ABE 413
Land and Water Conservation Engineering
Chapter 2
Sustainable Water Resources Development and Management
Luis L. Burgos II
Instructor
College of Engineering
[email protected]
09092731887
Sustainable Water Resources Development and Management
Upon completion of this lesson, the students should be able to:
Determine the different sources of water
Discuss water resource assessment/characterization
Discuss water resource development
Sustainable development of water resources is about managing water in a way that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs. This involves ensuring the availability and quality of water for drinking, agriculture,
industry, and ecosystem health.
Sources of Water
The main sources of water are surface water, groundwater, and rainwater. Surface water is
found in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Groundwater is located beneath the Earth's surface in
aquifers and can be accessed by wells. Rainwater is collected from precipitation and can be
harvested from rooftops and other surfaces.
Groundwater Hydrology
Aquifer refers to a porous geologic formation that is capable of storing and transmitting water
sufficient quantities that permit economic development.
Aquiclude is a formation that contains groundwater but is not capable of transmitting it at
sufficient quantities.
Aquitard is a special formation that can store groundwater but can only transmit it at slow
rates.
Types of Aquifer
Unconfined Aquifers - These are the topmost water-bearing layers. The upper boundary of an
unconfined aquifer is the water table, which is in direct contact with the atmosphere and
permeable soil above.
Confined Aquifers - These are located below an impermeable layer of rock or clay.
Semi-Confined Aquifers - These are also called "leaky aquifers". They are confined by layers
of rock that are not completely impermeable but allow water to slowly pass through.
Properties of Aquifer
Hydraulic conductivity refers to the flow rate per unit area normal to the flow direction
resulting from one unit of hydraulic gradient causing the flow.
Transmissivity also known as transmissibility is an aquifer property which represents
its ability to transmit water throughout its entire saturated thickness. It is computed as
T = Kb
Where: K = average hydraulic conductivity
b = thickness of the aquifer
Storage coefficient or storativity refers to the volume of water that can be stored in or
release in or released from the aquifer per unit horizontal area per unit change in hydraulic
head.
Specific Storage refers to the change in storage in an aquifer per unit decline in head.
Specific Yield also known as effective porosity refers to the volume of water released
from storage in an unconfined aquifer per unit horizontal area per unit decline in water table.
Specific Retention refers to the volume of water that remains within the porous of the
aquifer after releasing the stored volume.
Governing Equations for Groundwater Flow
Darcy’s Law
𝒅𝒉
𝑸 = −𝒌𝑨 𝒅𝒍
Where:
Q = groundwater flow rate
K = hydraulic conductivity
A = cross sectional area normal to the flow direction
dh/dl = hydraulic gradient
Well Hydraulics
𝒅𝒉
𝑸 = −𝒌𝑨 𝒅𝒓
With dh/dr = hydraulic gradient in radial direction
Steady Radial Flow in Unconfined Aquifers
𝝅𝒌(𝒉𝟐𝟐 − 𝒉𝟐𝟏 )
𝑸= 𝒓
𝒍𝒏( 𝟐 )
𝒓𝟏
Where:
Q = well discharge
= groundwater flow rate towards the well
k = hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer
h2 = piezometric head at a radial distance r2 from the well
h1 = piezometric head at a radial distance r1 from the well
r1 and r2 are radial distances corresponding to h1 and h2
Steady Radial Flow in Confined Aquifers
𝟐𝝅𝒌𝒃(𝒉𝟐 − 𝒉𝟏 )
𝑸= 𝒓
𝒍𝒏( 𝟐 )
𝒓𝟏
Where:
Q = well discharge
= groundwater flow rate towards the well
k = hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer
b = average thickness of the confined aquifer
h2 = piezometric head at a radial distance r2 from the well
h1 = piezometric head at a radial distance r1 from the well
r1 and r2 are radial distances corresponding to h1 and h2
Hydraulic Gradient is the rate of change in hydraulic head per unit distance along the flow
path, essentially the slope of the water table or piezometric surface.
Drawdown is the lowering of the water level in an aquifer due to the extraction of groundwater,
typically by pumping a well. This decrease in water level creates a conical shape called the
"cone of depression" around the well.
Example 1. A confined aquifer has hydraulic conductivity of 20 m/d, thickness of 6.6 m, and
initial piezometric surface of 14.53 m above the lower confining layer. (a) What flow rate will
cause the piezometric surface to be 13.85 m at a radius of 40 m and 14.31 m at a radius of 85
m? (b) What is the water depth at the well if the well discharge diameter is 0.50 m?
Solution:
Given:
K = 20 m/d
b = 6.6 m
T = kb = (20 m/d) ( 6.6 m) = 132 m2/d
r1 = 40 m
r2 = 85 m
h1 = 13.85 m
h2 = 14.31 m
(a). Flow rate
𝟐𝝅 𝑻 (𝒉𝟐 −𝒉𝟏 ) 2𝜋 (132)(14.31−13.85)
𝑸= 𝒓 = 𝟖𝟓
𝐥𝐧( 𝟐 ) 𝒍𝒏( )
𝒓𝟏 𝟒𝟎
𝑄 = 𝟓𝟎𝟔 𝒎𝟑 /𝒅
(b). Water depth
Given:
r1 = 0.25 m
r2 = 40 m
h2 = 13.85 m
Q = 500 m3/d
𝒓
𝟐𝝅 𝑻 (𝒉𝟐 −𝒉𝟏 ) 𝑸 𝐥𝐧( 𝟐 )
𝒓𝟏
𝑸= 𝒓 𝒉𝟏 = 𝒉𝟐 −
𝐥𝐧( 𝟐 ) 𝟐𝝅 𝑻
𝒓𝟏
40
506 ln( )
0.25
ℎ1 = 13.85 − 2𝜋 (132 )
ℎ1 = 𝟏𝟎. 𝟕𝟓 𝒎
Example 2. A well Pumps 0.4 m3/s from an unconfined aquifer whose saturated thickness is
24 m. If the drawdown 50 m from the well is 1 m and the drawdown 100 m from the well is
0.5 m, then: (a) Calculate the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer. (b) Determine the expected
drawdown 5 m from the well.
Solution:
Given:
Q = 0.4 m3/s
H = 24 m
r1 = 50 m
r2 = 100 m
s1 = 1m
s2 = 0.5 m
h1 = 23 m
h2 = 23.5 m
(a). Hydraulic Conductivity
𝒓
𝝅𝒌(𝒉𝟐𝟐 − 𝒉𝟐𝟏 ) 𝑸 𝒍𝒏( 𝟐 )
𝒓
𝑸= 𝒓 𝒌 = 𝝅(𝒉𝟐 − 𝒉𝟏 𝟐 )
𝒍𝒏( 𝟐 ) 𝟐 𝟏
𝒓𝟏
𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝟎.𝟒 𝒍𝒏( )
𝒌 = 𝝅(𝟐𝟑.𝟓𝟐 −𝟓𝟎𝟐𝟑𝟐 )
𝑘 = 𝟑. 𝟖𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟑 𝒎/𝒔
(b). Drawdown
Given:
r1 = 5 m
r2 = 50 m
h2 = 23
𝒓
𝑄𝒍𝒏( 𝟐 ) 0.4 𝒍𝒏(
𝟓𝟎
)
ℎ1 = √ℎ22 −
𝒓𝟏
= √232 − 𝟓
𝝅𝒌 𝝅(𝟑.𝟖𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟑 )
ℎ1 = 21.26 𝑚
𝑠1 = 24 − 21.26 = 𝟐. 𝟕𝟒 𝒎
