Evaluation of Recharge Through Soils in a Mountain Region: A Case Study on the Empire and the Sonoita Basins

Abstract

A conventional water balance method, employing long-term average values of rainfall, runoff and evapotranspiration yields near-zero recharge values for the Empire and the Sonoita basins. These results, however, are not in agreement with those obtained from an analysis of the local ground water regimes. A different approach for calculating recharge, based on the typical characteristics of these arid basins, is proposed. In particular, both basins are characterized by intense thunderstorms of short duration in the summer which occur usually towards the evening, and shallow, sandy-gravelly soils with a relatively high permeability overlying fractured rocks in the elevated mountain regions. These factors may cause a considerable amount of water to infiltrate through the soil profile, thereby escaping evapotranspiration during the following day. The proposed model deals with separate thunderstorm events using mean values of rainfall intensity and frequency corresponding to elevation. This model was coupled with a numerical solution of the flow equation which was used to solve the one dimensional water flow through a soil profile. The solution includes sink terms and was solved for the simultaneous processes of infiltration, moisture redistribution and evapotranspiration. The results obtained show almost no recharge in the low valleys, but significant recharge in the mountains. The amount of recharge increases with elevation and decreases with the depth of the soil profile.