Pumping test evaluation of stream depletion parameters.

Descriptions are given of a pumping test and a corresponding analysis that permit calculation of all five hydrogeological parameters appearing in the Hunt (2003) solution for stream depletion caused by ground water abstraction from a well beside a stream. This solution assumes that flow in the pumped aquifer is horizontal, flow in the overlying aquitard or system of aquitards is vertical, and the free surface in the top aquitard is allowed to draw down. The definition of an aquitard in this paper is any layer with a vertical hydraulic conductivity much lower than the horizontal hydraulic conductivity of the pumped aquifer. These "aquitards" may be reasonably permeable layers but are distinguished from the pumped aquifer by their hydraulic conductivity contrast. The pumping test requires a complete set of drawdown measurements from at least one observation well. This well must be deep enough to penetrate the pumped aquifer, and pumping must continue for a sufficient time to ensure that depleted streamflow becomes a significant portion of the well abstraction rate. Furthermore, two of the five parameters characterize an aquitard that overlies the pumped aquifer, and values for these parameters are seen to be dependent upon the initial water table elevation in the aquitard. The field test analyzed herein used a total of eight observation wells screened in the pumped aquifer, and measurements from these wells gave eight sets of parameters that are used in a sensitivity analysis to determine the relative importance of each parameter in the stream depletion calculations.

[1]  S. E. Kelly,et al.  Measuring the Hydraulic Conductivity of Shallow Submerged Sediments , 2003, Ground water.

[2]  B. Hunt,et al.  A Stream Depletion Field Experiment , 2001, Ground water.

[3]  Response to Comment by H. Lough, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, on the Paper " Stream Depletion Predictions using Pumping Test Data from A Heterogeneous Stream-Aquifer System (A Case Study from the Gr , 2004 .

[4]  B. Hunt.  Unsteady Stream Depletion when Pumping from Semiconfined Aquifer , 2003 .

[5]  Richard L. Cooley,et al.  Effect of a water table aquitard on drawdown in an underlying pumped aquifer , 1973 .

[6]  Garey A. Fox.  Evaluation of a Stream Aquifer Analysis Test Using Analytical Solutions and Field Data , 2004 .

[7]  Diane M. McKnight,et al.  Transport and cycling of iron and hydrogen peroxide in a freshwater stream: Influence of organic acids , 2003 .

[8]  M. K. Landon,et al.  Comparison of Instream Methods for Measuring Hydraulic Conductivity in Sandy Streambeds , 2001, Ground water.

[9]  The influence of delayed drainage on data from pumping tests in unconfined aquifers , 1973 .

[10]  Bruce Hunt.  Visual Basic programs for spreadsheet analysis. , 2005, Ground water.

[11]  Thomas Nyholm,et al.  Flow depletion in a small stream caused by ground water abstraction from wells. , 2002, Ground water.

[12]  Xunhong Chen,et al.  Measurement of streambed hydraulic conductivity and its anisotropy , 2000 .

[13]  B. Hunt,et al.  Extension of Hantush and Boulton Solutions , 2005 .

[14]  Marios Sophocleous,et al.  Experimental studies in stream-aquifer interaction along the Arkansas river in central Kansas-field testing and analysis , 1988 .

[15]  Robert E. Glover,et al.  River depletion resulting from pumping a well near a river , 1954 .

[16]  Vitaly A. Zlotnik,et al.  Stream depletion predictions using pumping test data from a heterogeneous stream–aquifer system (a case study from the Great Plains, USA) , 2003 .

[17]  C. V. Theis.  The effect of a well on the flow of a nearby stream , 1941 .

[18]  G. Fox.  Estimating Streambed and Aquifer Parameters from a Stream/Aquifer Analysis Test , 2003 .

[19]  Bruce Hunt,et al.  Unsteady Stream Depletion from Ground Water Pumping , 1999 .

[20]  Vitaly A. Zlotnik,et al.  Three‐dimensional model of modern channel bend deposits , 2003 .

[21]  M. S. Hantush,et al.  Wells near streams with semipervious beds , 1965 .