Groundwater Behaviour in Subsurface Area of Underground Dams

Abstract

As there exists situations where coastal aquifers need to be exploited at least at levels below through flow [1], there is a need to develop management techniques that facilitate this. Construction of underground dams is one such technique that allows abstraction but prevents the saline wedge intruding particularly when the cone of depression is at its lowest. Here, ground water behaviour in subsurface area of underground dams have been investigated. Figures based on the calculation results of the saturated and unsaturated analysis in three dimensions by Finite Element Method are sequentially plotted in transient time and thereby ground water movement in areas of underground dams have been investigated. It has been found that while there is a strong dependence on initial and boundary conditions as well as goodness of model calibration, it can be concluded that the proposed technique could be used for planning, designing and managing underground dams for salinity control.