Groundwater–Surface Water Interaction—Analytical Approach

Abstract

Modelling of water flow in the hyporheic zone and calculations of water exchange between groundwater and surface waters are important issues in modern environmental research. The article presents the Analytical Hyporheic Flux approach (AHF) permitting calculation of the amount of water exchange in the hyporheic zone, including vertical water seepage through the streambed and horizontal seepage through river banks. The outcome of the model, namely water fluxes, is compared with the corresponding results from the numerical model SEEP2D and simple Darcy-type model. The errors of the AHF model, in a range of 11–16%, depend on the aspect ratio of water depth to river width, and the direction of the river–aquifer water exchange, i.e., drainage or infiltration. The AHF model errors are significantly lower compared to the often-used model based on vertical water seepage through the streambed described by Darcy’s law.