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Streamflow depletion, defined as a reduction in streamflow resulting from groundwater pumping (Barlow et al., 2018), cannot be measured directly and therefore is always a modeled quantity. There are two general classes of groundwater models used to quantify streamflow depletion: analytical and numerical models. streamDepletr is a collection of analytical streamflow depletion models and related functions intended to make analytical streamflow depletion models more accessible.
However, anyone using analytical models should be aware that they have many more assumptions than numerical models, including:
These assumptions notwithstanding, analytical streamflow depletion models are useful tools for estimating groundwater pumping impacts on streamflow, in particular in settings where the time, data, or resources do not exist to create numerical models.
If you are interested in numerical models, I recommend you check out the excellent FloPy package for Python.
streamDepletr has a variety of streamflow depletion models; two of
the most commonly used are glover
(Glover & Balmer,
1954) and hunt
(Hunt, 1999). They differ in the the
representation of the stream-aquifer interface:
glover
is simpler and assumes a stream that fully penetrates the aquifer and no
streambed resistance to flow. In contrast, hunt
assumes the
stream partially penetrates the aquifer and has a partially clogging
streambed. hantush
is rarely used but has intermediate
functionality between glover
and hunt
and is
included in the package for completeness.
To see how these compare, let’s consider a well 150 m from a stream
in a 50 m thick, unconfined aquifer with a specific yield of 0.1 and a
hydraulic conductivity of 1e-5 meters/second. For the hunt
model we also need some information about the stream; we’ll say it’s
width is 5 m, riverbed is 10% as conductive as the aquifer, and riverbed
thickness is 1 m.
First, we’ll define the aquifer parameters common to both models:
<- seq(1, 100) # time [days]
times <- 1e-5 * 86400 # hydraulic conductivity [m/d]
K <- 50 # aquifer thickness [m]
b <- b * K # transmissivity [m2/d]
trans <- 250 # well to stream distance [m]
d <- 0.1 # specific yield [-] Sy
For hunt
, we also need some information about flow
properties of the streambed. We can estimate that using the
streambed_conductance
function:
<- streambed_conductance(
str_cond w = 5, # river width [m]
Kriv = 0.1 * K, # streambed K is 10% that of the aquifer
briv = 1
# thickness of streambed )
Now, we can use our analytical models to calculate the capture
fraction (Qf
), which is streamflow depletion expressed as a
fraction of the pumping rate:
<-
df_depletion data.frame(
times = times,
Qf_glover = glover(t = times, d = d, S = Sy, Tr = trans),
Qf_hunt = hunt(t = times, d = d, S = Sy, Tr = trans, lmda = str_cond)
)
|>
df_depletion ::pivot_longer(-times, values_to = "Qf", names_to = "model") |>
tidyr::ggplot(aes(x = times, y = Qf, color = model)) +
ggplot2geom_line() +
scale_y_continuous(limits = c(0, 1))
To demonstrate the importance of the parameterization of the
streambed in the hunt
model, we can compare capture
fraction at the end of the 100 day period:
dim(df_depletion)[1], ] # glover is ~2x hunt
df_depletion[#> times Qf_glover Qf_hunt
#> 100 100 0.3950376 0.1860926
To convert capture fraction, Qf
, to volumetric
streamflow depletion, Qs
, we simply multiply
Qf
by the pumping rate, Qw
.
<- 500 # pumping rate, [m3/d]
Qw $Qs_glover <- df_depletion$Qf_glover * Qw # streamflow depletion, [m3/d]
df_depletion$Qs_hunt <- df_depletion$Qf_hunt * Qw # streamflow depletion, [m3/d]
df_depletion
# plot results
|>
df_depletion ::select(c("times", "Qs_glover", "Qs_hunt")) |>
dplyr::pivot_longer(-times, values_to = "Qs", names_to = "model") |>
tidyr::ggplot(aes(x = times, y = Qs, color = model)) +
ggplot2geom_line()
While glover
and hunt
were originally
developed and described for continuous pumping, Jenkins (1968)
demonstrated that the principles of superposition can be used to
estimate depletion under intermittent pumping schedules. Let’s see what
happens if we turn a well on/off 3 times during a two year period:
# define pumping schedule
<- c(10, 200, 400) # days that well turns on
t_starts <- c(60, 350, 700) # days that well turns off
t_stops
# calculate depletion through time
<-
df_intermittent data.frame(
times = seq(1, 730),
Qs_intermittent =
intermittent_pumping(
t = seq(1, 730), starts = t_starts, stops = t_stops,
rates = rep(Qw, length(t_starts)),
method = "glover", d = d, S = Sy, Tr = trans
)
)
# plot - times when the well is turned on are shaded red
::ggplot(
ggplot2
df_intermittent,aes(x = times, y = Qs_intermittent)
+
) annotate("rect",
xmin = t_starts[1], xmax = t_stops[1],
ymin = -Inf, ymax = Inf, fill = "red", alpha = 0.5
+
) annotate("rect",
xmin = t_starts[2], xmax = t_stops[2],
ymin = -Inf, ymax = Inf, fill = "red", alpha = 0.5
+
) annotate("rect",
xmin = t_starts[3], xmax = t_stops[3],
ymin = -Inf, ymax = Inf, fill = "red", alpha = 0.5
+
) geom_line()
We can also pump at different rates at different times; let’s see how that changes the estimated depletion:
<- c(100, 1000, 100) # [m3/d] - must be same length as t_starts and t_stops
pump_rates $Qs_variableRate <-
df_intermittentintermittent_pumping(
t = seq(1, 730), starts = t_starts, stops = t_stops,
rates = pump_rates, method = "glover", d = d, S = Sy, Tr = trans
)
# plot - times when the well is turned on are shaded red
|>
df_intermittent ::pivot_longer(-times, values_to = "Qs", names_to = "pumpSchedule") |>
tidyr::ggplot(aes(x = times, y = Qs, linetype = pumpSchedule)) +
ggplot2annotate("rect",
xmin = t_starts[1], xmax = t_stops[1],
ymin = -Inf, ymax = Inf, fill = "red", alpha = 0.5
+
) annotate("rect",
xmin = t_starts[2], xmax = t_stops[2],
ymin = -Inf, ymax = Inf, fill = "red", alpha = 0.5
+
) annotate("rect",
xmin = t_starts[3], xmax = t_stops[3],
ymin = -Inf, ymax = Inf, fill = "red", alpha = 0.5
+
) geom_line()
The most common ‘real world’ application for analytical models is estimating the impacts of a (proposed or existing) pumping well on a stream network. streamDepletr contains several functions to make this analysis as simple as possible.
As an example, let’s consider the hypothetical case of a proposed
high-capacity well in Wisconsin’s Sixmile Creek Watershed of Wisconsin.
This watershed contains two US Geological Survey streamflow gauging
stations, one on Sixmile Creek and one on Dorn Creek (a tributary).
These gauging stations are both just upstream of the junction between
Sixmile and Dorn creeks, providing us an opportunity to investigate how
this proposed well would affect each of the two streams. Here is a map
showing the scenario, as well as two water years of streamflow data from
each gauging station:
The stream network and discharge data are included in the package
(stream_lines
and discharge_df
, respectively).
First, let’s define the properties of the well and the aquifer:
# well properties
<- 1000 # well pumping rate [m3/d]
Qw <- 295500 # easting of well [m]
wel_lon <- 4783200 # northing of well [m]
wel_lat <- as.Date("2014-03-01") # pumping start date
date_pump_start <- as.Date("2015-08-01") # pumping stop date
date_pump_stop
# aquifer properties
<- 1e-5 * 86400 # hydraulic conductivity [m/d]
K <- 250 # aquifer thickness [m]
b <- b * K # transmissivity [m2/d]
trans <- 0.05 # specific yield [-] Sy
First, we need to determine the position of the well relative to the
stream network. In streamDepletr this information is contained within
the reach_dist_lat_lon
data frame, which splits the stream
network up into equally spaced points and determines the distance from
each point to the well:
<- prep_reach_dist(
rdll wel_lon = wel_lon, wel_lat = wel_lat,
stream_sf = stream_lines, reach_id = "reach", stream_pt_spacing = 5
)head(rdll)
#> reach dist lat lon
#> 1 07090002008187 5253.566 4788325 296653.6
#> 2 07090002008187 5248.909 4788321 296650.8
#> 3 07090002008187 5244.252 4788317 296648.0
#> 4 07090002008187 5239.596 4788313 296645.2
#> 5 07090002008187 5234.941 4788309 296642.4
#> 6 07090002008187 5230.286 4788305 296639.6
Now, let’s figure out what would happen if we assumed all groundwater pumping depleted the closest stream reach to the well:
# figure out which stream is closest
<- rdll[which.min(rdll$dist), "reach"]
closest_reach <- rdll[which.min(rdll$dist), "dist"]
closest_dist <- stream_lines$stream[stream_lines$reach == closest_reach]
closest_stream <- subset(discharge_df, stream == closest_stream)
closest_discharge
# since time inputs for the streamflow depletion models are numeric (not dates),
# we need to figure out the start and stop date in days since the start of our period of interest
<- as.numeric(date_pump_start - min(closest_discharge$date))
t_pump_start <- as.numeric(date_pump_stop - min(closest_discharge$date))
t_pump_stop <- as.numeric(closest_discharge$date - min(closest_discharge$date))
times
# calculate depletion - since the pumping starts and stops during our period of interest,
# we will use the intermittent_pumping function even though it is only one pumping cycle
<- intermittent_pumping(
Qs t = times, starts = t_pump_start, stops = t_pump_stop, rates = Qw,
method = "glover", d = closest_dist, S = Sy, Tr = trans
)
# plot capture fraction through time - the shaded interval indicates when pumping is occurring
data.frame(date = closest_discharge$date, Qs = Qs) |>
::ggplot(aes(x = date, y = Qs)) +
ggplot2annotate("rect",
xmin = date_pump_start, xmax = date_pump_stop,
ymin = -Inf, ymax = Inf, fill = "red", alpha = 0.5
+
) geom_line() +
scale_y_continuous(name = "Qs, Streamflow Depletion [m3/d]")
If we assume that there are no changes to surface water-groundwater exchange elsewhere in the network, we can estimate the streamflow at the gauging station as the discharge in the no-pumping scenario minus the streamflow depletion.
# calculate streamflow
$Q_pumped <- closest_discharge$Q_m3d - Qs
closest_discharge
|>
closest_discharge ::pivot_longer(cols = c("Q_m3d", "Q_pumped"), names_to = "variable", values_to = "discharge_m3d") |>
tidyr::ggplot(aes(x = date, y = discharge_m3d, color = variable)) +
ggplot2annotate("rect",
xmin = date_pump_start, xmax = date_pump_stop,
ymin = -Inf, ymax = Inf, fill = "red", alpha = 0.5
+
) geom_line() +
coord_trans(y = scales::log1p_trans())
In the example above, we assumed that all depletion occurred from the
stream reach closest to the proposed well. This is a common approach, as
one of the assumptions for most analytical models is that there is only
one stream with a perpendicular aquifer of infinite extent. The real
world, of course, is made up of many nonlinear streams. To deal with
real stream networks, streamDepletr includes a variety of depletion
apportionment equations which distribute the depletion calculated
using the analytical models to different reaches within a stream
network. These depletion apportionment equations are described in Zipper
et al. (2018) and shown here (modified from Zipper et al., Figure 1):
Briefly:
apportion_polygon
) uses
the point on each stream reach closest to the well of interest to create
Thiessen (or Voronoi) polygons including and ignoring the well, and
weights streamflow depletion based on the area of overlap between the
polygon associated with each stream reach and the polygon associated
with the well.apportion_inverse
) also use the point on each stream
closest to the well of interest, but weight depletion based on the
distance between the well and each stream reach ; relative to the linear
method, the squared method gives more weight to the closer stream
reaches.apportion_web
) use the
same inverse distance approach but divide each stream reach into a
series of evenly spaced points to explicitly include stream geometry,
instead of only using the closest point on each reach.Zipper et al. (2018) found that apportion_web
with a
weighting factor (w
) of 2 provided the best match with more
complex, process-based streamflow depletion models.
The appropriate procedure to integrate the depletion apportionment equations and analytical models is:
frac_depletion
) reach using the apportion_*
functions.frac_depletion*Qf
to estimate the depletion in
each stream reach.First, we’ll use the depletion_max_distance
function to
determine our the depletion apportionment radius as the area that will
depleted by at least 1% of the pumping rate during the pumped
interval:
<- depletion_max_distance(
max_dist Qf_thres = 0.01, method = "glover", d_max = 10000,
t = (t_pump_stop - t_pump_start), S = Sy, Tr = trans
)
max_dist#> [1] 5400
First, we’ll calculate depletion apportionment using the inverse distance squared method:
<- apportion_inverse(reach_dist = rdll, w = 2, max_dist = max_dist)
fi head(fi)
#> reach frac_depletion
#> 1 07090002007664 0.008159978
#> 2 07090002007665 0.009153897
#> 3 07090002007666 0.010842769
#> 4 07090002007667 0.031301604
#> 5 07090002007668 0.026456416
#> 6 07090002007669 0.269197956
Let’s look at where depletion is occurring:
# merge fi with stream network shapefile
<- dplyr::left_join(stream_lines, fi, by = "reach")
stream_lines_fi
# any NA values means they are outside the max_dist and should be set to 0
$frac_depletion[is.na(stream_lines_fi$frac_depletion)] <- 0
stream_lines_fi
# cut frac_depletion into groups
$frac_depletion_intervals <-
stream_lines_ficut(stream_lines_fi$frac_depletion,
breaks = c(0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 1),
labels = c("<5%", "5-10%", "10-20%", ">20%"),
include.lowest = T
)
# plot
::ggplot(stream_lines_fi, aes(color = frac_depletion_intervals)) +
ggplot2geom_sf() +
scale_color_manual(
name = "Fraction of Depletion", drop = F,
values = c("blue", "forestgreen", "orange", "red")
+
) theme_bw() +
theme(
axis.text.y = element_text(angle = 90),
panel.grid = element_blank(),
legend.position = "bottom"
)
Looks like some of the depletion is sources from Sixmile Creek after
all - at least 10% within a single reach! We can use dplyr
to determine the portion of depletion in Dorn and Sixmile creeks:
<-
fi ::left_join(fi, unique(stream_lines[, c("reach", "stream")]), by = "reach")
dplyr
|>
fi ::group_by(stream) |>
dplyr::summarize(sum_depletion = sum(frac_depletion))
dplyr#> # A tibble: 2 × 2
#> stream sum_depletion
#> <chr> <dbl>
#> 1 Dorn Creek 0.426
#> 2 Sixmile Creek 0.574
Wow- it turns out the well is capturing about the same amount of depletion from Sixmile and Dorn! This is likely because, while Dorn Creek is closer, Sixmile is more exposed to the well (the stream reach is oriented perpendicular to a line drawn between the well and the closest point on the stream).
Now, let’s calculate the analytical depletion timeseries for each
reach. For the distance between the well and the stream
(d
), we’ll use the closest point on each reach:
<-
fi |>
rdll subset(reach %in% fi$reach) |> # only calculate for reaches with some depletion
::group_by(reach) |>
dplyr::summarize(dist_min = min(dist)) |>
dplyr::left_join(fi, ., by = "reach") # join to data frame with apportionment
dplyrhead(fi)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 5
#> reach dist_min frac_depletion stream geometry
#> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr> <LINESTRING [m]>
#> 1 07090002007664 4488. 0.00816 Dorn Creek (298655.3 4780012, 298665 4…
#> 2 07090002007665 4238. 0.00915 Dorn Creek (297990.4 4779772, 298005.8…
#> 3 07090002007666 3894. 0.0108 Dorn Creek (295599.4 4778972, 295616.4…
#> 4 07090002007667 2292. 0.0313 Dorn Creek (295196.5 4780306, 295344.7…
#> 5 07090002007668 2493. 0.0265 Dorn Creek (295095.7 4780741, 295083.6…
#> 6 07090002007669 781. 0.269 Dorn Creek (295207.7 4782372, 295233.6…
We want to calculate the capture fraction for each stream reach (which has a unique distance) and at all timesteps. The simplest way to do this is by looping over each stream reach:
for (r in 1:length(fi$reach)) {
<- data.frame(
df_r stream = fi$stream[r],
reach = fi$reach[r],
frac_depletion = fi$frac_depletion[r],
times = times,
date = closest_discharge$date,
Qs_analytical =
intermittent_pumping(
t = times,
starts = t_pump_start,
stops = t_pump_stop,
rates = Qw,
method = "glover",
d = fi$dist_min[r],
S = Sy,
Tr = trans
)
)
if (r == 1) {
<- df_r
df_all else {
} <- rbind(df_all, df_r)
df_all
} }
Now it is simple to calculate the estimated Qs
considering apportionment equations:
$Qs_apportioned <- df_all$Qs_analytical * df_all$frac_depletion df_all
Let’s look at the trajectory of each stream reach over time, with a different line for each stream reach:
::ggplot(df_all, aes(x = date, y = Qs_apportioned, group = reach, linetype = stream)) +
ggplot2annotate("rect",
xmin = date_pump_start, xmax = date_pump_stop,
ymin = -Inf, ymax = Inf, fill = "red", alpha = 0.5
+
) geom_line()
Hmm… It doesn’t look like the Sixmile Creek lines would add up to
equal the same amount as the Dorn Creek lines, but I thought we showed
above that depletion would be 50/50? Not necessarily - what’s happening
is that, while the depletion apportionment equations estimate an
approximately equal apportionment (fi
) for the two
tributaries, but because the Sixmile Creek tributaries are further away
the calculated streamflow depletion (Qs_analytical
) is
lower for Sixmile.
Maybe we want to know which stream reaches are most affected at the end of the pumping period:
|>
df_all subset(date == date_pump_stop & Qs_apportioned >= 20)
#> stream reach frac_depletion times date
#> 4320 Dorn Creek 07090002007669 0.26919796 669 2015-08-01
#> 15270 Sixmile Creek 07090002007687 0.09663108 669 2015-08-01
#> 18190 Sixmile Creek 070900020081892 0.08634335 669 2015-08-01
#> 18920 Sixmile Creek 070900020081893 0.10130495 669 2015-08-01
#> Qs_analytical Qs_apportioned
#> 4320 711.8453 191.62729
#> 15270 537.5491 51.94395
#> 18190 514.2598 44.40291
#> 18920 547.0854 55.42245
Finally, let’s take a look at streamflow for the two tributaries through time:
|>
df_all # sum depletion for all reaches in each tributary
::group_by(stream, date) |>
dplyr::summarize(Qs_sum = sum(Qs_apportioned)) |>
dplyr# join with raw discharge data
::left_join(discharge_df, by = c("date", "stream")) |>
dplyr# calculate depleted streamflow
transform(Q_depleted = Q_m3d - Qs_sum) |>
# melt for plot
::pivot_longer(
tidyrcols = -c("stream", "date", "Qs_sum"),
names_to = "variable",
values_to = "discharge_m3d"
|>
) # plot
::ggplot(aes(x = date, y = discharge_m3d, color = variable)) +
ggplot2annotate("rect",
xmin = date_pump_start, xmax = date_pump_stop,
ymin = -Inf, ymax = Inf, fill = "red", alpha = 0.5
+
) geom_line() +
facet_wrap(stream ~ ., ncol = 1) +
coord_trans(y = scales::log1p_trans())
#> `summarise()` has grouped output by 'stream'. You can override using the
#> `.groups` argument.
In this case, the depletion from this well is fairly small relative to the overall discharge.
Barlow et al. (2018). Capture versus Capture Zones: Clarifying Terminology Related to Sources of Water to Wells. Groundwater. doi: 10.1111/gwat.12661
Glover and Balmer (1954).River Depletion Resulting from Pumping a Well near a River. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union. doi: 10.1029/TR035i003p00468
Hunt (1999). Unsteady Stream Depletion from Ground Water Pumping. Ground Water. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1999.tb00962.x
Jenkins (1968). Techniques for Computing Rate and Volume of Stream Depletion. Ground Water. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1968.tb01641.x
Zipper et al. (2018). Groundwater Pumping Impacts on Real Stream Networks: Testing the Performance of Simple Management Tools. Water Resources Research. doi: 10.1029/2018WR022707
These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.