Arid Lands Water Evaluation and Management

1068 Pages·2012·20.349 MB·English

by  Robert Maliva, Thomas Missimer (auth.)

Environmental Science and Engineering
Environmental Science
Series Editors
Rod Allan
Ulrich Förstner
Wim Salomons
For furthervolumes:
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Robert Maliva Thomas Missimer
•
Arid Lands Water Evaluation
and Management
123
RobertMaliva ThomasMissimer
Schlumberger Water Services WaterDesalination and Reuse Center
1567Hayley Lane KingAbdullahUniversity ofScience
Suite 202FortMyers and Technology
FL33907 Thuwal 23955-6900
USA SaudiArabia
ISSN 1431-6250
ISBN 978-3-642-29103-6 ISBN 978-3-642-29104-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-29104-3
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(cid:2)Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2012
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Preface
Arid and semi-arid lands constitute about 30% of the Earth’s land environment.
The need to develop new freshwater sources in these water-short areas is rapidly
increasing because of both population and economic growth. Many of these arid
lands are dependent to a large degree on non-renewable resources that are slowly
being mined with no real plans to replace them in the future. Therefore, consid-
erableattentionmustbeplacedontheintegratedmanagementofexistingandnew
water resources that will supply future potable, agricultural, industrial demands.
Within the concept of sustainability, the maintenance of the natural system also
mustbeconsideredandcommonly,whenitisignored,negativelyimpactsprimary
water supply sources and food security.
This book is an integrated approach to evaluation and management of water
resources in arid lands. Methods and management practices applied to arid lands
arecommonlyuniquetothesestressedregionsandprinciplesappliedtohumidor
semi-humidregionscannotnecessarilybeappliedtoaridorsemi-aridlands.Many
arid regions, such as the Middle East and parts of Africa and South Asia, require
the integration of technical solution approaches with fundamental economic and
sociocultural challenges. Natural system generated water supplies cannot meet
future demands in most cases, therefore, the development of new water sources,
such as desalination of brackish-water and seawater and increased reuse of
wastewater are required.
This book is not solely a technical monograph that provides methods to eval-
uateprimarilygroundwatersystemsinaridlands,butcontainsaholisticapproach
to water management in arid lands. Water supply development must contain a
degree of economic realism with the sophistication matching the abilities of the
water users and operators to be able to pay for and manage the infrastructure. In
the past decades large errors have been made in arid lands water management,
whereinwell-meaninginvestorsandnon-governmentalorganizationshavefunded
andconstructedwaterandwastewatersupplyandtreatmentsystemsthatcannotbe
operated or paid for by the end users. For example, some poorly designed dams
haveaidedonepartofabasinanddevastatedanotherpartofit;mega-groundwater
supply projects have been developed that resulted in land subsidence, high
v
vi Preface
evapotranspiration losses, and loss of ariable land; sophisticated, high-technology
wastewaterplantshavebeenconstructedthatlieunusedbecausetheeconomyand
educational levels do not allow for them to be operated and maintained; and
environmental ‘‘restoration’’ projects have been developed to reforest farmlands
with an unexpected impact of lowering aquifer water levels by several meters,
causing reductions in local food production from the remaining farmlands.
We believe that much can be learned for the past practices used to sustain
people in arid lands where management of the localized water resources was
paramount to survival. While localized water harvesting techniques cannot pro-
duce the vast qualities of water needed to supply large cities using centralized
systems, they can provide needed water for the hundreds of thousands of small
villages and farms that occur throughout the arid lands of the world. The wise
captureandstorageoftemporallyrarerainfalleventswasthekeytosurvivalinthe
past and may also be so in the future.
Economic, sociocultural, and policy issues are often of greater importance in
water management than technical issues. The best science and engineering in
water resources management is of little value if it does not get incorporated into
actual water management practices and projects. We have endeavored to objec-
tivelypresentbasicconcepts,withtheunderstandingthanmenandwomenofgood
will may have different perspectives, values, and beliefs. Any opinions expressed
are solely those of the authors.
AridlandswillfaceconsiderablechallengesinthefutureastheEarth’sclimate
warmsandcausesmoreextremeperiodsofdroughtwithlongerdurationandalso,
theextremestormeventswillbecomemorecommon,resultingintheneedtocreate
storage using a variety of techniques including dams and reservoirs, aquifer
recharge and recovery of surface and impaired waters, and a variety of smaller-
scale artificial recharge projects. Large water deficits will occur in arid regions
supplied by rivers and streams dependent on seasonal glacier-melt flows as these
vast ice reservoirs melt in response to warmer temperatures. The issue of global
climate challenge will force management of water in arid lands to become fully
integrated using all available existing sources, the development of new sources
(desalinationandwaterreuse),andtheexpansionofstoragetypes.Newmethodsof
controlling water demand will be needed, such as the development of new food
production methods, such as crop production using saline water on genetically-
engineeredcropsandgrowingfoodcropsingraint,climatecontrolledgreenhouses.
Theassessmentandmanagementofwaterresourcesinaridandsemi-aridlands
is a dynamic field of research. A positive frustration in preparing this manuscript
has been that after we ‘‘completed’’ a chapter, a new paper would later be pub-
lishedthatincludesvaluableinformationandinsightsthatrequiredfurtherrevision
of the chapter. Indeed, it is impossible to write a definitive text on any dynamic
field as science is constantly progressing.
The intended users of this book should include university students studying
engineering, hydrogeology, economics, and environmental restoration; planners
that need to understand fundamental water management principles and how they
apply to arid lands; practicing design engineers involved in surface-water
Preface vii
management, water treatment design, wastewater treatment plant design, and the
integration of multiple water treatment supply and distribution systems; and most
of all government officials and elected leaders that need to guide the decision-
makingprocessintopracticalpathwaysbasedonfundamentaleconomicprinciples
withtheneedsofthepeopleandenvironmentbeingconsideredateverystepofthe
development and implementation process. Many subjects covered in chapters or
sections of this text could be comprehensive books by themselves. Therefore, the
informationpresentedisageneralsummaryofthegeneralconceptsandprinciples
involved and available the techniques to evaluate and manage water resources.
Extensivereferencesareprovidedtoprovideagreaterdepthofunderstandingand
examples of the diversity of approaches that have been taken to evaluate arid
lands.Thefocusofthisbookislargelyongroundwaterresources,becauseinmost
arid and semi-arid lands surface water resources are limited and already fully
utilized.Surface water,particularlyinephemeralsystems,iscriticalasthe source
of groundwater recharge. Groundwater quality issues, particularly contamination,
are of increasing importance, but merit a dedicated book in itself to adequately
address.
Fort Myers, FL, USA, March 2012 Robert Maliva
Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, March 2012 Thomas Missimer
Acknowledgments
Theideas andconcepts presentedinthisbookare largely theproductofthe work
of numerous dedicated workers in the water resources field. We are particularly
grateful for the insights over the years from co-workers too numerous to name.
Hydrology and hydrogeology, in common with other sciences, has advanced lar-
gely in an evolutionary manner through the diverse contributions of many scien-
tists and engineers working throughout the world. Indeed, the greatest benefit of
researching and writing this book has been the discovery or rediscovery of
importantandvaluableworkperformedbyearlierworkersinthefield.Theauthors
would particularly like to thank the following people for their thoughtful reviews
of parts of the books: Vincent Amy, Weixing Guo, Lisa Latkowski, Frank Win-
slow,SteveCarroll,RobinNava,ShahnawazSinha,JörgDrewes,KimChoonNg,
Christiana Hoppe-Jones, Khan Jadoon, and Nigel Merte, Mr. Samir Al-Mashha-
rawiprovidedsomeimportantphotographs.WealsothankstheeditorsatSpringer
for their diligent work on the manuscript.
ix
Contents
Part I Arid Regions Water Management and Issues
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Global Water Budget and Water Stress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3 Technical Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.4 Socioeconomic and Political Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.5 Appropriateness, Values, and Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2 Aridity and Drought. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1 Definition of Aridity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2 Aridity Indices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3 Causes of Aridity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.4 Droughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.4.1 Definition of Droughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.4.2 Impacts of Drought. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4.3 Drought Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.5 Deserts and Desertification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.5.1 Great Plains Dust Bowl of the 1930s. . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.5.2 Causes and Management of Desertification . . . . . . 36
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Part II Arid Lands Geology and Hydrogeology: An Overview
3 Geology of Arid Lands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.2 Geomorphology and Geology of Arid Lands . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.2.2 Mountains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
xi
xii Contents
3.2.3 Low-Angle Bedrock Surfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.2.4 Alluvial Fans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.2.5 River Plains (Fluvial Deposits). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.2.6 Dry Watercourses (Arroyos and Wadis). . . . . . . . . 72
3.2.7 Badlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.2.8 Playas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.2.9 Sand Seas (Ergs). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.2.10 Desert Flats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.2.11 Recent Volcanic Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.3 Arid Lands Geology and Hydrogeology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4 Aquifer Concepts in Arid Lands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.1 Aquifer Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.1.1 Aquifer Hydraulic Classification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.1.2 Perched Aquifers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.2 Arid Lands Aquifer Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.2.1 Local Alluvial Aquifers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.2.2 Sand Dune (erg) Aquifers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.2.3 Basin-Fill Aquifers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
4.2.4 Intermontane and Submontane Carbonate
and Sandstone Aquifers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
4.2.5 Fractured Rock Aquifers (Hard-Rock Aquifers) . . . 109
4.2.6 Regional and Intermediate Aquifers
and Flow Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.2.7 Non-renewable Groundwater Resources. . . . . . . . . 112
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
5 Introduction to Aquifer Hydraulics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5.1.1 Aquifer Heads, Potentiometric Surface,
and Groundwater Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5.2 Groundwater Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.3 Aquifer Hydraulic Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
5.3.1 Transmissivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5.3.2 Storativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5.3.3 Leakance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
5.3.4 Hydraulic Diffusivity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.4 Porosity and Storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.5 Aquifer Heterogeneity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
5.6 Vadose Zone Hydrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.6.1 Capillary Processes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.6.2 Water Potential. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133