Groundwater recharge processes in an Asian mega-delta: hydrometric evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

AbstractGroundwater is used intensively in Asian mega-deltas yet the processes by which groundwater is replenished in these deltaic systems remain inadequately understood. Drawing insight from hourly monitoring of groundwater levels and rainfall in two contrasting settings, comprising permeable surficial deposits of Holocene age and Plio-Pleistocene terrace deposits, together with longer-term, lower-frequency records of groundwater levels, river stage, and rainfall from the Bengal Basin, conceptual models of recharge processes in these two depositional environments are developed. The representivity of these conceptual models across the Bengal Basin in Bangladesh is explored by way of statistical cluster analysis of groundwater-level time series data. Observational records reveal that both diffuse and focused recharge processes occur in Holocene deposits, whereas recharge in Plio-Pleistocene deposits is dominated by indirect leakage from river channels where incision has enabled a direct hydraulic connection between river channels and the Plio-Pleistocene aquifer underlying surficial clays. Seasonal cycles of recharge and discharge including the onset of dry-season groundwater-fed irrigation are well characterised by compiled observational records. Groundwater depletion, evident from declining groundwater levels with a diminished seasonality, is pronounced in Plio-Pleistocene environments where direct recharge is inhibited by the surficial clays. In contrast, intensive shallow groundwater abstraction in Holocene environments can enhance direct and indirect recharge via a more permeable surface geology. The vital contributions of indirect recharge of shallow groundwater identified in both depositional settings in the Bengal Basin highlight the critical limitation of using models that exclude this process in the estimation of groundwater recharge in Asian mega-deltas.