RESUMEN
A thorough data analysis combined with groundwater modelling was conducted in an Austrian binary karst aquifer to better understand changes in the hydrological behaviour observed at a karst spring. During a period of 4 years after a major flood event the spring hydrograph appears to be more damped with lower peak flow and higher baseflow than in the years before. The analysis of the hydrograph recession suggests that the observed hydrological change is caused by changes within the karst system rather than by varying hydro-meteorological conditions. The functioning of the aquifer and potential causes of the observed changes are further examined using the groundwater flow model MODFLOW. The simulation results suggest that a modification of hydraulic conductivity and storage within the conduit network, e.g. due to the plugging of the drainage conduits with sediments, may be the cause of the different behaviour. MODFLOW was able to reproduce the observed dynamics of spring flow, although it does not account for turbulent flow within karst conduits. Using a simplified model scenario it is demonstrated that the damping of the hydrograph is much stronger if turbulent conduit flow is taken into account. Thus, a turbulent flow model is needed to assess potential changes in the storage properties quantitatively.
RESUMEN
Water suppliers should provide safe drinking water following preventive measures. This is especially important for karst water sources, as they are among the most vulnerable. Recently, there has been a strong focus on the early warning system, which mainly involves monitoring proxy parameters, but does not consider drainage area conditions and other monitoring recommendations. Here, we present an innovative strategy for assessing contamination risk of karst water sources that covers spatio-temporal dimensions and can be integrated into management practices. It is based on event-based monitoring and risk mapping and has been tested in a well-known study area. The holistic early warning system provides accurate spatial hazard and risk assessment and operational monitoring guidelines, including locations, indicator parameters, and temporal resolution and duration. In the study area, the high contamination risk, representing 0.5 % of the area, was spatially delineated. The highest probability of source contamination occurs during recharge events when proxy parameters such as bacteria, ATP, Cl, and Ca/Mg ratio should be monitored in addition to continuous monitoring of turbidity, EC, and T. Monitoring of sinking streams should serve as a preventive measure, since water transfer from ponors to springs has been shown to take about one day, and poor quality water is present for at least another day. Therefore, intensive monitoring should be conducted at intervals of a few hours for at least a week. Although hydrologic systems vary, the proposed strategy is particularly useful in systems where water flows rapidly and where remediation is not feasible.
RESUMEN
A new MODFLOW package (Nonlinear Flow Process; NLFP) simulating nonlinear flow following the Forchheimer equation was developed and implemented in MODLFOW-2005. The method is based on an iterative modification of the conductance calculated and used by MODFLOW to obtain an effective Forchheimer conductance. The package is compatible with the different layer types, boundary conditions, and solvers as well as the wetting capability of MODFLOW. The correct implementation is demonstrated using four different benchmark scenarios for which analytical solutions are available. A scenario considering transient flow in a more realistic setting and a larger model domain with a higher number of cells demonstrates that NLFP performs well under more complex conditions, although it converges moderately slower than the standard MODFLOW depending on the nonlinearity of flow. Thus, this new tool opens a field of opportunities to groundwater flow simulation with MODFLOW, especially for core sample simulation or vuggy karstified aquifers as well as for nonlinear flow in the vicinity of pumping wells.