces acting on the fluids on either side of the pore throat.
The capillary force between the fluids depends on the wettabiliy of fluids. NAPL
can be lighter than water (ie, density less than water), and the corresponding NAPLs
L.
are referred to as LNAPLs, and NAPL can also be heavier than water (ie, density is
greater than water), and such NAPLs are referred to as DNAPLs. If the quantity of
release is sufficiently large, some of the NAPLs will reach the saturated zone.
DNAPLs will displace water and continue its downward migration under pressure
and gravity. LNAPLs are lighter than water, and hence they will float over the water
table. Hence in saturated porous medium, the movement of DNAPLs are considered
as a two phase system of water and DNAPL simultaneously in the porous medium.
In unsaturated medium, the movement of both DNAPLs and LNAPLs are
considered as a three phase system of water, NAPL, and air simultaneously in the
porous medium. NAPLs behavior in a small porous block is characterized as REVs,
and in each REV physical properties such as permeability, porosity, relative
permeability, and capillary pressure saturation relations remain constant with both
the fluids competing with each other to occupy the pore space.
228
2. GOVERNING EQUATIONS OF MULTIPHASE FLOW
Laboratory studies conducted in the oil industry, [Wyckoff and Botset; 1936], and
Leverett; 1938], suggest that Darcys law can be extended to multiple fluid systems
in porous media. Darcy's law is extended to multiphase flow by postulating that the
phase pressures are involved in causing each fluid to flow. The governing equations
for multiphase single component flow of immiscible fluids in the porous media is
given by,
k ij k r P
( + g ) Q

= ( S ) (1)
xi x j t
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where i and j are the direction indices, is the phase, kij is the intrinsic permeability
of the porous medium, kr is the relative permeability, is the viscosity, is the
density, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and z is the elevation taken as positive
from bottom. P is the pressure, S is the saturation, Q is the source sink term of
the phase , and is the porosity of the medium.
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{w, nw} in saturated porous medium and {w, nw, g} in unsaturated porous
medium. Here w is the wetting phase (water) and nw is the nonwetting phase
(NAPL) in the saturated medium and w is the wetting phase (water), nw is the
intermediate phase (NAPL), and g is the nonwetting phase (air) in the unsaturated
porous medium.
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The governing equation ( Eqs.1) is subjected to the following constraints in the full
domain.
N
S = 1 (2)
L.
=1
where N is the number of phases. When the phases are immiscible, an interface will
develop between the phases. The difference of phase pressures at the interface is the
capillary pressure between the phases and is given by,
PC (S ) = P P , {w, nw, g }, {w, nw, g }, for unsaturated medium (3a)

PC (S ) = P P , {w, nw}, {w, nw}, for saturated medium (3b)
Here is the nonwetting phase having higher phase pressure and is the wetting
phase pressure for the two phases. The governing equations of multiphase flow is
highly nonlinear due to the dependency of relative permeabilities and capillary
229
pressures on the saturation of the respective phases and the governing equations also
have to satisfy the following constraints.
k r = k r (S ), {w, nw, g }, for unsaturated medium ( 4a )

k r = k r (S ), {w, nw}, for saturated medium (4b)
3. CONSTITUTIVE RELATIONSHIPS
3.1 Capillary pressure saturation relation
In a two phase system, two fluids simultaneously exists in the porous medium, one
fluid will have more wettability for the solid phase and will occupy the smaller voids
while the nonwetting fluid is consigned to larger voids. When two immiscible fluids
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are in contact, a discontinuity in pressure exists at the interface between the fluids.
The difference in pressure is expressed as the capillary pressure ( Eqs.3).
Parameterizations of capillary pressure saturation relations widely used in the
literature are Brooks and Corey(1964) and Van Genuchten(1980). The Brooks and
Corey(BC) function is widely used in the petroleum engineering simulation and in
the contaminant hydrology problems and the capillary pressure saturation relation in
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terms of wetting and nonwetting fluid saturation is given by,
-1/ -1/
PC = Pd Swe PC = Pd (1-Snwe) PC Pd (5)
S W S Wr S nW
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where S = , S nwe = , Swr is the residual saturation of the

we
1 S Wr 1 S Wr
wetting fluid, is the pore size distribution index, and Pd is the displacement
pressure of the medium. Similarly in the case of three phase flow equations,
equations similar to Eqs. (5) are written for all combinations of the three phase
system (Parker; 1989).
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4. RELATIVE PERMEABILITY SATURATION RELATIONSHIPS
Following the concept of Burdine(1953) or Mualem(1976) for deriving the relative

permeability relationships from capillary pressure saturation relationships, the
relative permeability relations in terms of wetting and nonwetting phase saturation
are given by,
2+
2
k rNW = (1 S e ) 1 S e
2+ 3
k rW = S e (6)

Equations similar to Eqs.(6) are written for three phase system (Parker; 1989).
230
5. BOUNDARY AND INITIAL CONDITIONS
The initial conditions of the primary variables have to be given for the full domain
and the boundary conditions also to be specified on the boundaries in terms of the
primary variables incorporating both Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions as
the case may be.
6. NUMERICAL MODELLING OF MULTIPHASE FLOW
A number of numerical models have been developed to simulate the migration of

nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) in the subsurface. The majority of these models
are based on one or other type of formulation involving the primary variables of the
phases. There are several ways to write the governing equations of multiphase fluid
flow such as the two pressure approach and the fractional flow approach (Morel and
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Seytoux; 1973 ). The two pressure approach of the governing equations have been
widely used in the two phase unsaturated medium of air water system (Pinder and
Abriola; 1986 ). The other approach to the numerical solution is the fractional flow
approach which include the work of Guarnaccia and Pinder(1997). The other
possible approaches of numerical simulations involve all combinations of the
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primary variables such as the pressure and saturation of all the phases leading to
different type of formulations. Here only the formulation involving the pressure and
saturation of the wetting phase in a saturated system is discussed in detail.
6.1 Saturated Porous Medium

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The general equations of multiphase flow in the saturated medium for the two
dimensional vertical section is given by,
k x k rw PW k z k rw PW SW
+ ( + W g ) = (7 )
x W x z W z t
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k x k rNW PNW k z k rNW PNW S NW

+ ( + NW g ) = (8)
x NW x z NW z t
where the subscripts W and NW refer to the wetting and nonwetting fluids, is the
viscosity [M/LT], and is the density [M/L3], z is the vertical distance taken as
positive from the bottom, SW and SNW are the wetting and nonwetting saturations,
is the medium porosity, kx and ky [L2] are the intrinsic permeabilities, krW and krNW
are the relative permeabilities of the wetting and nonwetting fluids, g[L/T2] is the
acceleration due to gravity, and PW and PNW [M/LT2] are the wetting and nonwetting
pressures respectively.
231
The Eqs.(7) and (8) are coupled through the capillary pressure and is a function of
saturation of wetting phase, and is given by,
PC (SW ) =PNW PW (9)
And the governing equations are subjected to
SW + S NW = 1 k rNW = k rNW ( S NW ) k rW = k rW ( SW ) (10)
The governing equations have strong nonlinearities such as the dependence of the
relative permeabilities krW and krNW on saturation and the dependence of PC on
saturation. In order to solve the governing equations numerically, constitutive
relations of the nonlinear terms have to be specified.
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The coupled equations are highly nonlinear, Peaceman (1977) reported that explicit
and alternating direction implicit methods are not stable for incompressible two
phase problems especially in heterogeneous media. In this study the coupled
equations are solved numerically using a block centered fully implicit finite
difference scheme explained by Kueper and Frind (1991). The discretized equations
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of wetting and nonwetting fluid (Eqs.(7 & 8)) in terms of wetting fluid pressure and
wetting fluid saturation as the primary variable are given by,
S Wij
]
n +1
F1( PW , S W ) = [ B1 PWij 1 + D1 PWi 1 j + E1 PWij + F1 PWi +1 j + H 1 PWij +1
t
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S Wij n n +1
+ B1 W gz + H 1 n +1 W g z = 0 (11)
t
F 2( PW , S W ) = [ B2 PWij 1 + D2 PWi 1 j + E 2 PWij + F2 PWi +1 j + H 2 PWij +1

S Wij
]
n +1
+ B3 S Wij 1 + D3 PWi 1 j + E 3 S Wij + F3 S Wi +1 j + H 3 S Wij +1 +
L.
t
S Wij n n +1
B1 W gz + H 1 n +1 W g z = 0 (12)
t
The Coefficients B1, D1, E1, F1, H1, B2, D2, E2, F2, H2, B3, D3, E3, F3, and H3 are
fuctions of relative permeabilities of phases and capillary pressure between the
phases. Hrere n+1 is the currenttime and n is the old time level.
7. TREATMENT OF NONLINEARITIES
The governing equations of multiphase flow are highly nonlinear due to the coupling
of phases. The equations can be linearized using Picards method and Newton
Raphson method. The linearized form of the equations using Newton Raphson
method is given by ,
232
[ B ' PWij 1 + D ' PWi 1 j + E ' PWij + F ' PWi +1 j + H ' PWij +1 + B '' SWij 1 + D '' SWi 1 j +
E '' SWij + F '' SWi +1 j + H '' SWij +1 ]n+1,m+1 = [ B ' PWij 1 + D ' PWi 1 j + E ' PWij + (13)
F PWi +1 j + H PWij +1 + B SWij 1 + D SWi 1 j + E SWij + F SWi +1 j + H SWij +1
' ' '' '' '' '' ''
] n +1, m
F1
[ B ''' PWij 1 + D ''' PWi 1 j + E ''' PWij + F ''' PWi +1 j + H ''' PWij +1 + B '''' SWij 1 + D '''' SWi 1 j +
E '''' SWij + F '''' SWi +1 j + H '''' SWij +1 ]n+1,m+1 = [ B ''' PWij 1 + D ''' PWi 1 j + E ''' PWij + (14)
F ''' PWi +1 j + H ''' PWij +1 + B '''' SWij 1 + D '''' SWi 1 j + E '''' SWij + F '''' SWi +1 j + H '''' SWij +1 ] n +1, m
F2
where B, D, E, F, H, B, D, E, F, H, B, D, E, F, H, B, D, E, F,
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and H are the first partial derivatives with respect to corresponding primary
variables at those respective nodes. Similar approach can be used in formulating the
numerical equations for NAPL migration in unsaturated porous medium also. It
should be noted that one more phase equation corresponding to gas phase will
appear in the formulation ( Parker; 1989).
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8. SOLUTION METHODOLOGY
8.1 Simultaneous Method
Most of the modelling of multiphase flow in two phase system is carried out using
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simultaneous method using PW and SW as unknowns. In this study for

simultaneous method, the primary variables are simulated simultaneously using the
linearized Eqs. (13) and (14) by taking PW and SW as unknowns. The Jacobian
matrix in simultaneous scheme is block pentadiagonal in nature with two degrees of
freedom per node. The resulting matrix is in the form of,
L.
[A ] [X ]
m m+1
= R[ ] m
(15)
where [A] is a 2N x 2N(N is the number of nodes) Jacobian matrix, [X] is a column
vector of 2N unknowns of PW and SW, [R] is the column vector of right hand side,
(m+1) is the current iteration level and m is the previous iteration level. The explicit
method and the alternating direction implicit methods are not suitable for the
solution of multiphase flow simulation specially in immiscible type of fluids
(Peaceman; 1977). In this paper for simultaneous method, block Incomplete
Cholesky Conjugate Gradient method is used as the matrix solver.
233
8.2 Sequential method
As discussed in the previous section normally simultaneous solution of governing

Eqs.(13) and (14) are obtained. The sequential method is a two step fully implicit
iterative method. In this method, the linearized equation of wetting fluid, Eqs.(13), is
used for the simulation of wetting fluid pressure by taking the primary variables of
saturation of wetting fluid at the previous iteration on the right hand side. The
Jacobian matrix of wetting fluid pressure is a five banded matrix and is given by
[A1 ] m [PW ] m+1/ 2 = [R1 ] m (16)
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where [A1] is an N x N (N is the number of nodes) Jacobian matrix, PW is a column
of vector of N unknowns of PW, and [R1] is the column vector consisting of right
hand side of Eqs.(13) and all the terms of SW.
In the second step, the primary variables of wetting fluid saturation is simulated
using the linearized nonwetting phase equation, Eqs.(14), by taking the primary
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variables of wetting fluid pressure at (m+1/2) level. The Jacobian matrix of wetting
fluid saturation is also a five banded matrix and is given by
[A2 ] m+1/ 2 [SW ] m+1 = [R2 ] m+1/ 2 (17)

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where [A2] is an N x N (N is the number of nodes) Jacobian matrix, [SW] is a

column vector of N unknowns of SW, and [R2] is the column vector consisting of
Eqs.(14), the coefficients of PW and SW at previous iteration level and the
coefficients of PW at (m+1/2) level. In this method, the global matrix Eqs.(16) and
(17) are solved using Incomplete Cholesky Conjugate Gradient (ICCG) solver. First
Eq.(16) is solved for PW and then Eq.(17) is solved for SW and the iteration is done
till convergence is achieved.
L.
9. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The analytical solution of the multiphase flow, incorporating fully the effect of
gravity and capillary pressure in transient multiphase flow through porous media is
not tractable. In this paper, model verification is carried out by comparison of
numerical results with analytical solutions reported in the literature (McWorter and
Sunada, 1990; Kueper, 1991.a). The analytical solution describes the displacement
of water by nonaqueous phase liquid in a one dimensional horizontal column. The
column is initially fully saturated by an incompressible wetting fluid. An
incompressible nonwetting fluid is continuously injected at the inflow end of the
column.. Fig. 2 shows a good agreement between analytical and numerical results
obtained using both sequential and simultaneous methods.
234
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L.
For the case of multiphase flow through heterogeneous media, there are no analytical
solutions available to test the accuracy of the model. Therefore, in order to examine the
accuracy of the model developed for the two phase flow in heterogeneous media, the
model is tested and compared with results for a laboratory experimental problem available
235
in the literature. This test problem is an experimental result reported in the literature
(Helmig and Peter Bastian, 1998). Fig.3 shows the schematic diagram of the domain and
the boundary conditions. The domain is made up of two types of sand and the domain is
fully saturated by water. The sand properties are reported in Table.1. The relative
permeabilities and capillary pressures are defined using Brook's and Corey relations. This
problem is simulated for two cases, case 1 for a heterogeneous media of two types of sands,
sand1 and sand2. The second case, case 2 is a homogeneous porous medium of sand 1
through out the solution domain.
Table 1: Properties of sand 1 and sand 2

Sand k[L2] SWr Pd[pa]
1 0.4 6.64E-11 0.09 2.7 755
2 0.39 7.15E-12 0.12 2.0 2060
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Fig.4a shows the distribution of nonwetting fluid using both sequential and simultaneous
methods at 2400sec in heterogeneous media (case 1) using wetting fluid pressure and
saturation model. Fig.4b shows the experimental result at 2400sec for the case 1
(hetrogeneous media) of test problem. The results indicate that both simultaneous and
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sequential methods are simulating the same results and are matching well with the
experimental results. Fig.4c shows the distribution of nonwetting fluid using both
sequential and simultaneous method at 2400sec in homogeneous media (case 2) . Fig.4d
shows the experimental result at 2400sec in homogeneous media (case 2). The results
show that both simultaneous and sequential method is simulating the same results and is
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matching well with the experimental results. The results also show that the model
developed is able to predict the NAPL migration in the subsurface accurately.
L.
236
REFERENCES:
Aziz, K. and Settari, 1979. "Petroleum reservoir simulation", Applied Science,

London.
Brooks, R.H. and Corey,A.T, 1964. "Hydraulic properties of porous media,
hydrolo". Pap.3, Civ. Eng. Dep., Colo. State Univ., Fort Collins.
Bundine, N.T., 1953. "Relative permeability from pore size distribution data",
Trans, AIME, 198.
Guarnaaccia, J.F. and Pinder, G.F., 1997. NAPL: "A mathematical model for the stu
dy of NAPL contamination in granular soils, equation development and simulation
documentation". The university of Vermount, RCGED.
Helmig, R. and Huber, R., 1998. "Comparison of Galerkin type discretization
go
techniques for two phase flow in heterogeneous porous media", Adv. Water Resour.,
21(8), 697-711.
Kueper, B.H., and Frind,E.O., 1991.a. "Two phase flow in heterogeneous porous
media" 1. Model development, Water Resour. Res., 27(6), 1049-1057.
Kueper, B.H., and Frind,E.O., 1991.b. "Two phase flow in heterogeneous porous
an
media" 2. Model application, Water Resour. Res., 27(6), 1059-1070.
Leverett, M.C., 1938, "Flow of oil water mixtures through unconsolidated sands",
Trans, Am. Min. Metall. Pet. Eng., 132, 149-191.
McWhorter,D.B., and Sunada D.K., 1990. "Exact integral solutions for two phase
flow", Water Resour. Res., 26(3), 399-414.
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Peaceman,D.W., 1977. "Fundamentals of numerical reservoir simulation", Elsevier

New York.
Parker J. C., 1989, "Multiphase flow and transport in porous media", Review of
geophysics, 27,3,pp: 311-328.
Rainer, H., 1989, "Multiphase flow and transport processes in the subsurface",
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Springer New York.

Sleep, B.E. and Sykes, J.F., (1997) "Modelling the transport of volatile organic in
variably saturated media". Water Resour. Res., 25, 81-92.
Sleep, B.E. and Sykes, J.F., 1993. "Compositional simulation of groundwater
contamination by organic compounds,2". Model application. Water Resour. Res.,
6(29), 1709-1718.
Spillette, A.G., Hillestad, J.G. and Stone, H.L., 1973. "A highly stable sequential
solution approach to reservoir simulation". Soc.Pet. Eng. 48th Ann. Meet., SPE
paper no. 4542.
Wyckoff, R.D., and Botset, H.G., "The flow of gas liquid mixtures through
unconsolidated sand", Physics, 1936, 7, 325-345.
237
Review of Methods used for Modeling the Fate and

Transport of Hydrocarbon Plumes using RT3D
T. P. Clement
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Abstract
Contamination of groundwater aquifers by petroleum hydrocarbon products

is a common environmental problem faced by both developed and developing
an
countries. Mathematical details of a public-domain reactive transport code
RT3D, which can be used for modelling the fate and transport of
hydrocarbon plumes under different types of aerobic and/or anaerobic
conditions, are presented. Three types of conceptual models for representing
the hydrocarbon degradation reactions are discussed. The models, which
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are listed in increasing levels of complexity, include the instantaneous
aerobic reaction model, the kinetic aerobic model, and the kinetic
aerobic/anaerobic model. Various levels of approximations made within
these three reaction models are discussed. The limits of these
approximations are analysed using test problems. Each of these models has
its own advantage and the choice would depend on the type of management
question one wants to address.
L.
Keywords: hydrocarbon pollution, groundwater modelling, numerical model,

reactive transport
1 INTRODUCTION
Hazardous material released from leaking underground storage tanks and pipelines
have contaminated subsurface soil and groundwater at thousands of sites throughout
the world. Common urban groundwater contaminants include petroleum species
such as benzene, toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene (collectively designated as
BTEX species). Remediation of sites contaminated with these hazardous chemicals
is an expensive task. In the past, ineffective pump-and-treat methods that either
flush or remove contaminants from groundwater aquifers were employed as the
remedial option. Recent studies have identified that natural microbes present in the
aquifer have the potential for degrading several of these contaminants. These
239
findings have lead to the development of a cost-effective remediation technique

broadly known as bioremediation. Application of bioremediation to field-scale
problems include two distinct approaches: active bioremediation and passive
bioremediation (also known as natural attenuation or monitored natural attenuation).
Active bioremediation is an accelerated cleanup technique, which is usually

accomplished by enhancing the activities of indigenous microbial population within
the contaminated region (Semprini et al., 1991). This can be done by actively
supplying required nutrients (primarily nitrogen or phosphorous), electron donors
(acetate or lactate) and/or electron acceptors (oxygen or nitrate). Alternatively, the
remediation efficiency can be enhanced by introducing non-indigenous microbial
strains into the subsurface (Mayotte et al. 1996).
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The natural attenuation approach is a passive remediation technique. This approach is a
plume-scale management strategy that relies on the natural assimilative capacity of the
system to control contaminant migration rates and to provide site remediation. The
overall attenuation potential would depend on the combined effects of naturally
occurring physical, chemical, and biological processes (Wiedemeier et al., 1998). The
processes include both biotic and abiotic degradation, volatilization, sorption, and
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dispersion. When natural attenuation is adopted as remediation technique, it should be
accompanied with a long-term monitoring plan to quantify the rate of remediation.
Therefore, in the context of contaminated site management, natural attenuation is now
termed as monitored natural attenuation (MNA) (Wiedemeier et al., 1998).
Both the active and passive remediation approaches discussed above are now known
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to work for a wide variety of contaminants including, petroleum compounds,
pesticide, phenolic compounds, nitrates, chlorinated compounds, explosives, and
metal wastes. Evaluation of active or passive bioremediation design requires a
thorough understanding of the biologically mediated reactive transport processes.
Therefore, in recent years, several researchers have attempted to develop models for
predicting biologically mediated reactive processes occurring in subsurface
environments (Rifai et al., 1988; Clement, 1997; Waddill and Widdowson, 1998;
L.
Clement et al. 1998). Objective of this paper is to briefly review the capabilities of
a comprehensive three-dimensional reactive transport model, known as RT3D
(Clement, 1997), and to describe its use for modelling hydrocarbon contamination
problems using three different types of reaction modules.
2 DESCRIPTION OF THE RT3D CODE
2.1 Statement of Governing Equations
The general set of macroscopic equations describing the fate and transport of
aqueous- and solid-phase species, respectively, in multi-dimensional saturated
porous media is written as:
240
Ck Ck q
=
Dij
- (vi Ck ) + s Csk + rc ra + rd , where, k =1,2,...m (1)
t xi x j xi

~
d Cl ~
= r c + r a - r d , where, l = 1,2,...,(n m) (2)
dt
where n is the total number of species, m is the total number of aqueous-phase

(mobile) species (note, n-m is the total number of solid-phase or immobile species),
~
Ck is the aqueous-phase concentration of the kth species [ML-3], C l is the solid-
th -1
phase concentration of the l species [MM ], Dij is the hydrodynamic dispersion
tensor, v is the pore water velocity [LT-1], qs is the volumetric flux of water per unit
volume of aquifer representing sources and sinks [T-1], Cs is the concentration of
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source/sink [ML-3], rc is the reaction rate that describes the mass of the species
removed or produced per unit volume per unit time [ML3T-1], ~rc is the reaction rate
at the solid phase [MM-1T-1], and ra and rd, respectively, are attachment (or
adsorption) and detachment (or desorption) rates that describe the kinetic exchange
of the transported species between aqueous and solid phases [ML-3T-1]. RT3D
software is a general-purpose reactive transport codes that numerically solves the
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equations (1) and (2) for any arbitrary number mobile and immobile species
(Clement, 1997).
Saturated groundwater flow velocities vi are calculated by first computing the

hydraulic heads by solving the three-dimensional groundwater flow equation; later,
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transport velocities are calculated from the head values. The flow equations used
are:
h h
Ss = K ii + qs (3)
t x i x i
K ii h
vi =
L.
(4)
x i
where h is the hydraulic head [L], Ss is the specific storage coefficient [L-1], and Kii
is principal components of the hydraulic conductivity tensor [LT-1] (non-principal
components are assumed to be zero), and is the soil porosity. Solution to the flow
model, with appropriate boundary and initial conditions, are accomplished using the
public-domain flow code MODFLOW.
2.2 Numerical Solution Procedure
RT3D utilizes a reaction Operator-Split (OS) numerical strategy to solve any

number of transport equations [in the form of (1) and
(2)], which may be coupled via nonlinear reaction expressions. The transport code
241
MT3D uses a similar operator-split approach to primarily solve the physical

transport processes describe by equation (1); however, MT3D can be
used only to describe single-species transport (Zheng, 1990). In RT3D, the
contaminant transport part is solved using the original MT3D routines. The MT3D
packages for solving advection, dispersion, and source-sink mixing are simply
invoked by RT3D multiple times to solve the transport of all mobile species.
However, a new reaction module, with provisions for incorporating problem-
specific reactions, was developed to solve the reaction problem. Use of this modular
OS approach for solving the reaction problem facilitates representation of different
contaminant transport systems through a set of pre-programmed reaction packages
(Clement, 1997). Appropriate code modifications were also implemented to
facilitate the input of pertinent multi-species information, including the initial and
boundary conditions for each species. Further details of the input and output data
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structure and the numerical solution techniques used by the RT3D code are
described in Clement (1997) and Clement et al. (1998).
2.3 Code Testing and Verification
The RT3D software has been well tested against various numerical and analytical
an
solutions. In addition, different research groups have used RT3D for solving various
types of field-scale reactive transport problems. For example, Clement et al. (1998)
used the RT3D code to solve a variety of reactive transport problems. Sun and
Clement (1999) validated RT3D against a series of analytical solutions. Clement
(2001) used RT3D to test a sequential analytical solution. Lu et al. (1999) applied
RT3D to model hydrocarbon bioremediation at a petroleum spill site in Utah, USA.
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Johnson et al. (1998) used RT3D to design an active bioremediation system at a
chlorinated solvent site in California, USA. Clement et al. (2000) applied RT3D to
model a chlorinated solvent site in Delaware, USA. Reed et al. (2000) employed
RT3D to evaluate monitoring requirements for a hydrocarbon plume. Panikumar et
al. (2001) employed RT3D to design a denitrifying bioremediation system at a field
site in Michigan, USA. These studies have provided the necessary validation
datasets for the RT3D code.
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3. MODELING HYDROCARBON CONTAMINATION
Prediction of the fate and transport of hydrocarbon plumes in groundwater aquifers

requires a detailed description of the kinetics of biological reactions of all BTEX
species (which serve as the electron donor), all the available electron acceptors (such
as oxygen, nitrogen, iron, manganese, sulphate, and the fermented substrate), and
various microbial populations (such as aerobic microbes, denitrifiers,
iron/manganese reducers, sulphate reducers, and methanogens). Simulating the
simultaneous effects of all these reactions and microbial growth processes coupled
with advection and dispersion process is a difficult task and hence very limited work
has been done in this area. Most realistic field-scale models use a simpler
conceptual model to reduce this complex problem to a tractable system. In fact,
242
early modelling studies have completely ignored anaerobic degradation and solely
focussed on aerobic degradation (Rifail et al., 1988). Even for the simple aerobic
system, two types of models have been employed. The first one simplifies the
kinetics by assuming that the aerobic biotransformation process as an instantaneous
reaction; the model can track the concentrations of hydrocarbon and oxygen. This
method is designated as Model-1 in this work. The second approach uses a Monod-
type kinetic model and can track the concentrations of hydrocarbon, oxygen, and the
microbial population in different phases (liquid and solids). This method is
designated as Model-2 in this work.
Recent field studies have shown that natural anaerobic processes play a dominant
role in degrading hydrocarbon plumes (Wiedemeier et al., 1998). Attempts have
been made to extend the simplified instantaneous reaction model to account for
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coupled aerobic and anaerobic processes; however, these attempts have had limited
success. One the other hand, Waddill and Widdowson (1998) developed a
comprehensive Monod-kinetics based model that can track all microbial
populations, electron donors, and various electron acceptors. However, the practical
value of these types of complex models is unclear because, using currently available
field sampling methods, it is impossible to characterize microbial populations and
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other required parameters at a field scale. Therefore, Lu et al. (1999) used a simpler
aerobic-anaerobic reaction model available in the RT3D code to simulate a
hydrocarbon plume at the Hill Air Force Base site in the USA. This simple, first-
order, aerobic-anaerobic kinetic model is designated as Model-3 in this work. In
sections below we review the mathematical details of all three models and will also
illustrate their use by solving simple test problems.
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3.1 odel-1: Instantaneous Model for Aerobic Degradation Reactions
In the instantaneous reaction modelling approach, two mobiles species representing

hydrocarbon (electron donor) and oxygen (electron acceptor) are tracked using the
following two advection dispersion equations:
L.
H H q
RH = D - (vi H ) + s Hs (5)
t x i x j x i
ij

O O q
RO =
Dij
- (vi O) + s Os (6)
t xi x j xi
where H is the aqueous-phase hydrocarbon concentration, O is the aqueous-phase

oxygen concentration, Hs and Os are the source/sink concentrations, D is the
dispersion coefficient, and R is the retardation factor. At the end of each time step,
the hydrocarbon and oxygen plumes are mixed using the following instantaneous
reaction algorithm (Rifai et al., 1988):
243
H(t + 1) = H(t) - O(t)/F, and O(t + 1) = 0; when, H(t) > O(t)/F (7)
O(t + 1) = O(t) - H(t)F, and H(t + 1) = 0; when, O(t) > H(t)F (8)
where F is stoichiometric reaction ratio (average value is 3.0 for the aerobic
hydrocarbon decay reaction). The two-dimensional USEPA model BIOPLUME-II
(Rifai et al, 1988) and the USEPA screening tool BIOSCREEN (Newell et al., 1996)
use a similar instantaneous modelling approach.
The instantaneous reaction model is one of the pre-programmed reaction packages

available within RT3D. We used this RT3D package to simulate a test problem and
compared the results against BIOPLUME predictions. The problem domain
considered here has dimensions similar to an example problem discussed in the
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MT3D user manual (Zheng, 1990, page 7-4). Here, in a similarly sized two-
dimensional domain, we studied the reactive transport between hydrocarbon and
oxygen. The assumed two-dimensional confined aquifer is 500 m long (x-
direction), 300 m wide (y-direction), and 10 m thick. The domain was discretized
using a numerical grid consisting of 50 nodes along the x-direction, 30 nodes along
the y-direction, and 1 layer. A continuous source introducing contaminated water at
an
the rate of 1 m3/day, at a concentration level of 1000 mg/L, is located at a grid cell
centered at x = 135 m and y = 135 m. The initial concentrations of hydrocarbon and
oxygen concentrations were assumed to be 0 mg/L and 9.0 mg/L, respectively.
These same concentration levels were used as constant contaminant concentration
boundary conditions at x = 0. Other boundary nodes were assumed to have free
boundary conditions. The aquifer was assumed to be a homogeneous, isotropic
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system with a constant transmissivity value. Steady-state flow conditions were
assumed. Other flow and transport parameters assumed in the simulation are: delx =
dely = delz = 10 m; v = 0.33 m/day; porosity is 0.3; longitudinal dispersivity value
of 10 m; and the ratio of longitudinal to transverse dispersivity is 0.3.
The concentration contours of hydrocarbon and oxygen predicted by the two codes,
at the end of 2 years of simulation, are compared in Figure 1.
L.
This figure reveals typical characteristics of the instantaneous reaction model. Note
the plumes are forced to have either zero hydrocarbon concentration in nodes where
oxygen is present, or zero oxygen concentrations where hydrocarbon is present.
The oxygen plumes surrounds the contaminate region with the concentrations of
oxygen gradually decreasing as we move away from the plume centreline. The
instantaneous reaction model is a powerful tool for modelling field-scale problems
(Rifai et al., 1988). Also the basic model description, as defined within RT3D, is
general enough to predict mixing of any two instantaneously reacting species by
using an appropriate stoichiometric factor F. Further, if multiple electron donors
and acceptors are present then the contributions from all donors and acceptors can be
averaged using an effective stoichiometry, which would describe the reaction
between an effective donor and an effective acceptor, to model the average
244
behaviour. For example, Wiedemeier et al. (1998) used a similar approximation to

quantify combined oxygen and nitrate reactions with a hydrocarbon plume.
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Fig. 1: Hydrocarbon and oxygen plumes predicted by the instantaneous aerobic
reaction model (contours are values in mg/L).
Data from Clement et al. (1998)
3.2 Model 2: Kinetic Model for Aerobic Degradation Reactions

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The kinetic model considered here describes the transport and biodegradation of
hydrocarbon and oxygen, mediated by the aerobic bacteria that reside in both
aqueous and solid phases. Using the linear equilibrium model for sorption reactions
and the Monod model for aerobic reactions, the fate and transport of hydrocarbon
(electron donor) in a multi-dimensional saturated porous media can be written as
(Clement et al. 1996b):
~
H H qs X H O
RH = Dij - (vi H ) + -
Hs m X + (9)
t xi x j xi K H + H KO + O
~
where H is the aqueous-phase hydrocarbon concentration [ML-3], H is the solid-
phase hydrocarbon (mass of the contaminants per unit mass of porous media), [MM-
245
1
]), Hs is the source/sink concentration [ML-3], X is the aqueous phase bacterial cell
~
concentration [ML-3], X is the solid-phase cell concentration [MM-1], O is the
aqueous-phase oxygen concentration [ML-3], RH is the retardation coefficient of the
hydrocarbon, KH is the half saturation coefficient for hydrocarbon [ML-3], KO is the
half saturation coefficient for oxygen [ML-3], and m is the contaminant utilization
rate [T-1]. In this model, we assumed that the hydrocarbon degradation reactions
occur only in the aqueous phase.
The fate and transport of oxygen is modelled using the equation:
~
O O qs X H O
RO = Dij - (vi O) + - Y
Os O / H m X + (10)
t xi x j xi KH + H KO + O
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where YO/H is the stoichiometric yield coefficient for oxygen, and Ro is the
retardation coefficient for oxygen, set at a value 1.0.
The fate and transport of bacteria in the aqueous phase can be described using the
equation:
an
~
X X
(vi X) + s Xs - Katt X + KdetX + YX / H m X H O - Ke X
q
= Dij - (11)
t xi t xi KH + H KO + O
where Katt is the bacterial attachment coefficient [T-1], Kdet is the bacterial
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detachment coefficient [T-1], and Ke is the endogenous cell death or decay
coefficient [T-1].
The growth of attached-phase bacteria can be described using an ordinary

differential equation of the form:
~
dX K att X ~ ~ H O ~
= - K det X + YX / H m X - Ke X (12)

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dt K H + H K O + O
Equations (11) and (12) assume first-order kinetic expressions for
representing the exchange of bacteria between aqueous and solid phases (Clement et
al., 1997). The conceptual modelling approach used for representing soil bacteria,
implicitly assumed in this formulation, is similar to the macroscopic approach
described in Clement et al. (1996a). In this approach, no specific microscopic
biomass structure is assumed, and diffusional limitations across biofilm are also
neglected. Permeability and porosity changes caused by bacterial accumulation
were also ignored in this work. However, if required, the macroscopic-approach
models for biomass-affected porous-media properties, described in Clement et al.
(1996a), may be integrated within the model. The complete mathematical
description for the aerobic, hydrocarbon bioremediation system is given by the
coupled set of partial/ordinary differential equations (9), (10), (11), and
246
(12). In RT3D, these equations are represented by three mobile species

(hydrocarbon, oxygen, and aqueous-phase bacteria), and one immobile species (soil-
phase bacteria). After reaction-operator splitting, the reaction terms are assembled
together and coded into a pre-programmed reaction module (Clement, 1997).
The two-dimensional test problem considered here to test this reaction model is
identical to the one described in previous section. Except for reaction parameters,
all transport and flow parameters were assumed to be the same as those previously
used. The reaction constants assumed are: KO = 0.1 mg/L, KH = 0.12 mg/L, YO/H =
3.0, YX/H = 0.05, Ke = 0.001 day-1, = 1.6 x 106 mg/L, Kdet = 1.0 day-1, and Katt =
70.0 day-1. The initial concentration of the hydrocarbon assumed is 0 mg/L, oxygen
~
is 9 mg/L, and solid-phase bacteria ( X ) is 3.0 x 10-9 mg dry wt/ mg of soil (which is
also equivalent to 0.016 mg/L of bacteria on liquid-volume basis computed from the
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~
expression X /). Since, under natural conditions, most bacteria are expected live
on the solid-phase, a very low value of 2 10-17 mg/L bacteria was assumed for the
initial aqueous-phase bacterial concentration.
Simulation experiments were completed to study the system behaviour at four

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reaction rates, m = 0.05, 0.1, 0.125, and 0.2 day-1. Other microbial growth and
transport parameters were not perturbed during these simulations. Figure 2 shows
the hydrocarbon and oxygen plumes predicted by the kinetic biodegradation model,
at the end of 2 years, for different m values.
In this figure, hydrocarbon concentration contours at 1 mg/L and oxygen

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concentration contours at 8.8 mg/L (a value close to the initial saturation value of
9.0 mg/L) are used to define the respective plume boundaries. For comparison
purposes, the figure also includes hydrocarbon and oxygen plumes predicted by the
instantaneous-reaction model (curve a), and the hydrocarbon plume predicted under
no reaction (curve f is same as a tracer plume). It can be seen from these figures
that, as the value of m is decreased, the shape of the hydrocarbon plume predicted
by RT3D tends to approach the tracer plume. On the contrary, as the value of m
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increases the size of the hydrocarbon plume decreases and tends to approach the
plume predicted by the instantaneous-reaction model. A similar trend can also be
observed in the presented oxygen profiles where the oxygen plume is shown to relax
to the instantaneous model predictions at m = 0.2 day-1.
The solid-phase microbial concentration (in liquid volume basis) distributions

predicted using different m values are given in Figure 3. These figures show that
the pattern of bacterial growth and the accumulated concentration level of bacteria
clearly depend on the reaction rate, m. At low reaction rates, bacterial concentration
contours nearly follow the shape of the hydrocarbon contours. But, at higher
reaction rates, bacterial distributions exhibit more complex patterns; this is because,
at larger m values, oxygen is immediately consumed near the hydrocarbon source.
This produces rate-limiting conditions for microbial growth downstream of the
247
source according to the assumed Monod kinetics, and hence the biomass
concentration is low there. However, the oxygen depletion creates a large
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Fig. 2: Comparison of hydrocarbon (1 mg/L contour) and oxygen (1 mg/L
contour) plumes predicted by the kinetic aerobic reaction model for various
utilization rates (a. instantaneous, b. m = 0.2 day-1, c. m = 0.125 day-1 d. m =
0.1 day-1 e. m = 0.05 day-1 f. tracer). Data from Clement et al. (1998)
L.
concentration gradient in the transverse direction, and thus transverse dispersion

promotes oxygen flow into the hydrocarbon plume; this phenomena stimulates
microbial growth near transverse distances of 100 m and 170 m resulting in the
horseshoe shaped high solid-phase biomass concentration zone. The aqueous-phase
biomass also showed similar contour profiles (data not shown), but with biomass
concentration levels almost two orders of magnitude lower than those predicted for
the attached-phase biomass. It should be noted that the biomass growth patterns
would also be sensitive to the other microbial growth and other transport parameters.
Sun et al. (1998) performed a detailed sensitivity study to quantify the variations in
biomass growth patterns.
This example demonstrates the importance of modeling microbial growth while

predicting bioreactive flow in subsurface aquifers. Models that ignore either the
248
presence of bacteria or their growth may not always be adequate for simulating
bioremediation systems, particularly when aquifer clogging is an issue. Clement et
al. (1996a) and Clement et al. (1997) discuss issues related to effects of biological
clogging and the effects of bacterial attachment and detachment kinetics on porous
media transport.
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L.
Fig. 3: Bacterial distributed predicted for various utilization rates (contours are mg/L of
equivalent liquid phase cell concentrations). Data from Clement et al. (1998).
249
3.3 Model 3: Kinetic Model for Aerobic and Anaerobic Degradation Reactions
In recent years, several laboratory and field studies have shown that microorganisms
indigenous to subsurface environments can degrade hydrocarbon contaminants
under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions (Wiedemeier et al., 1998). The
microorganisms transform available carbon into forms useful for energy and cell
mass. This results in oxidation of the electron donor and reduction of electron
acceptor (EA). The electron donors would include natural organic matter and
anthropogenically introduced carbon such as hydrocarbons. The EAs include
elements or compounds that occur in relatively oxidized states. The more common
EAs present in groundwater aquifers are: dissolved oxygen, nitrate, iron(III) or
Mn(III), and sulfate (Wiedemeier et al. 1998). In addition to these direct electron
acceptor processes, the fermentative process methanogenesis would also contribute
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to hydrocarbon removal.
For modelling purposes, the lumped BTEX concentration level is assumed to

represent the overall hydrocarbon contamination at a site. Previous field studies
have shown that the BTEX compounds, which are the most soluble contaminants,
correlate well with the overall hydrocarbon contamination at field sites (Wiedemeier
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et al., 1998). BTEX biodegradation is essentially an oxidation-reduction process
where the BTEX compounds, which act as electron donar, are oxidized and an EA
1 2
(e.g., O2, NO 3 , Fe3+, or SO 4 ) is reduced. The following conceptual biochemical
model can be used to represent the reaction:
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BTEX (electron donor, ED) + electron acceptor (EA) + microorganisms + nutrients
carbon dioxide + water + microorganisms + "respiration" products
Field studies have shown that a complete sequence of microbially-mediated BTEX

1 2
biodegradation processes can utilize the electron acceptors O2, NO 3 , Fe3+ or SO 4 ,
and produce Fe(II) and methane. Using benzene as an example reactant, the
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stoichiometry of different degradation processes can be described by the following

set of biochemical reactions (Wiedemeier et al., 1998):
C 6 H 6 + 7.5O 2 6CO 2 + 3H 2 O (13)
6NO 3 +
+ 6H + C 6 H 6 6CO 2 + 6H 2 O + 3N 2 (14)
+ 2+
30Fe(OH) 3 + 60H + C 6 H 6 6CO 2 + 78H 2 O + 30Fe (15)
3.75SO 24 +
+ 7.5H + C 6 H 6 6CO 2 + 3H 2 O + 3.75H 2S (16)
C 6 H 6 + 4.5H 2 O 2.25CO 2 + 3.75CH 4 (17)
These reactions are listed here in the order in which they are expected to occur,
which can be deduced based on the Gibbs free energy of the redox reactions.
250
The overall fate and transport of BTEX and various EAs (or degradation products)
observed at a field site can be modeled using the following set of reactive transport
equations:
[BTEX] [BTEX] (vi [BTEX]) qs

R BTEX = Dij + [ BTEX]s + rBTEX (18)
t xi x j xi
[O 2 ] [O 2 ] (vi [O 2 ]) qs
R O2 = Dij + [O 2 ]s + rO2 (19)
t xi x j xi
R NO
[NO 3- ]
= Dij
(
[NO 3- ] vi [NO 3- ] q )
+ s [ NO 3- ]s + rNO- (20)
3 t
xi xj xi 3
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R Fe2+
[Fe 2+ ]
= Dij
(
[Fe 2+ ] vi [Fe 2+ ] qs )
+ [Fe 2+ ]s + rFe2 + (21)
t xi x j xi
R SO 2
[SO -42 ]
= Dij
(
[SO -42 ] vi [SO -2
4 ] q )
+ s [SO -42 ]s + rSO- 2 (22)
t
xi xj xi
4
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[CH 4 ] [CH 4 ] (v i [CH 4 ]) q s

R CH 4 = D ij + [CH 4 ]s + rCH 4 (23)
t x i x j xi
Where R is the retardation coefficient for various species, r represent the

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biodegradation rate term, Dij is the dispersion tensor, vi is the transport velocity, qs is
the fluid sink/source term, and is effective porosity. The concentrations of
different species are represented by a square bracket around an appropriate notation
to represent the species.
A kinetic model is required to describe the reaction terms r listed in these transport
L.
equations. Clement (1997) conceptualised the BTEX decay reactions that use five
different EAs as first-order reactions. A Monod-type term was then used to account
for the presence (or the absence) of various EAs, and an inhibition model was used
to simulate inhibition due to the presence of any one of the earlier EA (i.e. an EA
with higher free energy). The kinetic equations are:
[O 2 ]
rBTEX,O2 = k O2 [BTEX] (24)
K O2 + [O 2 ]
[NO 3 ] K i,O2
rBTEX,NO = k NO [BTEX] (25)
3 3
K NO + [NO 3 ] K i,O2 + [O 2 ]
3
251
[Fe 3+ ] K i,O2 K i, NO
rBTEX,Fe3+ = k Fe3+ [BTEX] 3
(26)
K Fe3+ + [Fe3+ ] K i,O2 + [O 2 ] K i, NO + [NO3 ]
3
[SO 42 ] K i,O 2 K i, NO
rBTEX,SO 2 = k SO 2 [BTEX] 4
4 4
K SO 2 + [SO 42 ] K i,O2 + [O 2 ] K
i, NO
+ [NO 4 ]
4 4
(27)
K i,Fe3+
K i,Fe3+ + [Fe3+ ]
[CO2 ] K i,O2 K i,NO

rBTEX,Me = k Me [BTEX] 3
K CH4 + [CO2 ] K i,O2 + [O2 ] K + [NO3 ]

i,NO 3
(28)
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K i,Fe3+ K i,SO2
4
K i,Fe3+ + [Fe3+ ] K i,SO2 + [SO4 2 ]

4
where rBTEX,O2 is the BTEX destruction rate utilizing oxygen, rBTEX,NO is the
3
destruction rate utilizing nitrate, rBTEX ,Fe3+ is the destruction rate utilizing Fe3+ (or
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producing Fe2+), rBTEX,SO 2 is the destruction rate utilizing sulfate, rBTEX,Me is the
4
destruction rate via methanogenesis, [O2] is oxygen concentration [ML-3], k O2 is the

first-order degradation rate constant for BTEX utilizing oxygen as the EA [T-1],
K O2 is the saturation constant for oxygen [ML-3], K i,O 2 is the oxygen inhibition
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constant [ML-3]; similar nomenclature is used for subsequent reactions. Note that by
setting the half-saturation constants to small values, we can simulate zero-order
dependency with respect to the electron donor and thus a first-order degradation
model with respect to BTEX. The values of all the saturation constants were set at
0.01 mg/L.
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Similarly, the inhibition constants can be set to small values to simulate pure
sequential EA process. The inhibition function is used to represent the concept that
the availability of any one of the EAs may inhibit the utilization of other EAs that
provide less Gibbs-free energy to the system. However, if a Ki is assigned a very
large value (much larger than the maximum value of the EA species) then the
inhibition function becomes one and the simultaneous use of EAs can be simulated.
In our model all Ki values, except Ki,Fe3+, were set at 1.0 mg/L. The value of Ki,Fe3+
was set 10 mg/L.
Since the concentrations of the two electron acceptors Fe3+ and CO2 cannot be
measured under field conditions and because they can change over time
(Wiedemeier et al., 1998), these terms were replaced in the model to predict the
products of these EA reactions. The concentration levels of the products at every
node were limited by using two capacity" terms defined by the equations:
252
[Fe 3+ ] = [Fe 2+ max ] [Fe 2+ ] (29)

[Me]=[CO 2 ] = [CH 4,max ] [CH 4 ] (30)
where [Fe2+max] and [CH4,max] are maximum measured levels of these species.
Equations (17) and 18) are used to indirectly quantify the iron reducing and
methanogenic capacity of the node at a given time. Since methane production
reaction is a fermentation reaction, there is no external electron transfer process
involved in this reaction step. Therefore, the concentration term for CO2 used in
(28) should be considered as a hypothetical term that simply indicates the local
methanogenic capacity (Me) of the node. Similarly, the concentration term for Fe3+
should also be considered as a hypothetical term that indicates the local iron
reduction capacity [bioavailable Fe(III)] of the node. The total rate of BTEX
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destruction via destruction processes can be represented as:
rBTEX = rBTEX,O2 + rBTEX, NO + rBTEX,Fe2 + + rBTEX,SO 2 + rBTEX,CH 4 (31)

3 4
Rates of EA utilization or product formation are given by the corresponding rate of

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BTEX destruction term multiplied by an appropriate yield stoichiometric coefficient
(Y):
rO2 = YO2 / BTEX rBTEX ,O2 (32)

rNO = YNO /BTEX rBTEX , NO (33)
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3 3 3
rFe2+ = YFe2 + / BTEX rBTEX,Fe3+ (34)

rSO 2 = YSO 2 /BTEX rBTEX,SO 2 (35)
4 4 4
rCH 4 = YCH 4 / BTEX rBTEX ,Me (36)
For BTEX the stoichiometric yield values are: YO2 / HC is 3.14, YNO /HC is 4.9,
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YFe2 + / HC is 21.8, YSO2/HC is 4.7, and YCH 4 / HC is 0.78 (Wiedemeier et al., 1998).
4
It is important to note the kinetic model presented above is based on several

important assumptions. The model should be used with caution only at sites where
these assumptions are valid. The key assumptions used in the model are: (1) the
fuel chemical species benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene species are
assumed to degrade at similar rates, and hence are combined and modelled as a
single electron donor species BTEX (2) production of Fe2+ and methane are
restricted at a node at a "maximum-observed level"; however, the model assumes
that an infinite supply of electron acceptor will be available for iron-reduction and
methanogenic reactions; (3) more complex processes such as the rate-limited
interaction of bioavailable, solid-phase Fe3+ and aqueous-phase Fe+2, interaction of
oxygen and Fe2+, and/or variations in the spatial pattern of methanogenic activity
253
and CO2 availability are not considered; (4) growth and decay of various microbial
populations and their interactions with contaminants and aquifer solids are assumed to be
negligible; (5) all BTEX decay reactions are approximated as first-order reactions and
hence the model ignores the Monod limitation due to the electron donor (BTEX)
availability. Fortunately, these assumptions are expected to be reasonable
approximations for most field sites. However, there will always be some exceptions.
The multi-species reaction model discussed above was field tested to model a
hydrocarbon problem at the Hill Air Force Base (AFB) site in USA. The
hydrogeological details of the site are discussed in Lu et al. (1999). The unconfined
aquifer beneath the site is contaminated with BTEX dissolved from petroleum
products leaked from an underground storage tank. Based on site characterization
data the distribution of BTEX, DO, nitrate, Fe(II), sulfate, and methane were
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mapped in August 1993 and in July 1994. The August dataset was used as the initial
condition in this numerical experiment. Simulations were then completed for 365
days and the model results were compared against the plume distribution observed
in July 1994. Figures 4a and 4b compare observed field data and model predictions
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L.
Fig. 4: Measured (in July 1994) and model-predicted plumes (concentration in

mg/L) a. BTEX, b. Oxygen. c. nitrate. Data from Lu et al. (1999)
254
at the end of the simulation period. The results show that the model has predicted
the overall plume patterns reasonably well. In addition, the model also closely
predicted the plume front locations. Mass balance analyses indicated that the
computed total mass of BTEX in the aquifer at the end of one-year simulation period
is close to the total mass estimated from field observations; the overall difference
was less than 10%. A detailed sensitivity analysis was completed to quantify the
uncertainly associated with various model parameters and these results are discussed
in Lu et al. (1999).
4. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Contamination of groundwater aquifers by petroleum hydrocarbons is a widespread

water resource management problem currently faced by both developed and
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developing countries. This paper reviews the mathematical details of a public-
domain numerical code, known as RT3D, that can be used for modelling the fate and
transport of hydrocarbon plumes in groundwater aquifers. Details of three types of
hydrocarbon biodegradation models (listed in increasing levels of complexity), the
instantaneous aerobic reaction model, the kinetic aerobic model, and the kinetic
aerobic/anaerobic model are reviewed. Of central importance to this paper are the
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underlying approximations made within the three models. The example problems
solved in the paper demonstrate the limits of these approximations. Clearly, the
instantaneous reaction model is the simplest model and can be used to predict
natural degradation processes at most aerobic sites. Perhaps this method could also
be extended for anaerobic sites, by using an effective stoichiometric value, if large
amounts of electron acceptors are available. The kinetic aerobic model is the most
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complex description for the aerobic problem and it can provide useful details about
the patterns of microbial growth which can used for quantifying hydraulic
conductivity reductions and associated bioclogging effects. The coupled aerobic-
anaerobic model discussed in this paper is a simple first-order description for
modelling the coupled aerobic-anaerobic electron acceptors processes. It can be
used for predicting the natural attenuation patterns of large-scale hydrocarbon
plumes. However, it is important to note that the first-order rates assumed in the
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aerobic-anaerobic model are bulk decay rates and they ignore the heterogeneous
nature of the microbial growth and decay processes. Each of the three reaction
models has its own advantage, and the choice would depend on the type of
management question one wants to address. The example problems discussed in
this work also demonstrate how different types of reaction kinetic models can be
coupled and solved within the generalized RT3D reactive-transport-modelling
framework.
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transport equations coupled with a first-order reaction network, In press, Water
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255
Clement T.P., Johnson C.D., Sun Y, Klecka G.M., Bartlett C. (2000) Natural
attenuation of chlorinated solvent compounds: Model development and field-scale
application, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol.42, pp. 113-140.
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L.

Ground Water Modelling: Issues and Requirements

received from adjoining countries estimated to be 185 M.ha.m on full harnessing

2. GROUND WATER RESEARCH

The quality of data provided to the groundwater professional has improved

strongly influenced by international competition, are reticent to invest scarce capital

Groundwater contamination problems, while constituting an enormous national

Certainly there are gargantuan environmental and water supply challenges in

3. GROUND WATER MODELING

In ground water management, a through understanding of the physical, chemical and

challenges. Mathematical models provide a quantitative framework for analyzing

Regional groundwater models need to be developed meeting the important

evaluations of current and near-term impacts of operations facilities and

These technical considerations and limitations in the potential application of the

a narrower, and perhaps more pragmatic list of potential groundwater-model

4.1 Model Requirements

Major Hydro-geologic Units

Rationale. Transmissivity (the product of hydraulic conductivity and aquifer

Requirement. The groundwater model shall be capable of simulating contaminant

of driving hydrologic processes and mass-transport phenomena, including advection,

Rationale. The ability to simulate transport of contaminants in the aquifer system is

Requirement. The regional groundwater model shall be capable of evaluating the

Rationale. Consideration of all major hydrologic boundaries is critical to address

Requirement. The regional groundwater model shall consider all sources of

significant recharge to the aquifer system including

f. Anticipated Future Flow Conditions

Requirement. The regional groundwater model shall be able to evaluate transient

g. Existing Chemical Contamination and Potential Future Transport

Requirement. The regional groundwater model shall be able to simulate

Rationale. Monitoring of groundwater across site may reveal presence of a number

h. Spatial and Temporal Scales of Analysis

Requirement. The regional groundwater model shall be able to support a variety of

Rationale. Review of anticipated future applications of the site-wide groundwater

Requirement. The regional groundwater model, including the databases supporting

Requirement. The regional groundwater model will provide for explicit

Rationale. Ultimately, the regional groundwater model must embrace uncertainty.

a. Effectiveness of percolation ponds

Recharging ground water is of very great significance because it provides

This pond is in Pallipatu taluk of Chengalpattu district constructed during 1986 by

influence can be substantially different from a regular geometry such as a sector of a

b. Modelling of salt water Intrusion

One of the goals of coastal aquifer management is to maximize freshwater extraction

Anderson, M.P., (1995), "Groundwater modeling in the 21st Century, Groundwater

A Stochastic Approach Cambridge Univ. Press.

Overview of Groundwater Models

Groundwater models are mathematical and digital tools of analysing and

equations of more complex hydrogeological problems involving aquifer

difference approaches. Models can handle single or multiple fluid

Keywords : Mathematical models, Groundwater, Analytical, Numerical

The quantitative occurrence, flow and qualitative availability of groundwater

or transient groundwater flow models)

models) and the

1.1 State of the art of modelling:

Formulation: Formulation refers to the process of deriving or selecting the basic

Approximation: Approximation refers to the selection of a numerical method which

Computation: Computation is the most important step in the process of modelling.

types of analog and numerical models used prior to 1975 .

d (Tx - dh) + d (Ty dh) = S dh + w(x,y,t)

d (Tx - dh) + d (Ty dh) + d (Tz dh) = S dh + w(x,y,z, t)

2. DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR MODELLING

a. Geomorphology- Topography - (Watershed/Basin/District/block )

b. Hydrometeorology -- Rainfall - Pattern - Point measurements - Long term

c. Hydrogeology-- Geology and structures - boundaries - variations - Aquifer types