Abstract
Numerical groundwater modeling is an effective tool to guide water resources management and explore complex groundwater-dependent ecosystems in arid regions. In the Heihe River Basin (HRB), China’s second largest inland river basin located in arid northwest China, a series of groundwater flow models have been developed for those purposes over the past 20 years. These models have elucidated the characteristics of groundwater flow systems and provided the scientific basis for a more sustainable management of groundwater resources and ecosystem services. The first part of this paper presents an overview of previous groundwater modeling studies and key lessons learned based on seven different groundwater models in the middle and lower HRB at sub-basin scales. The second part reviews the rationale for development of a regional basin-scale groundwater flow model that unifies previous sub-basin models. In addition, this paper discusses the opportunities and challenges in developing a regional groundwater flow model in an arid river basin such as the HRB.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Belcher W R, Sweetkind D S. 2010. Death Valley regional groundwater flow system, Nevada and California hydrogeologic framework and transient groundwater flow model. US Geol Survey Prof Paper, 1711: 398
Cao G L, Zheng C M, Scanlon B R, et al. 2013. Use of flow modeling to assess sustainability of groundwater resources in the North China Plain. Water Resour Res, 49: 159–175
Cao Y P, Nan Z T, Hu X L. 2012. Estimating groundwater storage changes in the Heihe River Basin using GRACE. In: Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). IEEE International. 798–801
Chen C X, Jiao J J. 1999. Numerical simulation of pumping tests in multilayer wells with non-Darcian flow in the wellbore. Ground Water, 37: 465–474
Chen C X. 1998. The weight function method for hysteresis recharge (in Chinese with English abstract). Hydrogeol Engineer Geol, 25: 22–24
Chen J S, Li L, Wang J Y, et al. 2004. Water resources: Groundwater maintains dune landscape. Nature, 432: 459–460
Cheng G D, Li X, Zhao W Z, et al. 2014. Integrated study of the water-ecosystem-economy in the Heihe River Basin. Nat Sci Rev, 1: 413–428
Cui Y, Shao J L. 2005. The role of ground water in arid/semiarid ecosystems, northwest China. Ground Water, 43: 471–477
Ding H W, Zhang J, Lu Z, et al. 2006. Characteristics and cycle conversion of water resources in the Hexi Corridor (in Chinese with English abstract). Arid Zone Research, 2: 8
Gates J B, Edmunds W M, Darling W G, et al. 2008. Conceptual model of recharge to southeastern Badain Jaran Desert groundwater and lakes from environmental tracers. Appl Geochem, 23: 3519–3534
Gillespie J, Nelson S T, Mayo A L, et al. 2012. Why conceptual groundwater flow models matter: A trans-boundary example from the arid Great Basin, western USA. Hydrogeol J, 20: 1133–1147
Hayashi M, Rosenberry D O. 2002. Effects of ground water exchange on the hydrology and ecology of surface water. Ground water, 40: 309–316
Hill M C, Faunt C C, Belcher W R, et al. 2013. Knowledge, transparency, and refutability in groundwater models, an example from the death valley regional groundwater flow system. Phys Chem Earth-Parts A/B/C, 64: 105–116
Hu L T, Chen C X, Jiao J J, et al. 2007. Simulated groundwater interaction with rivers and springs in the Heihe River Basin. Hydrol Process, 21: 2794–2806
Hunt R J, Luchette J, Schreuder W A. et al. 2010. Using a cloud to replenish parched groundwater modeling efforts. Ground Water, 48: 360–365
Huang L, Zheng C M, Liu J, et al. 2012. Application of distributed temperature sensing to study groundwater-surface water interactions in the Heihe River Basin (in Chinese with English abstract). Hydrogeol Engineering Geol, 39: 1–6
Jia Y W, Wang H, Yan D H. 2006. Distributed model of hydrological cycle system in Heihe River Basin (in Chinese with English abstract). J Hydraul Engineer, 37: 534–542
Jia Y W, Ding X, Qin C, et al. 2009. Distributed modeling of landsurface water and energy budgets in the inland Heihe River Basin of China. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci, 13: 1849–1866
Kahle S C, Bartolino J R. 2007. Hydrogeologic Framework and Ground-Water Budget of the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, Spokane County, Washington, and Bonner and Kootenai Counties, Idaho. US Geological Survey
Klijn F, Witte J P M. 1999. Eco-hydrology: Groundwater flow and site factors in plant ecology. Hydrogeol J, 7: 65–77
Krysanova V, Hattermann F, Wechsung F. 2005. Development of the ecohydrological model SWIM for regional impact studies and vulnerability assessment. Hydrol Process, 19: 763–783
Li X, Cheng G D, Liu S M, et al. 2013. Heihe Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (HiWATER): Scientific objectives and experimental design. Bull Amer Meteorol Soc, 94: 1145–1160
Li X, Roth W, Menenti K, et al. 2011. Observing and modeling the catchment scale water cycle. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci, 15: 597–601
Liu H L, Chen X, Bao A M, et al. 2007. Investigation of groundwater response to overland flow and topography using a coupled MIKE SHE/MIKE 11 modeling system for an arid watershed. J Hydrol, 347: 448–459
Liu Y, Sun A Y, Nelson K, et al. 2013. Cloud computing for integrated stochastic groundwater uncertainty analysis. Int J Digital Earth, 6: 313–337
Maxwell R M, Miller N L. 2005. Development of a coupled land surface and groundwater model. J Hydrometeorol, 6: 233–247
Min L L, Yu J J, Liu C M, et al. 2013. The spatial variability of streambed vertical hydraulic conductivity in an intermittent river, northwestern China. Environ Earth Sciences, 69: 1–11
Monteiro J P, Ribeiro L, Reis E, et al. 2007. Modelling stream-groundwater interactions in the Querença-Silves aquifer system. In: Proceeding of the XXXV IAH Congress, Groundwater and Ecosystems, Lisbon. 17–21
Niswonger R G, Regan R S, Prudic D E, et al. 2008. GSFLOW, Coupled Ground-Water and Surface-Water Flow Model Based on the Integration of the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and the Modular Ground-Water Flow Model (MODFLOW-2005). US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey. 240
Pool D R, Blasch K W, Callegary J B, et al. 2011. Regional Groundwater-Flow Model of the Redwall-Muav, Coconino, and Alluvial Basin Aquifer Systems of Northern and Central Arizona. USGS Scientific Investigation Report 2010-5189, 1.1, 101
Sanford W. 2002. Recharge and groundwater models: An overview. Hydrogeol J, 10: 110–120
Scanlon B R, Tyler S W, Wierenga P J. 1997. Hydrologic issues in arid, unsaturated systems and implications for contaminant transport. Rev Geophys, 35: 461–490
Strassberg G, Maidment D R, Jones N L. 2007. A geographic data model for representing ground water systems. Ground Water, 45: 515–518
Su J P. 2005. Groundwater flow modeling and sustainable utilization of water resources in Zhangye Basin of Heihe River Basin, Northwestern China (in Chinese with English abstract). Doctoral Dissertation. Lanzhou: Cold and Arid Regions Environ and Eng Res Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Tian W, Li X, Cheng G D, et al. 2012. Coupling a groundwater model with a land surface model to improve water and energy cycle simulation. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci, 16: 4707–4723
Wang G X, Cheng G D. 1999. The spatial pattern and influence caused by water resources in arid desert oases. Acta Geol Sin-Engl Ed, 20: 363–368
Wang X S, Ma M G, Li X, et al. 2010. Groundwater response to leakage of surface water through a thick vadose zone in the middle reaches area of Heihe River Basin, in China. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci, 14: 639–650
Wang X S, Zhou J. 2009. Advances in numerical modeling of groundwater flow in Heihe River Basin (in Chinese with English abstract). Geotechnical Investigation & Surveying
Wang P, Yu J J, Zhang Y C, et al. 2012. Groundwater recharge and hydrogeochemical evolution in the Ejina Basin, northwest China. J Hydrol, 476: 72–86
West D C. 2011a. Heihe River Basin boundary. Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Science (CAREERI). http://westdc.westgis.ac.cn/data/60c01a0d-6b7e-401b-a864-bc94f0941a3b
West D C. 2011b. River network dataset of the Heihe River Basin. Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Science (CAREERI). doi: 10.3972/heihe.0010.db
Williams W D. 1999. Salinization: A major threat to water resources in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Lakes Reserv-Res Management, 4: 85–91
Wu B, Zheng Y, Tian Y, et al. 2014. Systematic assessment of the uncertainty in integrated surface water-groundwater modeling based on the probabilistic collocation method. Water Resour Res, 50: 5848–5865
Wu X M, Chen C X, Shi S S, et al. 2003. Three-dimensional numerical simulation of groundwater system in Ejina Basin, Heihe River, Northwestern China (in Chinese with English abstract). J China Univ Geosci, 28: 527–532
Xi H Y, Feng Q, Liu W, et al. 2010. The research of groundwater flow model in Ejina Basin, northwestern China. Environ Earth Sci, 60: 953–963
Yao Y, Zheng C, Liu J, et al. 2014. Conceptual and numerical models for groundwater flow in an arid inland river basin. Hydrol Process, doi: 10.1002/hyp.10276
Yin L, Zhao L J, Ruan Y F, et al. 2012. Study of the replenishment sources of typical ecosystems water and dominant plant water in the lower reaches of Heihe, China (in Chinese with English abstract). J Glaciol Geocryol, 34: 1478–1486
Yu J J, Wang P. 2012. Relationship between water and vegetation in the Ejina Delta. Agricul Water Ecol, 26: 86–75
Zang C F, Liu J G, Velde M, et al. 2012. Assessment of spatial and temporal patterns of green and blue water flows under natural conditions in inland river basins in northwest China. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci, 16: 2859–2870
Zhang G H. 2005. Mechanism of Water Cycle, Groundwater Formation and Evolution in Northwest Heihe River Basin. Beijing: Geological Publishing House
Zhao L J, Yin L, Xiao H L, et al. 2011. Isotopic evidence for the moisture origin and composition of surface runoff in the headwaters of the Heihe River Basin. Chin Sci Bull, 56: 406–415
Zhao L J, Xiao H L, Dong Z B, et al. 2012. Origins of groundwater inferred from isotopic patterns of the Badain Jaran Desert, northwestern China. Ground Water, 50: 715–725
Zhao W Z, Chang X L, He Z B, et al. 2007. Study on vegetation ecological water requirement in Ejina Oasis. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 50: 121–129
Zhou J, Hu B X, Cheng G D, et al. 2011. Development of a three-dimensional watershed modelling system for water cycle in the middle part of the Heihe rivershed, in the west of China. Hydrol Process, 25: 1964–1978
Zhou X Z, Zhao J D, Wang Z G, et al. 1990. Sustainable utilization of groundwater resources in middle stream of Heihe River Basin (in Chinese). Geol Survey Report
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yao, Y., Zheng, C., Tian, Y. et al. Numerical modeling of regional groundwater flow in the Heihe River Basin, China: Advances and new insights. Sci. China Earth Sci. 58, 3–15 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-014-5033-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-014-5033-y