1. Groundwater Hydraulics Daene C. McKinney
Introduction
Groundwater Hydraulics
Daene C. McKinney

2. Course Objectives Introduction to groundwater, including:
Groundwater in the hydrologic cycle
Characteristics of porous media
Darcy's law of flow in porous media
Continuity principles
Well hydraulics and aquifer testing
Applications of groundwater hydraulics
Characteristics of unsaturated flow

3. Housekeeping Prerequisites: CE 356 Hydraulics Text: Homework:
Groundwater Hydrology, Todd, David Keith, Larry W. Mays, John Wiley & Sons, 2004
Homework:
Due dates on web site
Excessively late (> 2 days) penalized 50% per day late
Expectations:
Clear presentation,
No computational errors, Answers clearly marked, Units marked and used correctly
Software:
GroundwaterVistas (graphical interface for USGS MODFLOW)
Available on CAEE Virtual Workspace

4. Housekeeping (Cont.) Grading: Exam 1: 17% Exam 2: 17% Homework: 32%
Project: 3 parts
Part 1 – 5%
Part 2 – 10%
Part 3 – 19%
Letter grades will be
assigned as follows:
A 92 – 100%
A- 89 – 91%
B+ 86 – 88%
B 82 – 85%
B- 79 – 81%
C+ 76 – 78%
C 70 – 75%
C- 67 – 69%
D+ 64 – 66%
D 58 – 63%
D- 55 – 58%
F < 55%

5. Projects
Work in a team on a design project dealing with limiting hydraulic containment of a contaminated aquifer
Real, complex groundwater issue
Each team
Make a video presentation of their results
Deliver the final video (the presentation, model and results)
Critique other teams’ videos
Purposes of the project:
Enable you to explore in-depth an aspect of groundwater
Provide experience formulating, executing and presenting a groundwater investigation

6. Groundwater and Aquifers
Groundwater Hydraulics
Daene C. McKinney

7. Some Terminology Hydrology ()
 - “water”;  - “study of”
Study of Water: properties, distribution, and effects on the Earth’s surface, soil, and atmosphere
Water Management
Sustainable use of water resources
Manipulating the hydrologic cycle
Hydraulic structures, water supply, water treatment, wastewater treatment & disposal, irrigation, hydropower generation, flood control, etc.

8. Some History Qanats Chinese Salt Wells
Subterranean tunnels used to tap and transport groundwater
Originally in Persia
Kilometers in length
Up to 3000 years old
Many still operating
Chinese Salt Wells
1000 years ago: Drilled wells
Over 300 meters deep
Bamboo to retrieve cuttings
By year 1858: meters deep
Called “cable tool” drilling today
Ancient Persian Qanat
Ancient Chinese Salt Well

9. Old Theories Homer (~1000 BC) Vitruvius (~80-20 BC)
“from whom all rivers are and the entire sea and all springs and all deep wells have their waters”
Vitruvius (~80-20 BC)
8th Book on Water and Aqueducts. Rain and snow on land reappears as springs and rivers
Seneca (3 BC -65 AD)
“You may be quite sure that it not mere rainwater that is carried down into our greatest rivers.”
Da Vinci ( )
accurate representation of the hydrologic cycle
Palissy ( ).
French scientist and potter - accurate representation of the hydrologic cycle

10. Old Theories (Cont.) Descartes (1596-1650) Kircher (1615-1680)
Vapors are drawn up from the earth and condensed…
Kircher ( )
Water from the ocean is vaporized by the hot earth, rises, and condenses inside mountains.
Perrault (1670):
Water balance on the Seine. River flow explained by rainfall.
Mariotte ( ).
French physicist. First recharge estimates. Leaky roof analogy.

11. Modern Theories Henri Darcy (1856) King (1899)
Relationship for the flow through sand filters. Resistance of flow through aquifers. Solution for unsteady flow.
King (1899)
Water table maps, groundwater flow, cross-section
Hazen, Slichter, O. E. Meinzer (1900s)
Practical applications, basing on theoretical principles of French hydrogeology
C.V. Theis (1930s)
Well Hydraulics
Henri Darcy
C.V. Theis

12. Global Water Resources
68.9% Glaciers & Permanent
Snow Cover
29.9% Fresh
Ground water
0.9% Other including
soil moisture, swamp
water and permafrost
97.5%
Salt
Water
0.3% Freshwater Lakes &
River Storage. Only this portion is renewable
2.5% OF TOTAL GLOBAL (Freshwater)
TOTAL GLOBAL (Water)
Groundwater Management in IWRM: Training Manual, GW-MATE, 2010

13. Principal sources of fresh water for human activities
Global Water Cycle
Residence time:
Average travel time for water through a subsystem of the hydrologic cycle
Tr = S/Q
Storage/flowrate
Principal sources of fresh water for human activities
(44,800 km3/yr)

14. Hydrologic Cycle (Local view)
Atmospheric Moisture
Snow
Rain
Evaporation
Interception
Energy
Throughfall and
Stem Flow
Snowpack
Snowmelt
Watershed
Boundary
Surface
Pervious
Impervious
Infiltration
Our focus
Evapotranspiration
Soil Moisture
Percolation
Overland
Flow
Groundwater
Groundwater Flow
Evaporation
Streams and Lakes
Channel Flow
Runoff

15. Water Budgets Surface water budget P + Qin – Qout + Qg – ETs – I = DSs
Groundwater budget
I + Gin – Gout - Qg – ETg = DSg
3. System budget (1 + 2)
P + DQ + DG – ET = DS
Net to groundwater
DG = DS - P + DQ + ET
DQ = (Qin–Qout) = Net to Surface Water
DG = (Gin–Gout) = Net to Groundwater

16. Major Aquifers of Texas
Ogallala
Edwards

17. Edwards Aquifer Primary geologic unit is Edwards Limestone
One of the most permeable and productive aquifers in the U.S.
The aquifer occurs in 3 distinct segments:
Contributing zone
Recharge zone
Artesian zone

18. Contributing Zone of Edwards Aquifer
Located north and west of the aquifer in the region referred to as the Edwards Plateau or Texas Hill Country
Largest part of the aquifer spanning 4400 sq. miles
Water in this region travels to recharge zone

19. Recharge Zone of Edwards Aquifer
Geologically known as the Balcones fault zone
It consists of an abundance of Edwards Limestone that is exposed at the surface
-provides path for water to reach the artesian zone

20. Artesian Zone of Edwards Aquifer
The artesian zone is a complex system of interconnected voids varying from microscopic pores to open caverns
Located between two relatively less permeable layers that confine and pressurize the system
Underlies 2100 square miles of land

21. Flowpaths of the Edwards Aquifer

22. The Ogallala Aquifer
Approximately 170,000 wells draw water from the aquifer.
Water level declines of 2-3 feet per year in some regions .
Only 10% is restored by rainfall.

23. Example Ogallala Well Hydrograph

24. Water Level Change up to 1980
The Ogallala Aquifer
Water Level Change up to 1980
Water Level Change

25. Summary Course Introduction and Housekeeping Groundwater and Aqufiers
Terminology
History
Global Water Resources
Global Water Cycle
Texas Aquifers
Edwards
Ogallala