Implementing conjunctive management of water resources for irrigation development: A framework applied to the Southern Plain of Western Nepal.

Climate variability and insufficient irrigation are primary constraints to stable and higher agricultural productivity and food security in Nepal. Agriculture is the largest global freshwater user, and integration of surface- and ground-water use is frequently presented as an strategy for increasing efficiency as well as climate change adaptation. However, conjunctive management (CM) planning often ignores demand-side requirements and a broader set of sustainable development considerations, including ecosystem health and economics of different development strategies. While there is generic understanding of conjunctive use, detailed technical knowhow to realize the CM is lacking in Nepal. This article presents a holistic framework through literature reviews, stakeholders consultations and expert interviews for assessing CM and implementation prospects from a systems-level perspective. We demonstrate the framework through a case study in Western Nepal, where climatic variability and a lack of irrigation are key impediments to increased agricultural productivity and sustainable development. Results show that knowledge of water resources availability is good and that of water demand low in the Western Terai. Additional and coordinated investments are required to improve knowledge gaps as well as access to irrigation. There is therefore a need to assess water resources availability, water access, use and productivity, to fill the knowledge gaps in order to pave pathways for CM. This paper also discusses some strategies to translate prospects of conjunctive management into implementation.

Recovery of injected freshwater from a brackish aquifer with a multiwell system.

Herein we propose a multiple injection and recovery well system strategically operated for freshwater storage in a brackish aquifer. With the system we call aquifer storage transfer and recovery (ASTR) by using four injection and two production wells, we are capable of achieving both high recovery efficiency of injected freshwater and attenuation of contaminants through adequately long residence times and travel distances within the aquifer. The usual aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) scheme, in which a single well is used for injection and recovery, does not warrant consistent treatment of injected water due to the shorter minimum residence times and travel distances. We tested the design and operation of the system over 3 years in a layered heterogeneous limestone aquifer in Salisbury, South Australia. We demonstrate how a combination of detailed aquifer characterization and solute transport modeling can be used to maintain acceptable salinity of recovered water for its intended use along with natural treatment of recharge water. ASTR can be used to reduce treatment costs and take advantage of aquifers with impaired water quality that might locally not be otherwise beneficially used.

Mapping of groundwater potential zones across Ghana using remote sensing, geographic information systems, and spatial modeling.

Groundwater development across much of sub-Saharan Africa is constrained by a lack of knowledge on the suitability of aquifers for borehole construction. The main objective of this study was to map groundwater potential at the country-scale for Ghana to identify locations for developing new supplies that could be used for a range of purposes. Groundwater potential zones were delineated using remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) techniques drawing from a database that includes climate, geology, and satellite data. Subjective scores and weights were assigned to each of seven key spatial data layers and integrated to identify groundwater potential according to five categories ranging from very good to very poor derived from the total percentage score. From this analysis, areas of very good groundwater potential are estimated to cover 689,680 ha (2.9 % of the country), good potential 5,158,955 ha (21.6 %), moderate potential 10,898,140 ha (45.6 %), and poor/very poor potential 7,167,713 ha (30 %). The results were independently tested against borehole yield data (2,650 measurements) which conformed to the anticipated trend between groundwater potential and borehole yield. The satisfactory delineation of groundwater potential zones through spatial modeling suggests that groundwater development should first focus on areas of the highest potential. This study demonstrates the importance of remote sensing and GIS techniques in mapping groundwater potential at the country-scale and suggests that similar methods could be applied across other African countries and regions.

Water quality requirements for sustaining aquifer storage and recovery operations in a low permeability fractured rock aquifer.

A changing climate and increasing urbanisation has driven interest in the use of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) schemes as an environmental management tool to supplement conventional water resources. This study focuses on ASR with stormwater in a low permeability fractured rock aquifer and the selection of water treatment methods to prevent well clogging. In this study two different injection and recovery phases were trialed. In the first phase ~1380 m(3) of potable water was injected and recovered over four cycles. In the second phase ~3300 m(3) of treated stormwater was injected and ~2410 m(3) were subsequently recovered over three cycles. Due to the success of the potable water injection cycles, its water quality was used to set pre-treatment targets for harvested urban stormwater of ≤ 0.6 NTU turbidity, ≤ 1.7 mg/L dissolved organic carbon and ≤ 0.2 mg/L biodegradable dissolved organic carbon. A range of potential ASR pre-treatment options were subsequently evaluated resulting in the adoption of an ultrafiltration/granular activated carbon system to remove suspended solids and nutrients which cause physical and biological clogging. ASR cycle testing with potable water and treated stormwater demonstrated that urban stormwater containing variable turbidity (mean 5.5 NTU) and organic carbon (mean 8.3 mg/L) concentrations before treatment could be injected into a low transmissivity fractured rock aquifer and recovered for irrigation supplies. A small decline in permeability of the formation in the vicinity of the injection well was apparent even with high quality water that met turbidity and DOC but could not consistently achieve the BDOC criteria.

A new method to evaluate polydisperse kaolinite clay particle removal in roughing filtration using colloid filtration theory.

Previous application of colloid filtration theory to roughing filtration has not considered a reliable method for determining a representative attachment factor for a polydisperse suspension (of constant particle density). Establishment of such a method would broaden the application of trajectory modelling in roughing filtration, and progress the development of a comprehensive database of attachment factors and surface charge potentials for various particle and fluid types. This study establishes a methodology for the application of colloid filtration theory to roughing filtration and incorporates recent advancements in theoretical single-collector efficiency. A polydisperse kaolinite clay suspension was passed through a series of four gravel upflow roughing filters and removal efficiencies were calculated. Both the classical and Tufenkji and Elimelech's more recent correlation equations were used to calculate theoretical single-collector efficiencies and associated attachment factors for three different filter media sizes, flow rates, and suspended solids concentrations (0.137+/-0.023). The use of Tufenkji and Elimelech's modified correlation equation resulted in reduced variability in the estimation of theoretical single-collector efficiencies.

Multiscale characterization of a heterogeneous aquifer using an ASR operation.

Heterogeneity in the physical properties of an aquifer can significantly affect the viability of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) by reducing the recoverable proportion of low-salinity water where the ambient ground water is brackish or saline. This study investigated the relationship between knowledge of heterogeneity and predictions of solute transport and recovery efficiency by combining permeability and ASR-based tracer testing with modeling. Multiscale permeability testing of a sandy limestone aquifer at an ASR trial site showed that small-scale core data give lower-bound estimates of aquifer hydraulic conductivity (K), intermediate-scale downhole flowmeter data offer valuable information on variations in K with depth, and large-scale pumping test data provide an integrated measure of the effective K that is useful to constrain ground water models. Chloride breakthrough and thermal profiling data measured during two cycles of ASR showed that the movement of injected water is predominantly within two stratigraphic layers identified from the flowmeter data. The behavior of the injectant was reasonably well simulated with a four-layer numerical model that required minimal calibration. Verification in the second cycle achieved acceptable results given the model's simplicity. Without accounting for the aquifer's layered structure, high precision could be achieved on either piezometer breakthrough or recovered water quality, but not both. This study demonstrates the merit of an integrated approach to characterizing aquifers targeted for ASR.

Comparative evaluation of the fate of disinfection byproducts at eight aquifer storage and recovery sites.

Despite the growth in aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) as a technique for the provision of potable water supplies, quantitative data on the fate of disinfection byproducts that may be present in the injected water remain rare. This study evaluates the data from eight ASR sites in Australia and the United States that cover a wide range of source water compositions, hydrogeological environments, and operating conditions. Rates of attenuation and formation of trihalomethanes (THMs) in groundwater were determined using analytical techniques that took dilution effects into account. Half-lives varied by more than 2 orders of magnitude (e.g., <1 to >120 days for total THMs) and were both compound- and site- specific. Chloroform was most persistent, and more highly brominated compounds tended to be less persistent, as has generally been found. For any particular THM compound, much of the variability could be explained by contrasts in geochemical conditions within the aquifer since microbial degradation is the primary mechanism for THM attenuation. As such, bounds on the half-life were defined according to the redox state of the groundwater. In situ formation of some THMs in the aquifer after injection was directly observed at a number of sites, and was predicted to have taken place at all sites. The variance in formation estimates was large between the different methods used. Formation may be more common than previously thought because of the low frequency of groundwater sampling after injection and concomitant attenuation and mixing.

Fate of disinfection by-products in groundwater during aquifer storage and recovery with reclaimed water.

Knowledge on the behaviour of disinfection by-products (DBPs) during aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is limited even though this can be an important consideration where recovered waters are used for potable purposes. A reclaimed water ASR trial in an anoxic aquifer in South Australia has provided some of the first quantitative information at field-scale on the fate and transport of trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs). The results revealed that THM half-lives varied from <1 to 65 days, with persistence of chloroform being highest and bromoform lowest. HAA attenuation was rapid (<1 day). Rates of THM attenuation were shown to be highly dependent on the geochemical environment as evidenced by the 2-5 fold reduction in half-lives at the ASR well which became methanogenic during the storage phase of the trial, as compared to an observation well situated 4 m away, which remained nitrate-reducing. These findings agree with previous laboratory-based studies which also show persistence declining with increased bromination of THMs and reducing redox conditions. Modelling suggests that the chlorinated injectant has sufficient residual chlorine and natural organic matter for substantial increases in THMs to occur within the aquifer, however this is masked in some of the field observations due to concurrent attenuation, particularly for the more rapidly attenuated brominated compounds. The model is based on data taken from water distribution systems and may not be representative for ASR since bromide and ammonia concentrations in the injected water and the possible role of organic carbon in the aquifer were not taken into consideration. During the storage phase DBP formation potentials were reduced as a result of the removal of precursor material despite an increase in the THM formation potential per unit weight of total organic carbon. This suggests that water quality improvements with respect to THMs and HAAs can be achieved through ASR in anoxic aquifers.

Fate of disinfection by-products in groundwater during aquifer storage and recovery with reclaimed water.

Knowledge on the behaviour of disinfection by-products (DBPs) during aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is limited even though this can be an important consideration where recovered waters are used for potable purposes. A reclaimed water ASR trial in an anoxic aquifer in South Australia has provided some of the first quantitative information at field-scale on the fate and transport of trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs). The results revealed that THM half-lives varied from <1 to 65 days, with persistence of chloroform being highest and bromoform lowest. HAA attenuation was rapid (<1 day). Rates of THM attenuation were shown to be highly dependent on the geochemical environment as evidenced by the 2-5 fold reduction in half-lives at the ASR well which became methanogenic during the storage phase of the trial, as compared to an observation well situated 4 m away, which remained nitrate-reducing. These findings agree with previous laboratory-based studies which also show persistence declining with increased bromination of THMs and reducing redox conditions. Modelling suggests that the chlorinated injectant has sufficient residual chlorine and natural organic matter for substantial increases in THMs to occur within the aquifer, however this is masked in some of the field observations due to concurrent attenuation, particularly for the more rapidly attenuated brominated compounds. The model is based on data taken from water distribution systems and may not be representative for ASR since bromide and ammonia concentrations in the injected water and the possible role of organic carbon in the aquifer were not taken into consideration. During the storage phase DBP formation potentials were reduced as a result of the removal of precursor material despite an increase in the THM formation potential per unit weight of total organic carbon. This suggests that water quality improvements with respect to THMs and HAAs can be achieved through ASR in anoxic aquifers.

Geochemical processes during five years of aquifer storage recovery.

A key factor in the long-term viability of aquifer storage recovery (ASR) is the extent of mineral solution interaction between two dissimilar water types and consequent impact on water quality and aquifer stability. We collected geochemical and isotopic data from three observation wells located 25, 65, and 325 m from an injection well at an experimental ASR site located in a karstic, confined carbonate aquifer in South Australia. The experiment involved five major injection cycles of a total of 2.5 x 10(5) m3 of storm water (total dissolved solids [TDS] approximately 150 mg/L) into the brackish (TDS approximately 2400 mg/L) aquifer. Approximately 60% of the mixture was pumped out during the fifth year of the experiment. The major effect on water quality within a 25 m radius of the injection well following injection of storm water was carbonate dissolution (35 +/- 6 g of CaCO3 dissolved/m3 of aquifer) and sulfide mineral oxidation (50 +/- 10 g as FeS2/m3 after one injection). < 0.005% of the total aquifer carbonate matrix was dissolved during each injection event, and approximately 0.2% of the total reduced sulfur. Increasing amounts of ambient ground water was entrained into the injected mixture during each of the storage periods. High 14C(DIC) activities and slightly more negative delta13C(DIC) values measured immediately after injection events show that substantial CO2(aq) is produced by oxidation of organic matter associated with injectant. There were no detectable geochemical reactions while pumping during the recovery phase in the fifth year of the experiment.

Determination of caffeine as a tracer of sewage effluent in natural waters by on-line solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography with diode-array detection.

A new liquid chromatographic (LC) method with automated on-line solid phase extraction was developed to determine caffeine at sub-microgram per litre concentrations in waters. The filtered sample was pre-concentrated in a pre-column, which was backwashed with acidic water at pH of 2.70. The concentrated caffeine was separated using a C18 column with a gradient of water-acetonitrile and detected by diode array detection (DAD) at 210 nm. Four different pre-columns: C18, PRP-1, PLRP-s and Env were evaluated for the on-line solid phase extraction of caffeine. The PLRP-s pre-column allowed the enrichment of up to 100 mL of environmental water sample with highest recovery. The procedure was validated by recovery experiments in water spiked at 0.5 1.0 and 4.0 microg/L. Average recoveries were between 92.1 +/- 5.2% and 97.8 +/- 2.6%. Detection limits as low as 0.1 microg/L from 50 ml of sample were achieved. The proposed method has the advantages of higher reliability and sensitivity, simpler sample preparation and shorter analysis time in comparison with off-line solid-phase extraction. The utility of the method was demonstrated at two field sites: Bolivar and Halls Head (Australia). At Bolivar, the treatment process included 6-week lagoon storage which is believed to have attenuated caffeine, and thus limited its use as an environmental tracer of reclaimed water. At the Halls Head site, where the storage period is shorter, caffeine was detected in both the treated sewage effluent and in groundwater near ponds where the reclaimed water is at similar concentrations. These results suggest that the environmental conditions under which caffeine is conservative require better definition.

Measurement of 3-D hydraulic conductivity in aquifer cores at in situ effective stresses.

An innovative and nondestructive method to measure the hydraulic conductivity of drill core samples in horizontal and vertical directions within a triaxial cell has been developed. This has been applied to characterizing anisotropy and heterogeneity of a confined consolidated limestone aquifer. Most of the cores tested were isotropic, but hydraulic conductivity varied considerably and the core samples with lowest values were also the most anisotropic. Hydraulic conductivity decreased with increasing effective stress due to closure of microfractures caused by sampling for all core samples. This demonstrates the importance of replicating in situ effective stresses when measuring hydraulic conductivity of cores of deep aquifers in the laboratory.