HYDROGEOLOGY
4.1 Introduction
The hydrogeology of a particular area is mostly determined by geology, geomorphlogy and climatic conditions. The document compiled by MWIE (2003)indicated that the hydrogeology of a country is characterized by regional factors such as geological processes (the swell, rifting and volcanism), the stratigraphy of alternating pervious and impervious formations, the development of secondary porosity and permeability through the fracturing and jointing of rocks and, the development of thermal groundwater and steam,mostly associated with rift valley. These factorsare ground to be putting serious impact on characterizing the challenges and problems in the catchments and the hydrogeological conditions of the study area.
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The main hydrogeological properties that have been used to characterize the catchments areporosity, yield and hydraulic conductivity. Due to the differences in mineralogy, texture and structure of volcanic rocks, water bearingpotential also varies. Groundwater circulation and storage in the volcanic rocks depend onthe type of porosity and permeability formed during and after the rock formation. All rockstructures possessing a primary porosity may not have necessarily permeability. In other words,without the original interconnection, the primary porosity may not give rise to the primarypermeability, but the latter’s connection, by means of weathering or fracturing may give rise to asecondary permeability(Alemayehu, 2006). The spatial distribution of the hydraulic conductivity of the area is highly variable due to the differences in geological settings. This section discusses the hydrological and hydrogeological features of the catchment so as to characterize and understand the hydrogeological conditions of the catchments. In addition to this purpose, the hydrogeological characterization of the catchments was used in determining the groundwater inputs of the SWAT …show more content…
A number of small streams and few perennial rivers drain the area. Wabe river, one of the major tributaries of Omo-Gibe river basin,joins this river in the vicinity of Welkite town. Among the main tributaries of Wabe river, Kereb, Demekash, Gogn, Cheika, and Legedima rivers are perennial rivers that sustain the Wabe flows during dry period. The main source of these rivers is from the northern and eastern parts of the catchment. Both the majority of large discharge springs and these rivers are being used for irrigation purpose in recent times. When compared to tributaries of Meki(Weja, Irenzaf, Atamuja), the tributaries of Wabe river are less affected by human and natural conditons and hence higher discharges are observed at Wabe catchment(Figure 4.1). Based on data from baseflow analyzed for river discharges of the catchments, it was observed that there exists significant interactions between surface water and groundwater(section 2.3) in both catchments. In turn, this condition has significant effects in the determination of the groundwater related parameters of SWAT model
Runoff, erosional sediments and precipitation (rain and snowfall are limited in the Eastern side due to the rainshadow effect) from the Sierra Nevada accumulate in the Mono Basin. Also ephemeral perennial streams from the Sierra Nevada flow into the Mono Basin. Because of this, a great deal of the groundwater and the groundwater hydrological system is dominated by stream losses from the mountains. Fault lines can also be highly influential to the production of groundwater.
Peru has three main drainage systems. One comprises about 50 torrential streams that rise in the sierra and descend steeply to the coastal plain. The second comprises the tributaries of the Amazon River in the mountain region. The third principal feature is Lake Titicaca, which drains into Lake Poopo in Bolivia thought the Desaguadero River
Darcy’s law provides an accurate description of the flow of ground water in almost all hydrogeological environments. Henri Darcy established empirically that the flux of water through a permeable formation is proportional to the distance between top and bottom of the soil column.
With today’s drought situations, it is more important than ever to be aware of the water sources in Wyoming as well as the various uses of the water and the amount of usable water that is available compared to the amount that must be used. This paper will not only inform about those uses and numbers, but also the highly debated HB 19 bill and the four major river basins in the western part of the country that supply Wyoming with it’s water. We will be talking about where and how Wyoming gets most of its surface water every year. Along with surface water, groundwater is also an important supply of water to the area which we count on for the environment, and it is important to try to conserve as much of this moisture as we can.
Although Iran is located in the arid and semi- arid climate, but this glaciated area is sustained by moisture- laden southerly wind originate from the Caspian Sea. These winds collide with the Northern slopes of the Tackt e Solaiman mountainous and produce an estimated average snowfall of about 452 cm/year. This orographic precipitation occurs during the 65 days in year. Also, a significant amount of precipitation falls during the October- December (Vaziri, 2003). The surface of Alamkouh is characterized by a system of ridges and depressions and oriented parallel to the overall flow direction. The most part of the Alamkouh surface is covered by debris. Typical origins of such debris accumulation include debris-laden snow avalanches, episodic rock avalanches and long-lasting rockfall activity, heavy rains or weathering processes.
Water shortage in arid and semi-arid regions and declining its availability to a crisis ...
Living in a world that is roughly 70% water, and all living creatures found on this planet depend on this resource whether directly or indirectly, making water quality an important topic and vital to sustain our world of cycles. “Determination of status of water quality of a river or any other water sources is highly indeterminate. It is necessary to have a competent model to predict the status of water quality and to advice for type of water treatment for meeting different demands.” (Bai V, 2009) With most of our water on this planet made of salt water and our constant damage towards the remaining water that can be consumed by humans is diminishing with improper distribution on a global scale. If our greed comes before companionship, and our quality of life is more important than pollution, then our future generations to come will be born into a world of chaos, and a scarce of a basic human necessity.
United Nations Environment Programme. Environment, Sustainable Development and the Nile River Basin. N.p.: United Nations Environment Programme, n.d. Case Study 1. United Nations Environmental Programme. Web. 3 May 2014.
Water Issues in South Asia If there is any single most important issue that mars bilateral relations among the countries of the subcontinent, it is water. The issues of cross-border water distribution, utilisation, management and mega irrigation/hydro-electric power projects affecting the upper and lower riparian countries are gradually taking centre-stage in defining interstate relations as water scarcity increases and both drought and floods make life too often miserable. Thanks to its location, size and contiguous borders with other South Asian countries, it is India, in its capacity as both upper and lower riparian, that has come into conflict with most of its neighbours, except Bhutan, on the cross-border water issues. Given an atmosphere of mistrust, an upper riparian India has serious issues to resolve with lower riparian Pakistan and Bangladesh and, despite being lower riparian, with the upper riparian Nepal.
Groundwater is the most significant source of clean water for an assortment of uses, including industrial, irrigation, drinking and domestic habits. Nevertheless, excessive usage of groundwater has resulted depletion of this natural resources and thus a continual fall in its groundwater level. A gradual decline in water quality is also taking place, from industrial, farming and domestic effluents entering into hydrologic cycle. To counteract groundwater resource depletion and deterioration, its management is a critical issue, for current and future generation. During the past three decades, many groundwater management models were developed by several researchers by linking groundwater flow/transport simulation model with optimization model (Shamir et al.,1984; Ahlfeld et al., 1986; Lefkoff and Gorelick, 1986; Willis and Finney, 1988; Finney and Samsuhadi, 1992; Emch and Yeh, 1998; Zheng and Wang, 2002,Wu and Zhu, 2006; Ayvaz,2009;Gaur et al.,2011a; Gaur et al.,2011b; Ghandour and Elsaid, 2013). The distinctive features, among those studies, are the type of the groundwater management problems, the way governing PDEs of groundwater flow or transport is solved in the simulation stage and the types of algorithms used in the optimization phase. Previous studies on groundwater management generally used numerical tools like finite difference method (FDM) or finite element method (FEM) for simulating groundwater flow and transport processes and therefore struck by various shortcomings of these methods, like choice of appropriate boundary condition, domain discretization error, numerical stability, difficulty in representing the well location accurately, and difficulty in representing stream/rivers. As an alternative, Gaur et al., (2011)...
There will growth of water born diseases increasing health hazards and degradation of environment and ecosystems. This affects the natural environment system leading to exaction of some species. And the due contamination of water can also lower the production of agriculture products and other economy activities will decrease. If there will more water bodies pollution it also has negative effects on its environment there decline of economy of the country. Since more of the country budget have invest on the health sectors. The country major users of water are agriculture, intensification hydropower and industrialization. Urbanization is another significant challenge. Rural-urban migration increases pressure on urban infrastructure and services and cause environmental problems which will lead to water pollution.
Hydrometer test is needed as more than 10 % of soil sample passes the 63 µ m sieve (BS 1377-2:1990). It covers the quantitative determination of the particle size distribution in a soil from coarse sand size to clay size. Particles settle under gravity during testing (Head, 1984). The results of hydrometer analysis can be referred to Appendix C1. The calibrations which used in the hydrometer analysis and water viscosity are shown in Appendix C2 and Appendix C3.
The Pangani Basin Water Board believes that the main cause of this problem is the lack of water management and proper governing in the area. As a representative of the water board, it is important to “ensure that water resources are managed sustainably, through water governance and integrated water resources management principles” (Pangani Basin Water Board). In order to achieve a sustainable management and development of water resources, it is important to provide ample opportunities and benefits to the basin population. The Board consists of ten members that are chosen representatives from the community near the Pangani Basin (Pangani Basin Water Board). It is crucial, as a member of the Water B...
Water is the most priceless resource on our planet. Billions of gallons flow through our rivers and lakes. Millions of gallons are consumed by humans each day. Our world’s surface is seventy percent water. With so much water around us, how can 1.1 billion people still lack access to clean water (Cooper, Water Shortages)? People are already using fifty four percent of all the freshwater available on this planet (Cooper, Water Shortages). We cannot afford to neglect something so essential to our very survival. We must defend our most important natural resource—water.
Water quality can be described as the measurement of the condition of water relative to the requirements of humans, animals and plant’s need. When we talk about water quality testing, we are highlighting a critical piece of natural observing for civil engineers in order to create a specific structure or decision. At the point when water quality is poor, it influences almost every single form of life in our planet; going from plants to animals and thereon. Hydrology, in the other hand, is the study of water. It is important to state that hydrology is a critical part for civil engineers to determine and predicting decisions that will affect our biological environment.