KNS 3143 Engineering Hydrology

TOPIC: Extraction of Irreplaceable Groundwater

And Vanishing Aquifers

Prepared by:
Wan Mohd Firdause Bin Wan Jesfrydi(46077)
Save water even if you were on
the banks of a flowing river.
Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.
(Narrated by Imam Ahmad)
 Full article can be
found at National
Geographic Website:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/
140819-groundwater-california-drought-aquifers-
hidden-crisis/
 Whats that article all about?

Extraction of Irreplaceable Groundwater

Vanishing Aquifers
Future Water Scarcity Crisis
 California's
Central Valley

Extraction of has seen a

dramatic rise in
well-drilling this
Irreplaceable year to
compensate for

Groundwater
surface water
lost from the
drought.
PHOTOGRAPH
BY PETER
ESSICK,
NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC

A new report from Stanford University

says that nearly 60 percent of the state's
water needs are now met by groundwater,
up from 40 percent in years when normal
amounts of rain and snow fall.(2014)
 Groundwater are being pumped extravagantly(California)
Counter Drought
Depleted River, snowpacks and lakes
Shrinking water surface supplies
Agriculture
Main source of water in many country especially US
Well drilling record for groundwater kept secret from public view
(Knudson, 2014)
No policies regulating groundwater use (Wilson, 2014)
Groundwater supplies are declining
Half groundwater depletion caused by irrigation globally
(Scanlon,2012)
Colorado River Basin Losses groundwater dramatically
(WaterMan, 2012)
 Scarce groundwater supplies also
are being used for energy:
According to study from CERES(2014)
fracking already occurs in dry region of
US
Half of all fracking well are being drilled
in the region experiencing drought
Groundwater depletion:
The Ogallala Aquifer supplies the water for center-pivot Water supplies for people and farming
irrigation on farms in western Kansas.
PHOTOGRAPH BY GEORGE STEINMETZ, NATIONAL
will be shrunk
GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE
Lead to vanishing aquifers
Water fossils will be loss forever
 Vanishing Aquifers
Aquifers - spongelike gravel and sand-filled underground
reservoirs (spring, well)
Provide freshwater
Half of US needs relying groundwater from aquifers (USGS,
2016)
Shallow aquifers recharge from surface water
Deeper aquifers
ancient water locked in the earth by changes in geology
thousands or millions of years ago.
Cannot recharge
once this "fossil" water is gone, it is gone forever
All the graphics will be shown below are from National Geographic:

30 % of all water used to irrigate U.S. agriculture is pumped here (High Plains Aquifers)
Some of its level are rising but many parts are decline
Dimick(2014):
Two-thirds of the Ogallalas(High Plains Aquifers) water
reserves underlie the state
The flow of the Republican River has been reduced
Pumped by thousand of Nebraska farmers
Fed in part by groundwater seeping into the streambed
 The Prophet (Muhammad s.a.w.) said The last Hour will not
come unless the land of the Arabs once again becomes
green and rivers Muslim
Parker(2016):
Over the past three decades,
Saudi Arabia has been drilling for
groundwater

Extracting hidden reserves of

water to grow grains, fruits, and
vegetables in the one of the driest
places in the world.

They are tapping into the aquifer

at unsustainable rates.

On these NASA satellite images of

the Wadi As-Sirhan Basin, green
indicates crops, contrasting with
the pink and yellow of dry, barren
PHOTOGRAPHS BY NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY; FINAL ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT SIMMON
land.

 Hundreds of years to
accumulate water.
Half of the aquifer has less
than a hundred feet of
saturated thickness.
At least 30 feet of saturated
thickness is necessary for
large-scale irrigation.
Water table will drop as
water is pumped from the
ground faster than it can
recharge (Dimick, 2014)

How the Aquifers work (Source: National Geographic) Aquifers depleted - The land
also begin to subside (USGS,
2013)
What Its Relation with Engineering
Hydrology?
To Provide Solution
 Determination of Total Amount of
Water
(Water Budget)
Water that flows into the basin: precipitation and surface water
imports
The total amount of water that flows out of the basin.
Outflow:
Amount of groundwater extracted
Evapotranspiration
Consumptive use
Surface water outflow
Inflow - Outflow = Change in Storage(Groundwater level)
More outflow, less inflow Drop of Groundwater level
 Estimate specific yield and Project
future rates of extraction
Specific yield estimation amount of water that is available from an
unconfined aquifer
Calculate:
amount of groundwater in storage
decline in groundwater level
Effect of such extractions on the movement of chemical constituents
Caused by:
natural
man-caused
Groundwater extraction cause subsidence? Determine!
If yes, prepare subsidence monitoring
Managing and Conserving Groundwater
Develop new
Supplies
technologies and water efficiencies
Inject desalinated water to recharge the aquifer like in Perth,
Australia(Parker, 2014)
Regulate the pumping of groundwater
In west Texas, the city of Abernathy is drilling into a deeper
aquifer that lies beneath the High Plains aquifer and mixing
the two to supplement the municipal water supply. (Parker,
2014)
 REFERENCES

Dennis Dimmick(2014). If You Think the Water Crisis Can't Get Worse, Wait Until the
Aquifers Are Drained. Retrieved from:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140819-groundwater-california-drought-
aquifers-hidden-crisis
/
Laura Parker(2014). What You Need to Know About the World's Water Wars. Retrieved
from: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/07/world-aquifers-water-wars /
Jacob, James, Parker(2014). A Vanishing Aquifer. Retrieved from:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/08/vanishing-aquifer-interactive-map /
CERES(n.d.). Investor Guide to Fracking water risk. Retrieved from:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/08/vanishing-aquifer-interactive-map /
USGS(2000). Groundwater resources for the future: Land Subsidence in the United States.
Retrieved from: http://water.usgs.gov/ogw/pubs/fs00165/
Q & A?
THANK YOU!