References

HESS

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences

HESS

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

1607-7938

Copernicus Publications

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/hess-18-493-2014

Analyzing streamflow changes: irrigation-enhanced interaction between aquifer and streamflow in the Republican River basin

Zeng

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3229-3146

¹ Cai

Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA

10 02 2014

18 2 493 502

2014

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This article is available from https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/18/493/2014/hess-18-493-2014.html

The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/18/493/2014/hess-18-493-2014.pdf

Groundwater-fed irrigation has altered surface and groundwater interactions in the Republic River basin (RRB) in the midwestern United States, where agriculture heavily depends on irrigation. The decreasing flow trend recorded at the RRB gauging station since the 1950s reflects the synthetical effect of dynamic interactions between surface water and groundwater systems, which has been enhanced by groundwater pumping and irrigation return flow. This study uses a systematic modeling approach to analyze the conjunctive effects of pumping and return flow on streamflow. A watershed management model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), is modified and established for the Frenchman Creek basin (FCB), a subbasin of RRB, to examine the causes of streamflow changes. The baseflow component in SWAT is linked to aquifer storage so that the model can simulate the combined effects of groundwater pumping and irrigation return flow on natural streamflow. Results show that irrigation has not only depleted streamflow but also changed the flow pattern and seasonal variability. The changes can be decomposed into decrease in the slow component (baseflow) and increase in the fast components (surface and subsurface flow). Since the fast components are subject to higher variability than the slow component, the annual streamflow variability is amplified. Agricultural water use in this region also has changed the groundwater storage seasonal regime from the pattern of "summer recharge and winter discharge" in the past to "summer discharge and winter recharge" at present. This challenges the existing groundwater modeling, which usually assumes fixed recharge pattern and rates.

References 1

Adegoke, J. O., Pielke, R. A., Eastman, J., Mahmood, R., and Hubbard, K. G.: Impact of Irrigation on Midsummer Surface Fluxes and Temperature under Dry Synoptic Conditions: A Regional Atmospheric Model Study of the U.S. High Plains, Mon. Weather Rev., 131, 556–564, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(2003)131<0556:IOIOMS>2.0.CO;2">https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(2003)131<0556:IOIOMS>2.0.CO;2</a>, 2003.

Alley, W. M., Healy, R. W., LaBaugh, J. W., and Reilly, T. E.: Flow and storage in groundwater systems, Science, 296, 1985–1990, 2002.

Arnold, J. G., Srinivasan, R., Muttiah, R. S., and Williams, J.: Large area hydrologic modeling and assessment part I: Model development1, JAWRA J. Am. Water Resour. Assoc., 34, 73–89, 1998.

Burt, O. R., Baker, M., and Helmers, G. A.: Statistical estimation of streamflow depletion from irrigation wells, Water Resour. Res., 38, 1296, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2001wr000961">https://doi.org/10.1029/2001wr000961</a>, 2002.

Chow, V. T., Maidment, D. R., and Mays, L. W.: Applied hydrology, Mc-Graw Hill, New York, 1988.

DeAngelis, A., Dominguez, F., Fan, Y., Robock, A., Kustu, M. D., and Robinson, D.: Evidence of enhanced precipitation due to irrigation over the Great Plains of the United States, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 115, D15115, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010JD013892">https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD013892</a>, 2010.

Ferguson, I. M. and Maxwell, R. M.: Hydrologic and land–energy feedbacks of agricultural water management practices, Environ. Res. Lett., 6, 014006, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/6/1/014006">https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/6/1/014006</a>, 2011.

Ferguson, I. M. and Maxwell, R. M.: Human impacts on terrestrial hydrology: climate change versus pumping and irrigation, Environ. Res. Lett., 7, 044022, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/4/044022">https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/4/044022</a>, 2012.

Gassman, P. W., Reyes, M. R., Green, C. H., and Arnold, J. G.: The Soil and Water Assessment Tool: Historical development, applications, and future research directions, Trans. ASABE, 50, 1211–1250, 2007.

Gleeson, T., Alley, W. M., Allen, D. M., Sophocleous, M. A., Zhou, Y., Taniguchi, M., and VanderSteen, J.: Towards Sustainable Groundwater Use: Setting Long-Term Goals, Backcasting, and Managing Adaptively, Ground Water, 50, 19–26, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2011.00825.x">https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2011.00825.x</a>, 2012.

Gosain, A. K., Rao, S., Srinivasan, R., and Reddy, N. G.: Return-flow assessment for irrigation command in the Palleru river basin using SWAT model, Hydrol. Process., 19, 673–682, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.5622">https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.5622</a>, 2005.

Gutentag, E. D.: Geohydrology of the High Plains aquifer in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming, Geological Survey professional paper, 1400-B, 1984.

Harman, C. J., Troch, P. A., and Sivapalan, M.: Functional model of water balance variability at the catchment scale: 2. Elasticity of fast and slow runoff components to precipitation change in the continental United States, Water Resour. Res., 47, W02523, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010WR009656">https://doi.org/10.1029/2010WR009656</a>, 2011.

HPRCC: Historical climate data summaries, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, available at: <a href="http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/data/historical/">http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/data/historical/</a> (last access: 27 May 2010), 2010.

Jenkins, C.: Techniques for Computing Rate and Volume of Stream Depletion by Wellsa, Ground Water, 6, 37–46, 1968.

Kendy, E. and Bredehoeft, J. D.: Transient effects of groundwater pumping and surface-water-irrigation returns on streamflow, Water Resour. Res., 42, W08415, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2005wr004792">https://doi.org/10.1029/2005wr004792</a>, 2006.

Kenny, J. F., Barber, N. L., Hutson, S. S., Linsey, K. S., Lovelace, J. K., and Maupin, M. A.: Estimated use of water in the United States in 2005, available at: <a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1344/pdf/c1344.pdf">http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1344/pdf/c1344.pdf</a>, Circular 1344, US Geological Survey, Reston, VA, 2009.

Konikow, L. F.: Contribution of global groundwater depletion since 1900 to sea-level rise, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L17401, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL048604">https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL048604</a>, 2011.

Malcolm, I. A., Soulsby, C., Hannah, D. M., Bacon, P. J., Youngson, A. F., and Tetzlaff, D.: The influence of riparian woodland on stream temperatures: implications for the performance of juvenile salmonids, Hydrol. Process., 22, 968–979, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6996">https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6996</a>, 2008.

McGuire, V. L.: Water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2007, 2005-06, and 2006-07, US Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report, 2009–5019, p. 9, available at: <a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2009/5019/">http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2009/5019/</a>, 2009.

McGuire, V. L.: Changes in Water Levels and Storage in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 2009, US Geological Survey Fact Sheet, 2011–3069, p. 2, available at: <a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/preview/fs/2011/3069/">http://pubs.usgs.gov/preview/fs/2011/3069/</a>, 2011.

McGuire, V.: Water-Level and Storage Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 2011 and 2009–11, US Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report, 2012–5291, p. 15, available at: <a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2012/5291/">http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2012/5291/</a>, 2012.

Miller, J. A., Appel, C. L., Ulibarri, L. J., Dunagan, D. L., and Latzke, G. D.: Ground Water Atlas of the United States: Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, Segment 3 Hydrol. Atlas 730-D, 24 pp., US Geological Survey, Reston, Va., 1997.

Rodriguez-Iturbe, I., Porporato, A., Ridolfi, L., Isham, V., and Coxi, D. R.: Probabilistic modelling of water balance at a point: the role of climate, soil and vegetation, Proc. Roy. Soc. London A, 455, 3789–3805, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1999.0477">https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1999.0477</a>, 1999.

Santhi, C., Allen, P. M., Muttiah, R. S., Arnold, J. G., and Tuppad, P.: Regional estimation of base flow for the conterminous United States by hydrologic landscape regions, J. Hydrol., 351, 139–153, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.12.018">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.12.018</a>, 2008.

Schmid, W., Hanson, R., Maddock III, T., and Leake, S.: User guide for the farm process (FMP1) for the US Geological Survey's modular three-dimensional finite-difference ground-water flow model, MODFLOW-2000, US Geological Survey Techniques and Methods 6-A17, Reston, Virginia, 2006.

Siebert, S., Burke, J., Faures, J. M., Frenken, K., Hoogeveen, J., Döll, P., and Portmann, F. T.: Groundwater use for irrigation – a global inventory, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 14, 1863–1880, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-14-1863-2010">https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-14-1863-2010</a>, 2010.

Sophocleous, M.: Review: groundwater management practices, challenges, and innovations in the High Plains aquifer, USA – lessons and recommended actions, Hydrogeol. J., 18, 559–575, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10040-009-0540-1">https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-009-0540-1</a>, 2010.

Sophocleous, M. and Perkins, S. P.: Methodology and application of combined watershed and ground-water models in Kansas, J. Hydrol., 236, 185–201, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00293-6">https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00293-6</a>, 2000.

Swinehart, J. B. and Richmond, G. M.: Quaternary geologic map of the Platte River 4 X 6 Quadrangle, United States, US Geological Survey Misc. Invest. Series Map I-1420 (NK-14), scale 1 : 1 000 000, 1994.

Szilagyi, J.: Identifying Cause of Declining Flows in the Republican River, J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage., 127, 244–253, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9496(2001)127:4(244)">https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9496(2001)127:4(244)</a>, 2001.

Tang, Q., Oki, T., Kanae, S., and Hu, H.: The Influence of Precipitation Variability and Partial Irrigation within Grid Cells on a Hydrological Simulation, J. Hydrometeorol., 8, 499–512, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JHM589.1">https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM589.1</a>, 2007.

Theis, C. V.: The source of water derived from wells, Civil Eng., 10, 277–280, 1940.

USDA, C. P.: National Agricultural Statistics Service, Government Printing Office, Washington DC (annual issues, 1965–2002), 1999.

Wada, Y., van Beek, L. P. H., and Bierkens, M. F. P.: Nonsustainable groundwater sustaining irrigation: A global assessment, Water Resour. Res., 48, W00L06, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011wr010562">https://doi.org/10.1029/2011wr010562</a>, 2012.

Wolock, D. M.: Base-flow index grid for the conterminous United States, US Geological Survey Open-File Report 03–263, digital data set, available at: <a href="http://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getspatial?bfi48grd">http://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getspatial?bfi48grd</a>, 2003.

Zeng, R.: Infrastructure planning for drought mitigation under climate change, Master thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA, 2012.