Recharge assessment in the context of expanding agricultural activity: Urucuia Aquifer System, western State of Bahia, Brazil

Authors

Glauco Z.S. Eger, Federal University of Rio de JaneiroFollow
Gerson C. Silva Junior, Federal University of Rio de JaneiroFollow
Eduardo A.G. Marques, Federal University of Viçosa
Bernardo R.C. Leão, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Diana G.T.B. da Rocha, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Troy E. Gilmore, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Luís G.H. do Amaral, Federal University of Western Bahia
Juremá A.O. Silva, Federal University of Western Bahia
Christopher Neale, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

10-18-2021

Citation

Published in Journal of South American Earth Sciences 112 (2021) 103601

doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103601

Comments

Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. Used by permission.

Abstract

Groundwater recharge rate estimation is crucial to sustainable development of aquifers in intensely pumped regions, such as the Urucuia Aquifer System (UAS). A sedimentary aquifer in Western Bahia, Brazil, that underlies one of the major agricultural areas of the country where there has been major growth of irrigated areas. This study seeks to evaluate the recharge component of the water budget in the UAS area, based on three complementary techniques. The double-ring infiltrometer test was used to evaluate surface infiltration capacity, an important control on recharge. Water level data from wells (2011–2019 period, 19 wells) in the Brazilian Geological Survey’s Integrated Groundwater Monitoring Network (RIMAS-CPRM) was used to estimate the aquifer recharge using the water table fluctuation (WTF) method. Additionally, this study used the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model in two selected sub-basins to estimate deep recharge from the surface hydrological data. The results of the infiltrometer tests show a notable difference in the infiltration rates between the natural vegetation zones and cropped areas. The WTF and SWAT simulations results suggest similar ranges of recharge rate (an average of 24% of precipitation, in both methods). Results of the study indicate equivalence of these methods to estimate the recharge in sedimentary unconfined aquifers as UAS.