Negative hydrodynamic barriers: an effective system to reduce the freshwater discharge into the sea

Authors

  • Fernando Sola Gómez Recursos Hídricos y Geología Ambiental, Dpto. Biología y Geología, Universidad de Almería.
  • Angela Vallejos Recursos Hídricos y Geología Ambiental, Dpto. Biología y Geología, Universidad de Almería.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55407/geogaceta98162

Keywords:

coastal aquifer, marine intrusion, water resources, Andarax delta

Abstract

The growing demand for water is a widespread problem, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Coastal areas are particularly sensitive to this problem, although in these areas there is the paradox that coastal aquifers naturally drain large volumes of freshwater into the sea through submarine discharge. In this work we propose, for the first time, the use of negative hydrodynamic barriers as an effective system to reduce the volume of these discharges. For this purpose, the aquifer of the Andarax river delta has been studied, where the presence of a set of boreholes that capture the saline water wedge penetrating the aquifer. This would be acting as a hydrodynamic barrier, which on the one hand prevents the advance of the saline wedge to the continent, and on the other hand, the outflow of freshwater to the sea. The problem with this type of barrier is the economic cost linked to the energy consumption required to continuously pump saline water, so its use would only be appropriate where there is a desalination plant that is supplied with saline water from the wedge that penetrates the aquifer.

References

Armanuos, A.M., Al-Ansari, N., Yaseen, A.M. (2020). Water 12(9), 2403. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12092403

Custodio, E., Llamas, M.R. (1978). Hidrología Subterránea. Omega, Barcelona, 2350 p.

Ebeling, P., Händel, F., Walther, M. (2019). Science of Total Environment 693, 133478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.284

Pool,M., Carrera, J. (2009). Hydrogeology Journal 18, 95-105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-009-0516-1

Stein, S., Yechieli, Y., Shalev, E., Kasher, R., Sivan, O. (2019). Water Research 156, 46-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.03.003

Stein, S., Sola, F., Yechieli, Y., Shalev, E., Sivan, O., Kasher, R., Vallejos, A. (2020). Science of the Total Environment 732, 139249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139249

Wu, H., Lu, C., Kong, J, Werner, A.D. (2020). Water Resources Research, 56, e2020WR027792. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025750

Published

2023-12-18

How to Cite

Sola Gómez, F., & Vallejos, A. (2023). Negative hydrodynamic barriers: an effective system to reduce the freshwater discharge into the sea. GEOGACETA, 74, 71–74. https://doi.org/10.55407/geogaceta98162

Issue

Section

Artículos