Model Estimation of Depression-focused Groundwater Recharge and its Variability in the Canadian Prairies
Date
2024-08-28
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Abstract
The Canadian Prairies is characterized by a cold, semiarid climate with topographical variations containing numerous depressions. These depressions play an important role in the hydrology of the prairie region by storing runoff water and replenishing groundwater through focused infiltration termed as depression-focused groundwater recharge. This study investigated the spatial distribution of depression-focused groundwater recharge in Alberta and Saskatchewan using a soil-water-balance model named Versatile Soil Moisture Budget-Depression Upland System (VSMB-DUS). Automated digital elevation model (DEM) analysis was used to identify topographical depressions across Alberta and Saskatchewan and to determine hydrologically relevant parameters. Hourly meteorological data of Alberta and Saskatchewan, along with land-use data collected from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, were used to run simulations using VSMB-DUS. A statistical approach was developed to distribute the simulated groundwater recharge across similar surficial geological settings. Simulations also incorporated the effects of different types of land use in the two prairie provinces. A chloride mass balance method was used to estimate regional-scale groundwater recharge for a comparison with model-simulated recharge. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine uncertainty in the recharge estimation. Results showed that depression-focused groundwater recharge ranges from 2 to 55 mm yr-1 in Alberta and Saskatchewan with an uncertainty of 3–15 mm yr-1. Simulated recharge was higher under managed grassland and cropland scenarios compared to unmanaged grassland, indicating the sensitivity of recharge to agricultural practices.
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Keywords
groundwater, recharge, prairies
Citation
Uddin, S. (2024). Model estimation of depression-focused groundwater recharge and its variability in the Canadian Prairies (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.