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Utilizing unsaturated soil zone models for assessing managed aquifer recharge

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Abstract

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is increasingly used to balance out the divergence between natural groundwater recharge and overexploitation of groundwater resources. As testing and design of recharge facilities can be cost and time-intensive, modeling tools hold great potential to design field investigations as well as to augment and extrapolate from their results. Focusing on unsaturated soil zone models, this study first reviews 16 previous modeling studies showing their range of model types and applications. The review is accompanied by an example of the use of HYDRUS 2D/3D, an unsaturated zone model, to design a novel small-scale infiltration basin. The basin is going to be established as part of a field and laboratory research facility for MAR in Pirna, Germany. Modeling results assisted in determining the dimensions of the infiltration unit as well as the placement of measurement devices and experimental scenario planning. Finally, the strengths and constraints of this modeling approach for MAR assessment are discussed.

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Abbreviations

MAR:

Managed aquifer recharge

BC:

Boundary condition

SAT:

Soil aquifer treatment

ASR:

Aquifer storage and recovery

ASTR:

Aquifer storage, transfer and recovery

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Grant no. 01LN1311A (Junior Research Group “INOWAS”).

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  1. Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Jana Sallwey, Jana Glass & Catalin Stefan

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  1. Jana Sallwey
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  2. Jana Glass
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  3. Catalin Stefan
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Contributions

JS executed the modeling studies for the field test site and wrote this paper. JG conducted the review on unsaturated soil zone modeling. CS contributed with advice, discussions, and revisions.

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Correspondence to Jana Sallwey.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

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This article is part of the special issue on Managed Aquifer Recharge.

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Sallwey, J., Glass, J. & Stefan, C. Utilizing unsaturated soil zone models for assessing managed aquifer recharge. Sustain. Water Resour. Manag. 4, 383–397 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-018-0214-z

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