Regional assessment of groundwater recharge in the lower Mekong Basin

Groundwater recharge remains almost totally unknown across the Mekong River Basin, hindering the evaluation of groundwater potential for irrigation. A regional regression model was developed to map groundwater recharge across the Lower Mekong Basin where agricultural water demand is increasing, espe...

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Autores principales: Lacombe, Guillaume, Douangsavanh, Somphasith, Vongphachanh, S., Pavelic, Paul
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91298
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author Lacombe, Guillaume
Douangsavanh, Somphasith
Vongphachanh, S.
Pavelic, Paul
author_browse Douangsavanh, Somphasith
Lacombe, Guillaume
Pavelic, Paul
Vongphachanh, S.
author_facet Lacombe, Guillaume
Douangsavanh, Somphasith
Vongphachanh, S.
Pavelic, Paul
author_sort Lacombe, Guillaume
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Groundwater recharge remains almost totally unknown across the Mekong River Basin, hindering the evaluation of groundwater potential for irrigation. A regional regression model was developed to map groundwater recharge across the Lower Mekong Basin where agricultural water demand is increasing, especially during the dry season. The model was calibrated with baseflow computed with the local-minimum flow separation method applied to streamflow recorded in 65 unregulated sub-catchments since 1951. Our results, in agreement with previous local studies, indicate that spatial variations in groundwater recharge are predominantly controlled by the climate (rainfall and evapotranspiration) while aquifer characteristics seem to play a secondary role at this regional scale. While this analysis suggests large scope for expanding agricultural groundwater use, the map derived from this study provides a simple way to assess the limits of groundwater-fed irrigation development. Further data measurements to capture local variations in hydrogeology will be required to refine the evaluation of recharge rates to support practical implementations.
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spelling CGSpace912982025-03-11T09:50:20Z Regional assessment of groundwater recharge in the lower Mekong Basin Lacombe, Guillaume Douangsavanh, Somphasith Vongphachanh, S. Pavelic, Paul groundwater recharge groundwater water demand stream flow rain evapotranspiration aquifers catchment areas land cover geology Groundwater recharge remains almost totally unknown across the Mekong River Basin, hindering the evaluation of groundwater potential for irrigation. A regional regression model was developed to map groundwater recharge across the Lower Mekong Basin where agricultural water demand is increasing, especially during the dry season. The model was calibrated with baseflow computed with the local-minimum flow separation method applied to streamflow recorded in 65 unregulated sub-catchments since 1951. Our results, in agreement with previous local studies, indicate that spatial variations in groundwater recharge are predominantly controlled by the climate (rainfall and evapotranspiration) while aquifer characteristics seem to play a secondary role at this regional scale. While this analysis suggests large scope for expanding agricultural groundwater use, the map derived from this study provides a simple way to assess the limits of groundwater-fed irrigation development. Further data measurements to capture local variations in hydrogeology will be required to refine the evaluation of recharge rates to support practical implementations. 2017 2018-03-07T10:16:32Z 2018-03-07T10:16:32Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91298 en Open Access MDPI Lacombe, Guillaume; Douangsavanh, S.; Vongphachanh, S.; Pavelic, Paul. 2017. Regional assessment of groundwater recharge in the lower Mekong Basin. Hydrology. 4(4):1-18.. http://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/4/4/60/pdf. 10.3390/hydrology4040060
spellingShingle groundwater recharge
groundwater
water demand
stream flow
rain
evapotranspiration
aquifers
catchment areas
land cover
geology
Lacombe, Guillaume
Douangsavanh, Somphasith
Vongphachanh, S.
Pavelic, Paul
Regional assessment of groundwater recharge in the lower Mekong Basin
title Regional assessment of groundwater recharge in the lower Mekong Basin
title_full Regional assessment of groundwater recharge in the lower Mekong Basin
title_fullStr Regional assessment of groundwater recharge in the lower Mekong Basin
title_full_unstemmed Regional assessment of groundwater recharge in the lower Mekong Basin
title_short Regional assessment of groundwater recharge in the lower Mekong Basin
title_sort regional assessment of groundwater recharge in the lower mekong basin
topic groundwater recharge
groundwater
water demand
stream flow
rain
evapotranspiration
aquifers
catchment areas
land cover
geology
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91298
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