Application of the groundwater-balance equation to indicate interbasin and vertical flow in two semi-arid drainage basins, Mexico

An analysis of horizontal inflow and outflow in the groundwater-budget equation and the significance for interbasin flow are presented. Two field cases in Mexico, one in the Baja California peninsula and another in central Mexico, highlight the influence of interbasin flow. A significant proportion...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrogeology journal 2000-10, Vol.8 (5), p.503-520
Main Author: Carrillo Rivera, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambient temperature
Aquifers
Computer simulation
Drainage
Drainage basins
Flow
Freshwater
Geophysics
Groundwater
Groundwater flow
Inflow
Mathematical analysis
Mathematical models
Mexico, Baja California
Peninsulas
Regional
Vertical flow
Water inflow
Water outflow
Water resources
Water resources management
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Summary:An analysis of horizontal inflow and outflow in the groundwater-budget equation and the significance for interbasin flow are presented. Two field cases in Mexico, one in the Baja California peninsula and another in central Mexico, highlight the influence of interbasin flow. A significant proportion (approximately 70%) of the abstracted (thermal) groundwater probably originates outside the drainage basin. A conclusion is that a groundwater-balance study is an unsatisfactory method for determining some parameters, such as storativity (S). Specifically, the groundwater-balance approach provides unreliable results when vertical inflow is ignored or cannot be adequately defined. Vertical flow is indicated by the presence of groundwater temperatures as much as 23 °C higher than ambient temperature. Regional faults could be the pathways for upward flow. When vertical inflow is ignored, uncertainty in the estimation of the storativity through regional groundwater-balance calculation results. On the basis of the groundwater-balance equation, a value of S=0.19 appears to represent the confined condition of the developed part of the aquifer; this result is several orders of magnitude higher than would be reasonable according to the geological conditions. Findings are useful in evaluating whether a groundwater resource is being "overexploited". Conclusions are instructive in the application of transient-flow computer models, in which vertical flow of less dense water from beneath is not included.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:1431-2174
1435-0157
DOI:10.1007/s100400000093