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Estimation of groundwater recharge using water balance coupled with base-flow-record estimation and stable-base-flow analysis

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Environmental Geology

An Erratum to this article was published on 25 November 2006

Abstract

In this paper, the long-term mean annual groundwater recharge of Taiwan is estimated with the help of a water-balance approach coupled with the base-flow-record estimation and stable-base-flow analysis. Long-term mean annual groundwater recharge was derived by determining the product of estimated long-term mean annual runoff (the difference between precipitation and evapotranspiration) and the base-flow index (BFI). The BFI was calculated from daily streamflow data obtained from streamflow gauging stations in Taiwan. Mapping was achieved by using geographic information systems (GIS) and geostatistics. The presented approach does not require complex hydrogeologic modeling or detailed knowledge of soil characteristics, vegetation cover, or land-use practices. Contours of the resulting long-term mean annual P, BFI, runoff, groundwater recharge, and recharge rates fields are well matched with the topographical distribution of Taiwan, which extends from mountain range toward the alluvial plains of the island. The total groundwater recharge of Taiwan obtained by the employed method is about 18 billion tons per year.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the National Science Research Council of the Republic of China (contract no. NSC-88-2218-E006-020 and no. NSC-90-2625-Z006-006 projects). The organization offered us the powerful funds to finish the field investigation. The authors would like to thank Dr. Albert T. Rutledge at USGS for offering many useful suggestions on the topics. We also thank Drs. Roald G. Dzhamalov and Igor S. Zektser from the Water Problems Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences for originally suggesting that the authors should investigate the problem and for their review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Resources Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Cheng-Haw Lee & Wei-Ping Chen

  2. Hydrology Division, Water Resources Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ru-Huang Lee

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  1. Cheng-Haw Lee
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  2. Wei-Ping Chen
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Correspondence to Cheng-Haw Lee.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0561-1

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Lee, CH., Chen, WP. & Lee, RH. Estimation of groundwater recharge using water balance coupled with base-flow-record estimation and stable-base-flow analysis. Environ Geol 51, 73–82 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0305-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0305-2

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