Groundwater recharge

What is it about?

Assessment of spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge is critical for long-term water resource management and planning. The spatial distribution of groundwater recharge depends on the climate conditions, topography, slope, soil textural, land cover, and distributed groundwater depth. In this paper, the monthly steady-state water balance model, WetSpass-M, was applied to estimate the groundwater recharge in the Cún-Szaporca oxbow of Drava floodplain, Hungary. The model inputs data are prepared in the form of a digital maps including (Precipitation, temperature, wind speed, potential evapotranspiration, soil, land cover, elevation, slope) Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tool. The outputs of WetSpass-M model are presented as digital maps of long-term average monthly groundwater recharge, actual evapotranspiration, and surface runoff.

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Photo by Jong Marshes on Unsplash

Photo by Jong Marshes on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Accurate estimation of groundwater recharge and evaluating the fundamental controlling factors are the most importance to protect groundwater systems. The long-term monthly and annual groundwater recharge, actual evapotranspiration, and runoff of the Cún-Szaporca oxbow of Drava floodplain, Hungary was estimated using the water and energy transfer among soil, plants, and atmosphere (WetSpass-M) model. Results of the wetspass-M model show that Annual groundwater recharge ranges from 125 to 498.6 mm with a mean of 332.5 mm, which constitutes only 48.8% of the annual rainfall. The simulated spatial variability of the groundwater recharge showed that areas on sandy soil with vegetation cover are characterized by high groundwater recharge in the Cún-Szaporca. About 26.8% of the rainfall in is lost through actual evapotranspiration. Surface runoff ranges from 86.4 to 674.4 mm with a mean of 166 mm, which accounts to24.4% of the total precipitation and occurs mainly during the winter season. Bare lands, agriculture on sandy clay soils produce the highest surface runoff in the area. The WetSpass-M results revealed that there are significant differences in seasonal groundwater recharge, actual evapotranspiration, and surface runoff. The findings will be good information for design holders and policymakers for more investigation of sustainable management and planning of water resources in the Cún-Szaporca oxbow of Drava floodplain.

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